Blogosphere Gets "Gabby" About Financial Info In Jordan Controversy

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The "Jordan Livability Blog" continues to assert itself as the de facto "voice of the New Majority" in the ongoing Jordan neighborhood controversy--or soap opera, depending on how you view it. Some new information went up in the last few days as the "New Majority" starts to get its hands on financial statements...

First, check out this blog post about the election of new board officers, and why it is important, click here. I can't help but note the labels created here on the Johnny Northside blog--"New Majority" and "Old Majority"--have stuck, and are now being used by participants in this struggle, as evidenced by this blog post.

A much more exciting blog post--and I think this post is the first of more which will follow in this pattern--gets into the nitty gritty of questionable expenditures by the "Old Majority." (Questionable in the minds of the New Majority, I should say, I am trying to maintain some objectivity, here) Click here for that blog post questioning where the money went.

Keep this in mind: this blog post represents only the tip of the iceberg. The "New Majority" doesn't have its hands on very many financial statements, yet. Yet with only a relatively small amount of information in their possession, they're now asking stuff like: Why $886.26 worth of expenditures at restaurants and bars? How on earth did $785.68 get spent at CVS Pharmacy? What WAS all that stuff? And what was the point of a hotel room ($95.70) in Brooklyn Park?

I've periodically stayed in hotels in Brooklyn Park during weekend visitation with my son. Even on the weekends, hotel rooms can be had for around $60. So almost a hundred bucks for a hotel room is either more "upscale" lodging, or somebody is getting breakfast in bed.

One thing I should point out: there is an expenditure for a Northeast bar called "Gabby's." Well, actually there are TWO expenditures, but these are both for the same date. This bar has been a notorious trouble spot for the past couple years, click here for more info. The Gabby's has found its way to a lawsuit, alleging city officials are trying to shut down the bar on the basis of the race of its clientele. Complaints from neighbors are consistent, however, and there has been at least one shooting in the bar.

In any case...even before the dramatic board elections and the current controversy, the Jordan Livability Blog was already focused on the issue of expenditures by Jerry Moore, and whether these were needful expenditures. Click here for an earlier blog post about that.

Clearly, this pattern of airing the expenditure information will continue as the "New Majority" gets its hands on more records. The internet adds a new twist: anybody who may have information about, for example, the reason for a hotel room expense has an opportunity to post information, anonymously, and add to the public discussion.

P.S. The image on the "Gabby's" sign is apparently old time movie star "Gabby Hayes." One has to wonder how, exactly, Hayes' name and visage came to be used by a bar in Northeast Minneapolis. I'm sure there's a cool story in there somewhere.