Readers Write

Judge Blakely

Unbecoming conduct merits removal

I am very disappointed that a judicial panel has recommended only suspension and censure for Dakota/Goodhue County Judge Timothy Blakely (Star Tribune, March 12).

As a citizen of Dakota County, I expect judges to be held to the highest standards of ethics and integrity. Even their own judicial canon "prohibits the appearance of impropriety" in regard to exchanges of favors. According to multiple public documents, Blakely repeatedly referred cases he ruled on in court, as well as friends and family, to a lawyer who had given him a $64,000 break on fees for his own divorce settlement. Above reproach? Honest and filled with integrity? Avoiding the appearance of impropriety? I don't think so.

If the judicial board and our Supreme Court choose to keep him on the bench, it will be up to the citizens to hold Blakely accountable when he is up for reelection in 2010.

Barbara A. Hoglund, Lakeville

A deal is a deal

Arts will get its due from Legacy Amendment

A March 3 front-page story discussed the possible legislative allocation of the Legacy Amendment. I cannot speak for what might happen with the entirety of available monies, but I can speak for part of the Arts and Cultural Fund: It is my intent that 50 percent of the allocation will be appropriated to the Minnesota State Arts Board and to the regional arts councils.

Over 18 years ago I began an effort to secure state public funding for Minnesota arts organizations: large and small, metropolitan and outstate. If the Legislature was going to rightfully protect one part of Minnesota's quality of life ( our habitat), I felt we should protect and conserve the other great part of our quality of life — our artistic organizations.

I first surfaced my proposal in 2004 and worked with Sen. Dallas Sams to secure passage to the Senate floor in 2005 and off the Senate floor in 2006. Sadly, Dallas passed away, but the amendment authored by Sen. Larry Pogemiller passed the Senate again in 2007 and was passed on a ballot in 2008 with well over 1.6 million Minnesotans voting in favor.

The expectation and promise was simple. Arts communities and their board members, artists and citizens worked tirelessly to pass the Legacy Amendment receiving assurances that 50 percent of the arts portion of the amendment would be used to protect and enhance the Minnesota arts legacy. Anything else will be an absolute betrayal.

Sen. Richard J. Cohen, DFL-St. Paul; chair, Senate Finance Committee

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After attending the last four Lessard Outdoor Heritage Council (LOHC) meetings in St. Paul, I have come to the following conclusions: First, the citizen members of the council are the "salt of the earth." They have dedicated a tremendous amount of time, talent and effort to ensure that the projects recommended for funding fit exactly in line with the constitutional amendment criteria that they were charged to uphold.

When the LOHC members are openly criticized by the likes of Sen. Ellen Anderson and Rep. Rick Hanson, it really makes me seethe. Remember that the LOHC is only getting one-third of the proceeds from the amendment. The balance is supposed to be distributed to parks, trails, clean water and the arts. The fish and wildlife dollars are being carefully watched by the LOHC, which has a clear direction. The rest of the dedicated funding dollars are covered in smoke and mirrors.

Lester Johnson, Worthington, Minn.

In a stew about Sara Jane

Olson's parole: not the purview of St. Paul cops

Is the St. Paul Police Federation a governmental agency with the power to make policy? Just what is its purpose? Who gives it the authority to question a decision of the California courts regarding the parole of Sara Jane Olson (Star Tribune, March 15)?

Polly Mann, Minneapolis

Bonuses at AIG

Completely immoral, and should be criminal

After the most sustained barrage of economic bad news I have experienced in my lifetime, I have become somewhat numb. That was until I read the front page of the Sunday Star Tribune and learned that AIG executives were going to receive $100 million in bonuses.

This would be the same leaders who have already profited exorbitantly through reckless and irresponsible lending practices, only to be saved by the American taxpayers, their children and grandchildren. That they would even conceive of relying on preexisting employment agreements to justify this atrocity is completely immoral and should be criminal. If the administration cannot leverage the $170 billion we have already given them and the hints of billions more to reverse this travesty, then I say let them fail.

John Shardlow, Roseville

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I was deeply disturbed by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's statement about the need to "retain the best and brightest talent to lead and staff the AIG businesses." These people brought the world's financial system to the brink of failure and have triggered a massive bailout effort to untangle their mess. "Best and brightest?" More like "dumb and dumber!"

Joseph Wright, Bloomington