Let's Blame the Jews

[CEHughes]

Sometimes, the Dallas City Council is so much fun I don't even have to make up the news. This story is real -- for once.

YOU JEWS ARE CONTROLLING CITY HALL -- SAYS "DOCTOR" MAXINE-THORNTON-REESE

Dallas Morning News (http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/121505dnmetcouncil.175eb5aa.html)
Thornton-Reese: Words taken out of context
11:24 AM CST on Thursday, December 15, 2005
By EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News


Dallas City Council member Mitchell Rasansky says colleague Maxine Thornton-Reese made insensitive comments about Jews during an off-the-floor discussion at Wednesday's meeting.

Mitchell Rasansky Mr. Rasansky, who is Jewish, said Dr. Thornton-Reese told him, "You Jews are controlling City Hall," and wouldn't let go of his arm during a heated encounter while their colleagues debated a controversial burglar-alarm policy.

Dr. Thornton-Reese, who is black, said she doesn't think she said that. She said she was simply trying to have a discussion about what role race and religion play at City Hall. She said Mr. Rasansky misunderstood her and fled the room before she could finish the conversation.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/img/12-05/1215maxine.jpg
Maxine "Mein Fuerher" Thornton-Reese

"I was telling him, 'Jews gravitate to Jews, the same way African-Americans gravitate to African-Americans,' " she said. "Sometimes we let race and other things influence our votes. He refused to discuss with me anything about religion."

Mr. Rasansky, responding to questions after a reporter overheard Dr. Thornton-Reese say the word "Jewish" after the verified-response vote, called the comments "extremely inappropriate."

"You have to have thick skin around here, but my God! You have to be a rhinoceros," he said. Religion "is something that just shouldn't be discussed down here."

Maxine Thornton-Reese The back-room conversation came in the midst of the council's debate on "verified response" for commercial businesses – a policing policy that allows officers to ignore burglar alarms until a witness confirms there's an emergency.

Halfway through the discussion, council member Ron Natinsky, who also is Jewish, moved to delay the vote until next month. Mr. Rasansky seconded the motion.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/img/12-05/1215rasansky.jpg
Mitchell Rasansky

Dr. Thornton-Reese, a strong opponent of verified response, became visibly upset when she heard this motion and second. She made a substitute motion to defeat it immediately.

At some point during the discussion, Mr. Rasansky said, Dr. Thornton-Reese pulled him aside. He said that she appeared to be angry that he supported Mr. Natinsky's motion and that she expressed frustration because she thinks Jewish City Council members often vote together. Mayor Laura Miller, who is also Jewish, supported verified response.

"She said, 'You Jews have to stop,' " Mr. Rasansky said, demonstrating how Dr. Thornton-Reese grabbed his arm.

Dr. Thornton-Reese, who was angry and agitated when she spoke to The Dallas Morning News in the same back room where she and Mr. Rasansky exchanged words Wednesday afternoon, said she thought the news media were trying to take her comments out of context and portray her in a negative light.

She said she has nothing against people of other races or religions. Her goal, she said, was to make sure those differences don't play a role in decision-making at City Hall.

"I was trying to tell him that a lot of times, people misinterpret what we do because they put labels on us," she said.

Dr. Thornton-Reese was also involved in a controversial council debate in January in which she suggested that a comparison between Nazis and a proposal to strengthen mayoral powers was valid.

Mr. Natinsky and Ms. Miller said Mr. Rasansky approached them immediately after Wednesday's conversation and told them what Dr. Thornton-Reese had said to him. "He was very upset about it – I'm surprised he was as calm as he was during the rest of the meeting," Mr. Natinsky said.

Ms. Miller said it was clear to everyone on the council – from the noise and the mood – that some kind of "scuffle" had occurred. For the rest of the debate, Dr. Thornton-Reese continued to "snap at him across the horseshoe," Ms. Miller said.

Dr. Thornton-Reese's substitute motion failed, as did Mr. Natinsky's motion. In the end, verified response passed on a 8-5 vote, with Mr. Rasansky, Mr. Natinsky and Dr. Thornton-Reese on the same side – voting no.

E-mail eramshaw@dallasnews.com

[columbiasooner]

I like how Fantroy reverses the whip on Rasansky....




Council: 'Jews' remark isolated
Dallas: Thornton-Reese outburst seen as part of frustration with Miller





07:56 AM CST on Friday, December 16, 2005
By EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/DN-councilfolo_16met.ART0.North.Edition2.1d95d7be.htm l)


Dallas City Council member Maxine Thornton-Reese's comments Wednesday about fellow member Mitchell Rasansky's faith were out of line, their colleagues say – and not emblematic of any institutional discord between blacks and Jews.

"Religion is not a divisive factor in how we as council members make our decisions," Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill said Thursday. Dr. Thornton-Reese "just got out of control. I know this isn't the way she feels. She wasn't able to rein her emotions in."

But some local politicians and longtime City Hall observers say Dr. Thornton-Reese's afternoon outburst – in which she allegedly told Mr. Rasansky that "You Jews are controlling City Hall" – was a reflection of her long-running frustration with Mayor Laura Miller. She took it out on Mr. Rasansky because he's so often allied with her, they said.

"Her frustration is with the mayor, and Mr. Rasansky has been the mayor's bulldog," said Rufus Shaw Jr., a southern-sector political analyst. "They just happen to be Jewish. And as a result, it was a simple but unfortunate leap to make."

Dr. Thornton-Reese could not be reached for comment Thursday. But she told The News on Wednesday that her words had been taken out of context and that she was simply trying to have a discussion on race and religion at City Hall.

She said that she hoped to convey to Mr. Rasansky how sometimes "Jews gravitate to Jews, the same way African-Americans gravitate to African-Americans" but that he cut her off before she could finish.

Wednesday's dustup occurred during a heated City Council exchange over a controversial burglar alarm policy that will require commercial alarm users to authenticate an emergency before police respond.

Dr. Thornton-Reese opposed the measure, as did Mr. Rasansky. But she became agitated when Mr. Rasansky seconded a motion made by council member Ron Natinsky, who is also Jewish, to delay the vote until next month. She made her own substitute motion to defeat the measure immediately.

Mr. Rasansky told The News that Dr. Thornton-Reese pulled him into a back room behind the council chambers, closed the door and grabbed hold of his arm, shouting comments like, "You Jews need to stop."

Mr. Rasansky said he shook her off and left the room immediately, then told Mr. Natinsky and Ms. Miller what had happened.

Both Dr. Thornton-Reese's and Mr. Natinsky's motions failed. In the end, the burglar alarm policy passed, with Dr. Thornton-Reese, Mr. Rasansky and Mr. Natinsky all voting no. Ms. Miller supported verified response.

Mr. Hill, who was out of town and couldn't attend Wednesday's council meeting, said he worried from afar that Dr. Thornton-Reese might lose her cool. He spoke to her before the meeting, he said, and she was already agitated.

Several council members said Dr. Thornton-Reese had been in the hospital last week, forcing her to miss a council convention in North Carolina.

"I had a clear sense this was a day that was going to be very emotionally challenging for her," said Mr. Hill, who "almost got tears" in his eyes when he heard about Wednesday's aftermath.

While Mr. Hill said he rejects Dr. Thornton-Reese's comments, "on issues that council members have an extra degree of passion about – she was really feeling the anxiety many [opponents of the burglar alarm policy] have expressed to us."

The regional office of the Anti-Defamation League on Thursday called Dr. Thornton-Reese's comments "shocking, inappropriate, unfortunate and hurtful" and said it would "be appropriate if she apologized."

And Gary Weinstein, the CEO and executive vice president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas, said such assertions "give a misperception of coercion and collaboration that is furthest from the truth."

"We understand people say things in the heat of debate," he said. "But it's ridiculous to assume that because of their religion, folks will vote one way or another."

But council member James Fantroy said Thursday that he blames Mr. Rasansky for going public with his and Dr. Thornton-Reese's back-room discussion. The City Council is like a family, he said, in which conversations behind closed doors "should be left behind closed doors."
"If it's said at the [council table], that's a different story," said Mr. Fantroy, who is black. "But even if the N-word was said behind closed doors, it shouldn't come out. Maybe something got heated. There are a whole lot of things said behind doors that [people] don't mean to say."

Mr. Rasansky said Thursday that he has not asked Dr. Thornton-Reese for an apology. They have spoken, he said, and agreed that the discussion is over.

"This needs to go away, for the good of Dallas," he said.

Mr. Shaw agreed that Dr. Thornton-Reese's choice of words was unfortunate. But he said her frustration has nothing to do with religion, and everything to do with the perception of Ms. Miller and Mr. Rasansky as political allies. They're the two council members who are most often seen as "adversaries of the African-American community," he said, and they just happen to be Jewish.

"The truth is, we have differences with Laura Miller, not with the Jewish community. But when you start playing divisive politics, it's the inevitable evolution," he said. "Since the Laura Miller regime, there has been a growing distance between African-Americans and Jews on the City Council."

Ms. Miller said Thursday that Dr. Thornton-Reese's comments to Mr. Rasansky – while inappropriate – don't reflect any kind of trend at City Hall. And she said she doesn't think they have anything to do with her.

Dr. Thornton-Reese also was involved in a controversial council debate in January in which she suggested that a comparison between Adolf Hitler and a proposal to strengthen mayoral powers was valid.

But Ms. Miller said she wishes the council member was happier at council meetings. Lately, the mayor said, Dr. Thornton-Reese has been "anxious and loud" and gotten into heated spats with her colleagues.

"She has become kind of a weekly wild card at City Hall," Ms. Miller said. "This week was probably the most frenetic I've ever seen her."

E-mail eramshaw@dallasnews.com .


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/DN-councilfolo_16met.ART0.North.Edition2.1d95d7be.htm l

[Boredkid]

yet another news article for dallas to be proud of

[St-T]

She is a total moron--who elects these people???

[columbiasooner]

It's all Columbus Civil's fault, he likes to stir the pot too much...

[Markedallas]

This will get her more votes in her district.

[CEHughes]

So earlier in the year, she said that Jewish people on the Council were acting like the Nazis who murdered 6,000,000 Jews. Now she blames problems "on the Jews." What's next? Denying the holocaust?

You can't make stuff like this up.

[columbiasooner]

This will get her more votes in her district.


Thank Yahweh she is term limited out.

[tamtagon]

This is another example of the superiority of the City Council form of government. If the traditional political parties, Republicans and Democrats, exercised control of council members, real life issues like this would be void from Dallas politics.

Politically incorrect encounters like this might seem to slow down the process of getting things done at City Hall, but encounters like this are natural and frequently have negative impacts on the quality of life in any community. Dallas benefits to have this dubious aspect of life exposed during the political process.

[antoinekhuu]

Laura Miller is Jewish?

[Boredkid]

She is a total moron--who elects these people???

Sadly we do

[oak cliff p-wood]

i wasnt even aware that dallas haad a jewish population to speak of until erlier this year

[Lakewooder]

This is so ridiculous it reminds me of the movie version of "The Boys From Brazil". Gregory Peck (Dr. Mengele)has been waxing anti-Semitic and is about to kill a Mr. Wheelock, the father of one of the Hitler clones:

Mr. Wheelock:" Jews! Hell, it's the (n-word) we've got to worry about!"

[crazytony]

Laura Miller is Jewish?

Is the pope German?

I wish someone would take control of city hall.....

[Aporkalypse]

What exactly is she a "doctor" of, just to satisfy my curiosity?

Terrible, just terrible.

[rantanamo]

where's the shaking head emoticon?

[F4shionablecHa0s]

That woman's got chutzpah.

[freewaytincan]

Oh my gosh.

[VectorWega]

Is the pope German?

Maybe. Maybe not. He was Polish. He looks like he might be German. Hell, he could be Austrian. How the hell do I know? Does he talk like Arnold? "I'll be back" Anyone have a copy of this birth certificate?

[frankchitown]

What? There's no question that the pope is German...he and John Paul II are the only two non-Italian popes since the early 1500s

[trolleygirl]

T-Reese has some sort of doctorate in education. Yes, she used to teach our children.

Fantroy's fill of s**t. If Rasansky- or anyone else on the council- took T-Reese- or any other black member on the council- by the arm and said "You Blacks are controlling city hall. You need to stop", it most certainly would have been made public and Fantroy would be screamig about how racially insensitive he is. Look at Miller- all she has to do is look at the South Dallas Fair Park Trust Fund and she's automatically a racist.

Don Hill wasn't there to pull in the riens on T-Reese and that's why she went berzerk. I think that two of the worst districts in the city are four and eight. They have the worst citizens and the crummiest infrastructure and I think some of the highest crime. It's still open farmland out in some of the most exteme parts. And, sorry to generalize here, but hey, perception is reality but, they quality of most of the people in those districts is sorry. I mean, I think they've been inbreeding in Pleasant Grove for centuries. It's no wonder they elect people like T-Reese. They just raise and elect their own, if you know what I mean.

[hamiltonpl]

A lot of people have blamed the Jews for all their problems: Nazis, Muslim Terrorists, and Maxine Thornton-Reese.

That's some company, doc.

[AndyIvey]

I think they've been inbreeding in Pleasant Grove for centuries.
I hope you run for office soon. I will :biggrin2: :eek2: :biggrin2: when I see this quote in your opponent's circular. Anyway, it is obvious that political correctness is only selectively enforced. Race and religion, while potentially having a strong influence on someone’s position on an issue, are difficult topics. Discussing them is a lot like juggling live hand grenades. It might make for an exciting show, but there is going to be a hell of a mess to cleanup when it is over.

[tamtagon]

Anyway, it is obvious that political correctness is only selectively enforced. Race and religion, while potentially having a strong influence on someone’s position on an issue, are difficult topics. Discussing them is a lot like juggling live hand grenades. It might make for an exciting show, but there is going to be a hell of a mess to cleanup when it is over.

The more often these hand grenades are juggled on the record, out in the open for all to see and hear during city hall meeting with the public invited, the less dangerous they will become. Let's just get it all out, accpet human nautre, and everyone can calmly take the chip off their own shoulder.

There does not have to be a trial and guiltly verdict everytime an uncomfortable situation occurs because ethnic, religious, lifestyle choice etc creates differing points of view. The disagreements are not the issue, improving the standard of living in Dallas is. Let them say it all they want, let them say it so often that the people begin to realize it's not the way to solve problems. The genius of a city council form of governement (the Dallas mayor STILL needs extra leverage to manage) is that politics and bigotry are easily minimized as behavioral motivators.

[trolleygirl]

Gosh....I hope I don't get branded a racist because I suggested that Grove Rats are inbred.........

[Cliff Dweller]

Tamtagon, can you expand on your points above? In the first post, you said these issues (race baiting?) would not arise if city politics were partisan. Then you said that the council system minimizes racial politics. Maybe it's just me, but I don't really understand either statement.
I have a friend who lives in District 4. I remember commiserating with her last year as she said she had a choice of voting for a criminal or a moron. It really is a shame that the job of city council rep. is so unattractive that it can't attract better candidates. Unfortunately, that's not just a problem in one district, and probably not just in Dallas, either.

[oak cliff p-wood]

^^^racist,naw...anti-grovist yeah
but whoever the hell you are in real life you make some astute observation online...cuz riding a bicycle down pemberton hill at nige, you DO get kinda a deliverance type vibe...its scary

[DalLove444]

O M G - I saw these shenanigans on NBC5 yesterday, is this going 2 b the legacy of the City of Dallas now!!!!!?????? Its a friiggin SHAME!!! Someone should pull Mr(s) Reese out by the HAIR out of the City Hall Chambers!!!

[oak cliff p-wood]

O M G - I saw these shenanigans on NBC5 yesterday, is this going 2 b the legacy of the City of Dallas now!!!!!?????? Its a friiggin SHAME!!! Someone should pull Mr(s) Reese out by the HAIR out of the City Hall Chambers!!!
uhhh...if you tried to grab dr reese by the hair...it wouldnt work.....you would end up carrying a hand full or horsehair weave and nothing else out of the chambers

[Flaming Moderate]

Wow. Nothing really can be added. Glad to know these buffoons are in charge of Dallas ... and you guys wonder why more people and businesses do not want to come there.

[UrbanHope]

T-Reese has some sort of doctorate in education. Yes, she used to teach our children.

The validity of her doctorate is subject to debate (seriously). From what I heard she ran tri-cities hospital into the ground.... still no hospital in that area.

District 4 is by far the worst. Her minions fought us on getting the permit revoked on the motel at Beckley & Overton (near the I-35 and route 67 split). We got it revoked anyway. Now we have them wasting their money in court but they can't win.

Here's the story on that one. This was written before the CPC revoked it.
http://www.dallasarena.com/s051031davis.htm


PS: She stole that last election. The residents of District 4 don't deserve such misrepresentation.

[Aporkalypse]

Tamtagon, can you expand on your points above? In the first post, you said these issues (race baiting?) would not arise if city politics were partisan. Then you said that the council system minimizes racial politics. Maybe it's just me, but I don't really understand either statement.
I have a friend who lives in District 4. I remember commiserating with her last year as she said she had a choice of voting for a criminal or a moron. It really is a shame that the job of city council rep. is so unattractive that it can't attract better candidates. Unfortunately, that's not just a problem in one district, and probably not just in Dallas, either.

A council system anywhere maximizes racial tensions as most wards have a significant racial predominance one way or another. As time goes on, I expect black vs latino tensions will increase - that trend just already seems to be occurring, especially in the DISD and the superintendent controversy.

[UrbanHope]

^ Reese is really the only one that keeps it going in this manner. When she gets out of there you will see a change.

[Columbus Civil]

There's something transfixing about her picture in post #1.

[oak cliff p-wood]

she looks constipated

[Flaming Moderate]

Does she have a doctorate or not? Is it one of those "don't criticize the black leader" things ... like Jesse and Al ... neither of whom actually have churches.

Compare this with the Dallas County jailer who may lose his job for calling hurrican refugees "knuckle draggers."

[frankchitown]

Wow, the years havent been kind to poor Reese.

Before
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/6649/maxinethorntonreese3pc.jpg

After
http://img395.imageshack.us/img395/8074/1215maxine4av.jpg

[Boredkid]

photo shop works wonders

[tamtagon]

Tamtagon, can you expand on your points above? In the first post, you said these issues (race baiting?) would not arise if city politics were partisan. Then you said that the council system minimizes racial politics. Maybe it's just me, but I don't really understand either statement.

With partisan politics, councilmembers will always be instructed to support political goals which have nothing to do with making Dallas a better place to live. As a Democrat or Republican, a council member will be called upon to show support for the political position of a State or Federal representative simply because of party affliation - of course that's not always a bad thing, but it becomes bad when local decisions and activities are micromanaged to serve political goals rather than community needs.

The leaders of partisan politicians must manage the careers of each "family member" to avoid any personal expression in tense social situations, especially those with real OR perceived racial/ethnic motivation. Race baiting will always exist, it's human nature. But in partisan politics, these real behaviors are not allowed to surface because of the potential for damage by association.

So, what I meant to say is that if Dallas municipal government was impacted by partisan politicians, politically incorrect real life issues would remain purposefully inconspicuous and that does not help the community. With a city council form of government, the politically incorrect real life issues can not remain obscured.

I hope I'm making more sense...?

...to finish the point of view, I believe a city council politically allowed to openly acknowledges the unpleasantries of human nature can more effectively make the difficult but necessary decisions toward a better standard of living across the entire community. The more frequently bigory of any kind is exposed during the making of municipal policy, the more effective the process will become.

The alleged comments by Dr. Reese are rude, but it's good to get them out in the open. Everyone is aware of social situations where one group blames another group - right or wrong. No local government can be efficient as long as this fact of life is ignored while policies are conceived, inacted and administered. A council system which maintains open and public awareness of racial politics is able to eliminate much of the unproductive political posturing and obsessive behavior. An open wound heals faster.

[Flaming Moderate]

I agree with you ... but only certain groups can be open and slur. If a white person said: "You blacks have to get you head in gear, quit being corrupt and expecting us to pay for your people ..." he or she would be tarred and feathered.

[trolleygirl]

There goes the blame game again....what good does it do to point out these possibilities? Yeah, you're probably right. Point taken. However the shoe isn't on the other foot. So where do we go from here? How do we get past these issues so that we can be a better, stronger community?

[jdwillis]

There goes the blame game again....what good does it do to point out these possibilities? Yeah, you're probably right. Point taken. However the shoe isn't on the other foot. So where do we go from here? How do we get past these issues so that we can be a better, stronger community?

You are right, people need to get past these issues. How? First good, qualified, and relatively honest people need to be where Reese is now. Getting rid of the name callers in only part of the problem.

And the shoe is indeed on the other foot. You know very well that if anyone (not black) said anything even remotely "offensive" in the manner Reese did (about blacks), all the ministers would show up, demand a recall, protest, disrupt meetings, and generally become a nuisance. Double standards like this are a bad thing. A bad, bad thing. Seems to me it is directly related to a sense of entitlement and victimhood. Two more bad, bad things.

In short, if one of the parties involved shouldn't do it, none of the parties involved should. Anything less is just plain wrong.

Again, get good people in office.

When are you running? (Not that I could vote for you, but moral support counts for something, no?!:~)

[UrbanHope]

She is a strange breed. She is the first person in the world that never makes a mistake, never says anything dumb, never knows she has tax liens on slumlord property (who ELSE did she think mowed the lawn there), never ignores her own district never....
It's always somebody else's fault. UGH!!!!


I'm Black, and I can't stand her. There are a lot of Black people who feel the same way.

[AndyIvey]

As for introducing political parties into our local system...
There is one benefit that should be highlighted. Intorducing major political parties would raise awarness and result in increased voter turnout.

[trolleygirl]

I say, DON'T DO IT!"

There is nothing partisan about fixing potholes and cleaning up the parks. I think that if we introduced political partisanship into the process, things would get worse and we'd see more blaming going on. Just look at how polorized the country is right now over everything- the Iraq war, the budget, campaign finances, etc. I read the daily letters-to-the-editor and I see no middle ground on paritisan politics, it's so polorized and everyone is blaming the other party for everything from 9-11 to spreading cancer.

Rasansky is a Republican and Miller is a Democrat and they are each others strongest allies on the council. If Rasansky wanted to go for Mayor- and he wouldn't win citywide support as things are now- against Miller, if it were partisan he'd get all the GOP money that's been building in Miller's warchest simply because he is the Republican. It's party loyalty first. And that's not right. I don't want to see that in our council.

If the simplest issue is an idiot name-calling, and the idiots who put her in office- this is not something that partisan politics can fix. Maybe a band-aid, but we'd be creating a whole 'nuther set of problems to deal with.

As I see it, the thing that's killing this City is the voter apathy and the way the districts are gerrymandered, er, I mean, carved out. District 4 is a weak, poor district. In trying to create as many "safe Black" or "safe Latino" seats on the council, we've managed to racilly polorize our city in such a way that it's now a North vs. South issue, a Black vs. White issue. So all the rich educated districts are safe white districts while all the safe minority districts are poor and uneducated. So, the burden of educating voters in poor districts is fallen on the uppity doo-gooders from the North- people that the southern sector voters don't trust anyway- or to the people in the poor districts, who are already strapped for time and have a hard enough time volunteering for their own neighborhoods.

That's why we are polorized here- there's not enough equal sharing of certain things. There's distrust among the haves and the have-nots because there are physical boundaries that seperate us. We in the southern sector see with our own eyes that there is indeed a disparity among the folks living north of I-30- better schools, better economic development, less crime, smoother streets, more police attention, more code attention, cleaner parks, etc. We do all we can to clean up our area but we don't have the same capital- or the same quality representation on the council- as they do. Partly because of 14-1 (creates a fiefdom mentality of yours vs. ours) but mostly because of the districts themselves because now there is a very real racial line.

[oak cliff p-wood]

^^^ very articulate post......
I agree that partisan politics would make city hall even more springer-esqe than it is now(if thats possible)
one BIG problem is that there needs to be some new blood in local politics...give us analternative.....i mean in the last election i had a choice between fantroy and lipscomb...hell thats as bad as goin to the bar and hivin to choose between schlitz and Thunderbird......why arent there more 30-40 year olds in the southern sector runnin for seats?

[DalLove444]

she looks constipated
SHE NEEDS HER MAALOX OR PEPCID AC!!!
:guns:

[AndyIvey]

Local races are already partisan. What else would Log Cabin Republicans, Stonewall Democrats, Young Democrats, and the like be doing endorsing candidates and contributing to campaigns? Why is it that a know Republican and a known Democrat embrace their party affiliation in front of likeminded groups only to hide behind the nonpartisanship of local politics when it suits them? If the voters are unable, and candidates unwilling, to ensure the system remains nonpartisan, then we should investigate the possibility of changing that system. It is my opinion that the true issue is whether we will be open and honest about our affiliations or choose to reveal them only when it suits our mood. The latter is where we sit today.

[trolleygirl]

^^^ very articulate post......
I agree that partisan politics would make city hall even more springer-esqe than it is now(if thats possible)
one BIG problem is that there needs to be some new blood in local politics...give us analternative.....i mean in the last election i had a choice between fantroy and lipscomb...hell thats as bad as goin to the bar and hivin to choose between schlitz and Thunderbird......why arent there more 30-40 year olds in the southern sector runnin for seats?

That's the point that I'm making. Look at the demographics of the council districts. Where are the 30 - 40 year olds now?

The people who have the time and the capital and the desire and the political connections to run for office are just not found in high numbers in the minority council districts. Even so, in the "safe white" districts, I don't see much political acitvity, although certainly more than in the minoroty districts. Anither indicator: look at the number of board and commission appointments left vacant by council representatives. I see a pattern- most of the vacancies occur in the southern sector districts while the northern sector seats are mostly filled. So, it says to me that even within certain districts, it's still difficult to find citizens who are politically active enough or who care enough or who have the time enough to serve on a board or commission.

On to Andyivey's point, all I'd like to say is that I think it is stupid for "partisan" groups like the stonewall democrats and the log cabin republicans to endorse local candidates. The simplest reason is that, what good does it do for them to endorse a gay candidate, for example, in a district where gays and lesbians account for 0.1% of the total district population? If I were running for council and I was interviewed by the DGLA (local) or the log cabin republicans for that matter, for example, I would probably not win their endorsements.

[Lakewooder]

I would say I saw a lot of both Republicans and Democrats on Angela Hunt and Monica Greene's campaigns. Gary Griffith is fairly Republican and he also had a good representation of Democrats...

Medrano did seem to have only Democrats, and her workers were pretty scornful of anyone else...