“When you win an election by 312 votes, there’s not a lot of effort that goes to waste,” Al Franken told Minneapolis Democrats Saturday. “We ran a very efficient campaign.” Franken nominated R.T. Rybak for endorsement for a third term as mayor at the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party’s city convention.

Outside of his own race for U.S. Senate, Franken has the magic touch, apparently: Rybak’s endorsement by the party, though a foregone conclusion this time around, is actually his first. Here is a minute-long video clip (via wr3n) of Franken’s remarks:

A lot of people here have been asking me, “What do I call you?” And the answer to that is: Al. There is only one person in the state who will have to call me senator and that, of course, is [his wife] Franni. I want to thank you all. You know, when you win an election by 312 votes, there’s not a lot of effort that goes to waste. We ran a very efficient campaign. And I want to thank each and every one of you who made our victory possible, and just let you know that I can’t wait to get to Washington and start working on behalf of all of [you? unintelligible].

Franken spoke as a delegate from Ward 7, Precint 9, and received a standing ovation more rousing than the crowd’s response to Rybak. That’s according to Aaron Landry, who also reported via Twitter:

Mayor: Rybak received 75 percent of delegates’ votes on the first ballot.

Park Board at-large (three seats): Mary Merrill Anderson, Tom Nordyke and John Erwin won endorsements by acclamation. (Anderson and Nordyke are one-term incumbents; Erwin previously served as a single term as at-large commissioner from 2002–06.)

Park Board, District Five: No endorsement for Jason Stone, Martin Demgen or Steve Barland to replace incumbent Carol Kummer — amid “chaos.”

Board of Estimate and Taxation: Carol Becker, an incumbent, got the only endorsement for two seats that voters will fill in the fall.

More results:

Park Board, District Two: No endorsement in contest between incumbent Jon Olson and Natalie Collins. (At lloydletta, you can see videos of candidate statements, questions-and-answers and balloting; Eva Young’s commentary here.)

Park Board, District Four: Newcomer Anita Tabb, the only candidate, won endorsement to replace Tracy Nordstrom, who is retiring as commissioner after one term.

Park Board, District Six: Challenger Brad Bourn beat out incumbent Bob Fine. (Via tweets by Downtown Journal’s Cristof Traudes)

Park Board, District One: Liz Wielinski won endorsement with 72 percent of the vote over Michael Rainville, for a seat being vacated by longtime city official Walt Dziedzic.

Park Board, District Three: One-term incumbent Scott Vreeland gained  endorsement again. (Via Steve Brandt, Star Tribune.)

Bus windows and skyways get covered in ads; are public parks next? Minneapolis taxpayers could soon be greeted at their city parks by banners advertising a national home improvement chain that has no stores in the city proper. Lowe’s says it’s willing to donate $90,000 in goods and services to six parks. The string attached: Lowe’s wants to hang 8-foot by 2-foot banners proclaiming “This area brought to you in part by Lowe’s” in outdoor locations such as Loring Park as well as smaller signs near donated equipment reading: “These products and more are available at Lowe’s.” (You can see a larger rendition of the 8-x-2 banner by clicking on the image at top.)

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board’s Administration and Finance Committee voted last week to send the proposal to the full board next week, although Commissioner Mary Merrill Anderson, a former Minneapolis park superintendent, acknowledged, “We’re holding our nose.” Commissioner Annie Young abstained, saying she’d read about Lowe’s troubles and thus recognized the company’s need for a marketing boost, but “I really don’t want an 8 ft by 2 ft banner outdoors.” Commissioner Scott Vreeland questioned the Lowe’s approach of targeting parks in certain zip codes. “I don’t know if anyone actually goes to Lowe’s in Minneapolis. It’s kind of a funny demographic. I’ve never been to a Lowe’s,” Vreeland said. “If I walk into Matthews Park, and it says, ‘This area brought to you by Lowe’s,’ that bugs me. Because this area is brought to us by taxpayers.”

Several commissioners said sponsorships were the wave of the future and Minneapolis simply needs a policy for cutting deals. No policy is in place yet; Lowe’s would be an exception, or perhaps the first drip in a coming flood. “Home Depot and other stores that haven’t requested this are going to go ‘Hey, me too!’” warned Commissioner Carol Kummer. “Thinking about how beautiful the parks look, we sure don’t need them cluttered up with corporate signage. If they get really jerky about it, tell them to take their 90 thou and go to …” She trailed off but another commissioner filled in the sentence with the name of another park district: “Three Rivers.” General Manager Don Siggelkow, who is asking the board whether staff should continue negotiations with Lowe’s corporate marketing department, said Lowe’s was already seeking similar arrangements around the area.