St Paul Mayor Chris Coleman's Governor Hopes are Dying
When St Paul Mayor Chris Coleman offered St Paul to the Republican National Convention(RNC), then all of Mayor Chris Coleman's hopes for running for governor now depend on how well the RNC event is handled. Right now, it is not looking good at all.
First of all it looks bad when that we in St Paul have Republican National convention instead of the Democratic National convention. Many local dollars from business are supporting this misadventure. That business money is normally used for charity and could have been put to good use elsewhere.
Any historic research shows that at recent Republican national conventions, police have been overstepping boundaries, using violent crowd tactics on peaceful protesters resulting in rightfully huge damage judgments. Recently, courts held that indeed police can be sued for stepping over the line . St Paul insured against these possible judgments which has upset all local people who believe in free speech and community fair minded policing. Yet we have been reassured that St Paul police will stay true to community fair minded policing, even with many borrowed outsider police staff. Whether that happens or not, will determine the political reputation of both St Paul and St Paul Mayor Chris Coleman.
So over 70% of the country is now upset with President Bush's actions, and the Republican party in general. Accommodating all of the people who wish to express first amendment rights is one way that St Paul could shine publically. The St Paul seems to be blocking and obstructing, not welcoming. St Paul has dragged out the permits and now puts unreasonable limits on the most peace-pledged non-violent events being proposed.
Restrictions include prohibitions on the use of electricity and, initially, the use of tables and chairs. While Rowley praised the city for providing water and toilet facilities, she said there's been a change in the city's willingness to cooperate since she first contacted it about the event months ago.
St. Paul parks and recreation director Bob Bierscheid said the city is making an exception to even allow a gathering on Harriet Island so soon after the Labor Day event. Usually, a two-week hiatus is required for the field to recover. The prohibition on electricity relates to the potential damage to the grass from trucking equipment into the park, he added.
"We've completely relaxed our rules, because we wanted to accommodate more (groups)," Bierscheid said.
Thune remains unconvinced that the city is doing enough.
"My point is, this is a once-in-a-lifetime event. Maybe the grass should suffer. Free speech is more important than grass," he said.
Jason Hoppin can be reached at 651-292-1892.
THE TROUBLES THEY'VE SEEN
Several groups are running into problems with permits and city rules around their planned protests or activities during the Republican National Convention:
True Blue Minnesota — Needs another permit to use large JumboTron-like screens in Triangle Park.
Black Dog Cafe — City says one of the days of a planned two-day block party cannot be Sept. 1, the day the event is scheduled to end.
Coleen Rowley's "Peace Island" — Can't use electricity on Harriet Island during her Sept. 4 event.
(Pioneer Press)
Basically all local political activists can understand if the police want to limit activities of outsider groups pledged to "respect diverse tactics"(code words for lawbreaking and possible violence). However when local people and local peace pledged groups have problems with reasonable requests, then there will be a backlash. These are the hard core groups of political activism. Any one of these groups, by just calling all previous DFL convention delegates and telling their story, could block any hopes that Mayor Chris Coleman ever has of being endorsed for governor.
Indeed the role of St Paul mayor seems cursed. Both previous mayors, Norm Coleman and Randy Kelly, either turned Republican or openly supported the Republican party. Maybe we should electronically check out the mayor's office for deep subliminal conditioning bugs. Maybe the St Paul Mayor's curse has now fallen upon Mayor Chris Coleman.
Hmmmmm, the next few months are very critical.
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Really?
With all the political targets we have Minnesota (Rep. Kline, Rep. Bachmann, Sen. Coleman, Gov. Pawlenty, etc.) is now really the time to be taking shots at Mayor Coleman? This post left me somewhat baffled as to the motivation/inspiration behind what I see as an unwarranted attack on a DFL mayor and, yes, a possible gubernatorial candidate. While I recognize that the mayor of St. Paul is responsible for the actions of city employees and city departments, vague insinuations of, "calling all previous DFL convention delegates...[to] block any hopes that Mayor Chris Coleman ever has of being endorsed for governor" as being little better than blackmail. With all due respect to those individuals working hard to organize peaceful and legal demonstrations in opposition to the RNC, holding the (rumored) aspirations of a public servant against him or her to get favorable treatment is simply inappropriate. The moral high ground can be easily lost and we all should guard against letting the antagonism of election year politics from spreading through our own ranks.
My Mayor, My City!
St Paul is my city! And it is called accountability! You would not ask anyone to live without water for a year for the DFL cause. Well don't ask me to live without the ability to have free speech in my own hometown. Reasonable stuff is being asked for, by reasonable people. Unlike Republicans, we Democrats do not believe in blind loyalty to people, we believe in loyalty to principles!
Furthermore, I am just stating the obvious, given the pattern. In politics, doing the current job in a way that antagonizes political motivated people is not the way to begin a bigger broader campaign.
The issue here is more than your tribal affiliation
In the end, this is about much more than whether you are a Republican or a Democrat. From that narrow perspective, of course, Kelly is correct. By rolling out the Republican red carpet, Major Coleman has violated an unspoken sense of DFL honor. It will cost him, no matter what the results of the convention are.
But the issue is much, much bigger. Peace groups have had at least a couple of generations of respectful relations with the police, even when there was civil disobedience and arrest. Folks from Minneapolis could tell you stories about the Chief of Police there who was regularly called on to arrest his own wife. You'd better believe that she didn't get roughed up. You may also believe that she didn't blame him for doing his job by arresting her.
I cannot tell you how many times a Minneapolis or St. Paul police officer has said something kind and respectful to me during even somewhat tense demonstrations involving arrests. Clearly, it has usually been understood that peace activists were following their deeply-held sense of civic responsibility by protesting a war they considered evil and immoral. Clearly, it has been understood that police officers would be arresting those who broke the law, even when the laws protected official evil-doers.
That has changed in the past year, and the change concerns me deeply. Peace groups have been applying for permits for months and months and months, yet the police department has argued that they were powerless to grant the permits (until recently), that they could not allow the usual venues for protest. The St Paul city council has acted as if they weren't the ones who passed the ordinances. The mayor is acting like a victim of circumstances, even though he created the circumstances in the hope that his cronies would make a financial killing.
Meanwhile, the frustration with this damned (and I use the word in its technical and theological sense) war deepens. Over 4,100 Americans dead, and no end in sight. According to the V.A., there are 154,000 homeless vets. Over 6,000 vets commit suicide each year. There are around 1.2 million Iraqis dead because of the war, plus another 2 million who have fled the country and over another 2 million who are internally displaced. Two years ago, supposedly, the Democrats swept through the polls, yet Congress keeps voting multi-billion dollar appropriations to continue this wretched occupation. The eventual bill will eventually reach 3 TRILLION dollars, according to our best economists.
Right-wing Republicans now own most of the big metro newspapers, nearly all the radio stations, nearly all the television stations. And since the media has decided that the war is not news anymore, now it only affects the families of the dead or wounded.
So the city of St Paul has granted a permit that requires that protesters be gone before the RNC delegates arrive. They have set a route that makes it impossible for thousands and thousands of people to even turn around.
More that the career of Chris Coleman, I am concerned about the lost trust between the St Paul police and its citizens. More than the convention, I am concerned what civil liberties may be forever lost as new surveillance techniques and less-lethal weapons are tried out on the citizenry. More than the money that Minnesota will make or lose with this sham convention with its pre-determined conclusions, its orchestrated signage and its choreographed balloons, I am concerned how we in this once-fabled democracy will now be able to work our collective will on our government. If it is all about crowd control, what can we do to end this awful war?
abuse of power
Intimidation and abuse of power are not new to Mayor Coleman. Last year he contacted the CEO at my place of employment in an attempt to get me in trouble for organizing against his efforts to build a deadly garbage burner in my neighborhood. Although it sounds more like a tactic from Norm Coleman's days in the Mayor's office, unfortunately, it was Chris Coleman. He's up for re-election next year. Who will stand up to the schoolyard bully?