Richard Mammen Meet & Greet

I received an email today about a meet and greet for Richard Mammen (at large School Board candidate).  It would seem as if the campaign took my advice as this event is scheduled for Tuesday May 11th from 5-7 at the Minneapolis Club.  The event is being hosted by Don Fraser, among others.  Thanks also to the campaign for not including emails of everybody that it was sent to. 

State Convention

Sorry I have been absent for a few days, I spent the weekend up in Duluth taking in the sights and smells of the DFL State Convention.  Although it didn't turn out the way I had hoped when I rode into Duluth, it was a very good convention.  Saturday was of course the most active day with the endorsing of MAK.  I wasn't a delegate since I was married on the day of the SD59 convention but I did watch from the gallery all that took place on Saturday.  I 'Tweeted' most of the event from my perch at the DECC so my play-by-play can be seen on my Twitter.  MPP does have a great post up that really summed up my feelings of how things went in regards to the winners and losers of the convention so I'll let you head over there, and read that.

I'll try to get some more stuff up later today regarding the hopefully upcoming District 1 School Board Forum.

District 1 Candidate Forum Update 1

So after a lot of digging I've finally been able to find a few answers regarding a proposed candidate forum for District 1.  As I said in my previous post I emailed both campaigns, and only had received one response back.  I've still only have that one response (from the Marcia Thomas campaign) in my possession, and have posted the email from the campaign below.  I decided to post the email(s) so that I didn't get anything wrong in my attempt to paraphrase. 

Hi Nolan,

Here are the currently scheduled forums:

April 22:
6:00-8:00 pm

Dowling School

3900 West River Parkway

Minneapolis, MN 55406
Sponsored by Area B PAC (parent advisory committee).
I understand that 10 of the 11 candidates will be in attendance

May 13
6:30-8:30
Sanford School
3524 42nd Avenue South
Hosted by Mpls DFL
11 of 11 candidates will be in attendance

May 22
Prior to convention – about 1.5 hours
Patrick Henry HS
4320 Newton Ave N.
All candidates – at least 11


Marcia Thomas’ campaign believes that forums are a great way for delegates to learn about the candidates and compare how candidates work together. Since District 1 is contested, we would like to see a District 1 specific forum to allow delegates to make a more informed decision about who to support.

Obviously the Thomas Campaign is ready and willing to attend a forum.  So, since I didn't hear anything back from the Arneson campaign I decided to email PEN and SD59 to see if they had anything in the works.  PEN informed that they are indeed trying to organize a forum with the help of SD59 on May 12th at NE Community Lutheran Church.  Letters went our yesterday to both campaigns, and the Thomas Campaign has already accepted the invitation.  At this time there has been no response from the Arneson camp. 

I'm hoping that they is an acceptance from both sides on this forum to give delegates, and interested parties an opportunity to hear both sides.  Forums are a great opportunity for individuals to get an understanding of where the candidates stand, and to decide who will best represent them on the Board. 

I guess I'll take this opportunity to ask Jenny Arneson to accept the invitation from PEN and SD59 to attend and participate in the forum. 

More to come on this later...

District 1 School Board Forum?

Earlier I posted dates for School Board forums that will involve all, or most, candidates.  Being that this is a Ward 1 blog though I'm very interested in the District 1 race that is getting pretty heated.  I have been unable to find any mention of a District 1 specific forum but would really like to see one show up.  I have emailed both the Arneson and Thomas campaigns seeking comment as to the possibility of a forum.  I've received an email back from one of the campaigns but will hold it until I give time to the other campaign to comment.  If I don't receive any feedback from the other campaign by Monday I will post the 1 email I do have. 

I've been getting several emails, and heard numerous rumors about this race.  It sounds like things are getting pretty interesting between the campaigns which could make for a very interesting convention.  With all the 'drama' surrounding this race I really hope that they can work out a forum in the near future. 

More to come on this very soon.

DeGrio Meet and Greet

Just received an Email from the DeGrio Campaign about a Meet and Greet this Saturday from 9-11 at Urban Harvest (2311 18th Ave NE).  I know I've already stated that I'll be supporting David at the City Convention this year but I still plan on attending the event.  I encourage everybody (even if you're not a delegate) to attend as many meet and greets as you can.  Should your first picks be dropped from the ballot, it's always good to know who your #2/3 is so you're not scrambling at the last moment.  If anybody has any other meet and greets that they know of feel free to shoot them over to me.  I'd be happy to post them. 

And Then There Were 5?

I just read that Chanda Smith Baker has officially announced her at-large School Board candidacy.  So, if my count is correct, I believe that makes it 5 official candidates now in the race.

David DeGrio
T. Williams
Richard Mammen
Chanda Smith Baker
Doug Mann (green candidate?)

I'm probably missing somebody, and if I am just let me know.  So from what I can tell, as of right now we'll have 4 candidates that will be seeking the DFL endorsement in May.  Like I said earlier I am supporting David DeGrio but am 100% undecided on who else to support for the at-large endorsement.  I'll keep digging for as much information as I can find in my attempt to find a great candidate.

Minneapolis School Board Update #1

I just received an email last night from the Richard Mammen Campaign (email below). I read this email on my phone, and my first impression was very good. He seems to have a pretty good resume that spans quite a time frame. Looking at an email on my phone usually means I only look at it quickly and don't give much thought to content, so when I looked at it on my computer I started having some reservations about the organization of the campaign.

First of all, they put every email in the 'to' line which means that all those emails are open for anybody to see. Obviously by having a blog I'm not worried too much about my email getting out but I know others don't enjoy this. Note to the Mammen Campaign: please start putting email addresses in the BCC line or invest in something like Constant Contact.

Second, is the timing of the meet and greet. I learned early on in my campaign days that you should avoid weekends and holidays for meet and greets. A lot of time and effort goes in to these things, and the worst possible outcome is that nobody shows up. Well, the Mammen Campaign managed to break both of those rules on their first try. This event is scheduled for April 3rd at 6pm. While my goal is to give everybody a shot by listening to what they have to say, I will be unable to attend this event because of the timing. Next time I would suggest a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday after the Easter and Passover Holidays.

I understand that sometimes weekends are the only time to squeeze in things like this, and that when running for the first time mistakes are often made. I just hope they learn from this, and that they plan a little better with their next email/event.

Don't worry, I won't be basing my support off of this one incident but I thought it was worth mentioning.

Copy of Email (personal Email's and phone number redacted):

Dear Friend,

I am proud to announce the the campaign kick off for Richard Mammen candidate for School Board and Team Mammen. The kick off will be held at Intermedia Art on Saturday April 3rd at 6pm.
This will be an opportunity to meet Richard and the members of our campaign team, and a way to meet other supporters and help our campaign by getting involved.


Richard Mammen is a candidate for one of the 2 at-large seats on the Minneapolis School Board this coming fall. He is a life long resident of Minneapolis and a democrat. A graduate of Washburn High and the University of MN. He is also the parent of 2 South High graduates and a current 8th grader at Seward Montessori. For the past 40 years he has been professionally involved in youth development work as an outreach worker with the YMCA, as the creator and director of a contract alternative school serving juvenile offenders, as the director of the MPLS Youth Coordinating Board under Mayor Don Fraser for 7 years, and as the developer and director of numerous programs and organizations that serve children and youth in our city.

If you cannot attend but are interested in donating checks can be made out to "Richard Mammen For Schools" and sent to PO Box 17132, Minneapolis MN 55417

Thank you!!

--
Peace-Love-Respect

David Gilbert-Pederson
2137 Minneapolis Ave
Minneapolis MN 55406

School Board Forums

Just got some good dates on upcoming School Board Forums that will be held.

All Candidates:

April 22nd
May 13th

District 1 Cadidates:

TBD (I'm hearing early May)

I hope to attend all of the forums, and will try to live blog the events but will probably end up updating after the forums. Check back for more updates as I get them.

City Convention

I am a delegate to this year's city convention, and it should actually be a pretty hot endorsing process. With two school board members announcing they won't seek re-election, and the new setup for school board seats, I'm excited to see how this plays out.

I've only just begun my research on the candidates, and have found a few things out there that I will be going through. TC Daily Planet has a good article covering the candidate forum, and I also found a broadcast from KFAI that has an interview with all of the candidates (dead link). I plan on reading/listening to both (it) in the coming days to help me get a handle on all of the candidates.

I've worked with David DeGrio on several projects, and for this reason he will be receiving my endorsement for one of the candidates. David is a very devoted, and caring individual that I feel will have a lot to add to the next Board. I also got a great response from him when I asked about his thoughts on the recent Super appointment.

I don't have children, let alone children in the Minneapolis School system but I am very passionate about education, and I feel that what happens in the schools effects everything in the city. I really struggled with the decision to not do a search for a Superintendent, not because I feel that Super Johnson isn't qualified for the position, but because I feel that this Board owes it to the students to conduct a thorough search. I wrote to all of the Board members who voted in favor of the appointment to voice my concern over the process. I only received one response, and let's just say it was less than what I was hoping for.

In the coming days I'll report on what I've learned from my digging in to the school board candidate research. I'll try to get them up in short order since I know most people are on the edge of their seats to hear what I have to say about the candidates.