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Smith Parker showcase: Taxpayer-funded
bullying !
Smith Parker, the law firm appointed by the County to manage
the Excess Project, has worked to marginalize dissenters and
squelch criticism in order to create the illusion of neighborhood
support for this corporate welfare scheme.
Official project letters criticizing dissenters are shared
with corporate representatives, lobbyists, and select public
officials, but not with any neighborhood representatives and
certainly never with the persons alluded to in those letters.
Information is kept on citizens who publicly question the
wisdom of the project, and who then become the topic of project
meetings and documents:
Document 1
Letter from Tom Johnson (on Phillips Partnership letterhead)
to Louis Smith (Smith Parker), Peter McLaughlin (Hennepin
County), Gail Dorfman (Hennepin County), Dan Kratz (Children's
Hospital), Eric Eoloff (Abbott Hospital), Muffie Gabler (Wells
Fargo), Ellen McInnis (Wells Fargo lobbyist, registration
#8608), and Sue Holden (Wells Fargo).
on Dave Harstad:
"Now I know why Dave Harstad has been saying the things
he has about the Phillips Partnership abd the I-35W Access
Project ..."
"On another topic regarding Dave Harstad ..."
download
a complete digital copy of the letter (pdf, 1.1 Mb)
Document 2
letter from Tom Johnson (on Smith Parker letterhead) to Jim
Grube (Hennepin County Transportation Engineer), copy to Louis
Smith (Smith Parker)
on Robert Lilligren:
"[He] was voicing his objection to the fly-over ramp
to 28th street saying it was unnecessary and required too
much right-of-way. He had obviously been talking with others
from the city previous to this meeting ..."
on Antonio Rosell:
"[He] continued to bash the Access Project saying that
its initial objectives were flawed. He keeps saying that big
business and big government are collaborating to the detriment
of neighborhood residents ... Peter McLaughlin, Craig Anderson
and I kept responding to his rhetoric with facts leaving others
the impression that he is more of a "bomb thrower"
than a serious critic of the project."
download
a complete digital copy of the letter (pdf, 2.1 Mb)
"please refrain from posting your
speculations that are completely groundless and insulting"
Another tactic employed by Smith Parker to minimize criticism
of the project is to send repeated emails to people that question
the assertions made by project proponents. You can view a
sample below:
send us your correspondence
If you have received any correspondence from Smith Parker
representatives which you felt was bullying or otherwise designed
to keep you from speaking your mind, please feel free to forward
it to smithparkerbullying@stride-mn.org
- we'll add it to the list we're compiling and will add it
to our site when we do our next update. Please let us know
if you'd like us to not use your name, and if you'd like us
to record (but not post) your message.
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