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12.10.13 02:45 
24 DAYS UNTIL ELECTION DAY - MAYORAL CANDIDATE #26: DON SAMUELS (DEMOCRATIC FARMER LABOR)

We're in the home stretch! Our final ten candidates starts with another one of the chosen eight, Councilman of nearly a decade Don Samuels (64, Jordan). He filed on 8/12 - and then amended in 8/13 for reasons I don't fully comprehend but suspect were at the behest of someone really anal-retentive in Elections. (The only difference I see were that he accidentally filled in "R.T. Rybak" as "judicial incumbent" when it should have been left blank.) On both, he has a lovely signature which is just plain "Don."

He's really been into this "six families are responsible for all the crime!" thing (I linked here earlier) but still can't quite explain why he wants to talk to them, but won't talk to them until he's mayor - also, how talking to them is going to end all the crime. I wondered this aloud on Twitter back in August, and somehow he SAW my tweet and answered with a tweet of his own: "Actually, I may have [talked to them], but not knowingly. This is new data, based on ResultsMpls, a newer data system I helped institute in City Hall." A little evasive and not answering the question I was asking, but better than nothin'! (MAYBE.)

He didn't tell us which of the six crime families were responsible for the dude peeing on the building and his friend who swiped Samuels' iPhone, leading to an epic tale of recovery and redemption which reads too good to be true and doesn't actually have much to do with him running for mayor...but that's mostly because he wrote it a year ago.

In the past year, he's ALSO been the main driver behind the disbanding of the Civilian Police Review Authority - a move which just about removed citizen oversight of the MPD and wasn't well received, especially now that we're into the Office of Police Conduct Review era.

Although I haven't talked to a lot of people, Samuels is the one I hear the most about - but almost never in a positive light. What I have heard the most is how strange it is for someone to live in the North side, represent the North side on the City Council, yet do so little for the North side (with the exception of the occasional goodies for Jordan). As if that weren't enough, he was one of the seven votes to proceed with tearing down the Metrodome and putting up a new expensive stadium for the Vikings without asking the people of Minneapolis to vote on it. Perhaps seeing the writing on the wall, Samuels declined to try for re-election to his council seat - thus, the run for mayor.

In his favor, Johnny Northside gave him a positive review. (I mention this because a lot of people have strong opinions about Johnny Northside and this might help you make up your mind about Mr. Samuels as well.)

Lastly, one of his favourite issues to talk about besides crime is the schools, which - sing along with me, kids - the mayor has very little to do with in Minneapolis and if he'd REALLY wanted to help out, he'd have considered running for the School Board.

I honestly can't tell you if I'd be a better mayor than this guy or not, but as with all of the "big" candidates (or DFL candidates - take your pick) and *especially* given his previous experience in Minneapolis government, I tend to think I might be! Am I right or wrong? It's YOUR vote!

NEXT: We continue our string of most favored nations with a real doozy!
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