Readers Write (April 12): Minneapolis City Council travel, Archbishop Hebda, historic district policies, gender bias, 'Mark Trail'

It's about time Minneapolis city officials got out to see other parts of the world and to engage in important city-to-city conversations about global issues that impact us ("Mpls. funded travel for council," April 11). I want city leaders with an expanded vision who are knowledgeable and networked with their peers. Accountability is essential, but Monday's article was a perplexing and feeble attempt at an exposé. The U.S. is woefully behind much of the world in critical areas of transportation, urban design, education, economic equity, and policies that foster livable, sustainable urban experiences. We also have some strengths we can share that promote our city. In my consulting and public speaking, I spent more than the entire council combined on travel in 2015, visiting seven countries and dozens of U.S. cities. When I see what is possible for cities to accomplish, I'm inspired. When I see my hometown newspaper portray travel as nefarious I'm embarrassed.

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I would like to thank my City Council member, Linea Palmisano, for spending zero city tax dollars on travel last year. I understand that the travel done by other council members is considered to be city business and therefore appropriately charged to taxpayers, but for a single City Council member — Alondra Cano — to have taken not one but three international trips in a single year I find unconscionable.

We do not yet know if Archbishop Bernard Hebda, recently appointed permanently as leader of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, will be the healing shepherd we yearn for ("In Hebda, a healing shepherd is found," editorial, April 9). Many of the faithful are worn down after enduring much pain from repeated deceit. Truth and transparency from archdiocese leaders are fundamental for true trust, healing and reconciliation to occur.

A number of relevant facts pertaining to Hebda cannot be avoided.

The archdiocese's previous archbishop, John Nienstedt, has been accused by numerous people, including seminarians, of abusing his power in ways involving sexual issues. The investigation of Nienstedt was stopped abruptly before it was completed. The results of the investigation have not been made public. Hebda knew this when he came to St. Paul.

Making matters worse, Nienstedt was briefly assigned to a Michigan parish, a move that took place without our archdiocese notifying its members and without informing the lay people of the receiving parish about the never-finished investigation. Abusing power with subordinates is not as bad as sexually abusing children — but it is very disconcerting on its own. The choice to move Nienstedt without full investigation or transparency fits the same destructive pattern as shuffling abusing priests. Hebda was interim archbishop at that time.

We can only hope that the new archbishop chooses to squarely address these facts, so he can use his position to foster true trust, healing and reconciliation.

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There was a huge misconception in the otherwise great editorial about Hebda. It states that the "Catholic community here is diverse, representing many strains of American Catholicism." Our teaching has always been that the church is, "One (one belief worldwide), Holy, catholic (universal), and Apostolic (from the Apostles). You could go anywhere in the world and attend the identical mass. Even the language was the same (Latin) until Vatican II changed it to the colloquial. In the early church, there arose questions as to which beliefs were authentic. A council was called that resulted in the Nicene Creed, which is repeated as a group at every mass.

A period of charismatics arose which resulted in the calling of Vaticans I and II and the production of the new Catechism of the Catholic Church, which affirmed all the teachings of the church without change. There is no diverse thinking in the true church.

In reference to the April 8 article reporting of the delay of the Alatus development in the St Anthony Falls Historic District ("Minneapolis 40-story condo tower proposal is delayed by petition"): We appreciate that this issue of critical concern to area residents is getting much-needed coverage.

A number of years ago, I went to the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) to apply for a permit to install third-floor skylights in my house. It was made abundantly clear by HPC staff that they would recommend against my request, as it would be detrimental to the historical integrity of the area.

And now HPC staff is recommending approval of a 40-story skyscraper in an area bound by historic guidelines that call for building heights from four to eight stories? They're essentially offering a free pass to a project that is completely out of compliance with all of the St. Anthony Falls Historic Guidelines adopted in 2012.

To call this a double standard is an understatement; it really begs for a deeper examination of how this proposal got to this stage of the process.

An April 11 letter writer ("Gender bias and decisions on war") wrote, "I am well aware of … women being held to a different standard than men." She continued by saying that Bernie Sanders never disqualified former Democratic candidates for president because they voted for the war in Iraq but has criticized Hillary Clinton. What is interesting to me is the last sentence. The author finishes with, "Mr. Sanders, if you are going to apply this metric to a woman, apply it to your male colleagues as well." What's astonishing is that the author does not understand the game of politics. Can she be fair and declare when Bernie Sanders ever ran against Joe Biden, John Edwards and John Kerry (her examples)? If he had, I am 100 percent certain he would have brought up their Iraq voting record. That's politics.

As a conservative, I detest both Democratic candidates for president but am defending Sanders because standing up and shouting "sexism" at every turn, even when no sexism is evident, displays what the regressive left has become.