[Mpls] Zimmermann, the Greens, and Me

[Russell Raczkowski]

Since Jenny Heiser implies that I and other STRIDE members are paid political  
saboteurs and that our goal is destruction of third parties (neither of which is true), I 
submit the following:    

For the record, I counted myself as a member of the Green Party until relatively  
recently.  

In 2001, I was in Oklahoma to attend to a family matter on the night of the  
general election.  I was genuinely happy that Dean Zimmermann and Natalie Johnson- 
Lee won; I remember sitting at my brother's computer and grinning.  I couldn't believe it,  
and it was a bright moment in a generally dark time. 

But my dissatisfaction with the Greens grew.  The watershed moment, in retrospect,  
was the Green Party convention in 2002 where the party nominated Ed McGaa when  
clearly he had no credentials as a Green Party member or a Senate candidate.  We 
know how that story turned out.  The Green's gubernatorial candidate, Ken Pentel, had 
to publicly pull his support from McGaa when the truth came out about McGaa's "green" 
philosophy, which included burying toxic sludge on his home reservation for a price.   

I still think kindly of Ray Tricomo for essentially saving the Greens by running for Senate 
against McGaa in the primary, giving the party a way out.  I was one of those who 
unapologetically complained about the inconsistency of the McGaa nomination from the 
beginning and did not vote for him at the convention or in the primary. 

Along my Green journey, Dean Zimmermann disappointed me repeatedly.  He clearly  
didn't see things my way when it came to the environment and car culture when he  
supported the destruction of three houses to build a parking lot at Nicollet Ace 
Hardware in early 2002.  I made no secret of my dissatisfaction. 

Then came the 35W Access project battle.  I became a member of STRIDE.  We 
looked to the Green City Council people for support.  Dean promised leadership that he 
never  delivered, a public statement of opposition to the project that never materialized.   
Robert Lilligren took the lead on opposing the project and still opposes the project.  
Zimmermann now says that he is neutral on 35W Excess. 

Zimmermann and Jenny Heiser met with STRIDE members at one point in the run up  
to the Access vote,  and Dean laid brochures from Taxi 2000, a company developing a 
PRT system, on the table and said, "This is what we are going to do."  Ken Avidor, no  
fan of PRT obviously, reacted as you might expect.  The conversation went nowhere, 
and Dean and Jenny picked up the brochures and left. 
   
On January 14, 2004, I attended the Sustainability Fair at Augsburg. Dean 
Zimmermann was there openly shilling for Taxi 2000's PRT system.  My objection to 
PRT at that point was two fold and hasn't really changed, (1) that PRT is an unproven 
technology that doesn't deserve public investment and (2) that Dean Zimmermann, as a 
public official, should not be at public events pushing a product from a private 
corporation requesting government  dollars, particularly a for product with no track 
record.  Actually, it was (2) that  concerned me the most; I didn't like seeing that 
corporate drift in the local Green Party.  I said as much then. 

Dean eventually voted against the Access project, by the way, with Robert Lilligren and  
Natalie Johnson Lee.  You can read that story in Liz McLemore's post. 

My final Green days were spent fighting back PRT while Dean promoted a PRT  
agenda both in and out of the party with relish and apparent single-mindedness.  I  
ended up at one point with a fellow Green PRT opponent debating two proponents at a 
Green Party forum.  My last "official" act was to attend the 2004 precinct caucus where I 
wrote a resolution to counter Dean's boilerplate pro-PRT resolution (which had been 
distributed to all Green caucuses in the city) and got it passed. I have occasionally 
posted to the  5th  District Green list with information or a gripe since then because I still 
considered  it a list  that has members with often similar political interests as mine. 
(Today I severed this final Green political tie.)   

But my Green "end" came with a whimper in 2004.  I was supporting Nader; the Green  
Party wasn't.  I found myself at odds with the official party line once again.   

So, I decided that was that and went partyless in late 2004, not the first time in my life. It  
was ultimately a personal decision although I have several friends who have also left 
the party. 

I had stuck around with the Greens far longer than most of them.  I am not a member of 
the DFL.  I have done some things with the Labor Party. . . .  I will support Green 
candidates in the future when it feels right.   

I don't support Dean Zimmermann's candidacy.  I think Robert Lilligren will make a far 
better Council Member for the 6th Ward, and I think CM Lilligren has a better grasp of  
environmental issues than CM Zimmermann based on Zimmermann's undying support 
for PRT and his equivocation on the Access project. 

As an independent Lilligren supporter, I have volunteered to do lit drops next weekend.   

Russell Raczkowski 
Bancroft