City Hall Monitor

Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak set a green example yesterday by recycling much of his annual State of the City address from last year’s speech. He used “depression” instead of “recession” — that’s how you knew it was 2009 and not 2008.

Minneapolis park commissioner Walt Dziedzic’s rumored decision not to run for re-election this year gets confirmation in the Star Tribune today. With his announcement, Dziedzic — a deceptively nimble pol who can convincingly channel Rambo and playact as Dumbo in the span of a meeting or even an agenda item — signals the end to [...]

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak announced today he is running for re-election. The announcement took the form of a mayoral message on Twitter directing people to a video on YouTube, which in turn directed viewers to his new campaign Web site, where surfers can further connect to his Facebook page. Rybak’s only announced rival (aside from perennial candidate Dick Franson) is [...]

As one election season ends, another’s just begun: With the DFL convention only six months away, candidates in Minneapolis are positioning themselves to run for the city’s top leadership spot, but all eyes are on City Hall, where Mayor R.T. Rybak is pondering whether he’ll stay on or take a shot at the governor’s mansion in 2010.

Already by Tuesday, two men had tiptoed onto Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak’s turf this week. The city’s revitalization chief, Bob Miller, says he’ll run for the mayor’s job next year, the Southwest Journal reports. And on Monday Gov. Tim Pawlenty made a move on the green-jobs territory that Rybak — joined by another guv-wanna-be, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman — has spent years staking out. Meanwhile, as Pawlenty gears up for a potential presidential bid in 2012, a different Minneapolis official threw his hat in the ring for governor: State Rep. Paul Thissen (DFL).

Two weeks after shifting ad support from Erik Paulsen’s race in the 3rd Congressional District to do media buys in Michele Bachmann’s 6th district, the National Republican Congressional Committee is reportedly pulling its support for Bachmann entirely. Huffington Post’s Sam Stein says that two sources aware of Minnesota ad buys say the GOP is withdrawing its media buys.

“If true, it is a remarkable fall for a congresswoman who, until recently, seemed relatively safe in her predominantly conservative district,” he writes.

And, if true, it might free up media for challenger Elwin Tinklenberg, who has committed only $188,000 for advertising — out of more than $1 million raised since comments by Bachmann on Friday’s edition of “Hardball.”

Update: Politico confirms — and adds that the NRCC is dropping advertising in Colorado and Florida districts as well. TPM offers independent confirmation.

A minority of the Minneapolis City Council decided Wednesday against requesting answers from Chief Tim Dolan on police actions during the Republican National Convention. And by killing a proposed staff directive, four members of the council’s Public Safety and Regulatory Services Committee made sure that the council majority not on the committee won’t have a say on the issue. MnIndy has audio highlights with transcription after the jump.

UPDATED Mayor R.T. Rybak announced this afternoon that Minneapolis would conduct a series of reviews into the Minneapolis Police Department’s (MPD) actions in Minneapolis during the Republican National Convention, including a standard “after-action report” that will look into related security measures and the development of new policies for dealing with the media. A city council member who has urged a blue-ribbon, multi-jurisdictional review said the mayor’s statement was “good” but appeared to fall short of “a public, independent, transparent process.”

In this installment of City Hall Monitor: Minneapolis banks on Justice’s eyes being blind, but not glazing over like FEMA’s; an audit says it may be fictional but, hey, it’s a job; officials take an hour deciding whether to let people speak on NRP financing; and Porky’s resorts to discounts to drum up business at its hard-won, zoning-code-busting drive-thru window.

 
Among the widely trumpeted 8 billion RNC-related media impressions of the Twin Cities were a few distinctly negative impressions created by a Minneapolis Convention Center event called CivicFest. It was meant to draw 150,000 media representatives, schoolchildren, RNC delegates and other visitors to see exhibits such as a replica of the White House and to [...]