This blog previously reported on the flap over Samuels versus McKnight delegates, and how the DFL is investigating the credentials of what are being called the "Kenya 8" delegates. According to a highly-placed leak...
...the DFL has tried to perform an investigation, and what they're mostly getting are hang-ups and I-don't-want-to-discuss-this. That's what the leak says. Actually, two different leaks have said the same thing.
This clearly wouldn't be true of each and every one of the Kenya 8, however. The woman in a wheelchair, pictured above, showed up at the meeting of the Ward 5 Credentials Committee and stated she was one of the 8 individuals in question. So there is at least one example of a person who is coming forward.
I guess we'll see how it shakes out. In the meantime, I had an opportunity to look over the cringe-inducing website for Kenya McKnight, who doesn't even have a degree beyond high school and yet is running for city council in a major metropolitan area. To be fair, Kenya has received some education beyond high school and believe me when I say her website lists each and every paltry course credit, like somebody is going to say, "Well, I was GOING to vote for Don Samuels, but then I saw how Kenya took 'several hours' of training around such topics as 'behavior modification' and, well, now I'm for McKnight, all the way."
If McKnight wants to lead in city politics, she'd be a lot better off STAYING IN SCHOOL and getting her BA, first. Currently, based on her incomplete coursework, McKnight seems to be, well, sort of a...college drop out. Is she CURRENTLY registered for any coursework? That's not clear. What's clear is that she had formative experiences working on a charity cookie cart while her "friends" mostly "partied." This is the kind of resume you might look for in a city council INTERN, not a city council MEMBER.
Kenya's in waaaaaaaaaaaaaay over her head. It's called the political "arena" for a reason. Stuff gets rough, people get hurt, it all happens out in the public eye with the all-powerful-internet recording every lapse and stumble, and then your public reputation is set in stone for years and years.
It's not like buying a lottery ticket and thinking, oh gee, I could win! Odds are against me, but what if I win!?!!! When you lose, you wear the "loser" label until you can somehow manage to win. It's different when an incumbant loses. An incumbant is still a "former" something. An upstart challenger who tries and fails is just...a loser.
An also-ran. A wannabe. (Who really should finish her BA)
Some notable aspects of the Kenya McKnight website: Incomplete sentences. Inexplicable use of ampersands (the "&" symbol) instead of just writing out the word "and." Did somebody who was writing the website content charge per letter? I'm trying to think what this reminds me of...thinking...thinking.
Oh, wait! I know! The website of Yoman Brunson, who got his head handed to him in a Tupperwear container after challenging Bobby Champion.
Kenya's campaign website lists various positions which need to be filled on her staff. This portion of the website has a rather desperate tone like, please, SOMEBODY HELP. Kenya lists herself as her own treasurer, for example, but makes it clear she wants somebody to fill that role. The campaign looks so short-staffed and weak that one is tempted to mute criticisms, out of pity.
Persistent rumor has it some of these McKnight campaign positions are already filled, de facto, but Kenya doesn't dare announce who holds those positions, because such associations might be less-than-helpful. But clearly, Jerry Moore is filling some kind of role with the McKnight campaign, at least according to statements made by Jackie Cherryhomes during the Credentials Committee meeting and NOT challenged by Jerry Moore.
Anybody who feels temped to leak more details about the campaign or the "Kenya 8" controversy...the comment box beckons, invitingly.
It can be quick, it can be anonymous, nobody has to know.
What happens on Johnny Northside stays on Johnny Northside.
I believe that the name of the woman in the wheelchair is Francine Chakolis, but I'm not 100% sure.
ReplyDeleteHer primary qualification is that she is an excellent puppet for Al McFarlane and Reverend Check Scam Artist, and is unlikely to ask questions when they suggest that she put all their friends on the payroll. Maybe they can even get JACC's accountant to help her funnel all those delicious city funds to them!
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, it's almost as if Al can state her positions more clearly than she herself can!
http://www.insightnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4199:mcknight-means-real-change&catid=10:news&Itemid=6
My favorite part of the website has to be on the section where they list openings for volunteering on the campaign. This may have been corrected by the time anyone reads this, but Scout's honor here...
ReplyDeleteThe very first position someone might volunteer for is listed as "Candidate: Filled." As if a bunch of people were sitting around a table trying to create a campaign against Don, and said "What positions do we need filled? A candidate, clearly, and then a campaign manager, a treasurer..." etc. Somebody was taking notes at this proverbial meeting and then those notes were just cut-and-pasted onto the website.
It's too bad, really, because I think Don Samuels would be the perfect volunteer for that position. Oh wait, he's already got it filled!
I am a delegate to the 5th ward convention. I had not heard anything about any of this until now. I had committed to being undecided until I could learn as much as possible about all candidates.
ReplyDeleteIs there any statements coming out of the candidates campaigns regarding this issue? If not, can you contact the campaigns and post something here for us all to read?
Dear Editor,
ReplyDeleteBased on the performance of the Minneapolis City Council as it pertains to something with me and the Contract Compliance, we might need to "change out" Glidden, Samuels, Johnson, Ostrow, Remmington and Hoffstade to also include R.T. for people like Kenya that have the innocence of not knowing - but the passion to "speak up!"
Oh boy...
ReplyDeleteFirst, in regard to people sitting around saying "Who can we find to run against Don Samuels?" one person I know speculated--I say again, just SPECULATED--that Ben Myers was probably in a position to run, but then he blew it with those lame lawsuits.
So the torch passed to Jerry Moore, but Jerry blew it with the fistfight incident and all the post-JACC election scandal coming out.
So that left Kenya.
Or, another way to look at it: everybody drew straws. And Kenya got the short straw.
Don, we can find common ground on a lot of things...but the "innocence of not knowing" isn't something I look for in a city leader.
ReplyDeleteOkay JN - I see your point of view. I have been trying to get Kenya away from the dark side. The people that are her handlers will stab her in the back the first chance they get.
ReplyDeleteAt the community forums, the questions will be hard to answer when a couple of names come up. I hope she see's this and moves away from them now!
All I want to know is: Are the candidates going to be put through an "underwear round" at the endorsing convention? Cause that might help me decide who to vote for.
ReplyDeleteIn reply to the delegate to the 5th Ward convention, a few posts above...sorry I didn't get to you right away, but I will continue to cover this.
ReplyDeleteI hope to attend any more meetings of the credentials committee, and I will be trying to interview each member of the credentials committee. I will also be attending the 5th ward convention. I hope interview the delegates who have credentials challenges against them. This is really fun, juicy stuff--arguably the next North Minneapolis soap opera--and I am reluctant to let go of it.
Keep the info coming, anonymous posters!!!
Political Spin Doctor Don: I agree with your statement 100% - it is breaking my heart to see characters getting their hands around Kenya and dragging her down with them. I would have like to think she is better, smarter than that and has a bright future. However the more that this is going on, I am wondering is she as bright and sound as I thought, or does she just put on a good show. Kind of like Jerry did at first when he first emerged on the scene.
ReplyDeleteHonestly Don Samuels has done a great job and will continue to improve on the moementum that has been created. So I am not going to tear Kenya down...just highlight the good things that Don Samuels and his family have done for my neighborhood!!!
ReplyDeleteKenya is a valuable asset to our community - let's all band together and do what we can to get her back out of the influence of the crazies.
ReplyDeleteKenya - please please come back to the productive, legitimate side! Not the destructive, fraudulent side!