Jun 26, 2017
We were on-hand for the Minneapolis DFL City Rules Committee meeting yesterday held in a packed conference room at the Minneapolis Central Labor Union Council. This was the second meeting after the first resulted in an impasse. Sunday’s meeting produced a set of Rules...
Jun 20, 2017
The results of the St Paul DFL City Convention this weekend begs a specific question. If the only result is an endorsement for school board candidates, can the DFL survive in the era of Ranked Choice Voting? The failure to achieve an endorsement in the race for mayor...
Jun 17, 2017
We are sitting on the floor, listening to the last question being asked of the four candidates for the DFL endorsement for mayor, Dai Thao, Tom Goldstein, Pat Harris and Melvin Carter III. The biggest question on the first ballot will be whether Carter achieves 50%...
Jun 16, 2017
Sorry, we missed Countdown Day Two, but honestly, there wasn’t much new information that came our way to share. Today, as we view the field of candidates, follow the discussion about the pending Rules fight, prepare ourselves for the role we intend to play, and survey...
Jun 16, 2017
Because of the timidity of St Paul Charter Commission Chair Richard Kramer, Charter Commission Member Chuck Repke resigned yesterday. Repke’s reason for quitting is not reflected in the language of the resignation letter, but in a private conversation, which contained...
Jun 14, 2017
As we get past the hump of the day we are looking forward to a City Convention poised to accomplish a herculean task. If the Minority Report to the Rules Committee passes, it will the first time in the history of the DFL Party where this has happened. Sure, there have...
Jun 14, 2017
We attended last night’s public hearing on the proposed pipeline to replace line number three. Now it is clear this project could do a number of positive things, increase the jobs in a great number of communities, where those jobs would be a significant boost to the...
Jun 13, 2017
Our interest in the Convention Count Down is building, we have had twice as many people read Day Five and had read Day Six. Leading into the convention this is encouraging for those who value the process, and actually R-E-S-P-E-C-T the delegates and alternates. The...
Jun 12, 2017
We have received a mixed response to our posting yesterday because we actively sent out the article to St Paul DFL City Convention delegates and alternates. Some were appreciative and thankful and others, bitchy and questioning of the motivation behind the message. We...
Jun 11, 2017
If you haven’t followed Checks & Balances, we tend to provide the most blanket coverage leading up to and about political conventions. With this as our specialty, we are going to provide a daily package of material about the convention process, what specific...
