Dedicated readers of MDE report today’s activity at Occupy Plaza downtown.

Two months ago, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak spoke loudly in support of the Occupy Wall Street camp on the Hennepin County Government Plaza.  His early support was not surprising, because Hizzoner’s spokesperson John Styles is a life-partner of one of the Occupiers’ main organizers.

But when the protesters crossed the street to City Hall this morning, the Mayor flip-flopped.  Protesters had set up three tents on City property and decorated the statute of Hubert Humphrey with signs, hats, and an American Flag.  Rybak sent city employees down to ask the protesters to dismantle the display and move back across the street to city property.

The protesters did not budge, so Rybak sent the Minneapolis Police Department to yank down the tents, pull down the display, and “take action.”  The MPD boys in blue first tackled “Panda,” a 300-pound Occupier.  Then they slipped on the ice.  Poor Panda was slammed to the ground, and then jammed through the door of a tiny squad car.  MPD’s next target had his face shoved onto the frozen sidewalk as he was cuffed.

Where was the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union when R.T. Rybak flip-flopped on the right to peaceably assemble on the City Hall sidewalk?  Where was Rep. Karen Clark (DFL-Minneapolis) who had declared her support of the protesters the night before, when they were on County property instead of City Hall?

Tags: AFSCME, Protests, R.T. Rybak

1. The MCLU lawsuit claims that the taxpayers are not providing electricity for the occupiers on the plaza. [They also are not paying for your home gas bills. Is this a new form of entitlement?]

2. The MCLU lawsuit claims that the Commissioners said that the occupiers could not use chalk to mark up the Plaza. [Does the First Amendment protect vandalism of public property? Is there a right to paint mustaches on Mount Rushmore?]

3. The MCLU lawsuit claims that the rules deny the occupiers the right to tents. [In addition to guaranteed rights to electricity and shelter, is there anything else the taxpayers can get you? If you need furniture, may we recommend the ironically appropriate Lay-Z-Boy?]

4. The MCLU lawsuit claims that the rules restrict the ability to “stay warm during the winter months.” [Do the Miranda rights include "You have the right to remain toasty?"]

5. The MCLU lawsuit claims that the rules are either too specific (expressly created in response to Occupy MPLS) or too vague (“unconstitutionally overbroad”). [I guess an ACLU lawyer could argue that a hat is simultaneously too big and too small.]

6. The MCLU lawsuit claims that the rules and the unwritten procedures about protecting the public safety during the 24/7 occupation of the Plaza “are inconsistent with how the County has treated other groups.” [What other groups have had their members cited day after day for public urination, public fornication, public intoxication, public fighting, spray painting public property, theft or damage to other protestors' property, indecent exposure, and littering? What other group is linked to setting fire to a port-a-potty and damaging public safety cameras at the light rail station?]

7. The MCLU lawsuit claims that the rules impermissibly restrict the right of occupiers to sleep on the Plaza as a “content-based limitation on speech.” [Is sleeping a protected form of "free speeh," or is it merely an inarticulate grunt, an incoherent snore, and an unintelligible mumble?]

The MCLU lawyers are putting your tax dollars at work again on litigating the right to taxpayer-funded anarchy, crime, and violence on the public Plaza. There is a penalty for frivolous lawsuits, but the odds are good that fines will not be placed on these parasites of the judicial system.

Tags: Protests, R.T. Rybak

MoveOn.org was a centerpiece of the Obama election in 2008 and will continue to serve as his political base.

Here’s a communication sent via MoveOn.org, which is now serving as a central command center hub for the Occupy movement:

From: “Lenore Palladino, MoveOn.org Civic Action”
To: XXX
Sent: Tuesday, November 15, 2011 3:48:07 PM
Subject: URGENT: Can you host a 99% event in your city?

–Lenore, Laura, Carrie, Anna, and the rest of the team

Tags: Protests, R.T. Rybak

MINNEAPOLIS – The cost of Occupy Minnesota protests is starting to add up for Minneapolis police. Tuesday afternoon, Sgt. William Palmer says the total cost to the Minneapolis Police Department is closing in $100,000.

…

Additionally, Minneapolis police say approximately 1,245 hours have been spent in the planning and support of the protest prior to the overtime. The cost for this time is approximately $56,000, according to numbers released by Minneapolis Police Department.

…

These costs are only for the Minneapolis Police Department.

Hennepin County officials said Tuesday their costs for supervision and management is $152,295.

Tags: Protests, R.T. Rybak, Uncategorized

You may recall Mayor Rybak has a history of traffic violations in the city, including unpaid parking tickets. A Fox 9 investigation uncovered this in 2008.

Tags: R.T. Rybak

Cities such as Minneapolis have relied on LGA as a small, yet substantial, part of their annual budgets while spending continues at unsustainable levels. We told you last fall about Mayor R.T. Rybak’s plan to increase property taxes in Minneapolis again this year, part of a long-term plan in the city to raise these taxes annually for the next several years. We’d also like to remind you that property taxes in Minneapolis have doubled during Rybak’s term.

HF 129 passed the House Taxes Committee and will move on to the Senate side for committee approval. The Senate companion bill is SF 82. Together, the legislation would:

• make permanent all pay-2010 aid and credit reductions to local government;
• reduce the renter’s tax credit from 19 percent to 15 percent;
• repeal the political contribution refunds; and
• limit payments to claimants under the sustainable forests incentive program

Large city leaders have fought back, arguing they are forced to raise property taxes when aid is cut. Instead of constantly arguing how to sustain revenue, however, these cities ought to use the forced situation by lawmakers to make necessary and difficult choices about their budgets. MPR’s Tom Scheck had a nice piece on the question of local governments raising property taxes and found that the relationship doesn’t always hold true:

But a tax researcher said history shows not every city will follow that lead. Mark Haveman, with the Minnesota Taxpayers Association, said it’s true that property taxes increased over the past eight years when LGA was cut.

But he said property taxes also increased in the early 1990s when LGA funding increased.

“Even in the LGA boom days, there has always been historical increases in per capita city property taxes,” Haveman said. “They’ve been lower than in recent periods, but that doesn’t say it won’t happen.”

Minneapolis’ 2010 Budget document provides some insightful information regarding the city’s spending and income. Here are the breakdowns of spending in the General Fund and revenue:

You can find more about every city in Minnesota and LGA they may receive on the LGA Lookup site provided by the MN Legislature here.

Tags: 2011 Session, Mark Dayton, R.T. Rybak, Uncategorized

The increase will effect nearly every homeowner in Minneapolis, anywhere from 5-15%, as part of the 2011 budget of approximately $1.4 billion. Nearly 75 people spoke during the lengthy meeting, mostly opposing the cuts and increases. Beforehand, a larger-than-average crowd gathered in protest, organized by the Minneapolis Taxpayers United group, which has been active in debate over the issue for years. They highlight on their site that property taxes have doubled during Rybak’s term.

By Richard Tsong-Taatarii, Star Tribune

As part of the cuts, 24 cops will be taken off the streets, 32 firefighters and utility bills for residents will also be increased. Rybak’s administration has consistently cut police, read more about some of this history in our recent post. Runaway pension servicing is also running up the bill for the city, this ought to be reformed. Not unlike past tax increases, the city continues to blame the state’s cuts in LGA and uncertain financial stability for this latest move. They also plan on increasing property taxes around 6% year-on-year for at least the next five years.

Photo by KARE11

When will the excuses end and solutions begin? It is time for the City of Minneapolis to hear the wake up call and get their financial house in order. LGA is not an appropriate revenue stream for Minneapolis to be sourcing its public safety budget out of. Business revenue to tax in the city has decreased (also cited as a reason for raising homeowner taxes) which means the climate for entrepreneurs and investors is becoming less favorable. The process of annual budgeting cannot simply be a game of firing employees and raising the cost of living. Minneapolis must recognize businesses and citizens as essential partners for longterm success instead of ATM machines.

Tags: Protests, R.T. Rybak, Uncategorized

Smith is the former Chief of Staff to Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and also managed his unsuccessful bid for governor this year. During his tenure as Mayor, Rybak has had multiple run-ins with the Minneapolis Police Federation, the union for the Minneapolis police force. One major point of disagreement between the Mayor and the Union was Rybak’s choice to cut dozens from the Minneapolis police force last year in the midst of his campaign, not long before he proposed raising taxes. What’s worse is that the Mayor has proposed similar cuts this year as well.

In response, the MPF launched a radio ad campaign against Rybak for the cuts. Following that, (then) Campaign Manager Tina Flint Smith used her twitter account to smear Minneapolis police officers by saying they were “putting politics before policing.”

In fact, a simple Twitter search reveals the actual tweet:

Smith even went after MDE via her Twitter account (@tinaflintsmith).

KSTP covered the MNGOP response to this unnecessary elbow to Minnesota law enforcement from the top staff member of a high government official like the Mayor.

With a multi-billion dollar budget shortfall, Smith won’t be able to instruct her boss to blame others for budget problems anymore, as she did working for Rybak, when he blamed Governor Pawlenty for his decision to layoff cops.

“Governor Pawlenty has made that challenge harder by refusing to solve the State’s chronic budget crisis,” Rybak said.

Tags: 2010 Governor, Mark Dayton, R.T. Rybak, Uncategorized

Furthermore,  RCTC is an 180 mile trip from Minneapolis City Hall.  If you use the IRS level of reimbursement for mileage the total cost for Rybak was $99.00.  According to MN State Campaign Finance Law (pg. 6) any person spending more than $100 in an effort to seek an office must declare themselves a candidate and file the proper forms.  This is not by any means the first event that Rybak has traveled and spent money for his campaign for Governor.  The MNGOP collected several pieces of data on all of his recent travels outside of Minneapolis.  They also included information about specific expenditures.

Both Minnesota Public Radio and Rochester Post Bulletin ran stories today about the event.  Here’s the part about Rybak from MPR:

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak explained that the governor is a chief executive, not a legislator. He described how his own executive experience would help navigate the state out of a looming budget deficit. Rybak also said he would look at expanding the state sales tax to clothing.

“I think clothing is a necessity for many people,” Rybak said. “Underwear, yes. Fur coats, maybe not. So maybe over $100 we would introduce a clothing tax. That’s one example. It’s not something I’m glued to but I think it’s only fair for me to say something.

The last time I checked, the mayor of Minneapolis was not in charge of setting statewide tax policy.  Clearly, Mayor Rybak needs to file the proper forms to be a candidate for Governor and avoid any fines the Campaign Finance Board may issue.  His actions are absolutely in violation of state law.

Tags: R.T. Rybak

"The second-term mayor of the state's largest city, a DFL stronghold, says that he has 'done nothing to encourage speculation' about a candidacy and that he is 'completely focused' on being mayor. He says he is encouraging Franken 'and many other people' to run." Source: Star Tribune, December 18, 2006

But a month ago, Rybak said he's "not closing any doors" on a run for the U.S. Senate:

"But Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, a feisty vote-getter, said in an interview that Minnesota needs more change on Capitol Hill and he's 'not closing any doors' on a Senate contest. His election would come 60 years after another Minneapolis mayor made the jump. His name was Hubert Humphrey." Source: Pioneer Press, November 11, 2006

Rybak's public battles with Minneapolis Fire Chief Bonnie Bleskachek have not helped his candidacy. Three weeks ago I wrote "that a Rybak candidacy for the U.S. Senate may never get off the ground."  It looks like even Rybak understands this now.

Tags: R.T. Rybak

Rybak is attempting to show leadership by giving the impression he is being tough on Bleskachek, but this week's media circus reflects very poorly on the job he is doing as mayor. 

Tags: R.T. Rybak, Uncategorized

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DFL activists against a Rybak candidacy for the U.S. Senate will love these quotes.

Tags: R.T. Rybak

• "I am not confident that Ms. Bleskachek can lead the Fire Department in a way that best positions the Department to protect the citizens of Minneapolis." Source: Mayor R.T. Rybak, November 27, 2006 

BUT RYBAK PRAISED BLESKACHEK'S LEADERSHIP AND TOOK CREDIT IN DEBATE WITH '05 OPPONENT FOR HER APPOINTMENT: 

• "Bonnie is a great example of how a very focused, talented employee can clear a successful path and can rise to the top…" Source: Star Tribune, November 7, 2005
• "Rybak opened with a list of projects for which he took credit, from creating 2,000 affordable housing units to appointing the 'first openly gay fire chief in Minnesota,' Bonnie Bleskachek, and taking the side of immigrants against the federal government." Source: Star Tribune, February 25, 2005

SUDDENLY IN '06, RYBAK DEVELOPED PATTERN OF NOT COMMENTING ON BLESKACHEK: 

• "Mayor R.T. Ryback and spokesmen for the city also declined to comment." Source: Pioneer Press, March 15, 2006
• "Mayor R.T. Rybak also declined to comment." Source: Star Tribune, March 16, 2006
• "Mayor R.T. Rybak also declined to discuss either the case or her performance as fire chief, citing the sensitivity of pending litigation, said his spokesman, Jeremy Hanson." Source: Star Tribune, March 20, 2006
• "Mayor R.T. Rybak was out of town and unavailable to comment." Source: Star Tribune, March 23, 2006
• "Bleskachek was appointed chief in 2004 by Mayor R.T. Rybak. Rybak's spokesman said the mayor had no comment on the dispute." Source: Associated Press, September 22, 2006
• "After the council's vote, Mayor R.T. Rybak said the right decision was made reaching a settlement. He would not comment further, citing personnel reasons." Source: Star Tribune, October 7, 2006

MINNEAPOLIS CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT SAID RYBAK IS ACCOUNTABLE FOR CITY'S MANAGMENT PROBLEMS

• "As for Rybak's culpability in the management problems, 'He's the one who recommended all three people,' [Council Member Barb] Johnson said." Source: Star Tribune, March 20, 2006 

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If Rybak can't run Minneapolis, how can he run for the U.S. Senate in '08?

Tags: R.T. Rybak, Uncategorized

'I am not running for Senate,' Rybak told the Pioneer Press over a commercial break during his inaugural radio show with St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman on Friday.

Speculation about his political future has been growing since his all-but-landslide re-election last fall. Rybak hired several prominent DFL operatives for his campaign and said in a February interview it was 'possible' that he could be persuaded to run for the Senate in 2008.

Rybak also has been raising his profile in St. Paul, meeting with Ramsey County sheriff candidate Bill Finney and promising to campaign for St. Paul's smoking ban if it were on the ballot. His agreement to join first-term St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman for a biweekly radio show on WCCO radio further fueled speculation that Rybak might be positioning himself for a statewide run." Source: Pioneer Press, July 15, 2006

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"Rybak's spokesman, Jeremy Hanson, later downplayed the significance of the mayor's February comments, noting that Rybak said in the same interview he intended to finish out his second term and might consider higher office after that. The next mayoral election in Minneapolis is scheduled for 2009, a year after the Senate race.

'It's the same thing he's been saying all along,' Hanson said. 'He loves being mayor of Minneapolis.'

If so, that leaves just a few names on the list of potential challengers to the first-term incumbent, including radio host Al Franken. U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum has been mentioned as another possibility, and David Lilly, a spokesman for Ford Bell, said the erstwhile challenger to DFLer Amy Klobuchar 'stands by' his statement that he'd ended his campaign 'for this year.'

'Speaking for myself, though, I'm going to do all I can to encourage him to think about 2008,' Lilly said." Source: Pioneer Press, July 15, 2006

Tags: R.T. Rybak, Uncategorized

Click here to see the complete thread.

Tags: R.T. Rybak

"But a run against Coleman in 2008 would mean Rybak would need to campaign during his current mayoral term and then head to Washington a year before the term is over, should he win. He said he won't do that.

 

'I will absolutely finish my four-year term,' Rybak said. 'I may run for something when I'm done being mayor, but I was just re-elected to the job that I wanted all my life, and I want to make sure I do it well and finish the job.'" Source: Pioneer Press, February 3, 2006

But Rybak told WCCO Radio today he may run for U.S. Senate in '08:  

"Democrats are already talking about mounting a challenge to Coleman in two years. Comedian Al Franken, who is considering a run, has started a political action committee, and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak told WCCO Radio Friday he wouldn't close the door on a race." Source: Associated Press, November 10, 2006

Tags: 2008 U.S. Senate, Norm Coleman, R.T. Rybak

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Majority of Primary Voters Agree: Anyone But Rybak

Minneapolis, MN – Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis President John Delmonico today congratulated primary voters for taking the Federation's advice and voting for Anyone But Rybak.

"The primary election is a story about a man who's lost touch with the city of Minneapolis," commented Delmonico. "It's obvious Mayor Rybak is in trouble when – with all the powers of city hall at his disposal and a fund raising lead of thousands of dollars – he can't get a majority at his convention and then can't get a majority in the primary. That's two strikes as of today and the third strike could be coming in November."

In the week prior to the election, the Federation ran a radio commercial criticizing Rybak on his lack of focus on crime and public safety and urged primary voters to vote ABR: Anyone But Rybak. Delmonico said that Rybak's weak 44 percent showing in the primary, less than ten points ahead of his nearest competition, proves that voters are fed up with the Rybak administrations cuts in the police force and disorganized response to a public safety emergency.

"Mayor Rybak doesn't have to be concerned about crime because he doesn't leave his house without a police escort," explained Delmonico. "But voters are sending a message that they want more cops, more focus on public safety and a concrete plan to bring the police department back up to strength. They also want some initiative out of city hall, and not more waiting for Santa to come down the chimney with money from the state or federal government."

Delmonico observed that Mayor Rybak has only eight weeks before the general election to convince voters that he received their message on crime and is going to do something about it. "It's obvious voters are worried about crime. The candidate who addresses that concern and convinces voters that he's going to get tough on crime, is the candidate who will be the next mayor."

Since 1972, the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis has represented police officers up to the rank of captain who are employed by the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.

Currently the Federation has more than 800 members and is the largest non-affiliated law enforcement union in the state of Minnesota. The Federation Board of Directors consists of 10 elected members (nine from the Minneapolis Police Department and one from the Park Police Department), each serving a two-year term. The Federation president serves full-time, along with one other designated board member. The rest of the board serves part-time, while remaining full-time members of the police force.

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Source: Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis

Tags: R.T. Rybak