There has been a lot of discussion at the Saint Paul Issues Forum and elsewhere about Councilmember Helgen’s apparently being able to keep Mayor Coleman the Second from reappointing a Planning Commissioner [Sue McCall] who supported his opponent last year.
People who read this blog may have surmised [and surmised correctly] that I am not a fan of Mr. Helgen. But politics is politics and it seems that Ms. McCall picked the wrong candidate.
What surprised me is that nobody seems to have been spotting the other, more serious problem that has apparently been around for years, that Ms. McCall is a district council employee [District 10 – Como Park, a major portion of which is in Ward Five].
I had not been aware that this had been going on. I don't know how I missed it. But this would seem to threaten the integrity of the Citizen Participation in two ways:
1. There is always a threat when district council staff get on the wrong side in the choice of the people who fund a major part of their operation.
2. Even with the politics removed, the possible conflicts of interest of a district council staff person serving on the Planning Commission seem astounding. Whether your job requires you to be advocating your council’s position or not, it cannot always be easy to have to vote on something when your employer has one position something and your own best judgment or the law suggests a different one.
[For more information on this particular topic you might want to check the SPIF link on the right.]
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2 comments:
You and I have worked on some of the same campaigns. You should know. Jim Reiter was a regression to the Hugo Masanz era. Helgen is a vast improvement, even if he does have a reputation as a hot head. He’s young and he’ll learn. Reiter never would have.
I think that Sue McCall is an excellent woman, but sometimes things just have to be done. Latimer dropped Perpich people from the Planning Commission too, but nobody said anything then.
Cathy
Como Park
Sometimes you can just sit on your hands, but if you are in the political game, even at such a low level as Planing Commission, sometimes you just have to make a side and it is not always an easy choice.
I imagine that Cathy is right. It might have been hard for some to choose between Perpich and Latimer, or they might have found the choice clear but knew that there would be consequences. It was probly the same with Kelly-Benanav or Kelly-Coleman.
But its all part of the game and we all know it.
Sue
Beaver Lake
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