Today is the Minneapolis Democratic Party city convention. It was supposed to officially start at 10 am, with registration starting at 9 am. On the agenda, endorsing candidates for mayor, Park Board, Library Board. At noon, we were already home again, but not because it was over.
I am disgusted with the Minneapolis DFL. I should explain that the Democratic Party in Minnesota is actually the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party, the heritage of Hubert Humphrey. He helped the Minnesota Democratic Party and the old Farmer-Labor Party to join, back in the late forties or early fifties. So it's the DFL now.
My partner and I attended our precinct caucus, and were delegates to this convention. I have been to at least three other city conventions, one state convention, and numerous ward conventions. This one was the worst organized I have ever seen.
It's raining today, and cold. There was no temptation to stay home and work in the garden or go for a walk. A good day to spend inside, helping to decide the future of the city. But we couldn't.
The convention was supposed to officially start at 10 am, with registration of delegates starting at 9 am. It promised to be contentious, since both the current mayor, Rybak, and a challenger, McLaughlin, are running for the endorsement. Both are fairly liberal Democrats, and I wasn't too concerned about the outcome until about three weeks ago.
A proposal to have a sales tax increase to pay for a new stadium for the Twin has been passed in the last three weeks. I, and many other people, are opposed to this, partly because this is another handout to a millionaire team owner, and partly because the backers refuse to have a referendum as provided for by law. Instead, they plan to go to the State Legislature and ask for an exception to be made to the law. The citizens of Minneapolis have twice defeated attempts to use public money to build a new stadium. The Metrodome is less than 20 years old. That cost the taxpayers a lot of money, and now the team owners want to screw us again.
The convention was scheduled for a Melby Hall at Augsburg College. This turned out to be the basketball court. It was much too small. Properly organized, it might have worked - it was the site of the last city convention. But there has been an upswing in involvement since 2004. And there seems to have been a downswing in common sense among the DFL in the same time.
I set the alarm for 7:30, the usual time I have set for work. We were ready to go by 9 am. I wasn't sure about parking in the area. By the time we got there, it was overflowing with people. The nearby ramps were for Fairview Hospital, and expensive - $3 for the first half hour. I parked at a meter, $1 a hour, 2 hour limit. We figured we could feed the meter and move the car as necessary. We walked a couple blocks to the hall. We got to the hall around 9:15 am. The scene inside was total chaos. The entrance was too narrow for the number of people. The foyer was too small. The hall was too small. I could not find if the meters were going to be enforced. I finally saw a sign that there was a special rate on parking at one of the ramps, but I didn't know where it was. We found the area where our precinct was supposed to sit, and took our seats. There were 8 chairs allowed for a precinct that could have over 30 people in attendance. Everywhere was much too crowded and filling up fast. I had a bad feeling at that point.
We looked at campaign literature and waited. And waited. The convention was supposed to convene at 10 am. I know they are often running a bit late, but this one was worse than usual. By 10:30, all that had been established was that we were too crowded. Someone at the podium asked one ward, then another, to move to the bleachers at the back of the room. But the bleachers were already crowded with visitors and overflow from various parts of the floor. What ensued was at least a half hour of chaos. When it became obvious that it was not going to start by 11 - when I had to move the car or chance a ticket - we left.
I feel very cut out of the process. My partner went so far as to jokingly speculate that the "bad guys" had taken over the Rules and Arrangements committees to create this sort of mess to discourage participation. I have a long history with the DFL, and think it's more likely run-of-the-mill incompetence.
But there are important issues I would like to have been able to vote on, speak on, be involved in. And I felt I couldn't. I felt the best thing I could do was to leave, so that there was a little more room for everyone else. I felt like my voice would not be heard among the better organized noise of all the candidates and causes.
We need grass roots processes that involve as many people as possible. We need ways for people to meet, to assemble and address issues and problems. We need ways for people to communicate with their candidates and elected officials. And this wasn't it.
Something else unsettling - I saw no reporters from any of the local stations. Twelve years ago, eight years ago, they were all over the place, all day. Today, nothing. Maybe a few will show up later, but I really wonder what will be said, how adequate and truthful the coverage, if any, will be.
I wish I had suggestions. I just know that, today, for us, it did not work. We were excluded. And from listening to other people, we weren't the only ones who felt this way.