Mr. Miller, we have the right, according to the laws of Minnesota, to seek
redress of grievances from the courts and to compel local and state government
agencies to operate in a manner that serves the public welfare:
"586.01 ISSUANCE OF WRIT, JUDICIAL DISCRETION NOT CONTROLLED.
"The writ of mandamus may be issued to any inferior tribunal, corporation,
board, or person to compel the performance of an act which the law specially
enjoins as a duty resulting from an office, trust, or station. It may require
an inferior tribunal to exercise its judgment or proceed to the discharge of
any of its functions, but it cannot control judicial discretion."
All elected officials in Minnesota take an oath of office to defend the public
welfare. Boulders, probably placed capriciously by people playing in Minnehaha
Creek, have created a dam that Barr Engineering has identified as the control
point for the water level of the Creek and Lake Hiawatha. This has resulted in
the flooding of local homes and the flooding of an historic public resource,
the Hiawatha Golf Course. For over a year I have asked the Park Board to
remove this artificial, destructive and purposeless dam in articles published
in Southside Pride. As soon as I filed the lawsuit, mysteriously and without
public announcement or explanation, the boulders were removed. I will ask the
court to order the Park Board to verify, with a profile of the water level by
an accredited engineering firm, that the boulder dam under the 30th Avenue
footbridge is no longer the control point for the water level of Minnehaha
Creek.
It is entirely possible that the judge will rule that the question before the
court is moot, as the problem no longer exists. I confess I have on two other
occasions brought suit in District Court asking for a Writ of Mandamus against
a government agency. I sued the City Council in the 1980's to compel them to
hold a public referendum on whether to give $25 million to a French firm to
build a shopping center in downtown Minneapolis as was required by the City
Charter. The judge ruled the question was moot, because (after I filed the
suit) the City determined not to go ahead with the project. In 2008 I filed a
Writ of Mandamus asking the County Attorney to arrest George W. Bush when he
got off the plane to speak to the Republican Convention in St. Paul for the
murder of Minnesota soldiers in the senseless war against Iraq. The question
became moot when Bush decided to not attend the Republican Convention. So, I
have a perfect record. I've lost every battle and won every war.
Bobby Seale used to say, "Revolution, by any means necessary." I believe in
democracy by every means available. If my efforts have any value they would be
to show people that they have the power to challenge government when it
threatens the public welfare. We have the right and the responsibility to act.