Still MORE local politics: followup information on the District 5 Park Board race

[naomikritzer]

Carol Kummer wrote back to me two days after I e-mailed her, which is a respectably prompt response, I think. I asked her about her endorsements, first off, and here's who she listed:

AFSCME Council 5
Mpls Fire Fighters #82
Police Officers Federation of Mpls
Stonewall DFL "A" rating
WomenWinning

FWIW, I tend to view a Police Officers Federation endorsement as a substantial minus. Our PD has a lot of problems -- really ugly, awful problems. (A news story about that arrest, if you'd prefer not to watch the video footage.) I don't have a lot of faith in the Minneapolis Police Department, though to be fair, my personal interactions with them have all been neutral or positive. (But I am a middle-aged white woman. Very few of the people who get the crap beaten out of them by the police in Minneapolis are in my particular demographic.)

(And if you're wondering why I said I wanted a well-trained police department in my previous post -- I would like our police officers to be trained not to use the minimum force, rather than kicking the shit out of a guy who's down and subdued.)

Back to Carol Kummer.

She's also supported or endorsed by Sen. Linda Berglin, Rep. Jeff Hayden, County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin, City Council Member Sandy Colvin Roy, andformer State Senator Wes Skoglund.  She says she only seeks endorsement of elected officials who live in the district. So, fair enough.

I asked her what she considered to be the biggest difference between her and Jason Stone. She didn't really answer that question, but instead listed her experience and some of the projects the board has accomplished during her tenure. (Which includes some really great stuff.) (Come to think of it, this may be why it's usually so hard to dislodge Park Board incumbents: practically anyone on the park board can type of a list of accomplishments and it's guaranteed to be full of things that will fill people with warm, positive feelings. The restoration of the WPA walls along the creek! The gorgeous new Wabun picnic area near the falls, with its fabulous wading pool! The restored walking/biking trails on the river! There's nothing there not to like.)

I asked her if there was any local politician that she particularly admired or aspired to be like. She responded with a list of attributes she thought were shared by effective public servants:

- Most decide to run because of a desire to serve people and/or to correct an injustice;
- Once elected, their focus is to learn and do the best possible job for their constituents;
- Deep roots in their communities and a sense of commonality, ability to relate and to communicate and 'play nice' with their colleagues;
- Stick-to-ativeness and ability to work with others to accomplish goals.

I tend to agree with her on these.

Here's the big issue with Carol, honestly. In the various infighting over money and the Park Board in the city this year, there was a group that wanted to give the Park Board independent authority to levy taxes; I thought this sounded like a really bad idea, but it didn't wind up on the ballot anyway so I didn't do a ton of research on it. Anyway, Carol Kummer favored the idea; the whole incumbent board favored it, according to a friend, though he may have been speaking a little hyperbolically. At any rate, after spending the entire damn afternoon reading arguments about how finances are done in Minneapolis, I actually think the way we do them NOW is pretty reasonable: we have a couple of finance wonks, plus three council members and a park board rep who set property taxes and allocate the money. It seems like this is a situation that provides for some balance.

So, I'm probably going to vote for Stone.

Comments

Hi

[(Anonymous)]

Your comments are fair and you draw some connections that are sometimes missed. I'm running "for" a lot, BUT... in response to some points you've raised:

Police and fire didn't screen candidates; they have their own decision making process which is tied to the Park Board's attorney, who also represents them, who also supports Carol

Carol had publicly retired from her position; when her anointed candidate backed out she filed to run at the last minute

Carol has sought support outside the district, losing some to me and losing some naturally due to her planned retirement

The period of time Carol served on the board is one of the most contentious periods in the history of the Park Board; for example, Carol was part of the 5-4 majority that conducted a surprise vote to hire a superintendent that had neither applied nor interviewed-- they didn't even give a heads up to the 4 minority officials (one of many issues, but exemplary)

What's funny is I'm running to correct injustices perpetuated by Carol, and she refuses to acknowledge them, like this one (http://www.startribune.com/local/63200852.html?elr=KArks:DCiUoaW_eEO7UiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU) or this (http://www.citypages.com/2005-11-02/news/park-and-wreck/) or this (http://www.citypages.com/2005-11-23/news/a-little-help-from-their-friends/)... you get the idea.

I didn't have a political bone in my body until mismanagement I saw fueled my sense of "I can do better". Thanks for caring and sharing.


Jason Stone

[von-krag.livejournal.com]

Some of Carol's endorsements scare me as a independent voter. Skoglund & Berglin are both Statist tax & spenders who really don't trust the body politic. AFSCME Council 5, Mpls Fire Fighters #82 & Police Officers Federation of Mpls are all pushing for more monies & less accountability for their members. IMO trying to keep the city 'crats & government is the ideal, the Park Board is trying to expand their purview.

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting. Now that the March and housesitting are both over I've got to get to researching the election.

On an odd note I'm going to Gary Shift's victory party this Tuesday (a bit early, me thinks...) to keep Join The Impact Twin Cities face out there. Jeff and Val live in his district, and don't like Shift much. Me, I'm in Lisa Goodman's.