No people have been so dissed during this convention week as community organizers and small-town mayors.

Democrats making fun of Gov. Sarah Palin's experience have poked at her eight-year run as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska (pop. 5,500 when she was in office); Palin herself joked that Obama's three years as a community organizer amounted to lightweight duty.

We found a community organizer and a mayor and asked their thoughts.

Katie Himanga Himanga, 49, a consulting forester, spends at least 20 hours a week fulfilling her duties as mayor of Lake City (pop. 5,300), a pretty town southeast of the Twin Cities. In her four years as mayor, she has helped keep a major employer in town, planned for pandemic flu and reopened a long-abandoned ballroom.

None of it, she said, made her ready to become vice president of the United States.

Palin was Wasilla's chief manager and appointed city employees and administrators. She prepared an annual budget, something done by the administrator in Lake City. On the other hand, Lake City has a weak mayor-council system. Himanga presides over City Council meetings, but her vote counts no more than the others.

Star Tribune, Star Tribune
Malik Holt-Shabazz

"I very quickly learned a lot about a lot of aspects of government, but I would not feel prepared to handle things on a national level," she said.

Malik Holt-Shabazz Holt-Shabazz, 34, was watching TV Wednesday as Palin told the convention that being a small-town mayor was kind of like being a community organizer -- "except that you have actual responsibilities."

He didn't feel insulted, just disappointed. Since 2004, he's worked as a community organizer for the Harrison Neighborhood Association.

"A lot of people like Palin see the best changes come out of Washington," he said. "We think the changes and solutions come out of the places where people live and work. Communities are like little cities, and the resources for problem-solving are right here."

The basic job of the community organizer, he said, is to help citizens coordinate their response to problems. "We listen, try to make sure we share accurate information, devise plans, and get people to see the power that they have in their everyday lives," he said.

Kevin Duchschere • 612-270-1412