The Scoop is a journalistic veteran of many election cycles in multiple states and two countries, so it's little surprise when the fur starts flying a few weeks before the ballots are counted. And the fur is flying in the St. Paul City Council races. Take a gander:
DFL RELOCATES CANDIDATE KARAOKE FROM CHECKERBAR
DFL Candidate Karaoke -- the Oct. 23 fundraiser for the St. Paul DFL candidates -- will be moved to a new location, which has yet to be determined. And why would that be? In a word: crime!
DFL organizers went scouting for a fun karaoke bar that would host their event for a pittance and found one -- the Checkerbar, an East Side watering hole that was willing to lease out its karaoke space for free. The Scoop can attest to the fact that this predominantly-Hmong bar on Arcade Street serves strong drinks and fun food (including fried chicken's feet) and maintains an ample karaoke lounge.
Clik here to view.
This man is also seeking election this Nov., but to what office, no one knows...
But the Checkerbar also maintains a checkered history. One of the proprietors was once kicked off the St. Paul Police Department for lending his department-issue gun to a family member -- the gun was later traced to two drive-by shootings. By the bar entrance, there's a long line of photos of unruly customers who have been bounced out of the place by doormen and are not allowed back inside.
One such incident remains under investigation by St. Paul Police. Nicholas James Keilen told a friend he returned home from the bar in June 2014 with serious injuries inflicted by bouncers, but he delayed seeking medical attention. He died about two months later.
After learning of the DFL fundraiser, critics posted multiple messages to Facebook this past weekend criticizing the decision to locate a party gathering there and linking back to Pioneer Press coverage of the death. The social media backlash appears to have worked. After rethinking the choice of venue, the St. Paul DFL listed the location Monday as "to be determined", according to the event Facebook page. Former City Council member Melvin Carter III, a potential mayoral candidate, is listed as host.
DAVID GLASS, TOO FAST AND FURIOUS?
Ward 5 candidate David Glass has been open about his history of drug and alcohol dependency, which he maintains is well in the past. He's a believer in AA meetings and personal transformation, and the St. Paul Police Federation has endorsed him in Ward 5.
But when a Pioneer Press reporter asked Glass about another aspect of his legal history -- his many speeding tickets -- Glass had this to say: "I've been clean and sober for over 20 years from alcohol and drugs. I had quite a bit different lifestyle before I went into a recovery program. Many of those speeding tickets happened during that time."
Wait a second. Online records available through the Minnesota Court Information System (MNCIS) indicate that two of the 10 speeding tickets listed there were issued in 2010. Two were issued in 2008. Two were issued in 2007. Two were issued in 2003. And two were issued in 2002. That's not 20-plus years ago!
GlassViolations.docx by City Hall Scoop
His driving history includes a citation for driving 99 miles per hour in a 70-mile-per-hour zone in 2002. Now that's fast.
Addendum 5:30 p.m. Oct. 6: In a phone interview, Glass acknowledged that his math was a bit fuzzy.
REBECCA NOECKER, FEMINIST?
Some have questioned whether Ward 2 candidate Rebecca Noecker is truly a voice for women, given her teenage angst 14 years ago over western feminism. The candidate -- who has been endorsed by the feminist political action group WomenWinning -- arrived at Harvard University at the age of 17 and penned an essay for the Harvard Crimson that picks apart the feminist agenda, including "Take Our Daughters to Work Day."
Her Oct. 2001 manifesto -- "The Farce of Feminism" -- has reportedly been reprinted in academic text books as proof that teenagers too can craft hot-button editorial writing. Among the then-Rebecca Rubins' viewpoints: "Women in this country are now on an entirely equal footing with men and are sometimes even given preferential treatment."
Say what? Noecker acknowledges that view might not go over well with political activists today in left-leaning St. Paul, and she's one of them. "I wrote an article. I was 17. I couldn't vote. I had experienced none of the world," said the 32-year-old mother of two young children, in an interview with the Scoop last week.
After graduating from the ivy-covered walls of Harvard, Noecker went on to teach earth science in one of the poorest school districts in the country -- Baton Rouge, Louisiana -- where she had a front row to all sorts of inequality. She later moved to Pune, India to recruit Indian professionals to teach in poor Indian schools. At least half of her "Teach for India" recruits were female, she notes.
Noecker now works for AchieveMPLS, a nonprofit partner of the Minneapolis Public Schools aimed at getting kids in a high-poverty school district ready to learn. "I think that I'm living feminism every day," Noecker said.
While the Scoop is on the subject of feminism, what exactly does that term mean, anyway? Critical contributors to ThoughtCatalog.com have debated the evolution of the term and limits of the western movement here -- "Why feminism has a very long way to go" and here -- "Why I don't call myself a feminist anymore" -- and their critiques are still fresh on the page.
Troll the web and you'll find plenty of insightful comparisons that focus on the differences between western feminism and feminism in eastern countries, predominantly Muslim countries, developing countries and ethnic communities in the U.S. Worth a gander. But the Scoop digresses.
BILL HOSKO ALLEGES "COVER-UP"
Speaking of the Ward 2 race, the likely front runners -- Noecker and Darren Tobolt -- have both acknowledged that their thinking has evolved when it comes to proposed parking meters along Grand Avenue.
At a candidate's forum last week sponsored by the CapitolRiver Council, the two transit advocates said the lack of public process has given them pause, and they now think the meters need further study.
But that's not what they said a few weeks earlier, during a Sept. 17 candidate's forum sponsored by Fair Vote Minnesota. Oh no, not at all. You see, a simple review of the audio from the forum at Mt. Zion Temple on Summit Avenue reveals that a month ago, Tobolt and Noecker were clearly... were clearly...
Uh oh. The audio is inaudible. Art gallery owner Bill Hosko maintains he's the only candidate who came out strongly against the proposed meters on Sept. 17, but Fair Vote Minnesota won't share the video that proves it because it's "barely intelligible and not suited for public distribution," according to an Oct. 6 email from Fair Vote's Erik Anderson to an inquiring mind.
That's put a crimp in Hosko's efforts to share the video far and wide, as planned, and he's now alleging that the audio was damaged on purpose.
In an Oct. 6 email to the media, Hosko wrote:
Is this a parking meter position cover over up by the overseers of Ranked Voting and where ... do they get their funding from and financial over-site? The public needs to see Fair Vote MN's 9-17 video and experts need to confirm what happened to the audio.
Why would Fair Vote Minnesota -- the leading overseers, er, advocates for ranked-choice voting -- want to cover up the truth about parking meters on Grand Avenue?
The short answer, according to Fair Vote, is: they don't. The video wasn't necessarily intended for public consumption anyway, said Anderson in an email to an inquiring mind on Tuesday:
We cannot devote any additional resources from limited video contract to any further time on this forum video. Our aim in filming the forum was to learn more about how candidates campaign under Ranked Choice Voting and not to provide the video as a public service. You are welcome to learn more about our organization at http://fairvotemn.org/.
Erik Anderson
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