Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

[seanrichardryan]

The last moderate dem, quasi-republican was Paul Ostrow, who at one time he was considered a progressive compared to ol' misogynist Walt.

[FISHMANPET]

But what does a "republican" bring to the city council? Do we really have a council of "tax and spend liberals" when property taxes have gone down for quite a few people in this city?

What are "democratic" city views and what are "republican" city views? You've got very "liberal" officials in the city government doing very "conservative" things: removing parking minimums, a burdensome regulation; refusing to give a tax break for the soccer stadium, so not paying off businesses; or improving our bond rating by balancing the budget and making cuts in pensions.

It's not like the candidates that we're choosing from are almost identical. Could anyone with a straight face say that on city issues Bender and Tuthill were nearly identical? Or Hoefstede and Frey?

[mulad]

I worry that having a council consistently filled with candidates ends up broadening the urban-suburban-rural political divides, though. What do you do when your views are not being represented by your city government? Especially in a region like the Twin Cities where we have so many municipalities, it's possible to just move a couple miles and escape a government you don't like. It could be a driver of self-segregation.

In the long run, it's probably better to have a proportional representation system, at least so people don't have to feel that there isn't anyone able to speak for them. Republicans would still be in the minority for the foreseeable future if that was implemented in Minneapolis, so I don't think the city could be hurt much by it. It may also reduce the level at which the current council sometimes bends over backwards to respond to minority views from constituents, but I'm less certain about that...

[mattaudio]

People are already self segregating in the "culture war" and it's an extension of white flight that started 2+ generations ago.

[mattaudio]

So, Blong Yang... Completely in Barb Johnson's pocket now?

[Sacrelicio]

What are "democratic" city views and what are "republican" city views?

If you don't like "the city" in general, it's whatever they do that you don't personally like.

[David Greene]

So, Blong Yang... Completely in Barb Johnson's pocket now?

Boy, it sure seems like it. He didn't have particularly strong backing from the institutions that got Hodges elected so I don't think it really hurts his re-election much. It does, however, poison relationships with a number of other council members.

Yang and Warsame are my biggest city council disappointments. It is really tragic that both are PoC representatives.

[David Greene]

I think I'm most disappointed that Blong is going to end up learning the wrong lesson from this. I've seen enough of how he reacts to opposition to suspect he'll take the "people are mad so I must be doing something right" position. He's made numerous statements over his term playing the victim and blaming everyone but himself for whatever stress he's feeling. I think he sees himself as above the fray and a "rational" voice in the chaos, a "real leader" if you will. There's an arrogance about him that I find distasteful.

[mattaudio]

Lots of people are upset at Cano for doxxing people, including constituents, who sent her emails she didn't agree with re: BLM/protests. They weren't trolls. Tacky IMO.

[VAStationDude]

https://tonywebster.com/2015/12/minneap ... ox-anyone/

The fact that professional internet racists are pushing this whole false doxing allegation to their idiotic readers is far more bothersome than Cano's conduct.

[Sacrelicio]

https://tonywebster.com/2015/12/minneap ... ox-anyone/

The fact that professional internet racists are pushing this whole false doxing allegation to their idiotic readers is far more bothersome than Cano's conduct.

Ugh. Just like with GamerGate, creeps on the Internet take one small thing that could be misconstrued as illegal or unethical and blow it waaayyyy out of proportion to fit some insane hateful agenda.

[Tiller]

While I don't know about the "legality" of it (probably not illegal, though idk), Cano should have redacted personal information before posting those online. Spreading an individual's personal information without their consent online is not ok just because it's someone you disagree with. There is far too much hypocrisy on such a simple issue.

[EOst]

Aren't official communications to the city government in the public record anyway? Pretty sure these could be FOIA'd.

[MNdible]

Sure, but that doesn't mean that it's cool for a public official to publicly shame a constituent they disagree with.

[kirby96]

^gotta agree. It's legal to record a conversation you are party to without the others consent as well. But if you do it while discussing politics with someone and then post the recording on Facebook they prolly ain't gonna be real happy with you, or feel you are particularly trustworthy.

[EOst]

It just seems a little disingenuous to complain when I doubt anyone would feel put out if she agreed.

[trigonalmayhem]

Sure, but that doesn't mean that it's cool for a public official to publicly shame a constituent they disagree with.

They're not constituents if they don't live in your ward or even in the city of Minneapolis. But sure let's protect the privacy of abusive jerks misusing our public comment system to crap on someone they disagree with. I'm so glad people from Edina can harass our city council members and waste their time, let's make sure they also can keep their comments secret too.

Minus the context of the continued harassment she's been dealing with for a while now for daring to speak her mind I can see how this might seem questionable. And of course not a single lazy news article about it includes any of that context. But if I'd been getting harassed by out of town trolls for months via an official public comment system that is part of public record I'd very likely do the same at some point. Enough is enough. People from Georgia and Texas don't need to be harassing our public officials for supporting a civil rights movement.

[kirby96]

^uhh, the article is specifically about constituents (they are named and identified as living in her ward). One even claims he donated to her campaign. At best it's merely dumb. These aren't people that were sending intimidating or threatening comments. There's no question it will be viewed as chilling of criticism and alienating by at least some people that voted for her.

[FISHMANPET]

What article? They're not constituents. They're just people. I believe one person had a business address downtown, which is not in Cano's ward.

[acs]

Those that doubt the validity can take it up with the star tribune:

http://www.startribune.com/minneapolis- ... 363470421/

For those without a subscription, I'll summarize:

Mod Note: Copyrighted material removed. Please do not post significant portions of copyrighted articles, etc. to this forum.

I will say, it was funny watching the uber liberals on this site jump through hoops to slander and cover for their own. How typical. The rest of America recognizes the threat to our democracy when a constituent cannot write to disagree with their most local official without being publicly called a racist and having their name and contact info outed. What she did may not be illegal but at best it sure was petty.