It’s Time to Decide

As you can tell from the accompanying ad prepared by the campaign, I am supporting John Hayden for the Minneapolis City Council. I do this for a very simple reason: he believes in the public’s right to know how their money is being spent and he has the courage and intelligence to make this a reality.

Now that may seem a bit absurd. After all, of course, the public has a right to know when their money is involved. But tragically, that is increasingly not true.

Just ask yourself a few basic questions:

·       Do you know what is in the package involving the NFL and the Super Bowl committee? Is the taxpayer on the hook? And for how much?

·       Do you know how, when or why the state legislature overrode the Minneapolis City Charter which limited taxpayer contributions to professional sport teams owners to $10 million? The new law now opens the door for unlimited taxpayer monies to the billionaires owning the teams. Why did our elected city officials support this?

·       Do you know how or why the Vikings got use of the downtown Common parks free of charge?  We, the taxpayers, bought the park for some $20 million and we pay millions for its upkeep. Where is Zygi’s money? (Answer: In his pocket.)

·       Did you know that the city property taxpayers are on the hook for the parking ramps used by the Vikings on game and other days for free?  Property taxpayers likely will spend some $30 million to subsidize these ramps.

If you did poorly on this test, it is understandable. There has been very little transparency on the transfer of public monies to wealthy team owners. The issue here is openness in government and the right of the public to participate in decisions that take their money. We can debate the wisdom of government/ sports teams’ partnerships later. But, for now, we should agree on full and open disclosure.

This is particularly essential when we realize that we are cutting back on education for our children, reducing our commitment to public safety, and ignoring the thousands of youngsters and war veterans looking for a place to sleep.

Let’s have a full public discourse on our priorities and it all starts with supporting candidates who will lead the fight for openness.

John Hayden fits the bill. He and his wife, Jackie, are currently raising a three-year old son in the Waite Park neighborhood and, like all parents; they want the doors of opportunity open and the streets safe.

This coupled with a background of service to disadvantaged children as a teacher and mentor speaks to his commitment. Currently, as a manager with Genesys Works, he creates opportunities for young people by helping them develop useful job skills and employment internships. This also involves working with schools and businesses to form partnerships for employment.

Frankly, we need that kind of dedication to the public good in City Hall. I know that he will fight for us.  If you can, please send a modest contribution or a note of support to John at his website:  www.myneighborjohn.com.

Thanks,

Arne

Those were the Days

Last week, Keith Ford organized a reunion of former members of the Minneapolis City Council consisting largely of those who served from the 1960’s to the 1980’s. Clearly, it was a delight to renew old acquaintances and reminisce about the past.

But what was so apparent to me was that these people knew how to govern. That meant bi-partisan cooperation (yes, Republicans were quite dominant for many years back then) with a real focus on advancing the public good. And we were blessed with a Citizens League that brought together CEO’s, labor leaders, along with alderman and legislators. It was about public policy. The Star Tribune led by John Cowles, Jr. was an incredible asset in that they had top flight reporters and a superb editorial staff all with the same goal of the long-term common good. All players were committed to public disclosure in order to avoid even the suspicion of private gain.

These partnerships helped Minneapolis become a national model. I toast all of these wonderful retired leaders who were in attendance. Hopefully, their values will return to City Hall.

Attending:

Ward         Alderman     

1.                  Walt Dziedzic

2.                  Tom Johnson
                     John Cairns
                     Kathy O'Brien
                     Joan Campbell

3.                  Dianne Hofstede
                     Dick Miller
4.                  John Derus

5.                  Lou DeMars

6.                  Earl Netwal

7.                 Lee Munnich
                     Parker Trostel
                     John Bergford
                     Dan Cohen

8.                  Ed Felien

9.                  Tony Scallon

10.               Keith Ford
                     Sally Howard
                     Joan Niemiec

11.               Walt Rockenstein

12.              Arne Carlson

                    Dan Quillin

                    Dennis Schulstad

13.               John Johnson
                    Bill Nieman

City Clerk/City Coordinator - Lyall Schwarzkopf
City Attorney - Walt Duffy
Council Aide - Jan del Calzo

Yes, the Best and Brightest are Here

Like so many others, Susan and I have been in a political funk since the election. It has been draining our optimism and elevating our doubts about the future. In our younger days, we celebrated John Kennedy’s summons for the “best and the brightest” to join in the service of our nation. Overall, our generation and those that followed responded. The Kennedy challenge was the challenge of our “Greatest Generation”:  betterment of the human condition. That was always the goal.

With the advent of Donald Trump, we questioned our tomorrow and wondered where the “best and brightest” have gone.

Then some two weeks ago, I entered the hospital at the University of Minnesota for surgery that involved a six-day stay. It was there we found the answer to the question of our best and brightest.

Anyone who has been a patient knows about vulnerability. But no one knows it better than the health providers who combine medical excellence with warmth and understanding of patient care.

As the recipient of their professionalism, I realized that as a nation we have not lost our sense of excellence. No, we have just neglected to draw our talented youth into political service. For years, we pounded government and politics with daily attacks of incredible negativity and now we are reaping the results. The best are elsewhere.

The University of Minnesota Hospital radiated excellence and demonstrated a culture that is patient centered. From the cleaning staff that always greeted me with cheer and well wishes to surgeons who came regularly to check in and nurses who had to deal with the complicated challenges of medical technology while providing the ultimate healer, human warmth, all combined to renew our faith and confidence in tomorrow.

This experience not only healed a wounded body but also restored our confidence that the best and brightest are still there but we, the people, have to encourage them to enter public service. Without excellence in our governance no other excellence will thrive.

Let’s start with teaching civics in our schools and accepting responsibility for restoring quality in our mission to serve the public.

A Call to Sobriety and Courage

In college, I remember the enormous impact one classmate had on our culture. His dominate and unyielding personality allowed him to impose his negativity on those around him. With surprising speed, his way became an acceptable norm.

That is precisely what Donald Trump has done to our nation. Initially, he infected the GOP campaign and analysts all said his reckless and vulgar behavior would change as the campaign developed. Then it would change with the nomination. Well, certainly we were told, it would change when he was elected. But the fact remains that his behavior is constant and will not change. And, we the people are his enablers.

Those of us who supported Hillary Clinton have wondered aloud how the Republican Party would treat her were she President and behaved in an identical fashion. But that approach simply results in an irrational tirade.

However, suppose the President were a Bush. Would Republicans act the same way? Would the party who for generations blistered Democrats for being “soft on Communism” be so quick to embrace a Bush Presidency that was rolling in Russian embraces? Would they accept the daily untruths and the eye rolling exaggerations? Add to this the contradictory messages, the absence of any system that resembles competency in management and the willingness to transfer so much domestic policy development to the Congress.

The realty is that we have granted Trump special treatment and assigned him very low standards because we have yielded to his dominance. It has also become increasingly clear that Trump lives in an alternative world. It is the world of rallies where he is the adored commander of all. Every utterance is cheered and all ideas are celebrated as the greatest ever. In that world, Trump possesses all truth and goodness and those who question or disagree are liars and obstructionists.

The world we identify as real is to Trump “fake” and, I suspect, he truly believes that. Tweeting is Trump’s link between the two.

Welcome to the world of government by chaos as predicted by Jeb Bush.

For those who regard this as alarmist, I ask you to reflect on Trump’s behavior. Does it pass any standard of normalcy?

There have been episodes in American history where the Chief Executive was not fully able to properly function. But in this age of nuclear weapons and instant decision-making can we afford to simply relegate our concerns to hope?

There can be no doubt that this is a highly sensitive area. But the reality is that it is now part of personal discussions and, frequently, hinted at by the media. Our best interests dictate that it be surfaced and treated in a mature and intelligent fashion absent any partisan concern. This will require statesmanship. Two Republican leaders come to my mind: Senator John McCain and former Governor Mitt Romney.

At the same time, current investigations must continue. However, the focus should be more sharply aimed at Russia hacking and the extensive financial dealings of Trump and his business and political associates as it relates to foreign powers. These areas of inquiry go directly to issues affecting our national security and whether that security is being jeopardized or compromised.

The Trump administration has made it abundantly clear that any effort to open the doors to Russian-Trump financial dealings will be met with adamant opposition. This makes it all the more important for Republican leaders to step forward and provide our nation with the same courageous and intelligent statesmanship as we received during Watergate from GOP Senate Majority Leader, Howard Baker.  He famously directed the Watergate Commission to determine: “What did the president know and when did he know it.” 

We must again rise to the occasion.