Transcripts

KAREN LOUISE BOOTH: The speech was never billed as a major policy speech. State of the city addresses generally accentuate the positive and attempt to set a tone for city officials and residents alike. The mayor acknowledged the troubles faced by the police department in 1994, and she briefly discussed her goal of ending off-duty service that, she says, places the city in jeopardy of liability risks.

But she quickly diverted attention from what she calls the bad cop to officers she says, serve the city with honor and dignity, mentioning a few by name, and she took the opportunity to introduce her police chief nominee, Robert Olson, now Police Commissioner, in Yonkers, New York.

[APPLAUSE]

SHARON SAYLES BELTON: I want to make one thing clear to everybody that's here if it is indeed true that Commissioner Olson is confirmed by the Minneapolis City Council and he assumes office next month, if there are problems in the city having to do with crime and public safety and the police department call him, not me. He is the chief.

[LAUGHTER]

KAREN LOUISE BOOTH: Other 1994 successes the mayor highlighted included the clean water partnership to beautify the city's chain of lakes and anti-graffiti programs, government reform and new citizen curriculum for children and youth in schools.

The mayor then set forth four main policy goals. They are more affordable housing, job and economic growth, education, and public safety. On housing, the mayor pointed to statistics showing a declining population and a survey that found 18% of those asked said they wanted to move out of Minneapolis.

SHARON SAYLES BELTON: The MCDA must reorganize its programs on a neighborhood basis so that it can reflect and respond to those issues. In one area, it may be that we need to find more homes for growing families. In another, we should rehab those duplexes so that discouraged homeowners won't move out and turn them into rental property.

Finally, we are looking forward to using that $100 million grant from HUD to help us build more affordable housing for low-income people, not only in Minneapolis, but throughout the Metropolitan area.

KAREN LOUISE BOOTH: On jobs and economic development, she said one obstacle stands in the way of redevelopment in Minneapolis.

SHARON SAYLES BELTON: We must clean up our polluted lands so that private investors can develop jobs and revenue for our city. For 100 years, Minneapolis factories, processing plants and railway hubs propelled the state towards prosperity. Meanwhile, our land was absorbing poisonous chemical waste that make it unfit for future development.

KAREN LOUISE BOOTH: The mayor said schools must serve the community and social functions they once did. She also talked about busing, saying today's problem is not segregation, but the quality of education.

SHARON SAYLES BELTON: We need to rethink our annual $8 million investment in busing and decide whether or not it should be redirected to student achievement.

KAREN LOUISE BOOTH: And on the issue of public safety, Sayles Belton advocates a curfew for youth, a tougher war on drugs, and further lobbying protecting the endangered Brady Bill from repeal.

Answering criticism that her tenure as mayor began with a slow start, the mayor resurrected an analogy given by a councilman.

SHARON SAYLES BELTON: Council member Burnett recently observed on Minnesota Public Radio that we've worked this year like carpenters building a solid foundation. Now, it's time for us to build on that foundation.

KAREN LOUISE BOOTH: But not the entire council agrees on which is the best method for building public policy. Councilman Dennis Shelstad.

DENNIS SHELSTAD: Well, all of us agree on her goals. I mean, my goodness, who is there who doesn't agree that we need a safe city and a good educational system and so on? We all agree with her goals. There will be disagreements about how to accomplish them.

For example, I agree with her wholeheartedly that drugs are a major issue in Minneapolis. Yet, she and the rest of the council voted to have a drug-- a needle exchange program, which I think encourages and legitimizes drug use.

She talks about doing away with guns in the city. I agree with her. That would be wonderful. The laws are already on the books. They just aren't being enforced. She talks about getting drugs off the streets and dealing harshly with drug offenders, yet drug offenders are arrested now and none of them go to jail.

KAREN LOUISE BOOTH: Greater Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce President Shelly Regan says there was a lot in the mayor's speech that is encouraging to business, particularly the expected vote on a revised target center buyout plan. The mayor says is likely to pass today.

SHELLY REGAN: I think that the mayor has probably been working behind the scenes, and I think that obviously the mayor's office, the city council and many people in the community would like to see a positive result about this particular facility, about this particular business. And we're excited and it's successful for all of us.

KAREN LOUISE BOOTH: After her address, the mayor mingled amongst a mostly supportive crowd. She received some congratulations and some well wishes. The audience responded the way most do, following speeches like this in an uplifted manner. It's the politicking during the next year that will either carry the tone or not.

For the FM news station, this is Karen Louise Booth in Minneapolis.