[Mpls] City Pages Blotter Picks Up Kiffmeyer Bailing on Pride Story

[Eva Young]

Madam Secretary bails on Pride

In the build up to last year's elections, Minnesota Secretary of State Mary 
Kiffmeyer was on the receiving end of a lot of blistering criticisms. 
<http://www.independent-media.tv/item.cfm?fmedia_id=8678&fcategory_desc=E-Voting%20Machines%20/%20Vote%20Integrity>Detractors 
accused the state's 
<http://citypages.com/databank/25/1244/article12517.asp>controversial chief 
election officer of doing 
<http://citypages.com/databank/25/1240/article12443.asp>all she could to 
supress turnout among likely Democratic voters. Kiffmeyer rebutted such 
charges by pointing to her voter outreach efforts at events such as the 
Twin Cities Gay Pride Festival. "Where's the Star Tribune when I'm working 
Gay Pride and my staff has to take flak for being there?" she asked 
pointedly in October.

At the time, some Pride attendees responded with 
<http://www.eleventh-avenue-south.com/archives/000366.html>complaints that 
they never saw Kiffmeyer or her representatives at the '04 festival. In 
fact, says Pride spokesman Bill Nienaber, the SOS's office did pay for and 
operate a booth last year. (He could not say, however, whether Kiffmeyer 
herself appeared at the festival).

Different story this year. According to Nienaber, Kiffmeyer's office 
plunked down a $125 deposit for a booth at Pride '05 only to call a week 
before the festival to cancel.

Kent Kaiser, Kiffmeyer's spokesman, says the cancellation was the result of 
a "resource" shortage. Last year, he explains, the SOS hired student 
workers to man the booth using money from the Help America Vote Act. Those 
HAVA funds were not available this year, Kaiser adds, so Kiffmeyer is 
restricting voter registration efforts to mega-events such as the State 
Fair and Taste of Minnesota.
<http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/blotter/2005/07/01#a477># -- Posted by 
Mike Mosedale: 7/1/05; 10:33:14 AM

There was a fair amount of discussion here on this before.  Kaiser 
contacted me around noon on 7/1 - shortly after this item on the blotter 
was posted.

It's good that CP contacted both the SOS office and the Pride committee to 
follow up on this one.

http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/blotter/2005/07/01#a477

Andy from Eleventh Avenue South also comments on this one:

http://www.eleventh-avenue-south.com/archives/000533.html

The email from Kent Kaiser explaining Kiffmeyer's Office reasons for 
pulling out of Pride is available on Lloydletta's Nooz here:

http://lloydletta.blogspot.com/2005/07/kiffmeyers-office-responds-i-posted-on.html


Eva Young
Near North
Minneapolis
lloydletta at yahoo.com
http://lloydletta.blogspot.com

"You do not have the right to never be offended.  This country is based on 
freedom, and that means freedom for everyone - not just you!  You may leave 
the room, turn the channel, express a different opinion, etc., but the
world is full of idiots, and probably always will be."  --Article II of the 
Bill of Non-Rights.