[Mpls] disrespectful park commissioners

[Chris Johnson]

nikkicarlson001 at aol.com wrote:
 > Where are the alleged criminals? All I saw was the
 > sign.  So if it is a joke, ha ha, very funny Inspector Clouseau.

> Let me put it less subtly. There are 9 people on the park board. Five have
been attacked, smeared, demonized and provoked relentlessly by your so-called
reform group. Clearly, there are problems on the MPRB and there is a lack of
respectful communication. But honey, no matter how thin the paper, there are
always two sides. There are no blameless parties here, and the way to fix this
problem is with respectul criticism and dialogue, not passive-aggressive
badgering.
> 
> I have to compliment the oft-maligned commissioners for not stooping to
participating in this personal battle - no, clash, skirmish, combat - no,
still not the right word. What do you call an attack (that has a broad
reaching political agenda) that is constantly and completely one-sided?
> 
> -Nikki Carlson Linden Hills


If one attended the same Park Board meetings I have, one would
have seen the following clashes, skirmishes, stooping, etc.

1.  On August 18, 2004, Walt Dziedzic losing his temper, banging his fist on 
the table and shouting threats of physical violence in response to reasonable, 
respectful questions asked by Annie Young and Vivian Mason.

2.  On October 20, 2004, Bob Fine turning the world upside down and blaming 
the victims in the above situation, lecturing and insulting them, labeling 
them as the disrespectful parties and completely holding Dziedzic blameless 
and guiltless.  Note that Bob Fine was not even present at the August 18 meeting.

3.  Jon Olson's so-oft repeated nasty and sarcastic tone of voice as he says
"thank you and have a nice day" to speakers during public time when they say
things he doesn't like.  His response to others is usually no comment at all
or a level-voiced "thanks".

4.  Bob Fine sneaking around behind commissioner Vivian Mason's back to push
his personal agenda for remaking Bryn Mawr meadows without discussing it with
the board as a whole. For this, CM Goodman dressed him down thoroughly.

I could go on at length with examples of the controlling faction showing
a lack of respect for the other commissioners as well as the public.  Many of 
them are on video recordings, quite a few of which I have copies.

The net-net is that the controlling faction has marginalized the opinions and 
desires of the public and the other commissioners in pretty much non-stop 
fashion. The "five" have consistently paid only lip service to any concerns 
raised, and then simply ignored them and proceeded with their previously 
planned agenda.  The lack of communication has been consistently and decidedly 
one-sided, and the fault of the controlling "five."

It has been the controlling faction who have demonized, attacked and smeared 
opponents.  I have plenty of evidence that demonstrates a consistent effort on 
the part of Bob Fine and Scott Neiman to demonize Vivian Mason, even going so 
far as to blame her for things when she was so far out of town, she couldn't 
possibly have even been involved.

I've been attending Park Board meetings consistently since January, 2004. 
I've analyzed their financial reports.  I've analyzed their meeting minutes 
and agenda back to 2001.  I've researched the history of Park Board policies 
back to the days of Superintendent Robert Ruhe, who served in that position 
from 1966 to 1978.

Despite whatever mistakes the minority commissioners may have made during
their years of service, they have never been guilty of disrespect or failing
to communicate with their constituents.  Neither of those statements are true
of the controlling faction.

It's not simply a case of there being two sides to any issue.  It's a case of
calling a spade a spade, of having real, not relative, ethics and morals, and 
demanding good government.

Our group is the Minneapolis Park Watch.  The word "reform" is not in our name 
or mission statement.


Chris Johnson
Fulton
-- 
http://MplsParkWatch.org/