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Tax Payer 10/29/2010 9:21:00 AM
As if i don't pay enough taxes as it is,,Now we have a crooked wench in office costing us tax payers more.
THANKS ALOT.ENJOY HELL
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Jon B 11/06/2009 8:56:00 AM
Lisa Goodman's illegal meddling prior to the vote on Parc Centrale will cost Minneapolis taxpayers--especially property owners like myself--hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars. That's the bottom line. She's a menace.
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Michael Marn 10/14/2009 11:15:00 AM
As a key player and very visible presence in the neighborhood opposition that toppled Wayzata developer Brad Hoyt's massive glass tower proposed for Loring Hill (Parc Centrale), I would have expected to be interviewed for the lengthy article written by Erin Carlyle regarding Minneapolis City Councilmember Lisa Goodman, her representation of Ward Seven, and her involvement with Hoyt's ill-fated project. But then again, my story would not have jibed with the clear bias of the writer's piece. Though I spent countless hours phoning neighbors, knocking on doors, and canvassing the Loring Park neighborhood to rally opposition to Hoyt's project, I never received nor witnessed any help organizing the neighborhood from Lisa Goodman as the article alleges.
As a representative of my neighborhood at a city council committee hearing on Hoyt's proposal, I witnessed firsthand criticism of my councilmember from the Wayzata developer that would foreshadow his lawsuit. He accused Lisa Goodman of listening to the public rather than doing what he, of course, thought was best for the city--to allow him to build his 21 story glass tower (he did not mention the approximately $23 million in profit he expected to reap from the building at the time). It struck my neighbors and I back then (as it does now) as the most ridiculous of arguements, and Councilmember Goodman responded in kind--of course she listens to her constituents. That is her job. It is what she is elected to do. "And you know what," Lisa added, "my constituents have good ideas."
I agree with Erin Carlyle, "Lisa Knows Best," because her decisions are based on the will of the people she represents, the residents of Ward Seven, and not on the will of millionaire developers from the subburbs who cry foul and threaten to sue if they do not get their way. Lisa Goodman is a model representative of the people. That is why my neighbors and I energetically and enthusiastically support her. That is why Lisa Goodman handily wins elections.
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Felonious Monk 10/14/2009 8:20:00 AM
Lisa Goodman looks just like Dame Edna in that most unflattering photo. Eek.
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Deep Throat 10/13/2009 10:17:00 PM
funny you should mention absolute power B. because developers have almost absolute power to rule over us like lords and princes. they get what they want 99% of the time through back room deals with guv, such as those mentioned in the article...conflict of interest. dude's just mad he wasn't allowed to rule over us this time around. government is the only check on the power of the wealthy to become neo-aristicratic rulers in this country. too bad government is usually going along with them and/or on their payroll directly or indirectly. good to see that some times they don't go along with the big devs. the real problem is government's property maneuverings and restrictions is when they fall on the little guy. and dude is not a little guy. he'd have no qualms if the city council used eminent domain to say, steal homes and land from people along the green way in south minneapolis with their new massive rezoning there and give it to a developer to build luxury condos on. hypocrisy my friend. its oozing from you.
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Biffula 10/13/2009 2:22:00 AM
This is the problem when you let govt. control so much. If it was private land for sale, why does/should the city council have a say in what gets developed - period? If a developer owns or buys a piece of property and it fits zoning regs, the city should have no say in it. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Goodman and her cronies should go.
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david shea 10/11/2009 5:21:00 PM
I have been an architect and business owner in the City of Minneapolis for over 30 years as well as a downtown resident. Over the years in dealing with the city on many developments I have found Councilmember Goodman to be forthright, opinionated, sometimes blunt, but always having the best interest of the people who live in the district and the city as her prime motivation. We need more people like her in public office.
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Deep Throat 10/10/2009 12:41:00 PM
burning wood is not renewable nor is it eco-friendly. quit the selling. your product failed because most of us knew the reality of the dirty, asthma causing, green house gassing, tree killing burner plant. trees are not renewable. we still lose more every year than are planted, and even if it were the opposite the time it takes for trees to mature makes it impossible for it to be a renewable source. even if you use so-called waste wood it adds to the market demand of any kind of wood which thereby causes some additional trees to be cut down somewhere else in that wide market of using wood for manifold purposes. even if a burner were not so flawed, if everyone decided to have burners we would be screwed. so its a joke to sell it as renewable.
its just like ethanol calling itself alternative energy in hopes that the public will confuse that with environmentally friendly and sustainable energy since the two have largely been conflated to this point.
spin all you want, as I'm sure you will continue to do, but we know what's up.
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Kim Havey 10/10/2009 12:49:00 AM
I am not a regular reader of City Pages, but my perception is certainly that you have a left-of-center political bent and so do most of your readers.
I was surprised to see so much time spent on Kandiyohi in an article on Council Member Lisa Goodman. I was even more surprised to read what seemed to be implied criticism of our efforts to develop renewable energy, create an LGBT community center, and provide housing for people living with HIV/AIDS.
Let me see if I have this straight, pun intended: City Pages is critical of Kandiyohi for using its skills, experience and influence with local policy makers to advance the causes of renewable energy and LGBT issues.
Given your readers� interests, it certainly seems as if there are other targets that you could go after.
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Michael Krause 10/10/2009 12:39:00 AM
October 8, 2009
TO THE EDITOR:
I am reluctant to feed the beast of City Pages� scurrilous and error-prone journalism by responding to the recent article on Council Member Lisa Goodman. However, your tortured attempt at guilt-by-association is full of such complete inaccuracies that it demands a response.
First, the Green Institute�s bylaws require a two-thirds vote of the board to fire the executive director and no such vote was taken in my case. After several months of conflict with some board members over the direction of the organization, I agreed to resign---four days after a meeting with the board chair. I received a severance package equal to five months of salary and my health insurance premiums for one year.
Second, no Green Institute funds were ever used for my travel expenses, either domestic or foreign; in most cases, I paid for travel costs out of my own pocket. Particularly in the case of India, where I made two, one-week trips in 2001 and 2003 to work on the Godrej Green Business Centre project in Hyderabad, my expenses were paid for by a Washington, D.C.-based consultant who had a contract through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Your reporter had this information, but printed this completely inaccurate charge anyway.
Finally, when I left the Green Institute in early 2005, all of its mortgage and tax payments had been made on time and we had eight consecutive years of clean financial audits from an independent auditing firm. And in my nine years with the Green Institute, I had been twice elected by my peers to serve as treasurer of other major non-profit organizations.
After nearly five years, when will Corey Brinkema and the members of the Green Institute board who continued to serve after I left stop blaming me and take responsibility for running the organization into the ground?
Michael Krause
Minneapolis
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Craig Wilson 10/10/2009 12:33:00 AM
Dear Editor,
I�m not sure why an article about Council Member Lisa Goodman used so much paper and ink to talk about me or Kandiyohi. In addition, there are several significant errors in your recent article that need to be corrected.
I was a University of Minnesota graduate student working as a summer intern in Council Member Goodman�s office on greening and stormwater projects, not her �aide� as the article states.
Kandiyohi Development Partners, the firm where I am currently a principal, is and always has been a for-profit limited liability corporation, not a non-profit as is reported in the article.
I was also a board member at the Green Institute when Michael Krause made the trips to India. As I recall, he had the full support of the board for those trips and he was originally requested to go to India by the brother-in-law of our board president at the time. The brother-in-law was a consultant for a Washington, D.C. firm that had a U.S. government contract to support development work in India and that firm paid for Michael�s expenses.
In addition, Michael Krause was not fired, which would have required a two-thirds vote of the Board. Where in the world did you source your information? Michael resigned after nine successful years building an organization that was nationally and internationally recognized. During my nearly five years serving on the board in officer positions while Michael Krause was Executive Director, the Green Institute received sound third-party audits, there was broad foundational support and Michael Krause consistently received exceptional reviews from his staff and board members. If Michael Krause was still there, I believe the Green Institute would still own its building.
Your factually inaccurate and biased reporting is careless in the damage it causes to real people and small businesses in our community. And your reporters wonder why fewer and fewer people will talk to them?
Sincerely,
Craig Wilson
Minneapolis
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Deep Throat 10/08/2009 3:42:00 PM
It's a shame that City Pages doesn't write about the real scandal in this city. This tale of yours seems to indicate that there are corrupt city council members. Good work. But, But, you let developers off the hook and you don't tell us the bigger picture about the Monopoly board game heating up here in MPLS. These arrogant aristocrats are taking our city out from under us and planting luxury condos and other shit in place of historic gems like the Uptown Bar.
You "cover" the development beat by simply giving voice to politicians and the big shot developers. But we never hear much about the thoughts of average residents, a substantial number of whom don't appreciate the gentrification going on in MPLS. Oh we heard a thing or two about condos from the CP many years ago, but not much since you dispensed with your talent and turned your Blotter section into a misanthropic Gordon Liddy / COPS style format that seems to like nothing more than to spotlight "goofs" and "dumb criminals". Pandering to the right wing are we?
Sadly, with developers suing and winning lawsuits, the right of the developer may become absolute in this town, while the rights of residents to control the destiny of their community wanes. Thus making it harder than ever for grassroots citizens to defeat monstrous projects like the Midtown Burner and other crap we don't want in our neighborhoods.
By the way... Watergate?! WTF? That's like Gordon Liddy calling Nixon a crook. Developers are often just as corrupt as any politician. Suing can be a way to express that they are angry for being left out of the latest round of gentrification bingo.
Corruption you say? I haven't seen any stories about this criminal tactic, but I'd be willing to bet that it happens from time to time that a developer will get an under-the-table kick back from the construction firm they hire for their project. That kind of thing would make the non-selling condos we currently see locally a non-problem and a non-disinsentive for developers hungry for more MPLS pie. And since its off the books developers could even go bankrupt *on* the record and we could all cry for them, while *off* the record they would still have plenty of money for more projects.
And how savory is suing the city so that us regular residents who don't get much of a say in what happens with our neighborhoods and development have to pay millions of dollars in taxes? In effect we will be putting up the down payment for the next condo project that we don't want.
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Johnnie 10/08/2009 11:38:00 AM
What, no follow-on investigation of her ties with Cherryhomes, et al? That path has got some pretty ripe pickings just waiting for someone to harvest and print.
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Lowell 10/08/2009 5:11:00 AM
I wonder if she is the reason Lee's Liquor is being denied it's parking lot? Maybe she has some plans to make a little on the side?
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Kraig Alan 10/07/2009 8:38:00 PM
I cannot agree to these comments that have been put in this print. I do see that you found the negative people to make a protest into light. How pathetic can Skolnick be, along with all the other wimpering fools. A judge who was also beat in a city counsel race. Lisa Goodman is a very respected city counsel member in Minneapolis. She stands up for the people in her district and ward. She will be my only vote in the upcoming election. I have lived in the city for 18 years and respect her. GREAT JOB, Lisa!!!
