Readers Write: Cooperating with ICE, e-bikes, Minnesota’s Senate race

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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As reported in an Oct. 18 article, a number of Minneapolis mayoral candidates “have pledged to strengthen a city ordinance by barring local police and city officials from cooperating with federal agents, including assisting with crowd control during immigration enforcement” (“3 mayoral challengers want tougher ordinance on ICE”).

As reported, the current ordinance already bars city employees (including police) “from asking about one’s citizenship or immigration status ... and using knowledge of that status to enforce immigration laws.”

The proposed “strengthening” of the ordinance includes refusing federal requests for crowd control, prohibiting federal officers from hiding their identity, removing federal agents from protest areas and sheltering “anyone fleeing federal agents during a raid or protest.”

If adopted, the above changes will bring Minneapolis a step closer to open defiance and nullification of federal law. Anyone interested in a historical analogy is invited to consider the nullification crisis of 1832.

Peter Abarbanel, Apple Valley

Reading in the Star Tribune that three of our mayoral candidates support the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee petition requiring our police officers to “assist residents to immediately remove federal agents from the scene” rekindles memories of my own experiences in Vietnam (via the draft) with the fully loaded and trigger-ready assault-type weapons now being carried by federal agents in their immigration raids around the country and in their June 3 non-immigration raid in Minneapolis. Trust me, we do not want our neighbors and police officers charging into combat against that weaponry. We all share righteous anger about these raids, but this proposal is based on naive and false bravado (“look how tough I am”) rather than on common sense, respect for life and thoughtful strategic vision. Attacking federal agents will not prevent deportation but rather give them the excuse they seek to kill their attackers. We must use the wisdom of Martin Luther King Jr. to guide our strategy for confronting this overwhelming force:

“Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.”

John Satorius, Minneapolis

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The Star Tribune reports that mayoral candidates Omar Fateh, DeWayne Davis and Jazz Hampton have signed a pledge to go beyond the current policy that prevents city officials from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The pledge bans police from crowd control and also requires that they actively confront federal agents in several specific ways. This would play right into President Donald Trump’s hands: confrontation between armed federal agents and armed police in a blue city.

Richard Adair, Minneapolis

The front-page article on the perils of e-bikes acknowledges what many observers see daily (“A lifelong loss shows risk of popular e-bikes,” Oct. 19). The rapid growth of e-bikes going 15 to 25 mph has changed the equation on where these vehicles can safely ride.

It’s becoming clear — on busier routes, e-bikes are safer for everyone when they’re on bike lanes, not off-road trails. This means building wide, buffered bicycle lanes where e-bikers can safely pass slower cyclists, avoid pedestrians and be in the visible flow of traffic.

One of the Twin Cities’ oldest and busiest combined bike-pedestrian paths is along Mississippi River Boulevard in St. Paul. Bicyclists mix uncomfortably with walkers and runners on the trail where near-misses are frequent and collisions not uncommon.

St. Paul has known about this hazardous combined path for years but instead of fixing the problem they are creating a new one. The multimillion-dollar Summit Avenue Regional Trail is forging ahead. The 9-foot-wide buffered bicycle lanes west of Lexington Avenue will be eliminated and the roadway narrowed to 11 feet. Bikers of all speeds and abilities will be relegated to a one-way path as narrow as 6 feet in places — the width of the adjacent sidewalk.

Richard Arey, St. Paul

The writer is founder and director of the St. Paul Classic Bike Tour.

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I am writing in response to the misleading article headlined “A lifelong loss shows risk of popular e-bikes." You are conflating the popular, and legal, Class 1, 2 and 3 “electric assist bicycle” (e-bike) with the growing scourge of unlicensed, underage kids riding illegally on unregistered, uninsured electric motorcycles (e-motos). Which, as you point out deep in the article, is what the bicycle community calls them, for good reason.

The unfortunate victim of the collision with the 14-year-old on the what I think was probably an e-moto going a reported 25 mph is said to have thought it was a Class 3 e-bike that hit her. Well, a Class 3 bike, intended for commuting and road use, will only go 25 mph if the rider is actively pedaling or going downhill, just like a nonelectric bicycle.

What is needed is enforcement of existing motor vehicle statutes and regulations. I don’t think the police are clueless about what is a bicycle or a motorcycle. If you see a kid riding along at 30 to 40 mph in the bicycle lane or on a pedestrian path, you know it’s an illegal vehicle use. If I was doing the same on a dirt bike, or even a 50cc Yamaha scooter, I’m sure I would be stopped, fined and arrested if I zoomed away!

John Otto, Shakopee

I am Tom Weiler, and I am running to be your next U.S. senator. Who? Exactly (“Senate race slow to attract GOP field,” Oct. 21).

Although in today’s political calculus I may not be a “big name,” “self-funded” or “serious” candidate, I am confident I am the best candidate to serve all Minnesotans as your next senator. Additionally, I have a clear campaign path to a victory next Nov. 3, and I am thrilled for the opportunity to meet you and earn your support, respect and vote over the next year. My math is based on leveraging my experiences and the knowledge obtained over my last 48 years, adding it to my hard work ethic, strong moral compass and problem-solving acumen, to best serve you, our state and our country.

My Minnesota upbringing, built on faith, family, service and Eden Prairie football, led me to a Navy ROTC scholarship at the University of Notre Dame. Next, along with getting married and raising our family, were 25 years of operations in national security, including 20 years as a Navy submariner, relevant experience on Capitol Hill and the Pentagon, proven real-world leadership in high-stakes operations, graduate studies at Harvard and National Defense University, and private sector project management. However, I received a medical curveball that put my family and me on a new course. A diagnosis of early-onset Parkinson’s disease prematurely ended my career in the Navy, but, along with broadening my appreciation for much-needed American health care reform, I believe it opened a door to serve in politics.

Join our crew to chart a new course for Minnesota.

Tom Weiler, Eden Prairie