Mayoral Race

Who wanted to be mayor?
gpete
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Re: Mayoral Race

Postby gpete » May 2nd, 2013, 10:50 am

Everyone should file. $20 can get you on the ranked choice ballot, and the proposal to raise the filing fee never went anywhere.

http://blogs.mprnews.org/cities/2013/04 ... -hike-doa/

MNdible
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Re: Mayoral Race

Postby MNdible » May 20th, 2013, 3:56 pm

I agree that assessments are not the ideal mechanism but strongly disagree that they are any kind of burden. You'll pay more for Vikings tickets than the average resident will pay for these streetlights in any given year.

You're also wrong that this lighting doesn't make a difference for pedestrians. My house is across from a park so my block has both the lantern-style lights and the cheesy park board future of the 70s globes. The light is much better in the lantern lights. The next block down has the old shoebox lights and feels like the set of Robert Altman's Popeye next to my block.

I know the USA has a long tradition of whining about taxes but neither has any American yet succeeded in creating their utopia which would be free of other Americans. Suck up and pay up, we're all in this together (yes I am paying assessments for the lights that were installed on my block before I bought my house).
Took some digging to find this old kerfuffle about Betsy Hodges putting the kibosh on Penn Avenue streetlighting assessments.

It appears that the city is going to start paying the full cost for the pedestrian scale streetlights (PDF) along "pedestrian and CBD" corridors. So, no assessment necessary, and the decision will be retroactive to Penn Avenue and a number of even earlier 2011-2012 projects.

Streetlights within residential areas will still require a petition process and assessment.

mattaudio
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Re: Mayoral Race

Postby mattaudio » May 20th, 2013, 4:18 pm

Of course most assessments would fail to stand up to legal challenge on constitutional grounds:
http://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2012 ... ig-up.html

MNdible
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Re: Mayoral Race

Postby MNdible » May 20th, 2013, 7:54 pm

Come on. That article looks at a very particular and somewhat flukey situation that has very little bearing on the type of standard assessments that typically get used in Minneapolis. I know that every time somebody on this board references a Strong Towns article an angel gets their wings, but there's precious little correlation between that situation and what we're discussing here.

mattaudio
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Re: Mayoral Race

Postby mattaudio » May 20th, 2013, 8:12 pm

Then read the linked blog post that explains it in general terms:
http://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2012 ... uture.html

MNdible
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Re: Mayoral Race

Postby MNdible » May 20th, 2013, 10:20 pm

OK, I read it. I want those five minutes back. Are you getting paid for views on that website?

How much would your property be worth if the road you lived on became impassable? That's a rhetorical question.

I guess I don't see the impending disaster that you're hyperventilating about. Municipalities have financed a portion of capital project like this with assessments for a long time. They will continue to do so.

Yes, there are some questionable applications that will get challenged, but for the most part, this is a perfectly reasonable way to finance these things.

twincitizen
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Re: Mayoral Race

Postby twincitizen » May 28th, 2013, 7:28 pm


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woofner
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Re: Mayoral Race

Postby woofner » May 29th, 2013, 3:16 pm

Wow, if Dan Cohen is running on his hatred of the Star Tribune, maybe I can run on hating that jerk who owns Spyhouse(s). My platform would be municipal appropriation of all coffeeshops between 24th and 25th Sts and Fremont and 1st Aves (no exception for Lyndale, that Urban Bean guy is an a-hole too), with fair and just compensation to the owner based on the inverse of his or her douchey sports car assets.
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twincitizen
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Re: Mayoral Race

Postby twincitizen » June 1st, 2013, 11:17 am


MNdible
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Re: Mayoral Race

Postby MNdible » June 1st, 2013, 2:16 pm

"People get started very early because they feel the need to court the special interests that control the DFL process," Woodruff said in an e-mail. "We are talking about spending hundreds of hours and thousands upon thousands of dollars trying to influence self-appointed special interest folks who number in the twenties."


Well, there's at least one thing about which I agree with her.

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Nick
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Re: Mayoral Race

Postby Nick » June 2nd, 2013, 5:00 pm

"People get started very early because they feel the need to court the special interests that control the DFL process," Woodruff said in an e-mail. "We are talking about spending hundreds of hours and thousands upon thousands of dollars trying to influence self-appointed special interest folks who number in the twenties."


Well, there's at least one thing about which I agree with her.
I'm kind of torn on this. On one hand, I want to agree with you--the process is overly complicated and it's aggravating having to sit through resolutions about Palestine and puppy mills in a precinct caucus. But at the same time, I mean...if you care, go. Those special interest folks don't number "in the twenties", there were 1780 spots allocated for City Convention delegates. And there are considerably fewer who showed up to caucuses to get elected delegates, and of whatever that number is, fewer will actually show up at the convention. What does that show about peoples' complaining? How many people in this city whine about potholes and property taxes and don't even know who their council person is? It's complicated and time consuming but it's not that bad. How many of us have already watched all of Arrested Development Season 4? It's a question of priorities. Like I said, if you care, go.
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MNdible
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Re: Mayoral Race

Postby MNdible » June 2nd, 2013, 7:00 pm

I've heard the "if you care, show up" argument many times. I just don't buy it.

If this were a fussy process that improved the end result, I'd be all for it. But it rarely does improve the end result, and often makes it worse. Tell me with a straight face that a process that rewards the candidate who best panders to a small group of activists (and I don't care if it's 20 or 2000) and prevents a full slate of qualified candidates from going before the electorate is something that should be defended.

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Nick
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Re: Mayoral Race

Postby Nick » June 2nd, 2013, 8:07 pm

Well, I won't back down from "if you care, show up", because people frankly should know more of what's actually going on in their city/state/country/world/whatever. It must show something that the small group being pandered to isn't even at capacity. That said, I don't reeeeeeally disagree with you, but how would you do it better? The DFL is going to endorse someone somehow. A primary?
Nick Magrino
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twincitizen
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Re: Mayoral Race

Postby twincitizen » June 2nd, 2013, 8:15 pm

I think the three of us have kind of had this discussion before, but I think the best way to fix this is to keep partisan identification off the ballot entirely. It's supposed to be non-partisan anyways; we should follow through with that in practice. You can't keep the DFL (and Stonewall, Women Winning, Black Caucus, Unions, etc) from doing what they're gonna do...that's their prerogative, and this is America after all.

Nick, I agree with the "if you care, show up", but doesn't that include doing your own research and showing up to vote in November? Is that not enough? We can't even get 70% of the population to do that every four years. Frankly, asking people to do anything more than show up for a municipal-only, odd-year election is simply asking too much. You shouldn't have to show up in April (twice!) to prove that you care.

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Nick
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Re: Mayoral Race

Postby Nick » June 2nd, 2013, 8:56 pm

Didn't we used to like...have a draft? The bar for what we consider to be a hassle when it comes to civic participation is pretty low.
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Steve Holt
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Re: Mayoral Race

Postby Steve Holt » June 2nd, 2013, 9:00 pm

“@smckenzie21: Stonewall DFL, LGBT & friends caucus of the state’s DFL, endorses Mark Andrew for #MplsMayor”

This surprises me. Andrew over Hodges, who was huge in the vote no campaign early on, and Schiff who would be the first gay mayor himself? Hmmmmmm.

MNdible
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Re: Mayoral Race

Postby MNdible » June 2nd, 2013, 9:34 pm

Well, I won't back down from "if you care, show up", because people frankly should know more of what's actually going on in their city/state/country/world/whatever. It must show something that the small group being pandered to isn't even at capacity. That said, I don't reeeeeeally disagree with you, but how would you do it better? The DFL is going to endorse someone somehow. A primary?
The reason I'm not involved in the DFL endorsement process isn't because I don't care about who gets elected, or because I don't have time, or because I'm not knowledgeable about the candidates. It's because I believe it's a flawed process that isn't necessary.

How would I do it better? I'd get rid of the endorsement process entirely. In statewide elections, there is a primary. In municipal elections, there's IRV. Both of these mean that the DFL doesn't need to endorse a single candidate. I've argued that all they should really be doing is verifying that candidates who want to identify themselves as DFLers on the ballot support the party platform. They don't need to look through a pack of candidates who are approximately equal and all support the party platform and say that only one of them is fit to stand before the electorate -- and I find the fact that they feel the need to do so insulting and patronizing.

For example, Stonewall DFL feels the need to say that one candidate supports gay rights more than the others is a ridiculous exercise. The question they should be asking is, do all of these candidates support gay rights? I bet they do. They all pass. No reason to endorse a single candidate. If, upon interviewing them, they find that one or two aren't up to snuff, they fail.

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Nick
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Re: Mayoral Race

Postby Nick » June 3rd, 2013, 11:06 pm

Eh, none of that is really a bad idea.
Nick Magrino
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twincitizen
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Re: Mayoral Race

Postby twincitizen » June 3rd, 2013, 11:19 pm

For example, Stonewall DFL feels the need to say that one candidate supports gay rights more than the others is a ridiculous exercise. The question they should be asking is, do all of these candidates support gay rights? I bet they do. They all pass. No reason to endorse a single candidate. If, upon interviewing them, they find that one or two aren't up to snuff, they fail.
I can't figure this one out either, with regards to the Mayoral race. I'm not upset that they chose Mark Andrew, but I can't understand why they felt they had to. Why not just agree to say that Andrew, Schiff, and Hodges are all pretty legit with the gays?

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woofner
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Re: Mayoral Race

Postby woofner » June 4th, 2013, 12:44 pm

I have two questions re: attending caucuses. Should I go to DFL caucuses even though I don't consider myself a DFLer? (For my reasoning, please see any article about Klobuchar fighting for exurban highway funding or the justification of anyone who voted for the stadium.) A similar but slightly different question: Does the DFL want me as a committed non-DFLer to attend their caucuses?
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