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Sunday, April 29, 2007

There is something in the air!

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posted by Bob at Sunday, April 29, 2007

3 Comments:

Blogger Bob said...

St. Paul / Politics. Intrigue. And tot lots?
A Republican 'coup' in Highland Park is the latest example of heightened partisanship on district councils
BY LAURA YUEN
Pioneer Press
Article Last Updated: 04/28/2007 06:43:10 PM CDT


Scott Walker wants the world to know about the GOP sweep you've probably never heard of.

Out of the eight open board seats on St. Paul's Highland District Council, seven went to a new slate of candidates - all Republicans - earlier this month. Walker, chairman of the St. Paul Republican Party, fired off a press release about the "historic feat."

To Walker and the newly elected, the old Highland council had operated as a little fiefdom issuing decisions on stop signs, speed bumps and tot lots without much attention from the wider community.

To the incumbents, though, the coup was baffling. Peter Armstrong, who served as the board chairman for the past year, said neighborhood cleanups and other district council duties bring little glamour.

"What can they do? We have no real power," Armstrong said.

These are strange times for district councils. St. Paul established the volunteer-driven system in 1975 to encourage everyday residents to advise the city on development and other neighborhood needs.

Critics have often charged that the councils represent narrow interests, don't reflect area demographics or ignore their middle-of-the-road constituents. In some parts of the city, council board seats have gone to those who simply showed up.

But last November, divisiveness over the proposed Bridges of St. Paul development drew almost 700 voters to the board elections for the West Side Citizens Organization. Developer Jerry Trooien and longtime community leaders rallied the project's supporters to take over the board, which opposed the project.
The group's new president, Don Luna, said the clash over the Bridges represented larger fault lines in the West Side community. He saw a disconnect between the old board - which he viewed as fixated on protecting the Mississippi River - and his group of allies who wanted more jobs and a higher quality of life in the neighborhood.

"WSCO was fiercely environmental, and while I think that's important, it isn't what drives me," Luna said.

While Luna saw a natural pendulum swing in the outcome of the West Side elections, others saw vulnerability. Loose voting qualifications opened the process up to not only West Side residents, but also to those who worked or volunteered there.

At the time, the West Side elections led Diane Gerth, a longtime West Seventh Street activist, to characterize it as a "commandeering of a neighborhood process by single-issue interests." Now, she said, she sees that some of those newly elected West Side board members are beginning to grow into their jobs and find their own voices.

At the very least, the West Side election forced district councils across the city to examine their own voting requirements. The West Seventh/Fort Road Federation, for example, recently changed its rules to allow only residents and business owners in the neighborhood to participate in board elections.

Gerth, like Armstrong, puzzles over how contentious the most provincial of elections have become.

"It's this little league dugout vs. that little league dugout," Gerth said. "It's hardly a steppingstone to greatness."

St. Paul's 19 community councils receive city money, in part based on a formula that considers such factors as population and needs. District 13, home to Merriam Park and two smaller councils, Lexington-Hamline and Snelling-Hamline, is on the cusp of a merger that was prompted in part by annual funding squabbles.

In Highland, Walker said he got involved after getting a call from one of the candidates, Georgia Dietz. The Republican activist had lost a special district council election last December by just a handful of votes.

"I thought, 'Well, let's see if we can change that,' " Walker said. "We were aggressive in getting the votes out."

As Dietz called their friends to encourage them to vote, she also urged them to run for office. Unlike the West Side, there was not a single issue that drove the campaign, Dietz said, just a desire to do things more openly. Most of her friends happen to be Republican, and those conservative voices were not represented on the Highland board, she said.

"It's like a mini-city council," Dietz said. "It almost seemed under the radar, and the people who were on it wanted it that way."

Walker wrote in his memo to the media: "I don't want our neighbors to feel this was a purely partisan game of politics. It was not. ... After the meeting was concluded no one stood and cheered or conducted themselves in a disrespectful way to those who lost. ... That's not to say there won't be some celebrating later, there will!"

While some incumbents were shocked that partisan politics entered the fray, it's not unheard of. Although the nature of district councils is apolitical, many of the people who get involved in their communities also are active politically, so some of those people overlap, said former Mayor George Latimer.

Latimer, who nurtured the district council process, said the recent coups are all part of a natural ebb and flow that has gone on throughout the district councils' history. He's not worried - even if the Highland board now veers a little more to the right.

"To think that our city is still a safe place for fragile species like Republicans is very good," said Latimer, a Democrat. "It tells me we're a tolerant race of people here in St. Paul."

Laura Yuen can be reached at lyuen@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5498.

St. Paul District Councils

Created: 1975

Purpose: Give residents an advisory role in city government. Councils review development proposals, help create long-term neighborhood plans and organize volunteer efforts.

Information: To find out which district council you live in, visit www.stpaul.gov and click on the "residents" tab.

9:50 AM  
Blogger Bob said...

Diane Gerth, this is just the beginning of an attempt to clean this City up.

Politics as usual start right here in these district councils, and it's politics as usual the citizens of Saint Paul are tired of seeing.

10:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What I find so interesting is the fact the people who have shared in the monopoly of power in our neighborhoods for many years, are now angry & confused that others are finally taking an interest in the City at the grass roots level.

I know you felt self worth, & powerful having a say in your communities and now others want a say too. Bummer huh!

We need to educate the citizens of Saint Paul why it is so important to take the time to show an interest in their community, this way a small number of people aren't making decesions for all of us.

Think about Mrs. Cravits. Is this the neighbor you want representing YOU in the community.

Get invovled.

Thank you to the host of this blog.

12:19 PM  

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