Elections

I’ve lived in Uptown for three years. In that time, I’ve had a lot to say about local issues and city politics, but I’ve said it all in my living room to my friends who know even less about local politics than I do. They nod or shrug depending on my tone of voice, and we move on because none of us really know what to do about it. It’s hard enough to stay informed about the national or state issues that everyone is talking about. City and neighborhood issues take some commitment to stay current. I have that commitment, but I have stayed firmly in my armchair while I sought out stories and opinions about local issues and elections. Until now.

The DFL held its precinct caucuses this last week, and for the first time in recent memory Minneapolis did not entertain resolutions as part of the process. Although in a previous post I poked fun at resolutions as a confusing part of an evening that has its share of eccentricities, resolutions are an important piece of how political values are set. The reason we were given for the lack of resolutions was that since this is an odd-numbered year with no senate district or statewide conventions, resolutions have "nowhere to go." But I keep on subtracting four years from 2013, and as far back as I can go, the years always seem to come as odd numbers. And we've done these in previous city elections, so what gives?