[Mpls] "But it's clear that the days of risk taking and progressive politics are gone."

[wmmarks]

David Strand wrote:

>How many feel this analysis is spot on and how many
>feel it is off base?  ...  What can we do to empower those attempting to enact
>progressive policies at city hall in the upcoming
>elections and after?
>  
>
While the article makes note of it, it does not give enough credence to 
the redistricting disaster. It was there where the old line DFL, 
politics down and dirty, win at any cost, action took place. Of all the 
redistricting plans put forward (and I did not see all of them), Dean 
Zimmermann's made the most practical sense.

The plan which was engineered showed me that the local DFL was ready to 
play footsie with progressive ideas during good times, but that the 
tried and true bunker mentality would back off progressive politics to 
its own detriment. The commission screwed the Greens and the 
progressives in the eighth, sixth, fifth, and ninth to do it. The 
commission gave the already wealthy seventh ward the economic engine for 
the fifth ward, simultaneously designating the fifth as the official 
ghetto par excellence.

At the same time, the newbies on the council were not progressive. With 
the exception of Zimmermann and maybe Johnson Lee (not her fault, I'm 
not real clear on her come from and I don't know the fifth). I do not 
think it possible to call Samuels, Lilligren, Schiff, Benson, or 
Niziolek (sp?) progressive. Certainly Johnson, Colvin Roy, Goodman, 
Lane, and Ostrow are not progressives.

Had the redistricting commission not been so adamantly wrong-headed, 
Zerby's approach--laying out the cost to the city for profligacy on the 
part of the federal and state goverment--could have helped bulwark some 
backbone in the face of the disaster and kept Minneapolis in better 
order even while having to determinedly trim its financial sails. The 
point is to keep your eye on the prize.

They panicked over the budget rather than thinking it through 
strategically. Complicate the issue by bringing in a mayor who did not 
have the credentials either at the state or federal level, and the DFL 
is in chemotherapy big time. When the dominant party is on meds, the 
city is in for a rough ride.

>WizardMarks, Central
>________________________________
>
>Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy
>Post messages to: mailto:mpls at mnforum.org
>Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
>
>  
>