Election 2013, Volume 1, Issue 6: Kelly, Lane, Mann, Rahaman, and Rea
So, last time was issue-heavy because I covered Betsy Hodges (which got me into municipalization, again). THIS time, I get five weirdos. It's like a little vacation!
Jaymie Kelly (Stop Foreclosures Now)
Tony Lane (Socialist)
Doug Mann (Green)
Abdul M. Rahaman "The Rock" (We the People...)
Joshua Rea (End Homelessness Now)
Jaymie Kelly (Stop Foreclosures Now)
Jaymie doesn't have a web page. However, I found an interview done by Bob Carney (who's theoretically one of her opponents...oh, let's just not worry about it) on the e-democracy forums. Jaymie is possibly the victim of predatory lending, and is fighting foreclosure on her home in Powderhorn.
She also signed a letter that ran in the Star Trib, protesting the "Clown Car" political cartoon. Here's the letter. The letter signers (Dan Cohen, Ole Savior, Abdul M. Rahaman, John Charles Wilson, Bob "Again" Carney Jr., Troy Benjegerdes, Jaymie Kelly, Captain Jack Sparrow, Jeffrey Allen Wagner and Joshua Rea) object strenuously to the characterization of their campaigns as Not Serious.
Let me just note that when I Googled Jaymie Kelly mayor, my first hit was that letter. My second hit was the interview I linked above. My third hit was the Wikipedia article about the 2013 Minneapolis Mayoral race. And my fourth hit was the city site with the candidate filings. If you're not pretending you're serious -- by running for the office you filed for -- why should I pretend you're serious?
(If you duplicate this experiment, one of the hits should be this blog. I'm not sure how quickly that will be true, mind you...) (UPDATE 8/30. My top hit is now the interview. The second hit is this blog post. Third is the indignant letter and fourth is the candidate filings. I'm not sure why the Wikipedia article didn't appear. FYI, if you google just her name, you get some "Occupy Houses" sites including a letter to Chase Mortgage. She fell victim to a predatory lender shortly after her husband died, and has every right to be outraged at her treatment by the banks. I don't think this qualifies her as mayor, though.)
1. Is there any reason to think she can plausibly do the job? No.
2. Could she plausibly win? No.
3. Is there any other reason to vote for her? No.
Tony Lane (Socialist)
Tony Lane doesn't have a website but has participated in some of the group forums, and has given interviews. My favorite quote, from a piece about a forum done for Minneapolis youth back in June:
Tony "urged audience members not to buy into rhetoric about reform from candidates who represent the status quo. 'I'm not fighting for reform; I'm fighting for changing the system from top to bottom. I point to the example of Cuba as a way you can do that,' he said."
I consider myself a liberal on Cuba because I've supported ending the embargo for decades. But I don't point at Cuba as a model for where I'd like to take our society.
1. Is there any reason to think he can plausibly do the job? No.
2. Could he plausibly win? No.
3. Is there any other reason to vote for him? If you're a Socialist and want to give your top vote to someone from your party.
Doug Mann (Green)
https://www.facebook.com/Mann4Mayor
Doug has run for offices before, never with much success. His current big issue is the Vikings Stadium; according to the city charter, I think we were supposed to get a chance to vote on the plan, and the City Council ignored this and passed the plan without a referendum. If you go to his Facebook page, it's mostly all about a lawsuit he filed against the City Council over this. (He wants to have the court order them to put the plan to a vote.) You can also find a profile here; his other big issue is systemic racism (ending it).
Doug has a reputation for being abrasive -- however, if he'd requested the Green endorsement, I imagine he'd have gotten it. (If any political party excluded people from consideration on the grounds that others found them annoying, it would crash and burn within months.) Given his fondness for running for office, surely he was considering running for office at the point that they were recruiting people to endorse. Baffling.
1. Is there any reason to think he can plausibly do the job? No.
2. Could he plausibly win? No.
3. Is there any other reason to vote for him? It's possible that votes for Doug will be interpreted as votes against the Vikings Stadium deal, but I'm not optimistic. (That would work better in a smaller field.)
Abdul M. Rahaman "The Rock" (We the People...)
Oh, hey. Another candidate who signed the "WE ARE SO TOTALLY SERIOUS!!!!1!!" letter but doesn't have a website.
Joshua Rea (End Homelessness Now)
No website (BUT HE IS TOTALLY A SERIOUS CANDIDATE, IT SAYS SO IN THE LETTER). In his case, I found a brief comment from Bob Carney about him in the e-democracy forums. Apparently Joshua is homeless and living in a vacant building. (Bob Carney says he used to be homeless and now lives in a borderline situation. FYI, if you're squatting in a vacant house, that still counts as homeless and in fact when I volunteer at PHC they specifically mention people who are sleeping outside or squatting in vacant buildings as people we should try to steer to the St. Stephen's Street Outreach people at some point.)
1. Is there any reason to think he can plausibly do the job? No.
2. Could he plausibly win? No.
3. Is there any other reason to vote for him? No.
Only two more entries and I'll have done all thirty-five!
Election 2013 Index of Posts.
Jaymie Kelly (Stop Foreclosures Now)
Tony Lane (Socialist)
Doug Mann (Green)
Abdul M. Rahaman "The Rock" (We the People...)
Joshua Rea (End Homelessness Now)
Jaymie Kelly (Stop Foreclosures Now)
Jaymie doesn't have a web page. However, I found an interview done by Bob Carney (who's theoretically one of her opponents...oh, let's just not worry about it) on the e-democracy forums. Jaymie is possibly the victim of predatory lending, and is fighting foreclosure on her home in Powderhorn.
She also signed a letter that ran in the Star Trib, protesting the "Clown Car" political cartoon. Here's the letter. The letter signers (Dan Cohen, Ole Savior, Abdul M. Rahaman, John Charles Wilson, Bob "Again" Carney Jr., Troy Benjegerdes, Jaymie Kelly, Captain Jack Sparrow, Jeffrey Allen Wagner and Joshua Rea) object strenuously to the characterization of their campaigns as Not Serious.
Let me just note that when I Googled Jaymie Kelly mayor, my first hit was that letter. My second hit was the interview I linked above. My third hit was the Wikipedia article about the 2013 Minneapolis Mayoral race. And my fourth hit was the city site with the candidate filings. If you're not pretending you're serious -- by running for the office you filed for -- why should I pretend you're serious?
(If you duplicate this experiment, one of the hits should be this blog. I'm not sure how quickly that will be true, mind you...) (UPDATE 8/30. My top hit is now the interview. The second hit is this blog post. Third is the indignant letter and fourth is the candidate filings. I'm not sure why the Wikipedia article didn't appear. FYI, if you google just her name, you get some "Occupy Houses" sites including a letter to Chase Mortgage. She fell victim to a predatory lender shortly after her husband died, and has every right to be outraged at her treatment by the banks. I don't think this qualifies her as mayor, though.)
1. Is there any reason to think she can plausibly do the job? No.
2. Could she plausibly win? No.
3. Is there any other reason to vote for her? No.
Tony Lane (Socialist)
Tony Lane doesn't have a website but has participated in some of the group forums, and has given interviews. My favorite quote, from a piece about a forum done for Minneapolis youth back in June:
Tony "urged audience members not to buy into rhetoric about reform from candidates who represent the status quo. 'I'm not fighting for reform; I'm fighting for changing the system from top to bottom. I point to the example of Cuba as a way you can do that,' he said."
I consider myself a liberal on Cuba because I've supported ending the embargo for decades. But I don't point at Cuba as a model for where I'd like to take our society.
1. Is there any reason to think he can plausibly do the job? No.
2. Could he plausibly win? No.
3. Is there any other reason to vote for him? If you're a Socialist and want to give your top vote to someone from your party.
Doug Mann (Green)
https://www.facebook.com/Mann4Mayor
Doug has run for offices before, never with much success. His current big issue is the Vikings Stadium; according to the city charter, I think we were supposed to get a chance to vote on the plan, and the City Council ignored this and passed the plan without a referendum. If you go to his Facebook page, it's mostly all about a lawsuit he filed against the City Council over this. (He wants to have the court order them to put the plan to a vote.) You can also find a profile here; his other big issue is systemic racism (ending it).
Doug has a reputation for being abrasive -- however, if he'd requested the Green endorsement, I imagine he'd have gotten it. (If any political party excluded people from consideration on the grounds that others found them annoying, it would crash and burn within months.) Given his fondness for running for office, surely he was considering running for office at the point that they were recruiting people to endorse. Baffling.
1. Is there any reason to think he can plausibly do the job? No.
2. Could he plausibly win? No.
3. Is there any other reason to vote for him? It's possible that votes for Doug will be interpreted as votes against the Vikings Stadium deal, but I'm not optimistic. (That would work better in a smaller field.)
Abdul M. Rahaman "The Rock" (We the People...)
Oh, hey. Another candidate who signed the "WE ARE SO TOTALLY SERIOUS!!!!1!!" letter but doesn't have a website.
Joshua Rea (End Homelessness Now)
No website (BUT HE IS TOTALLY A SERIOUS CANDIDATE, IT SAYS SO IN THE LETTER). In his case, I found a brief comment from Bob Carney about him in the e-democracy forums. Apparently Joshua is homeless and living in a vacant building. (Bob Carney says he used to be homeless and now lives in a borderline situation. FYI, if you're squatting in a vacant house, that still counts as homeless and in fact when I volunteer at PHC they specifically mention people who are sleeping outside or squatting in vacant buildings as people we should try to steer to the St. Stephen's Street Outreach people at some point.)
1. Is there any reason to think he can plausibly do the job? No.
2. Could he plausibly win? No.
3. Is there any other reason to vote for him? No.
Only two more entries and I'll have done all thirty-five!
Election 2013 Index of Posts.