Park Board Chooses Gurban as Superintendent in Unusual 6 to 3 Vote
As reported in this one-sided story by the Star Tribune, Jon "Short Temper" Gurban will be our next superintendent of parks. Commissioner John Erwin is now persona non grata after abandoning and alienating the constituents who both elected and supported him, as well as abandoning the now minority three commissioners. Erwin instead voted with the steam-rolling, dirty-dealing majority five. Erwin will never be part of the inner circle formed by majority five commissioners: "jocks" Walt Dziedzic, Bob Fine and Jon Olson, and empty-headed "cheerleaders" Marie Hauser and Carol Kummer.
Obviously, this writer is disgusted. Where do you stand? Add your comments below and vote here.
Comments
"Oh, but you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears, Bury the rag deep in your face For now's the time for your tears." Bob Dylan 1964
Posted by anonymous | Thu, 12/09/2004 - 3:01pm | Login to post comments
So they stuck a fork in it last night. But the fix has been in since last December. It would have been more honest to just nominate and vote without paying the search firm for a pretend search. The unfortunate part of the whole situation is that Erwin's vote did not mean a thing. It was more important when he caved for solidarity to allow Kummer to be appointed and re-establish the 5-4 majority. So there has to be a new Board, period, done, end of story. Until then, there is no trust in the organization and an air of suspicion over every single decision they make, no matter how menial.
The MPRB has operated under the radar for so long that they (at least 5) resent any oversight by the citizens. Strike 1- Fort Snelling. Strike 2- The new headquarters. Strike 3- Gurban as interim. Strike 4- Gurban as supt. But since they make the "rec rules", the Board probably figures that they get as many strikes as they want. There are only 3 commissioners that we can count on to be responsible stewards of OUR parks. As for the others, I sure hope we can get them out before they do more damage -- fiscally and otherwise.
Posted by anonymous | Thu, 12/09/2004 - 4:30pm | Login to post comments
The legacy of the Gang of (now Six -- though Erwin in a man without a world now) will be the wholly negative effect they have had (and will continue to have) on our parks.
When blow-hards like Bobby Fine (and calling him 'hard' about anything is actually a compliment) have any sort of power, their life-long issues of being the kid picked on surface and they rule tyranically. Olson has been arguably worse.
Even worse is the fact that nimrod Scott Neiman's son is being 'groomed' to take Walt's district position. As bad as Fine and company are, Scott Neiman's legacy is worse.
Posted by anonymous | Thu, 12/09/2004 - 6:16pm | Login to post comments
During the Superintendent televised interviews, Jon Gurban said he had met with "prominent" people and a private food and beverage vendor. He said five spots around the city parks and lakes have been identified as potential commercial spots for earning money with private food and beverage vendors. One is obviously the soon to be Calhoun Yacht Club and Event Center on the south shore. This will be used for weddings, funerals, etc. One of the others appears to be a coffee and sandwich vendor at the Rose Gardens. Watch out ! All of our open space is up for grabs for the buck.
Posted by anonymous | Sat, 12/11/2004 - 10:31am | Login to post comments
Apparently the ECCO neighborhood was not impressed with the Calhoun Yacht Club's plans for a new sailing complex and the bearer of the plans to their meeting, Bob Fine was not so glad to have been the messenger. GO ECCO!!!!
Posted by anonymous | Sat, 12/11/2004 - 10:46am | Login to post comments