Fight crime by doing something that isn’t window dressing

The Minneapolis Shadow is continuously irked by people who are a position to make a difference and really solve an issue who end up only doing something that amounts to window dressing. Now we have a bunch on posters from a Minneapolis chat group that are putting together a block party in North Minneapolis to draw attention to the hood. Good grief! Join hands and have another candlelight service why don’t you! These events do nothing to solve the issues! Where is the banding together to address the lack of the number of cops on the streets? Where is the group to increase sentencing terms for killers? Where is the city council protests against misappropriating public funds? Where are these groups against the do nothing incumbents? Well, I guess, if they solve problems they wouldn’t have a need for their forum now would they. Stop wasting everybody’s time!

Mayor Rybak increases taxes to pay for necessities while still spending on non-essentials

Otherwise known as having your cake and eating it too. The Minneapolis Shadow has had it up to my keyboard with the irresponsible spending habits of the Mayor and “silly council”. They think that having a lower increase is something to cheer about. My God, in this period when people are experiencing increases in just about every essential known to man, and they are cheering about increases in taxes. Time to switch to a different brand of Cool-Aid. This isn’t even the only increase “the gang” is proposing. Increase in business taxes to pay for their pet downtown projects, which will result in further driving the business climate down, is just one example. If the bikeway projects are approved they will need to come back and ask for more from the taxpayers. Increases in your state and federal taxes will be coming because of continued spending sprees driven by cities crazies such as Minneapolis. The “elected” officials such as Rybak, Ostrow, Colvin Roy, and Goodman who are cheering on these budget proposals need to be held to account for their insanity. Where are the budget cuts? There are none in Minneapolis! Only budget increase cuts! Just once, once, I’d like to hear some “elected” official say “due to the tight economy that everyone is feeling, we the elected representatives of you the people, are cutting our budgets and lowering taxes, to become good stewards of the taxpayer’s money. We will hold the line on spending, and look for ways to save the city money instead of increasing the tax burden on you the people. “ Does anyone have the “balls” to do that? I think not, because no one on the council has any!

Mayor Rybak grows city government to spend more taxpayer money

The Mayor wants to grow an already bloated government to spend taxpayer money. The Mayor wants to create a new city department that would manage the money and the projects. This is a double-edged sword, since the current NRP system has resulted in a multi-million dollar waste, fraud, and abuse scheme. The current system has allowed neighborhoods to spend the money on staff, offices, pet projects, and created a training ground for future elected officials. I’m all in favor of money being spent in neighborhoods the way the majority of the neighbors want it spent. I thought representing the needs, wants, and desires of the residents was the job of the city council members. However, creating a new city department to do this isn’t the answer either. The extra money, if it must be collected and handed out, should be done between the residents, the existing city planning department, and the council members. This plan doesn’t diminish the role of the community councils at all, and would hold generally elected city officials to account for the plans. We already have a government structure in place to create plans and handout money, USE IT!

For the 5th straight month crime is up in Minneapolis

Here are the numbers for the month of July.
Rape +15%
Robbery +7%
Aggravated Assaults +10%
Burglary +2
Larceny +5
Arson +5%
Overall crime totals +4%

Compared to last July
Homicide +100%
Burglary +9%
Larceny +10%
Overall crime totals +2%
And August is already not looking good in the Homicide department. Where is Mayor Rybak and the “silly council” on this? They must be hiding under their desks or ignoring the problem.

The War on Partisanship

We have had many wars; some militarily and some figuratively. We have had the War On Poverty, the War on Drugs, but where is the War on Partisanship? One of the biggest underlying problems with our political system today is the deepening divide between the political ideologies. Political discourse is the critical foundation of our Republic, however we have lost our ability to focus on solving the issues instead of the rhetoric. Many of my friends are steeped into the political process in one form or fashion in one party or the other. God love them for their beliefs and hard fought stances on issues. The problem is that too much of our policy-making has been compromised by money and pay back issues. Common sense and the good of the people has been replaced by political gamesmanship and partisan “got you one upsmanship”. These games are played on all levels of government.
On the national scene you see that America can’t produce the energy needed to fill the needs of its people. This is due to the silly notion that the oil companies can’t be responsible stewards of the environment.
On the state scene you see that Minnesota can’t provide much needed work on bridges and roads because the funding is misused or political games are being played out by oversized children (see article in the StarTribune http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/26818829.html?page=1&c=y).
On the local city scene you have the one party fiefdom that continually treats Minneapolis like a game of SimCity with the money cheat entered as many times as needed to fulfill it’s ever-loving need for spending.
For the very good of the county, state, and city; Stop the insanity and get to the real work of addressing real problems before we the people declare war on you!

Flapjacks and Flip-Flops..The Messiah Barack Obama is in St. Paul

Sorry for the Messiah title given to Senator Obama by other media figures, but his candidacy reminds me more of movement rather than a campaign. Doesn’t mean that a movement is a bad thing. The flapjacks reference is credited to the fact that he had pancakes at his breakfast fundraiser. I promise to make equal fun of Senator “Straighten up and talk” when he comes to town. The flip-flops reference is to the “all not so mighty’s” changing positions on issues such as oil drilling.
The Minneapolis Shadow focuses the subject matter regarding the Presidential race on areas as they relate to city policy and areas of concern on a local level. The fact that the presumptive Democrat nominate for President has presented us with his grace (or is that grace us with his presents) it gives me an opportunity to fire my first salvo in this war for the big chair.
One aspect that a city must focus on as a key livability factor is education. Looking at the two main presumptive candidates there are a number of differences that are key.

McCain talks about reform, innovate, responsibility, accountability and parental choice. These areas all are critical to fixing education mess that cities such as Minneapolis find themselves in.

Obama talks about overall increased funding, increased programs, providing daycare, and school and community partnerships. We have done all these things for years and have produced little results. He does talk about mentoring, tutoring, and extended learning time which I agree is critical to improving education.

I look forward to hearing more from these two on this issue as the season really heats up. Right now I think Senator McCain has the better plan.

For the latest string of murders - bring on the vigils

First and foremost my heart goes out to those that have lost loved ones in the ongoing murders occurring in Minneapolis. All life is precious and we should mourn when one is cut short. These vigils that happen after a murder has been committed maybe good for community healing, but do nothing towards eliminating the problem. The best time that can be done to honor the memories of those gone is to take action to solve the problem. No amount of hand holding and singing of hymns is going to solve anything. It takes action by the “elected” officials, police, and the community to rid ourselves of this reoccurring problem. Unless our city council members, Mayor, and other “elected” officials take the kind of action needed to solve this; we are going to continue to break out the hymn books and candles. It’s past time to demand action!

Avoiding Criminal Recidivism

One of the biggest problems in the criminal justice system is the repeat offender. There are many factors that make it difficult for a paroled individual to “get along” once released and to avoid repeat offences. Difficulty in finding jobs, housing, drug and alcohol treatment, and general reintegration into society issues contribute to the pressures of avoiding violations. The Urban Institute did a case study on the interaction with parole officers, which I found very interesting http://www.urban.org/publications/411744.html. It highlights the need to have parole officers take a more active role in leading ex-cons to jobs, housing, treatment programs, and other needed services. Taking this approach would go a long towards cutting the recidivism rate and be a very good investment of the taxpayer’s dollar.

Newsflash: Minneapolis has plenty of money to support its essentials

The city council members and mayor must have looked in the correct cookie jar because they have found $41 million dollars to spend on something that isn’t a necessity. I guess they now can afford more cops, to pay for their own park improvements and bike paths, can buy back their movie rental libraries, and can lower taxes. The project to change the traffic patterns on Marquette and second avenues, add art and landscaping, widen sidewalks, and change bus lines will cost $41 million dollars in a city that the officials claim they always need more money to fund their responsibilities. Next time the ‘silly council” and mayor claim they need more money from you, better hold on to your wallets and tell them to take a flying leap down Marquette avenue.

Council Committee passes cab fare increases without the Republican National Convention increase

For the record :
The Republican National Convention cab fare increase was proposed by Gary Schiff and backed by Cam Gordon. The proposal was rejected by Barbara Johnson, Paul Ostrow, and Diane Hofstede. The Minneapolis Shadow applauds the rejecters and jeers the supporters.

However, Minneapolis will now rank 5th highest among 20 cities in cab costs. Remember, public transportation costs are one of the livability factors of urban areas.

BTW, the increase will be in place before the convention. Screw the Republicans anyway.

Police Discrimination Settlement… No Vote..No Deal..Let the Trial Begin

The spineless rubberneckers on the “silly council” decided not to make a statement at all on the settlement offered regarding the police discrimination lawsuit. This equals an impasse so the trial will move forward.
Analysis:
This problem should have never gotten this far. If there are problems in the department it is the job of the “elected” to make sure the problems didn’t continue and get to this point. If there isn’t a problem then it should have been dealt with and never should have reached this point.
The council needed to take a position on this issue. Instead of being mute they needed to either back the officers or the police chief. Once again, politics is trumping the best interest of the city. You can’t tell me that nobody knows who is really right on this issue, because there has been plenty of time to investigate it. If no independent investigation has been done to find the truth, then that is another problem. If the city loses this, and it is decided that there has been wrongdoing by the department; the chief, the council members, and the Mayor SHOULD all those their jobs. If the city wins this, and it is found there was no wrongdoing by the department; the officers SHOULD pay for all the expenses related to the lawsuit and lose their jobs. The council members and the Mayor SHOULD be held to tough public rebuke for not having taken care of this problem sooner.

Minneapolis Police award winning embarrassment

The Minneapolis Police award the officers involved in the mistaken raid on the wrong home. See the details at http://www.startribune.com/local/26083024.html?location_refer=Minneapolis:highlightModules:4.
The Minneapolis Shadow believes that it is correct to award officers’ that get shot in the line of duty. I can’t imagine how tough it is to be a police officer and I have the utmost respect for the police, and thank God they are out there. However, this is a total and complete blunder by the administration, and a good example of one of the major problems facing Minneapolis. As the story goes Chief Dolan didn’t speak with the family, but did spoke with Hmong community leaders who were mostly understanding of the awards. Not speaking to the family before the awards were handed out is the wrong thing to do. He might not have been successful in getting the family to talk with him or getting them to understand, but it should have been attempted. Be it the Mayor, City Council, County Board, State Representatives, or whoever from Minneapolis; it seems that the idea of talking with certain community leaders is what they always do instead of talking directly to the people themselves. Most of the time I find that so called “community leaders” really don’t have the backing of the majority of a group of people to begin with. On the national scene people like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are looked upon as “community leaders” and end up speaking for black people. I have found that most black people don't think the same way these two do, and therefore aren’t a true representation of their beliefs, needs, wants, and desires. The “elected” need to be more careful who they are putting in front of the line of communication, especially in a situation such as this. Why allow anyone else to speak for the people who are most directly concerned? Talking to just the “leaders” is either an attempt at putting forward just a token effort, or is just plain misguided.

Why not to do business with Minneapolis

All the “Silly Council” wants to do is soak you if you want to do business with or in Minneapolis. Here is a good example of the type of “stick it to them” business approach that the city takes, which you’ll never see unless someone is watching closely.
Take a look at the agenda for the Public Safety and Regulatory Committee Agenda item number one on taxicabs. The time period for the fare increases are during the Republican National Convention.
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/council/2008-meetings/20080808/PSRS20080730agenda.asp#TopOfPageInstead of being happy to allow the increase in revenue from the activity that the convention brings, such as income from cab rides, they need to raise fares. I find this practice appalling. It is another example of how the city officials purposely go out of their way to discourage business growth, or are just plain stupid when it comes to long term thinking on economic development.

Another couple of KILLINGS in North Minneapolis

First of all, my thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and family members who lost loved ones today. It is a very sad occurrence, and my heart goes out to you,
Second, to the community affected, my hope for you is that you are able to find a way to not feel the fear from these types of actions. We need to have a degree of security restored in the areas of our city that are ravaged with violence.
Our city leaders , “elected” politicians , and justice system have let us all down. The number one job of anyone elected to public office is to serve and protect the public, and to that I say the “elected” in Minneapolis are in dereliction of duty. While they celebrate an unearned victory in bring the crime rate down, which it really isn’t, they are actually ostriches with their collective heads in the sand (really I think they hide their heads somewhere else) and won’t deal with the reality of the situation. When are we going to get some real leadership on the crime issue, and get this under control?