Mayor Rybak, blog post by John Hoff
Not very long at all after I'd pressed the PUBLISH button on a blog post about the five possible city council candidates in Ward 5, I heard from one upset resident of the Jordan Neighborhood.
Why, this resident wanted to know, was Cathy Spann talking about running? She's only just been hired recently to run JACC as Executive Director, and being the "ED" requires a lot of time, energy, and focus. This is (the resident felt) inconsistent with running for city council.
Furthermore...
...(the resident continued) running for office requires a person to say and do political things. An executive director needs to be above politics and answerable to the board of JACC. So, in summary, WTF is Cathy Spann doing talking about running? IF SHE WAS PLANNING TO PULL SOMETHING LIKE THIS WHY DIDN'T SHE SAY SO DURING THE HIRING PROCESS WHICH WAS NOT THAT LONG AGO?
Reading up about Cathy Spann, click here, and her foreclosure and attempts to recover from the tornado, she seems a LIKABLE person but not somebody who inspires confidence. Spann appears like somebody who is, well, just starting to get her life together. This doesn't make her qualified to lead the entire Fifth Ward.
Spann isn't even officially RUNNING yet and it already sounds like she has "stepped in it" with the JACC board.
Being the executive director of JACC is a logical jumping off point for a run at the Fifth Ward council seat, but in this case Spann should have looked before she leaped. Or, well, before she mentioned to everybody she was THINKING of leaping into the race.
Well, the resident members of JACC and the board members need to address this with her. Fine, if she wants to run she needs to take a leave of absence from her position to focus on the campaigning that she will be doing. I believe that's what a lot of potential candidates in positions like her's do at a time like this. I believe that is what Blong Yang did from his position with the city of mpls. And I've heard of others.
ReplyDeleteSo residents of JACC should write to the board members to address it.
Cathy will do an amazing job as long as people stand with her and not throw out lies regarding her life. How cruel to talk about someone who lost their husband, almost lost her home after the Tornado and has been successful for some time now. Its very spiteful and selfish that someone from the Jordon Community would try to shame Cathy for believing in herself to take on such a powerful role in her community. What better way to serve the Jordan Neighborhood than by representing them where there is more power. I have worked side by side with Cathy. Her faith ,determination and optimistic work ethic is amazing. You shouldn't throw your own people under the bus for your own political reasons. Its North Minneapolis. Everything here is connected to politics.
ReplyDelete