Dear 13th Ward Delegate:

Today I write to ask for your support as a candidate for the Minneapolis City Council. I am running because Minneapolis needs new, energetic leadership to overcome difficult challenges which lie ahead.

This is my vision of Minneapolis: a city that nurtures its children, protects its neighborhoods, and shelters it citizens. I believe in a Minneapolis where small businesses thrive on neighborhood street corners, a city full of thriving, happy families; a city where the smallest child is as important as the largest corporation.

The challenges we face are numerous -- the most serious are an affordable housing crisis that grows worse by the day, and budget problems caused by City Hall's abuse of property taxes to subsidize downtown development. But complaining about our problems is not enough -- the real test of leadership is providing answers to the difficult choices we face. Over the course of the election I hope to spark a debate on possible solutions by offering detailed proposals.

I will bring to the Council a unique background to confront these serious issues. As a neighborhood activist, I know the City's future does not rest with sterile, corporate development, but depends on revitalizing neighborhoods and small businesses -- in recapturing the urban energy and charm which made Minneapolis great.

As a civil rights attorney representing victims of discrimination, I know crises like affordable housing cannot be solved without energetic advocates willing to raise their voice when many others prefer that our brothers and sisters suffer in silence.

As a stay-at-home Dad, I know first hand how much attention and love our children need to successfully begin the long journey into adulthood.

I will seek and abide by the DFL endorsement. The DFL endorsing convention for the 13th Ward is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, March 24th, at 10 a.m., at the Washburn Community Library, 5244 Lyndale Avenue South.

I look forward to talking with you before the convention. If you have any questions, call me at 925-0630, or send e-mail to: greg@abbottlaw.com.

Sincerely, Greg Abbott

-- Greg Abbott for City Council 13th Ward

www.gregabbott.org (coming soon to a web browser near you) greg@gregabbott.org