Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Elections - City Councils and Commissions - Policies
mattaudio
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby mattaudio » September 23rd, 2016, 11:01 am

a legitimate challenger to emerge though .... just be a focused, mature adult in the room.
You mean, Gary Schiff?

Silophant
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby Silophant » September 23rd, 2016, 11:19 am

What if neither of them gets reelected?
Joey Senkyr
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kirby96
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby kirby96 » September 23rd, 2016, 11:29 am

For the record, I think Cano's latest email was stupid and juvenile. But I'm surprised that no-one seems at all bothered by the fact that Barb Johnson is waging a shadow campaign against her in the press which--gasp--itself involves leaking private city emails.
Assuming you are referring to the e-mail released yesterday, releasing an e-mail addressed to you isn't releasing secret e-mails, which is the point Cano would argue regarding her tweets. And on that she can make a coherent, but debatable, argument (as the poster two posts up alludes).

My personal take is there may have been an ethical issue with the tweets, but it's not clear. It is clear that the tweets were stupid and classless. The e-mail released yesterday is not only stupid and classless, but is almost certainly unethical, and might border on illegal.

..and BTW, it's not inconsistent for people to think both Barb Johnson and Alondra Cano act inappropriately, but find Cano's actions more inflammatory and over the top, especially given a past that now includes both derogatory treatment of constituents and threatening council members (not to mention rather bizarre behavior in council meetings, etc.). Given what we know about both of them pointing the finger at Cano first seems entirely appropriate.

EOst
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby EOst » September 23rd, 2016, 11:45 am

What if neither of them gets reelected?
I might take that trade!
Assuming you are referring to the e-mail released yesterday, releasing an e-mail addressed to you isn't releasing secret e-mails, which is the point Cano would argue regarding her tweets. And on that she can make a coherent, but debatable, argument (as the poster two posts up alludes).
I don't think it's unfair for Cano to expect that her private communication with her colleagues would remain private. Her constituents probably had that same (justified) expectation. But notice that Cano *isn't* complaining about her private communication being released, whereas Johnson is pretending to hold the moral high ground and pursuing an ethics investigation. I don't live in Minneapolis anymore, and neither of these were my representative even when I did. But I'd rather have Cano than a baldfaced hypocrite.

FWIW, I think it would be extremely difficult to convince a court that anything that has gone on here is criminal; courts give political disputes like this an extremely wide berth. That's what elections are for.

masstrlk67
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby masstrlk67 » September 23rd, 2016, 11:47 am

Given what we know about both of them pointing the finger at Cano first seems entirely appropriate.
You can point the finger at whomever you want, but I'd like to point out that one of these is a dynastic power broker with a largely affluent white constituency and the other a political newcomer with a more diverse and less affluent constituency. Given the power disparity here, I know where I'm willing to offer the benefit of the doubt.

kirby96
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby kirby96 » September 23rd, 2016, 12:14 pm

But I'd rather have Cano than a baldfaced hypocrite.
Cano, the one with the soapbox of a widely followed public forum that she uses to call out largely voiceless private citizens, and who also threatens to expose fellow council members claims she's getting bullied? I'll borrow your term: bald-faced hypocrite.
FWIW, I think it would be extremely difficult to convince a court that anything that has gone on here is criminal; courts give political disputes like this an extremely wide berth. That's what elections are for.
Per my earlier post, I think you are probably right about that.
You can point the finger at whomever you want, but I'd like to point out that one of these is a dynastic power broker with a largely affluent white constituency and the other a political newcomer with a more diverse and less affluent constituency. Given the power disparity here, I know where I'm willing to offer the benefit of the doubt.
You aren't forced to give either one the benefit of the doubt.

Doing so sounds a bit like a 'since the cause is just I'm willing to downplay/justify/overlook what's done in its name' logic.

Everyone on the spectrum thinks their cause is just. I'd argue it's the inability to self-regulate and critique that has led in large part to the breakdown in discourse in the world today. Too many people give the benefit of the doubt to the 'less bad guys'.

masstrlk67
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby masstrlk67 » September 23rd, 2016, 1:58 pm

Ehh, I'm saying that I think some paranoia on Cano's part is justified because she's backed into a corner. Like, sure, I probably wouldn't come to the defense of some feisty right-winger in a similar position, but I'm not claiming to be unbiased. However, I think the important distinction here between Johnson and Cano is not right/left, but establishment/outsider, as evidenced by the fact that Johnson has the resources for what EOst calls a "shadow campaign" while Cano apparently feels her only recourse is escalation.

MNdible
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby MNdible » September 23rd, 2016, 2:01 pm

Based on everything I've read from Cano, and every public statement I've heard from her, it's pretty clear to me that escalation is her first instinct, not her last recourse.

EOst
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby EOst » September 23rd, 2016, 2:59 pm

Cano, the one with the soapbox of a widely followed public forum that she uses to call out largely voiceless private citizens, and who also threatens to expose fellow council members claims she's getting bullied? I'll borrow your term: bald-faced hypocrite.
That isn't hypocrisy. Poor judgment? Sure. But Cano hasn't complained about Barb Johnson releasing her email (that's me!).

As I've said before, I don't at all like what Cano is doing here, and I'm not here to defend her. But Cano isn't the one holding her colleagues to a higher ethical standard than the one which she--manifestly!--holds herself. That's Barb Johnson. That's hypocrisy.

bivaly
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby bivaly » September 23rd, 2016, 3:53 pm


For the record, I think Cano's latest email was stupid and juvenile. But I'm surprised that no-one seems at all bothered by the fact that Barb Johnson is waging a shadow campaign against her in the press which--gasp--itself involves leaking private city emails.
FWIW emails between council members aren't private. Anyone could've submitted a data request and acquired that email. Not condoning anything, just clarifying.

xandrex
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby xandrex » November 1st, 2016, 9:56 am

Looks like Cano has her first challenger: https://www.facebook.com/votefarah/

matt91486
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby matt91486 » November 10th, 2016, 6:45 am

Alright, so adjusting to our new national political reality.

Trump has stated that he wants to do a major infrastructure bill. Gov. Cuomo has intimated that it isn't going to automatically be hostile to urban areas, so there might be a possibility of some transit. Is there anything far enough along that the area can use this process to push for inclusion in the bill that we might not otherwise get funding for easily?

David Greene
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby David Greene » November 10th, 2016, 2:09 pm

aBRT? BLRT is close. Orange line?

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David Greene
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby David Greene » March 23rd, 2017, 12:00 pm

Why should I go to city caucuses?

I'm asking honestly. I don't think Lisa Bender has any serious challengers. I will vote for her and encourage others to do so. I don't need to attend caucuses to do that.

Does the DFL endorsement for mayor matter that much when we have RCV? Does it matter after an election that devastated the party and left many people disillusioned with it?

Why should I spend time organizing with a party that sometimes but not always aligns with my values when I can use the time to organize with groups that more closely align with my values?

Why should I encourage others to attend city caucuses?

Why do city caucuses matter?

Give me a reason to go. I'm looking for one...

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FISHMANPET
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby FISHMANPET » March 23rd, 2017, 12:14 pm

Go and vote "no endorsement" on every ballot, because there's no reason that these races should be decided in April by a tiny handful of well connected insiders that can afford to waste an entire beautiful day in some cramped gymnasium.

I also want to introduce something to get the city DFL out of endorsements entirely, but reading through the constitution I'm not sure what the correct avenue is for that, and last I checked there was no "resolutions" form for this year.

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Tiller
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby Tiller » March 23rd, 2017, 1:17 pm

That seems like a pretty good reason^

David Greene
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby David Greene » March 23rd, 2017, 2:16 pm

Are city races even decided by a small group of people anymore? We have RCV. Does the endorsement really matter?

David Greene
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby David Greene » March 23rd, 2017, 2:20 pm

Others are putting resolutions together so there must be something.

I would go to caucus just to submit such a resolution.

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FISHMANPET
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby FISHMANPET » March 23rd, 2017, 2:39 pm

I saw somewhere that in 2013 every DFL endorsed candidate for city council won the election. I don't know if that will be the case this year, but DFL endorsed certainly can hold a lot of sway with someone that isn't all that involved in local politics. But I agree that with RCV, there's no real reason for the DFL to be endorse. The city DFL should focus on getting out the vote and distributing information about candidates (and maybe some kind of vetting process so multiple candidates can be DFL "approved", but I think that could be abused very easily).

If anyone knows anything about how to submit resolutions this year (and more importantly, how to turn that resolution into a part of the DFL constitution or bylaws) or anyone currently doing that work, please let me know.

EOst
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby EOst » March 23rd, 2017, 2:42 pm

Agree that the DFL shouldn't endorse under RCV.

I don't know how many people who vote in off-year municipal elections are low-attention voters, but if even 5% of voters go into that booth without having thought much about the candidates that (DFL) mark will matter. Better to waste the Saturday now than regret it later.


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