Ward 9
-
- Moderator
- Posts: 6388
- Joined: May 31st, 2012, 7:27 pm
- Location: Standish-Ericsson
Ward 9
A 5-way race in Ward 9! http://www.southsidepride.com/2013/04/a ... -race.html
-
- Moderator
- Posts: 1064
- Joined: May 31st, 2012, 11:38 am
- Location: SOUP: SOuth UPtown
Re: Ward 9
Tim Springer stands out to me so far as being the most forward thinking when it comes to urbanism. One of the fathers of the Midtown Greenway gets him huge bonus points in my book. He has a Streets.MN podcast that was just posted--I'm looking forward to checking that out.
-
- Moderator
- Posts: 6388
- Joined: May 31st, 2012, 7:27 pm
- Location: Standish-Ericsson
Re: Ward 9
I attended part of a Ward 9 debate/forum tonight at the behest of a friend. All I can say is holy crap, we are screwed. Most of these candidates are pretty weak. Ty Moore (socialist/Green-endorsed/Occupy Homes guy) kicked the 5 DFL candidates' butts, and I'm not remotely a socialist. Heck, I'm probably a little to the right of most Minneapolis DFL'ers, on fiscal issues anyways. These candidates were almost universally terrible. Alondra Cano has the benefit of being connected to other DFLers, carrying the endorsement of Robert Lilligren and others. When asked a question, most of her answers missed the point and turned into some flowery story about studying abroad. She's also basically a one issue candidate-- social/immigrant justice. Tim Springer might be the "urbanist" but he was kind of unprofessional and couldn't wipe the silly smile off his face even when talking about pretty weighty issues. He is like cartoon character level flaming. The rest were fairly unimpressive and unprofessional, unable to succinctly and directly answer questions or even present the illusion that they were remotely qualified for this job. I may not agree with Moore's far left wing politics, but he can talk the talk and seemed like he could actually handle the job of being a city councilperson.
Charles Curtis actually impressed me, but I don't think he has the backing/organization to win this. He created his Facebook page in late March. Cano, Hill, Springer, etc all have roots or connections within the DFL or a history of activism that are going to make it tough for Curtis to catch up, even though he is clearly smarter and better spoken than his competition. Then again, he has a really stupid porn moustache.
P.S. Not a single one of the male candidates wore a tie or sportcoat. Ty Moore was the only one to even wear a shirt buttoned all the way up. Then again, you could have worn a garbage bag and looked more presentable than most of the crowd.
Charles Curtis actually impressed me, but I don't think he has the backing/organization to win this. He created his Facebook page in late March. Cano, Hill, Springer, etc all have roots or connections within the DFL or a history of activism that are going to make it tough for Curtis to catch up, even though he is clearly smarter and better spoken than his competition. Then again, he has a really stupid porn moustache.
P.S. Not a single one of the male candidates wore a tie or sportcoat. Ty Moore was the only one to even wear a shirt buttoned all the way up. Then again, you could have worn a garbage bag and looked more presentable than most of the crowd.
-
- Stone Arch Bridge
- Posts: 7763
- Joined: June 19th, 2012, 2:04 pm
- Location: NORI: NOrth of RIchfield
Re: Ward 9
No Republican candidate running in Ward 9?
Re: Ward 9
Welcome to local politics. The council chamber can be good practice - can't expect them to speak like a presidential frontrunner right off the bat.The rest were fairly unimpressive and unprofessional, unable to succinctly and directly answer questions or even present the illusion that they were remotely qualified for this job.
At the local level a socialist likely wouldn't govern very differently from a DFLer. Ed Felien spent all his time ranting about municipal ownership of utilities and now the DFL council is exploring that (just in time for the collapse of the utility business model). Frankly the City could use more of a union voice in management - can't be worse than whatever greyhair floated to the top of their department's bureaucracy.
"Who rescued whom!"
Re: Ward 9
Really? I'm generally pro-union, but I think nothing is more embarrassing than having local politicians utterly beholden to AFSCME "negotiating" contracts with AFSCME. Same thing at the School Board.Frankly the City could use more of a union voice in management...
-
- US Bank Plaza
- Posts: 711
- Joined: June 1st, 2012, 9:56 am
Re: Ward 9
The police union has most local and state politicians in their pocket
Re: Ward 9
I thought I shouldn't respond to this on the computer provided by my employer with whom I have an AFSCME contract.
But what I was actually referring to was having union representatives involved in operations management, i.e. the German model. Frankly because of the float to the top nature of bureaucracies, it seems like a low-risk place to try it, and the unique apathy/incompetence of management in municipal departments makes it uniquely high-yield.
I don't think that the council or school board actually dig too deeply into the union contracts very often, actually. They are negotiated by an exempt staffer and/or a consultant typically, and presented to the governing board for approval. Typically it's a thumbs up/down thing, and while I'm not saying it's totally clean, I don't think this is the big source of contract bloat related to unions. I would say it is rather due to a) the government always paying too much for everything, thereby obscuring the fact that they pay too much for labor (this is thanks to the cultural norm that fleecing the government is morally acceptable) and b) keynesian policies (which I support) causing government expansion rather than contraction in recessionary times, throwing their labor inflation out of whack with the rest of the economy.nothing is more embarrassing than having local politicians utterly beholden to AFSCME "negotiating" contracts with AFSCME
But what I was actually referring to was having union representatives involved in operations management, i.e. the German model. Frankly because of the float to the top nature of bureaucracies, it seems like a low-risk place to try it, and the unique apathy/incompetence of management in municipal departments makes it uniquely high-yield.
"Who rescued whom!"
-
- Moderator
- Posts: 6388
- Joined: May 31st, 2012, 7:27 pm
- Location: Standish-Ericsson
Re: Ward 9
Strib (somewhat surprisingly) covered a recent debate: http://www.startribune.com/politics/sta ... 20422.html
Re: Ward 9
Cano in 9!
http://vote.minneapolismn.gov/results/2 ... tabulation
Moore would have been great - he's really knowledgeable about housing thanks to his foreclosure activism - but Cano is definitely on the left side of the DFL at least.
http://vote.minneapolismn.gov/results/2 ... tabulation
Moore would have been great - he's really knowledgeable about housing thanks to his foreclosure activism - but Cano is definitely on the left side of the DFL at least.
"Who rescued whom!"
-
- Moderator
- Posts: 6388
- Joined: May 31st, 2012, 7:27 pm
- Location: Standish-Ericsson
Re: Ward 9
Just 230 votes short of a Socialist councilmember. If Cano does anything to tick off the neighborhood or just isn't that effective, I could see Ty Moore making another run in 2017.
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest