This column continues my five-year investigative reporting of a city government that stands for itself, not its citizens. This government, the City of Minneapolis, continually makes reports with false and erroneous information about its compliance to the general pubic, to the State of Minnesota, and to the federal government, and treats whistleblowers with intimidation and retaliation.
The three heroes in this column stood up against Minneapolis slapping the faces of its citizens, both directly (by denying Blacks jobs) and indirectly (through the taxes Whites have to pay for Minneapolis corruption).
In Tunisia, a government official’s slap to the face of a citizen ignited citizen revolts across the region against governments that were operating for themselves and not for their citizens. Those sparks are now igniting fires across the United States. We see a historical turning point as citizens rise up to repair governments that do not stand up for those they supposedly represent.
Lauren Marker, attorney and former contract compliance specialist in the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department (MCRD), reported corruption to the Minneapolis City Council on March 2, 2011: hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts with fraud, kickbacks, document shredding and report falsification. In one case, the person identified as the contact person for certifying compliance had been dead for over seven years.
No one challenged her report. No one asked her questions to examine what she said. No one brought forth information to repudiate her allegations of corruption and misconduct.
For being a whistleblower, Ms. Marker lost her position and her 20-year career in city government. The current and past leadership of MCRD and this city government are known for intimidation and retaliation. Understandably, Ms. Marker has filed a legal action against the City and against specific individuals within the MCRD.
Eddie Calderone, a 32-year employee of the Civil Rights Department and one of the most respected individuals in his contract compliance field, also had his career ended for doing his job. On Thursday, May 20, 2010, at 9:41 am, Mr. Calderone reported by email to Michael J. Rumppe of the Human Resources Department the questionable patterns and practices within the MCRD, one of many documents submitted by Mr. Calderone on inappropriate conduct and mismanagement.
The specific project under discussion in Mr. Calderone’s email involved a $200 million Children’s Hospital project in which no African Americans were being contracted with or hired to work. Mr. Calderone reported that he was ordered to violate the law by accepting numbers not certified as provided by the prime contractor, Krause Anderson, and to submit the false data into a database that provides legal standing for information dissemination by the City in the area of contract compliance.
Marvin Taylor, Mr. Calderon’s immediate supervisor, expressed surprise and concern that his authority was being circumvented and that Mr. Calderone was being directed by the highest possible authority in the department to circumvent the law. Mr. Calderone pointed this out in his May 20, 2010 email.
Mr. Taylor has raised questions about the pattern and practice of cooking the numbers and creating false documentation. Mr. Taylor was demoted and now finds himself under administrative sanctions, with possibly no more than 40 days left before his 25-plus-year career with the City of Minneapolis is ended.
Marker, Calderone, Taylor: three heroes — a White, a Filipino, a Black — all in the field of social justice. They stepped up to the plate in their own way, in their own time, to do the right thing.
Two were immediately forced out and the third is about to be. They were met by the forces of nullification and reversal, forces still allowed by this administration and council to champion injustice and corruption.
For over five years I have reported on the staggering amounts of money city government gives out to its friends and political companions while the African American community receives less than one half of one percent of those dollars. You’ll not read of these heroes in the Minneapolis Star Tribune nor see them on major TV stations.
Who will stop punishing courage with dismissal? My five-year investigative reporting on this continues next week regarding the former chief of investigation for the MCRD, who lost everything because he would not continue in silence as case files were shredded and as misinformation was given to citizens regarding the status and future of their complaints to the MCRD.
This is a mean-spirited department given aid and comfort by an equally mean-spirited city government that lacks compassion for the franchise and future of the African American.
Stay tuned.
Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm and co-hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “ON POINT!” Saturdays at 5 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his solution papers and “web log” at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com.
Support Black local news
Help amplify Black voices by donating to the MSR. Your contribution enables critical coverage of issues affecting the community and empowers authentic storytelling.