Civility Czar?
Tuesday, May 12th, 2009
Â
The League of Minnesota Cities is considering appointing an …  “on-staff ethical adviser — a kind of municipal Miss Manners.”
Why?
In White Bear Lake, the mayor calls the local VFW club “a bunch of old guys with guns.”
In Lake St. Croix Beach, a councilman is arrested for shouting obscenities in a meeting.
In Lake Elmo, a councilman calls the mayor a “God-damned bastard.”
In Greenfield, a councilman brings two handguns to a meeting, to his colleagues’ dismay.
This from a state which promotes itself as “Minnesota Nice?”
Why the change of attitude? The speculation from League Director Jim Miller is what he calls Third Ring Rage.
Many complaints come from small towns on the fringes of the metro area facing sudden development pressure. The city councils in these towns — including Lake Elmo and Lake St. Croix Beach — often are bitterly divided.
Typically, one side includes the Old Guard. “Some small towns are incredibly stable. Families have been there forever. People who have been saying forever, ‘I don’t like change,’ ” Miller said.
On the other side, Miller said, are those who say change is inevitable — arguing that it is best to control it. “Some of them want growth at any price,” Miller said.
I do not in any way approve, encourage or endorse such behavior. Especially the guns.
But, with that being said … a Civility Czar?
Does anyone think that would do any good at all?
This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 at 4:21 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
3 Responses to “Civility Czar?”
-
Al Arnold Says:
Humm …The link works for me? Don’t know what to say?
-
Brett Rogers Says:
I disabled the Snap preview and now it works
May 12th, 2009 at 7:36 am
My son lives in White Bear Lake – I’ll have to share that with him. Obviously the mayor’s office needs renovation in the form of a new tenant.
That link doesn’t go anywhere for me, Al…