Political Speeches at Lowry Bridge Opening

Post and videos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Every so often, I find myself turning into the north Minneapolis version of C-SPAN.  We have these great events, like the opening of the Lowry Bridge, and of course a parade of politicians have to have their say.  Most of the time, what's said is predictable (thanks to the community and the workers and the fellow politicians and the businesses and the children, etc.), although even in this set of speeches we have a few surprises.

In any case, these are our community leaders, and what they have to say at an event like this should be recorded and readily available.  That's where this blog comes in.

Several of our speakers touted the new bike lanes, and there was that surprise...

Peter McLaughlin was up after former Commissioner Stenglein, and spoke of investing in our architecture and infrastructure.


Senator Klobuchar got the first genuine laugh when she started her speech too far from the mic.


Representative Ellison was next.


Although speakers were apparently given two minutes each, state Senator Linda Higgins kept her remarks to half that.

Speaking of keeping it short and sweet, northeast Minneapolis Senator Kari Die..Dze..Dzizi...hold on, I've got to Google how to spell her name...Dziedzic? Got it. What? She's done speaking already?


Representative Diane Loeffler thanked a bipartisan legislative effort.


Representative Joe Mullery gave us the surprise of the day. He told the crowd in rather specific detail how we almost didn't get good bike lanes on the bridge. Mullery laid out how then-Commissioner Stenglein had to be pressured to support better bicycle infrastructure. Perhaps he could have used a better sense of decorum so that his colleagues weren't squirming a bit. Say what you will about the approach, but what he said was true.


Council President Barb Johnson followed that act.


And we closed with Council Member Diane Hofstede.