The Green Party and Bundles of Cash

August 25, 2006

Is local control in Minneapolis preferable to state power?

Many of Dean Zimmermann's friends and supporters in the DFL and the Green Party of Minnesota claim that they value decentralization.  These are people who consider themselves to be "progressive" in their politics.  But it seems to me that the progressive worldview is one that desires a strong benevolent state.  Zimmermann himself testified in his trial for bribery that his involvement in the civil rights movement was a "defining moment" in his life.  That victory for civil rights in the South was ensured by the power of the federal government, as wielded by the Johnson administration – for a Great Society.

Karen Clark, Dean Zimmermann and Cam Gordon at a pre-parade gathering, 2005

For better or worse, it is from those kind of experiences that the organizing core of the Green Party embraces statism.  In 2002, Robin Garwood (now Council Aide for Cam Gordon) expressed it best when he admitted that "decentralization has always been the most problematic of the ten key values."  I applaud his honesty.

Decentralized power takes more responsibility on a local or even personal level.  But before Zimmermann was even elected to the City Council, there were unheeded warnings about whether his party was prepared for such responsibility.

On August 4, 2001 during his first campaign for City Council, Zimmermann told a packed Green Party meeting, "Our mission is to seize the reins of power, and all the rest is fluff."  I saw him repeat the same statement at a winter retreat a few months later, and the sentiment infected the entire organization – especially during those heady days of major party status.

Before the jury entered the courtroom, Zimmermann turned to the prosecutor and [FBI] Agent Kukura and asked them, "Truth getting a little scary?"  Kukura shot back, "I've been asking for the truth since September 8th.  I'm still waiting." – notes from the federal trial of Dean Zimmermann

Zimmermann and his comrades neither understood nor accepted that values like "decentralization," "grassroots democracy" and "personal responsibility" embody a desire for small scale community and governance.  Soon after he got into office, Zimmermann supported a zoning variance for the destruction of two homes (and the eviction of the families living there) to build a parking lot.  But that was just a warmup for Zimmermann.  He went on to continually support automotive infrastructure (like more highway ramps) and the industrial boondoggle known as personal rapid transit.

Once Zimmermann had seized his reins of power, it soon became clear that Green groupies were not up to the challenge of holding Zimmermann accountable in any meaningful way.  It took the power of the federal government to come in and do that, with evident irony.