[1]: http://www.eastsidereviewnews.com/main.asp?SectionID=64&SubSectionID=130&ArticleID=519
[2]: http://www.eastsidereviewnews.com/main.asp?SectionID=64&subsectionID=130&articleID=520
[3]: http://www.eastsidereviewnews.com/
[4]: http://www.ci.maplewood.mn.us/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={E3469DC0-711F-4E1E-BA97-9F58834A3A4E}&DE={3644121E-D861-4AE0-8EFD-F91F1FE06557}
Lately I’ve really enjoyed perusing the local “neighborhood” paper, [The East Side Review][3]. Seeing all the local little things that escape notice in the larger metro area, scanning the police blotter, looking at the ads; it’s all interesting.
Yesterday, I was almost giggling over the coverage over what seems to be a pretty big deal and which plainly has stoked passions: “[Surprise! East Side activist named interim Maplewood manager][1]”. The best I can tell, the Maplewood city council newly has a Republican majority and Mayor Diana Longrie is also a Republican. The city administrator Richard Fursman, who seems not to be, has been fired. Apparently, the mayor and city administrator were not getting along. And Greg Copeland is the surprise *interim* replacement city administrator. An “activist”! Oh no!
Copeland seems to be a long-time, persistent conservative in a region where conservatism isn’t necessarily very cool. (Well, conservatism is actually way cooler. Some folks are just out of touch.) And he may very well be an activist. But it was odd to see the label. I didn’t notice anyone else labeled similarly.
Anyway, I could be completely wrong, but my perception was that author and managing editor Holly Wenzel seems displeased about the firing of the Fursman.
If you read the article, I wonder if you can figure out a substantive reason Fursman was fired. I expect the answer would come back to me “well, no one knows… there *is* no good reason” as this was alluded to in the article. Still, is there really *nothing* to find concerning this? What was the history like since January? What were the city council meetings like? What policies is the mayor wishing to change that Fursman supported? A brief peek through the city council minutes makes me wonder if wetlands/public use/property rights might be a point where they differed.
Sure, that’s a bit of homework, and maybe too much to expect from a small local paper. But then you find the companion story on the jump, “[Greg Copeland, too, has been ousted from office][2]”. Well, apparently *some* research was done then! Go back ten years and we find he was fired, and printed right there is a selection from “a long laundry list of 25 alleged improprieties”.
How odd. Why print a ten year old list of *allegations* about the Republican newcomer, but print nothing negative and no allegations about the fellow actually being fired?
Or, oft-quoted council member Will Rossbach has run for mayor, and Copeland has run for House and Senate, but only Copeland is noted as losing his bids. (Rossbach did, too, and had he garnered just a few hundred more votes, this story could be quite different.)
Continue reading A tiny peek at local politics →
