City Hall Monitor

2010 governor’s race: Pawlenty, Rybak gain rivals — not counting each other

Already by Tuesday, two men had tiptoed onto Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak’s turf this week. The city’s revitalization chief, Bob Miller, says he’ll run for the mayor’s job next year, the Southwest Journal reports. And on Monday Gov. Tim Pawlenty made a move on the green-jobs territory that Rybak — joined by another guv-wanna-be, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman — has spent years staking out. Meanwhile, as Pawlenty gears up for a potential presidential bid in 2012, a different Minneapolis official threw his hat in the ring for governor: State Rep. Paul Thissen (DFL).

GOP pulling ad support from Bachmann

Two weeks after shifting ad support from Erik Paulsen’s race in the 3rd Congressional District to do media buys in Michele Bachmann’s 6th district, the National Republican Congressional Committee is reportedly pulling its support for Bachmann entirely. Huffington Post’s Sam Stein says that two sources aware of Minnesota ad buys say the GOP is withdrawing its media buys.

“If true, it is a remarkable fall for a congresswoman who, until recently, seemed relatively safe in her predominantly conservative district,” he writes.

And, if true, it might free up media for challenger Elwin Tinklenberg, who has committed only $188,000 for advertising — out of more than $1 million raised since comments by Bachmann on Friday’s edition of “Hardball.”

Update: Politico confirms — and adds that the NRCC is dropping advertising in Colorado and Florida districts as well. TPM offers independent confirmation.

City Council DOESN’T call for investigation of Minneapolis police over RNC

A minority of the Minneapolis City Council decided Wednesday against requesting answers from Chief Tim Dolan on police actions during the Republican National Convention. And by killing a proposed staff directive, four members of the council’s Public Safety and Regulatory Services Committee made sure that the council majority not on the committee won’t have a say on the issue. MnIndy has audio highlights with transcription after the jump.

Minneapolis mayor announces plans to review RNC law enforcement

UPDATED Mayor R.T. Rybak announced this afternoon that Minneapolis would conduct a series of reviews into the Minneapolis Police Department’s (MPD) actions in Minneapolis during the Republican National Convention, including a standard “after-action report” that will look into related security measures and the development of new policies for dealing with the media. A city council member who has urged a blue-ribbon, multi-jurisdictional review said the mayor’s statement was “good” but appeared to fall short of “a public, independent, transparent process.”

City Hall Monitor: RNC cop costs, make-believe workers, and 4 wheels eat 4 less

In this installment of City Hall Monitor: Minneapolis banks on Justice’s eyes being blind, but not glazing over like FEMA’s; an audit says it may be fictional but, hey, it’s a job; officials take an hour deciding whether to let people speak on NRP financing; and Porky’s resorts to discounts to drum up business at its hard-won, zoning-code-busting drive-thru window.

CivicFest was a CivicBust

 
Among the widely trumpeted 8 billion RNC-related media impressions of the Twin Cities were a few distinctly negative impressions created by a Minneapolis Convention Center event called CivicFest. It was meant to draw 150,000 media representatives, schoolchildren, RNC delegates and other visitors to see exhibits such as a replica of the White House and to [...]

Outside jail the morning after the RNC, basking in sunshine and camera flashes

The mayor had said so, and if you closed your eyes the morning after the RNC and let the intoxicating hint of normalcy in the air wash away memories of the week, everything did seem like it might be all right again — even at Ramsey County’s Law Enforcement Center on Lafayette Avenue just east [...]

Minneapolis council members call for investigation of RNC policing

Minneapolis City Council Members Gary Schiff and Cam Gordon issued a call this afternoon for an independent investigation of police actions during the Republican National Convention (RNC). Read their full statement below the jump.
Today’s call follows two earlier statements on RNC policing from city council corridors in Minneapolis and St. Paul. On Tuesday, Gordon and [...]

City Hall Monitor: Minneapolis schools set to pick city cops over park cops

The Minneapolis School Board is poised to grant a low-bid, high-six-figures contract for liaison police services to the Minneapolis Police Department. It means a switch from the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board’s independent police force, which has provided cops to the schools for the last five years. The move puts cops who serve under Minneapolis [...]

Chippewa-Dasani water wars: Minneapolis park board contracts create catch-22

The Minneapolis park board’s conflicting corporate obligations put vendors at its bike tour event in an impossible catch-22. Under the parks’ current beverage contract, vendors at Minneapolis parks can serve only Coke-brand Dasani water—but the bike event’s sponsorship rules mandate only Chippewa water. In fact, vendors will get kicked out for serving the brand of [...]