Crime spiraling out of control

Crime in Minneapolis is getting out of control. Where is the outrage from community leaders? Police are being stabbed and attacked. Kids are being shot in the streets and in their homes. People are not even safe to pump gas now. All of these things are happening in broad daylight. The criminals are not afraid. Average citizens are afraid, and they are not engaged in "high-risk" behavior as defined by our mayor. I have to shout from the highest place I can find what the problem is:

WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH COPS!

Minneapolis has a dirty secret. The Minneapolis Police Department only has 282 uniformed police on the street to respond to 911 calls. The numbers are broken down by precinct:

• PRECINCT 1 -- 58
• PRECINCT 2 -- 48
• PRECINCT 3 -- 67
• PRECINCT 4 -- 59
• PRECINCT 5 -- 50

Each precinct has three shifts, subtract weekends, sick days, days in court, and training. Doing the math leads you to the conclusion that cannot be said enough:

WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH COPS!

We need leaders that are able to make the tough decision. I will make the tough decisions. As only one vote on the council, though, I will be forced to take my message to the people if the rest of the council is unwilling to join with me. To pay for more cops we have a few options:

• Cut excessive fringe benefits for the City Council.
• Repeal the generous increases recently given to highly paid appointed positions.
• Cut the new city planners hired in the majors budget plan.
• Decrease MCDA corporate welfare by %5.

There, with only those few ideas, 120+ more cops on the street than proposed by the mayor. With those new cops, we can start to really tackle crime on the street level. Think about it; more cops that know their neighborhoods well, drug dealers and prostitutes off the street corners, and 911 calls being responded to faster. With minor crimes being stopped in our neighborhoods the shooters, the rapists, the dealers, and the violence will have no place to hide. The streets will belong to us again. That is my goal for Ward 10 and the city of Minneapolis.

Vote Savage on September 13 in the primary elections to help us get there.

A Great Night Out

Greetings to all my Ward 10 neighbors!

I'm a little tired today after meeting so many of you all at the National Night Out parties sprinkled across the ward last night. As you may have noticed, I used my bicycle as transportation (I now know how Lance Armstrong feels after a tough race), so I wasn't able to make it to every party. But know that I look forward to meeting those I missed in the coming weeks of my campaign.

After discussing my issues with many of you, and listening to your concerns, I definitely came away with a new appreciation of the ward I've grown up in.

A Night Out Against Crime

The purpose of last night was definitely about bettering our relationships with neighbors (and eating lots of potato salad), but I was glad we all realized what a friend we have in our police officers and fire fighters. They're the ones who keep us safe in our streets, homes, schools and businesses.

Last night we stood with our officers and told the criminals that these are our streets and our neighborhoos, and WE ARE NOT AFRAID.

But I think every one of us have a right to feel that EVERY NIGHT SHOULD BE A NATIONAL NIGHT OUT.

In recent criminal incidents in the ward and across the city, our officers have put their lives on the line. It's time we stand with them and give them the resources they need to keep everyone safe.

That's why I pledge to go to City Hall with an attitude that crime really doesn't pay, and that we will do all we can as citizens to make sure our police can deliver a message that CRIMINALS SHOULD BE AFRAID to be in our streets.

Coming up

In the next couple weeks I'm planning to do some events at Lake Calhoun and lots more door knocking, bicycling and running. I plan to discuss with you all how we can better support our police and fire fighters.

Once again, thanks so much for all your support (and wonderful food) last night. I had a great time. I even got to participate in a dunk tank at the 3300 Aldrich block party. Those kids have some great arms.

A Working Man's DFL Candidate

In the latest Southwest Journal, there is an article with profiles of 10th Ward candidates. Looking at all the profiles I noticed a couple of things. First, two of my fellow candidates, Allan Bernard and Gay Noble, have the misfortune of listing "city-council aide" on their resume. A city hall insider is exactly what the people of this Ward do not need. They need somebody to stand up to the powerful interests that dominate the council right now.

Second, I noticed that only two candidates out of the six are currently working. The other four are "Full-time campaigning".

Is this the kind of party we have now? Is this the kind of system we want? A system in which only those able to not work during campaign season can run? The last time that I checked, the L in DFL stands for Labor, and I think it is shameful that I am the only DFler doing any Labor besides campaigning this election.

I come from a household proud of its working class background. I'm not plugged into the political establishment like most of my fellow candidates. My platform represents what I have heard from talking with Ward 10 residents. People want safe streets without the drug dealers, drunks and degenerates. People want relief from property taxes that are soaring 15-20% yearly. People do not want their tax dollars supporting a billionaire owned stadium. People do not want to be removed from their homes and offered 250 thousand dollar condos that they can't afford.

These are the working folks that I want to represent at City Hall. But I need your support in September and November to help me get there.

My name is Harry Savage, and I want you to run with me for City Council.

Millions for Billionaires

Greetings from the campaign trail. I want to make clear to people my strong opposition to the proposed Hennepin County sales tax or any other public subsidy to a new stadium. I have gone on the record against it in the City Pages and the Pioneer Press.

I am not afraid to call out the big corporations and powerful people and point out the absurd idea of people of my Ward, struggling to pay the bills, forced to give money to Carl Pohlad for his stadium. I will continue to stand up for principal, stand up for my fellow Ward 10 residents, and stand against the corporations that practically own the current city council as it stands. Join with me; vote Savage on September 13th and together we can oppose this distribution of your tax dollars to a Billionaire.

Cracking down on small crime works

See this article in the Southwest Journal:

http://www.swjournal.com/articles/2005/07/15/news/news02.txt

"As for higher-crime Southwest neighborhoods between I-94, Lake Street, I-35W and Hennepin Avenue, Arneson said, "We've been focusing our resources on Stevens Square because of the loitering and all the crime going on here. We've made a tremendous amount of misdemeanor arrests. The first week, Part One crime [in the area] went down 70 percent."

Delvoye said results were visible by July. "We've seen a significant drop in street crime," he said. "We have had some problems and they've responded exceptionally."

Delvoye pulls crime reports weekly and keeps records of arrests for Stevens Square and part of Whittier. As of June 19 this year, he said there were 382 arrests for offenses involving alcohol, narcotics and prostitution, compared to 159 all last year.

Arneson said they've been able to respond to crime in the Wedge and Whittier, too. "We saturated that area when it was happening," she said."

This is what needs to happen all over the city. The citizens of Minneapolis know this. But the police need more cops hitting the pavement and more cops on patrol. Right now, they are too busy responding to calls to do adequate patrols. As your next city council member, I say that 60 new cops is not enough. With five precincts, three shifts, holidays, weekends, and sick days included it turns out to be one or two more cops at most on the street per precinct at any time. We need more cops hitting the pavement and stopping minor crimes. Only then will we see a decrease in major crimes.

Run With the Harry Savage

Hi again folks, Harry Savage here and running for City Council. I am a life-long resident of the Ecco, which gives me knowledge of the community that others seeking this seat do not posses. I am a recent college graduate with a Classics degree, and with your help I hope to make the current style of Minneapolis city government into ancient history.

Seriously, we need to make tough decisions for the good of our city and our Ward. First, we need a freeze on all property taxes. These taxes are hurting every person in the Ward, and it is unacceptable how they have increased and continue to increase year after year.

Second, we need a Giuliani-style crack down on minor and major crime. Small crimes create an atmosphere in our community that encourages bigger crimes. We are seeing it all over Minneapolis with increased homicides and other violent crime. Only in this way will our kids be safer and neighborhoods cleaner.

Third, no new condo conversions which force many to leave their homes. This issue is one of fairness. Longtime residents are being forced out of their homes, and it just isn't right. The people of our Ward should not stand by and watch their fellow residents being forced out. I certainly won't, and I hope concerned citizens will stand with me by voting Savage in September.

Tenth Ward

I feel that our campaign is on the road to victory. Our cause is about fighting crime not coddling criminals. With this being said, a hard line approach on crime is what the doctor ordered. This will advance our efforts against hardcore criminals and enable us to bring terrorists to justice. All this being done when we focus on the minor crime, which is first clue that your city is falling apart. Vote Harry Savage for City Council 10th Ward.

Prepared for by the Harry Savage for City Council Committee, 3228 Humboldt Ave So, Mpls, MN, 55408.