Halfway through convention season, the Ramsey County Attorney race is starting to take shape - and John Choi's message is resonating with DFL delegates. With a little over 180 possible delegates identified, DFLers are over halfway to selecting the 304 delegates that will endorse for county attorney. While the endorsement battle for the governor's office has not resulted in a clear-cut leader, John has established himself as the frontrunner in the race.
At this point in the race, two key indicators are strongly in Choi's favor -- the numbers of "named" delegates and "superdelegates." While they each make up a fraction of all delegates, both categories demonstrate the general support a candidate has at a convention. Currently, John has earned 30 named delegates, compared to 6 for all of his opponents combined, and he holds a 12 to 2 advantage in the superdelegate count.
John's leadership has attracted a team of long-time DFL activists and lawyers who have earned a reputation for highly-organized, well-run efforts. Heading into this weekend, John and his team show no signs of slowing down. For more on John's experience and innovative leadership, visit www.votejohnchoi.com.
The Star Tribune reports that Patrick Uzalac, the gentleman suing Sheriff Fetcher for lack of medical treatment on frozen feet, has now died. It will take an autopsy to determine cause. If there is cause from the jail treatment, then we will have yet another wrongful death case.
Even more telling, is that more and more cases of lack of medical treatment are coming forward. This is also confirmed by the anonymous notes that I have been receiving:
"What has emerged is a pattern of, I don't think neglect, but almost to the point of affirmative abuse," Hajek said. "One guy fell off a cot and broke his heal. He went without medical care for two to three months ... now he's disabled. Another guy, he had broken stitches from an appendectomy and they didn't treat him."
Hajek said he expects to file additional lawsuits.
What the Star Tribune is failing to say, let me say very clearly. This is a widespread pattern of mis-management that displays that Sheriff Fletcher ought to retire to Florida immediately. This is a peace and justice issue of the highest urgency! Only the voters of Ramsey county can manage to force Sheriff Fletcher's retirement. Fortunately, a number of us have been able to persuade a current St Paul Assistant Chief Matt Bostrom to take on the challenge. Matt Bostrom is the opposite of Sheriff Fletcher is in every way: professional, capable, calm and reliable!
At the Ramsey county sheriff's office, Sheriff Fletcher rules everything by personal command, so anything that is not standard procedure has to go through Sheriff Fletcher. It gets worse: the standard procedures and processes do not cover much. In fact, the processes and procedures have rarely been revised. Now since I wrote this, I do expect Sheriff Fletcher to do a last minute election revision. Rarely does any government get as badly broken as Sheriff Fletcher's jail. Innocent people now have to fear Sheriff Fletcher's jail, as Patrick Uzalac found out.
After locking himself out of his apartment in the pre-dawn hours of a bitter January day, Patrick Uzalac started tossing snowballs at his neighbors' windows for help.
Somebody called the cops.
What followed, according to Uzalac, was 42 hours of suffering with red, frostbitten feet as his pleas for help fell on the deaf ears of New Brighton police and then Ramsey County jailers...
At the Ramsey County Adult Detention Center, Uzalac said he again complained about his painful and, now blistered, feet. Jail staff ignored him, he said, and placed him in a cell.
(Star Tribune Article by James Walsh)
This follows a long history of medical help failures even leading to death and a long history of courts assigning damages to be paid out by Sheriff Fletcher. More details and new information below the fold.
I, Grace Kelly (not MPP) have the honor and privilege of endorsing a really great candidate for Ramsey County Sheriff, Matt Bostrom. Since this is being announced in many places, I thought I would share this with all of you. Not that you would be surprised!
Matt Bostrom is an awarded Assistant Chief of the St. Paul Police force, with over 28 years of experience. It was Matt Bostrom who taught me the importance of community partnered policing. I now understand the reasons that the St. Paul Police are so well regarded in the community, in high contrast with the other communities that I have lived in.
Maria Elena Baca of the Star Tribune has confused ad agency with newspaper. Or maybe Maria is just confusing stenographer with journalist. She wrote a piece that a campaign would have had a hard time putting out, since it is that balantly an advertising piece for Sheriff Fletcher. Let's see how high we can get on the Kelly scale of how biased can an article be.
1) Starting with the title. "Take note if you're up to no good: Ramsey County is watching". Does Maria Elena Baca or the Star Tribune realize that Sheriff Fletcher in previous campaigns took credit for the Metro Gang Task Force now under serious criminal investigation? Does that count as "up to no good?" Or that two close co-workers of Sheriff Fletcher were convicted of corruption? Did Maria ask if any these cameras were being installed in the Sheriff's office? Or if any cameras were already in the Sheriff's office? Or if any of them were actually turned on?
For those of you who have never tried going to a stranger's house, just to join a "meet and greet" party for a candidate, I urge you to try it. It took me a long time before I did.
In a "meet and greet" party, there is time to just socialize with a candidate. There is time just to know the person before evaluating the candidate. And especially with local candidates, there is a feeling of just being with neighbors.
This video is taken in very low light, so I apologize for the clarity. I think you get the feeling of the close knit comfort of a small living room, filled with people. Although this is edited for time constraints, people do have the time to ask questions and then to ask follow-up questions. No debate timer is about to go off! I really like that relaxed atmosphere compared to debates.
Matt Bostrom is running for Ramsey County Sheriff, and here is his social introduction and background, at a "meet and greet" party:
Today, Matt Bostrom formally announced his campaign to run for Ramsey County Sheriff. A most impressive array of local politicians and people filled a Landmark center room.
Normally, we hear the same ideas and same phrases. However, Matt Bostrom is unique in his ideas and even in the way, he describes those ideas.
1) Building trust in the community for law enforcement
"The reality is that to have safe neighborhood, it takes ownership from those that live there and to have a trusting relationship with the law officers that arrive. They are going be the ones that together will solve those long term community problems."
2) Cooperation between different law enforcement agencies is essential
"What we learned after 9/11 is that is not possible for agencies to go it alone anymore. We have to be structured in such away that we know how to come along aside each other in times of need and then solve the community problems, whatever they might be, no matter how big or vast. And then we have be able to go back to doing what we normally do in a daily operation. We have to be able to do it seamlessly."
3) Building an effective law enforcement agency that can work with the community requires diversity
"Diversity matters!"
4) Leadership in the community begins with connecting with youth
"My challenge then to our deputies and to our police officers when those young lives come across your path: a gentle smile, a word of encouragement is going to last a lifetime."
5) In tough economic times, every government agency should be practice fiscal responsibility
"I make a pledge that for two years if I am elected we will maintain the budget at that [current] level."
Matt Bostrom is going to formally announce running for Ramsey County Sheriff, next Tuesday, at the Landmark Center, during the lunch hour. Matt Bostrom is well-liked by everyone that I have interviewed at city hall. He has twenty seven years on the St Paul police force which actively does community outreach. And that means that many St Paul community members also know Matt Bostrom, with similar favorable comments. I personally saw him in two community meetings, where he was open and informative. He even answered all of my pesky questions. Even in the most adverse of questioning, he stays in the conversation, calm and considerate.
Matt Bostrom is also well known for his professional skill in putting together huge collaborative projects with multiple agencies and community projects with over a 1 million people. He manages huge budgets well. For this work, Matt received the 2009 Preparedness Award by the Association of Minnesota Emergency Managers (AMEM). Matt currently serves as the Assistant St Paul Police Chief in charge of the Homeland Security and Support Service Division. And when Matt Bostrom is not actually doing management, he is teaching others to do public administration as as an adjunct Professor at Saint Mary's University, Northwestern College, and Hamline University.
"Do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, whether or not you want to, without being asked, and whether or not anyone is looking." is Matt Bostrom's motto.
Ramsey County Sheriff Fletcher keeps a database of gang members, called GangNet, where the criteria is so open, that Sheriff Fletcher's own name should be on the database, since he regularly "associates" with known gang members by talking to them and by arresting them. The qualifying rule is:
2. Is observed to associate on a regular basis with known gang members.
In fact, just by writing this article I now qualify to be on that GangNet because I am writing about gang activities. The qualifying rule is:
9. Corresponds with known gang members or writes and/or receives correspondence about gang activities.
And in fact, you just read this, which you might now qualify as "receives correspondence" which could be interpreted to mean that you, the reader, are now qualified to be entered into the GangNet.
Rarely when I call about news on an endorsement, do I hear about an enthusiastic unanimous endorsement. Yet that is exactly what I heard from a group of people on east side of St Paul who endorsed Matt Bostrom for Ramsey County Sheriff. Not only is there a group endorsement, but each member also added a personal individual endorsement.
The Eastside PAC committee is called PROGRESSPPAC, an acronym for "People for Reinvestment, Opportunity, Growth, & Redevelopment on the East Side and Saint Paul Political Action Committee". This group pulls together the east side issues. The chair, Raymond Hess, said that Matt Bostrom's presentation was "really dynamite", expressing "concern for the community". The committee was most impressed with the ideals of the good cooperation between county level of sheriff and the city levels of police. Right now, the relationship between the local police and the current sheriff in Ramsey County can best be described as turf battles. So cooperation would be a huge change in policy.
Community-partnered policing or community policing is both a philosophy and a strategy where police and citizens cooperate as partners. The people of a neighborhood and their local police use relationships, trust, empathy and a common purpose to jointly use the resources of the community to solve the roots of crime. Ordinary citizens take on the responsibility of solving community problems relating to crime, not just leaving it to the police. In this philosophy the police are part of "we, the community," instead of viewing the community as an "us vs them" mentality.
In the community-partnered policing, the first role of the police officer is to know the community well and to support the community. Knowing the community requires that police stations are located more within communities instead of being centralized. Officers are less in their patrol cars and more on the street, in town meetings, talking with people and generally being involved in the neighborhood. Police officers are encouraged to live in the community and to become socially involved in the communities.
The neighborhoods under community policing begin to look different. People form block parties, block clubs, neighborhood watches and action groups. People know and care who their neighbors are. Activities move from closed-off back-yard parties to more open front-yard parties. In walking through the neighborhoods, more people walk and talk on the streets, and kids are actively bicycling. Boulevard gardens display the new front-yard focus.
At a "meet and greet"small gathering, I heard John Choi speak of what makes a better Ramsey county attorney and better justice. I have often heard people ask about actual courtroom experience for the role of Ramsey county attorney when in truth the role is managing a large number of prosecutors. John Choi says the best measure of doing well is not the number of convictions, but rather the right result for justice. The best result would be that a person would never come through the prosecution process again. This means that the Ramsey city attorney becomes a more publically engaged figure involving the whole community in creating better justice outcomes.
John Choi says that our entire justice process is like a giant assembly line where everyone is doing their particular job really well, yet no one is looking at the end of the assembly to see if we are getting is what we truly want. John Choi is good at the end product analysis of justice, and then working with various partners in the community to achieve that result. Currently, John Choi is that kind of manager as the St Paul city attorney.
John Choi helped implement one recent improvement in the process of handling domestic violence, called Blueprint-for-Safety. Basically, each morning a prosecutor and police officers review the domestic violence cases to pick out the most-likely-to-be-dangerous as priorities. In domestic violence calls, the most sophisticated abusers are likely to be gone before the cops arrive, which means that in the old process, the reports were filed with no immediate action. However, these most sophisticated abusers are now the identified as the most dangerous, so picking up these particular abusers is given a high priority on limited police resources.
Matt Bostrom, Assistant Chief of the St Paul Police Department, has formed a campaign committee to run for Ramsey County Sheriff today. That election will be held next year, not to be confused with the current election. Matt Bostrom has more than 27 years of law enforcement experience, handling some of the toughest assignments in the well-liked St Paul Police force. Matt will be running against the incumbent, Sheriff Fletcher, best known for his leadership role in the tarnished Metro Gang Strike Force and a litany of woes.
Matt Bostrom brings the strong community-focused policing that has been the hallmark of St Paul police. Indeed, Matt Bostrom has been well known in neighborhood community meetings, a role he does with ease and charm. As assistant chief of the St Paul police, Matt Bostrom has initiated many community outreach efforts. The St Paul police have long been known for partnering with neighborhoods in joint efforts to reduce crime by getting at root causes. St Paul is unique in that local people speak of positive experiences with their local police. For example, I feel that way because a St Paul police officer gave me a ride home in the middle of a snowstorm, when an accident had demolished my parked car. The peace community has long noted that the St Paul police stand out for fairness and reasonableness in managing peace protests, compared to all other metro law enforcement. It is these types of experiences that build community and trust in local law enforcement.
I'm pleased to announce a number of major endorsements in my campaign for Ramsey County Attorney, including White Bear Lake Mayor Paul Auger, former St. Paul Mayor George Latimer, State Senator Dick Cohen, St. Paul School Board members Anne Carroll and Tom Goldstein and former Ramsey County Commissioner Ruby Hunt, among many others.
I'm honored to announce these endorsements from such respected leaders in our community. I value the trust that these leaders have placed in me, and I will continue to work hard to earn the support of the voters in Ramsey County.
Here's what some had to say about their endorsements:
"Dave's legal career reflects his deep commitment to protecting children and the most vulnerable. His dedication to public service and his vision for the Ramsey County Attorney's office will continue to mean a strong and safe community for all of us."
--White Bear Lake Mayor Paul Auger
"Dave brings the right perspective, principles and experience to make an outstanding Ramsey County Attorney. He will aggressively fight crime, especially gang violence, while protecting our civil rights. I strongly endorse him for Ramsey County Attorney."
--Former Saint Paul Mayor George Latimer
"Dave's strong management skills will be a major asset for Ramsey County in today's challenging budget environment. He is uniquely prepared to make smart decisions and provide focused leadership to ensure public safety remains a top priority, even with scarce resources."
--State Sen. Dick Cohen (DFL-SD64), chair of the Minnesota Senate Finance Committee
"I trust Dave's vision for leading the Ramsey County Attorney's office. Dave understands the importance of collaborating with our schools and other key stakeholders to focus first on prevention. His commitment to community, shared leadership and problem-solving will help us all rethink how we work with youth and families to ensure a safer and healthier community."
--Anne Carroll, St. Paul School Board member
"I'm supporting Dave Pinto for Ramsey County Attorney because I believe he will be proactive on crime prevention, seek justice in a fair and equitable manner, and not allow political considerations to dictate his use of prosecutorial discretion."
--Tom Goldstein, St. Paul School Board member
"Dave is hardworking, fair and deeply committed to public service. He is already serving the county as a domestic violence prosecutor, and his significant legal and courtroom experience and wide-ranging background will greatly benefit the people of Ramsey County."
--Former Ramsey County Commissioner Ruby Hunt
I'm pleased to have a number of other key endorsements as well, including:
Peter Lindstrom, mayor of Falcon Heights (campaign co-chair)
Carol Mueller, Mounds View city council member
Will Rossbach, Maplewood city council member
Jim Llanas, candidate for Maplewood city council
Mike Ciresi, former DFL candidate for U.S. Senate
Ashwin Madia, former DFL candidate for U.S. Congress in the Third Congressional District
State Sen. Kathy Saltzman (DFL-SD56)
State Rep. Steve Simon (DFL-HD42A)
State Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL-HD42B)
A.L. Brown, chair, St. Paul Human Rights Commission
Sue Cummings, former Roseville school board member
Paul Anderson, former North St. Paul city council member
Charles H. Williams, Jr., former Referee, Ramsey County Family Court
Pat Williamson, chair, Senate District 55 (Maplewood)
Bob Venters, treasurer, Senate District 54 (Roseville)
Todd Anderson, former chair, Senate District 54 (Roseville)
Mitch Gordon, former chair, Senate District 64 (Saint Paul)
Stu Alger, former chair, St. Paul City DFL
Peter Armstrong, former president, Highland District Council
Shawn Bartsh, president-elect, Warren Burger Inn of Court
David Galligan, former president, Ordway Center for the Arts
Marlene Kayser, longtime St. Paul DFL activist (campaign co-chair)
One year ago, St. Paul hosted the 2008 Republican National Convention, an event that tested our public leaders' ability to protect civil liberties while balancing the demands of public safety and crowd control. Although county and city officials planned carefully for convention protests, the end result was far from ideal for all involved.
The fallout from the RNC has undermined some community members' faith and trust in the legal process, strained community-policing relationships, and damaged law enforcement morale. From my past experience, I understand these perspectives. I have been a staunch advocate for First Amendment rights and civil liberties, working closely with the ACLU of Minnesota to defend the rights of high school students facing discrimination at school. As a domestic violence prosecutor, I work closely with dedicated and honorable law enforcement officers every day to ensure the most vulnerable members of our community are safe. These experiences have taught me that our community is strongest when there is public trust in the legal process and universal commitment to upholding the rules, laws, and ethical standards we've developed as a community.
It is critical that we use the lessons of the RNC to move forward in a positive direction. As Ramsey County Attorney, I pledge to work tirelessly toward maintaining the highest standards of public safety while protecting the rights and civil liberties of Ramsey County citizens. I will:
* Create a citizen advisory board regarding civil liberties;
* Communicate openly with all groups and points of view;
* Work closely with law enforcement to support their efforts to protect both public safety and the rights of all citizens; and
* Prosecute criminals swiftly, fairly, and to the full extent of the law.
I pledge to lead an open Ramsey County Attorney's Office that engages the community in a dialogue on important issues. Please join me for an informal discussion of these issues on Thursday, September 10th, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. atThe Bean Factory(1518 Randolph Avenue, Saint Paul).
Matt Bostrom is going to formally announce running for Ramsey County Sheriff, next Tuesday, at the Landmark Center, during the lunch hour. Matt Bostrom is well-liked by everyone that I have interviewed at city hall. He has twenty seven years on the St Paul police force which actively does community outreach. And that means that many St Paul community members also know Matt Bostrom, with similar favorable comments. I personally saw him in two community meetings, where he was open and informative. He even answered all of my pesky questions. Even in the most adverse of questioning, he stays in the conversation, calm and considerate.
At a "meet and greet"small gathering, I heard John Choi speak of what makes a better Ramsey county attorney and better justice. I have often heard people ask about actual courtroom experience for the role of Ramsey county attorney when in truth the role is managing a large number of prosecutors. John Choi says the best measure of doing well is not the number of convictions, but rather the right result for justice. The best result would be that a person would never come through the prosecution process again. This means that the Ramsey city attorney becomes a more publically engaged figure involving the whole community in creating better justice outcomes.
