the following was published in Riverside edition of Southside Pride and will

be published in the Phillips/Powderhorn and Nokomis editions:







FLA grades candidates



BY DAVID TILSEN AND DEB RAMAGE



The Minneapolis Farmer Labor Association sent a document to nine declared

candidates for mayor of Minneapolis. The first two pages comprised a State

of the City, setting forth our urgent view of what needs to be done.



We said that extreme poverty is on the rise, the wealth and income gap is

growing, and a generation of youth is losing hope in its future. The

disparity in unemployment rates by race in Minneapolis is astronomical, as

well as “gaps” in housing, school achievement and health outcomes. In some

cases there is real hunger here in our city. We highlighted housing issues:

Like the rest of the country, Minneapolis has had a catastrophic hit to

values of housing stock, and yet the banks that hold the mortgages on these

homes have been protected from any responsibility. Thousands are in negative

equity, homelessness is rising again, and the rental market is severely

unbalanced, with both rents and vacancies being high. We highlighted major

problems with policing: In order for police to be effective, they must be

seen as trusting and supporting the citizenry they serve. It is also

important for the citizens to trust and support the police, but this trust

needs to be earned and deserved. Currently, the Minneapolis Police, as well

as the Park and Transit Police, are perceived and act as a problem rather

than a solution to safety and livability. We highlighted fiscal problems,

including the string of costly settlements for police misconduct and the

stadium “deal.” We brought up energy issues and the need to move toward a

cleaner, more sustainable energy system. In short, we described a cry for

leadership and accountability, for meaning and vision, and we invited the

candidates to step up to the plate and tell us what they’ve got.



We asked several yes or no questions (these are listed in the chart, except

for the one about Urban Farms because there is another organization that

polled the candidates on these issues). We also had some open ended

questions, which were also used in scoring.



Gary Schiff was our top scorer, with a grade of A. Besides having OK to very

good answers on all the questions, he was the only candidate to “get” the

question about refusing to accept, even if offered, the endorsement of the

Police Federation. In his words: “We have a long way to go in building trust

between the police and the community, and I believe such an endorsement will

get in the way of a dialogue about the future of policing in Minneapolis.”



Just behind Schiff, and nearly tied, were two less well-known candidates,

special education teacher Jim Thomas, and left-independent John Charles

Wilson.



Thomas had good ideas on question 14, but his vision statement on No. 15 was

just OK, for an overall B. We really appreciated Wilson’s straight yes/no

answers to straightforward questions, but his No. 15 reply was also

underwhelming, so he also got a B. Bob Carney Jr. is a center-right

independent who is also an Occupy activist. He virtually defines himself as

single-issue (the Transportation Revolution, which we found to be brilliant)

and yet has surprisingly broad vision in his answers. He came fourth out of

nine with a C+ grade. As an Occupy activist, some of his replies to

questions on the foreclosure crisis and homelessness were in step with the

FLA! Current Council Member Don Samuels came in just behind Carney with a

C-. He scored well on the poverty and social issues questions, but is

actively seeking “any” endorsements (i.e., he doesn’t get it) and gave an

unsatisfying answer to the stadium deal question.



Four candidates trailed far behind with one D and three Fs. Former City

Council President Jackie Cherryhomes had some good answers, but

unfortunately not enough to make it past a D grade. Her answer to the first

question, about the criminalization of homelessness, showed her distinctly

out of step with FLA values, as she turned to “the Downtown Council and

downtown congregations” as key to solving this problem. Republican Cam

Winton at least made an effort and gave very honest and straightforward

answers, so he scored higher than the remaining two DFL contenders. Again,

here are cases of two politicians who don’t understand the issues. On No. 1,

about the criminalization of homelessness, one referred to rates of crime in

public housing, and invoked “private capital” as a possible savior. We found

almost all of front-runner Mark Andrew’s answers to be mere political

waffle, or perhaps copy for a sound bite. Perhaps we should have given him

extra credit for having the most weasel-y answer to the stadium deal

question: “I support the merit of our City Charters and State laws and will

honor both as mayor.” The lowest score, and the Putting All Her Eggs in One

Basket prize, goes to Council Member Betsy Hodges, who elected to only

answer question No. 15, which we had told candidates would be printed in the

Southside Pride in full. So we are going to honor that promise and you can

decide if it was worth the gamble on her part: “I have the experience and

leadership to ensure every person, neighborhood and community is

participating in our progress by eliminating the racial and community gaps

in jobs, wages and education. We will also attract more residents and

businesses by providing a denser transportation system, stronger schools and

enhancing livability.”







Overall we were disappointed in most of the candidates. This year’s election

is an opportunity to think about our city and where it can go. In future

issues we will go into more detail on specific issue areas, such as housing,

public safety, homelessness, poverty and democracy. We will also question

all City Council candidates that file for election.

