Despite widespread community support and a history of fighting for better police accountability, Dave Bicking failed to be reappointed to the CRA at the April 2nd City Council meeting. Dave Bicking was seeking a 4-year term to the board that deals with issues of police accountability and investigates complaints against the Minneapolis Police Department. For his dedicated work, Bicking has the support from over 314 community members who signed a petition online or offline.
At the Committee of the Whole meeting on April 1st, the council listed four names for recommendation for the open spots: Arlene Santiago, Dean Kallenbach, Pramma Elayaperumal, and Mary Pargo. These candidates included two of Mayor Rybak’s pre-emptive choices. Dave Bicking was absent from this list along with other qualified candidates who also applied for the open positions.
Previous Coverage: City documents show Mayor Rybak made CRA decisions before public hearing
When it came time for the vote at the City Council meeting, Don Samuels, Chair of the Public Safety and Health Committee, read the list of the four recommended candidates and gave a short speech on the “fair and balanced” qualities of the city council’s choice, Mary Pargo. He then asked the council to vote for this slate.
Before that the final vote, Cam Gordon, Ward 2 City councilperson, raised a substitute motion asking that the city council to consider Dave Bicking for their choice. However, in order for the motion to be even considered, another city council member would need to second it. Despite the fact that all 13 members were present, the other 12 remaining DFL council members remained absolutely silent. Not one other council member – Kevin Reich, Diane Hofstede, Barb Johnson, Don Samuels, Robert Lillgren, Lisa Goodman, Elizabeth Glidden, Gary Schiff, Meg Tuthill, John Quincy, Sandra Colvin-Roy, or Betsy Hodges allowed for any discussion on the motion.
The slate of recommended CRA candidates for the CRA passed with a 12-1 with only Gordon voting against it. It is not very common to see the city council fail to “second” a simple motion for consideration and open discussion. It’s completely outrageous that city hall managed once again to brush aside the concerns about our
notorious out-of control police department.
What’s next?
The next public CRA meeting is scheduled for
April 7th at 6:30 p.m. in Room 333 at City Hall. It’s time to let the new board know that the community is not going away quietly – regardless of whom they are “appointing” to lead us. Unlike the regular dull city committee meetings, this is one that you will not want to miss!
Comments
thanks for the report What a sad day for our city
I am glad you were there to report on this. It just shows again how a city council that thinks it is progressive and open, is still a Good Ol' Boy club and nobody better rock the boat or you will get kicked out.
It does not make the city a better or safer place. It is such a shame the City Council members are such cowards. When over 300 people take the time to sign a petition to support someone for CRA. you know there are 3x that who also support and trust Dave.
I hope all these city council members are voted out (except Cam Gordon). I hope many people join the Green Party or other Independent candidates adn help break up the good ol' boy clubs.
time for more radical action
Since this was a pretty much expected move, what I see now is an opportunity to move beyond the tried and tired tactics of trying to change the police through the CRA. We know it doesn't work, and when we do get someone like Dave in who is willing to fight, well, they have the power so out he goes. This shouldn't be surprising or shocking to anyone.
The good news is that what we can do now is legitimately say, Yes, we've tried to enact change through the system, and look - it fails, fails and fails. This is the time to organize more radical action to challenge the police at their roots - both their behavior, in the short term, and their existence at all in the long term.
So to those who have been putting hard, valuable work into dealing with the CRA and the official channels.... whatcha gonna do now? We know what doesn't work (not that there hasn't been ample evidence of what doesn't work before) - now we have the ability to try a more serious method for taking our city back.
Time to realize that you may not be in the norm of society
I find it hard to beleive that when you are able to get 300+ signatures out of a population of over 500,000 people, that you could possible think you had even a sliver of hope. Time to wake up and smell the Starbucks.
and the number of minneapolis
and the number of minneapolis residents who signed on to publically support dolan's reappointment was, what? 12?
from dave
this went out over the progressive calendar email list from dave:
Well, it all ended quickly, with a whimper not a bang. I am officially no
longer a member of the board of the CRA (Mpls Civilian Police Review
Authority).
As I said in my last update, the slate of recommended appointees was
revealed at yesterday's Committee of the Whole, and it did not include me.
That slate was brought forward at today's City Council meeting by Don
Samuels, chair of the Public Safety Committee. Don waxed eloquent about
the virtues of the applicant that was chosen instead of me as the City
Council pick for the CRA (the mayor got to make the other three picks this
time). He spoke of her being "fair and balanced" - over and over.
Clearly the point made was to contrast that to his claims about me. My
name was never even mentioned, of course.
Then Cam Gordon (Green Party Ward 2 Council member) made his substitute
motion: to reappoint me in place of the "recommended" applicant. He
mentioned that I had "served admirably" on the CRA, and that my
reappointment at least deserved debate and discussion. The other Council
members clearly didn't agree - not a single one of them would even second
the motion, so it died with no chance for discussion or vote - or even for
Cam Gordon to speak in favor of the motion. It is very rare for a motion
to not receive a second.
I have been pretty diplomatic through all of this, but I have to say:
What a bunch of cowards!! Other than Cam Gordon, every Council member and
the mayor should be ashamed of themselves. Whatever they think about the
merits of my service on the CRA - and I accept that there are legitimate
differences of opinion - they should have the guts to say in public why a
conscientious, active, and reliable member of the CRA (or any board)
should be thrown off the board before even serving a full term.
The one constant throughout all of this is that no Council member will
express any reason for not reappointing me. I have asked repeatedly, in
emails and at the public hearing, for anyone who had any concern about my
reappointment, to let me know their concern so I could address it. I have
had NO responses.
This is very shabby treatment for someone who has put in many hundreds of
hours of service to the city. You know what they say about bullies really
being cowards inside? Today's action was an example of bullies showing
their cowardice. I would accept the results of a fair and open process.
This was neither. And while this was particularly blatant, it is a
pattern of behavior in our city government. That is the biggest reason
why I ran for City Council. Since the election, I have seen an
accelerating trend toward arrogant, undemocratic, and unresponsive
government.
As I've said before, this is not really about me. This is about the
protection of those involved in encounters with Mpls police. The real
issue is whether there is any control over our police department; will
there be any real accountability? Will people abused by the police have
anywhere to go where they can be not just "listened to", but where their
experience will lead to real consequences? The CRA is an important reform
won through years of demands and hard work. Will it be valuable, or will
it be window dressing? The answer is still uncertain, but today's Council
action says much about their desired direction for the CRA.
Quite a burden rests on the new appointees to the CRA. Rather than give
my opinion and judge them now, I would prefer to let them show their merit
through action. The new members are: Arlene Santiago, a public defender;
Dean Kallenbach, former DFL endorsed City Council candidate against Dean
Zimmermann in 2001; Pramma Elayaperumal, a young and enthusiastic
applicant who has been attending CRA meetings; and Mary Pargo, a social
service worker with Pillsbury United Communities and Executive Director of
Juneteeth. Mary Pargo was the City Council pick, the other three were
appointed by the mayor.
The fight for the future of the CRA is not over. Personally, I will
continue to attend CRA meetings, even if only as a member of the public.
I will continue the research I have been working on. At this point, there
is far more attention being paid to the CRA than before. That is a
positive development. Often there is more value in the fight than in the
outcome of a particular battle. We have much to build on, and we must do
that.
The next step is the upcoming CRA monthly board meeting on Wednesday,
April 7, 6:30pm, in Room 333 of City Hall (enter through after-hours door
facing 4th St.). The meeting is open to the public, and public comment is
allowed. A big turnout will help demonstrate the community's expectations
for the new board.
Also please consider coming to tomorrow's meeting of CUAPB (Communities
United Against Police Brutality), Saturday, April 3, 1:30pm in the
basement of Walker Church, 3104 16th Ave. S., Mpls. [See item #2 above -
ed] They will surely be strategizing next steps in their relationship with
the CRA, and planning for their input at the upcoming CRA board meeting.
Thanks to all who have been involved. I am uncomfortable with political
action which puts me personally in such a public position, just as my City
Council campaign did. The real important issue is the strength we have
working together. Even in temporary defeat, we have shown that strength,
and the fight is not over.
Apres moi...
Charles DeGaulle was a regular John Henry in many ways, but unlike John Henry, Charles was convinced that he and only he could keep French society from collapsing into anarchy. Charles didn't miss by all that much - the French military attempted a coup d'etat, students, farmers, blue-collar workers, transportation workers, and perhaps other major components of the Third Republic - or is it the Fourth? I can't keep track of the various bumps in the gallic road but I can assert that the influx of immigrants from Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe are unlikely to be sheep led to the slaughter any time soon and not just in France. There are tremendous demographic pressures on all the member states of the European Union and the various national economies don't look all that swell either.
Which brings me to our own country and eventually to our own Minneapolis. The French constabulary could only do so much to dampen the outrage that brought so many citizens to the streets of Paris. The French don't take well to mulish behavior by their various regimes and good order returns only when compromises are achieved in their governing bodies. The future of all the European states will be much affected by declining birthrates in their traditional populations and by the persistent and rightful pressure for inclusion as new arrivals insist that Liberte, Egalite, and Fraternite are theirs to achieve just as did those who overthrew the aristocracy in the heady days of the French Revolution.
We don't have any equivalent to Charles De Gaulle here in flyover land. We do have a law enforcement establishment that deems itself above the law and we have a municipal government that has become inbred and apparently mesmerized by the arrogance of power. We also have a municipal history that has had sporadic episodes of violent clashes between haves and have-nots, between fascism and anarchy if one is to believe the conflicting claims involved, and occasional bouts of civic anomie that inevitably leave a mess that someone has to clean up.
Not a happy picture, frankly, and it is sorely disappointing to see how blindly our elected leadership ignores even our own history, setting aside the more dramatic but nevertheless compelling lessons to be drawn from other times and places. This will not end well.