J. Edward Anderson Signs Statement In Support of Convicted Felon Gary Dean Zimmermann

As former Minneapolis Councilman Gary Dean Zimmermann begins his sentence in a Colorado Correctional Facility for his conviction on 3 counts of soliciting and accepting bribes, Green Party candidate Dave Bicking has posted a statement in support of Zimmermann around the internet.

Topping the list of signatories is J. Edward Anderson, the PRT guru. The Citizens for Personal Rapid Transit's Director and head of public relations Margaret Beegle has also added her name to the list (Zimmermann's PRT plan for Minneapolis is still on the CPRT website).

The statement makes the following claims:

We are convinced that Dean is innocent of the crime of bribery - a crime that requires intent.

... (sheesh)...

We stand in support of all political prisoners including Leonard Peltier, Mumia Abu-Jamal, and the Cuban Five. Dean Zimmermann is a political prisoner and we appeal to other groups, national and international, to recognize him as such.

...So, J. Edward Anderson believes Zimmermann is innocent and a "political prisoner"... yeah, right. Does the wacky professor and the CPRT also believe Rep. Mark Olson is innocent? Is Rep. Mark Olson a "political prisoner" too?

Rep. Mark Olson, Gary Dean Zimmermann, Michele Bachmann - Pod Squad News Updates and Videos

Gary Dean Zimmermann checks into a Federal Correctional Facility in Colorado today. His Green Party buddies still claim he is innocent, but they're going to eat their words when the Feds release the FBI video and audio tapes of Zimmermann asking for and receiving wads of hundred dollar bills from a Hummer-driving Republican. Until those tapes are released, here's a video of the convicted felon talking about PRT and his old pod partner, Mark Olson:



Mark Olson, according to the Sherburne County Citizen is scheduled for a hearing for his trial on domestic abuse February 9th. Here's a video showing Mark Olson going for a joyride in a PRT pod:



Michele Bachmann, who once said this about Personal Rapid Transit...

"People on the right, people on the left, we have the common goal of moving people with transit, but doing it in the most cost-effective manner, in fact, in a manner that may end up costing no government subsidy, it may end up paying for itself"

... created a sensation last week when she glommed onto President Bush, kissing him on the lips. Here is a video of that:



Although Bachmann made the Secret Service nervous, no charges were filed... a close call for Bachmann who must be wondering if she has been cursed for being a member of the Pod Squad.

Rep. Mark Olson Won't Take a Hint

Last week, the Sherburne County Citizen published a profile of Mary Kiffmeyer that included a mention of Rep. Mark Olson's "legal problems":

Politics or business are definitely not off of the table, and Kiffmeyer noted she has already discussed a variety of options with friends in both areas. When asked if she would consider running for the legislature should Rep. Mark Olson’s seat be vacated due to his legal problems involving domestic abuse charges, Kiffmeyer cited her friendship with the family and noted that people can “come out stronger as a family” after these kinds of troubles. The ending to that story “is still to be written,” she said.

This week's Sherburne County Citizen has an article about Mark Olson's trial. The article restates the facts:

Rep. Mark Olson’s pretrial hearing on two misdemeanor domestic assault charges scheduled for last Friday has been postponed until Friday, Feb. 9.

The hearing was postponed after Olson hired a new attorney to represent him. That attorney was unavailable Friday.

Charges that Olson assaulted his wife were filed in November, five days after he was re-elected to office for the eighth time.

Olson and his wife, Heidi, were arguing, she told Sherburne County Deputies. Mark pushed her to the ground three times, hard enough to leave a bruise. Olson told investigators he grabbed his wife and “placed her” on the ground.

Olson appeared at his first hearing, after spending two nights in jail, without legal representation. Judge Alan Pendleton appointed a public attorney to help him. Olson refused to enter a plea at the time and later asked for forgiveness from God, his wife, his family and the public.

At his second court appearance, Olson appeared with Attorney Jim Fleming and entered a plea of “not guilty” to two charges of fifth degree domestic assault at a brief hearing in Sherburne County Court in December.

...Rep. Steve Sviggum, who once referred to Rep. Mark Olson as "conscience of the Legislature" seems in this article a bit... impatient:

If Olson is found guilty of either of the two charges, he should resign, Sviggum said. If he refuses to resign, the legislature does sit in judgement on its own members.

“The court has to work out the process,” said Sviggum. “We are all presumed to be innocent until we are found guilty, but statements Mark made after his first court appearance lead you to believe something not appropriate took place.”

...But, Olson won't go quietly:

Olson says he has no intent of resigning his position at the legislature and will press on. Only a felony charge would result in his being automatically removed from office.

“I have a lot of support and I don’t see why this would keep me from being able to represent people,” he said. “Really, all this does is elimnate the closed door meetings that I often have objection to. It is less stressful in some respects. I am free to do what I want to do.”

Olson wants to be free to do what he wants... what could that be?

Olson Court Hearing Postponed

Saint Cloud Times

ELK RIVER — A court hearing scheduled for today for state Rep. Mark Olson on charges that he assaulted his wife in November has been postponed until February.

The delay came after Olson hired a new attorney.
Olson, a Republican lawmaker from Big Lake, had been scheduled to appear today in Sherburne County District Court on two misdemeanor counts of domestic assault. The new lawyer he hired was unavailable for today’s hearing. His next court date has been set for Feb. 9.

Santa Cruz Sentinel Story About Personal Rapid Transit

The Santa Cruz Sentinel:

"This is an incredible opportunity for us," said City Councilman Ed Porter, who has championed a the personal rapid transit for the past year.

Yeah, an incredible opportunity to waste citizens and public officials' time. As usual, the professionals respectfully point out a few of PRT's many shortfalls.

The report raised concerns with reliability, cost overruns, susceptibility to earthquake damage and spacing between trains to prevent accidents.

"The fact that no personal rapid transit is running anywhere troubles me," Burr said. "The seismic shortfall is a big one. They could engineer around it, but show me"

"The promises made in the report are a stretch"

Other critics say personal rapid transit wouldn't be necessary if more attention and resources were put into bus and rail transportation.

That last point is the key to understanding how the PRT scam works. PRT confuses the real transportation issues facing citizens and public officials.

While Ed Porter is wasting Santa Cruzans' time and money with his PRT pod fantasy...

Santa Cruz Indymedia:

Despite a large public outcry against the move, the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission voted to pursue funding for three local Highway 1 expansion projects. The three projects were brought to the new SCCRTC on their first meeting, January 11th, 2007.

What a coincidence! Whenever highway expansion faces opposition, you'll find the PRTistas. In Minneapolis it was Dean Zimmermann (with help from Mark Olson and Michele Bachmann), In Santa Cruz, it's Ed Porter.

I shared the Minnesota experience with PRT in this opinion piece published by the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

Pre-Trial Hearing for Rep. Mark Olson Tomorrow

Former state senator and candidate for the 5th Congressional District in 2006, Ember Reichgott Junge lectures the MN House Republican leadership to "tread carefuly" on the eve of Rep. Mark Olson's trial (pretrial hearing Friday).

From the TPT Brain Trust Blog



The court proceeding is not yet resolved, and there is no ethics complaint filed against Mark Olson. Olson has had no forum to be heard. Yet, House Minority Leader Marty Seifert took strong action against his fellow Republican caucus member by removing his staff and committee status. Due process was left in the dust, seemingly to make a political point. 

What happens if Mark Olson is convicted of a felony in court? He must resign his office. There’s no legal question about that. But what about a misdemeanor? His political future could be up to his colleagues. Rep. Olson may make the decision himself, and tender his resignation. If he chooses to serve, he will likely face an ethics complaint against him. 

If that happens, Olson deserves to be heard. He has a right to state his case, or his apology, or even his intentions to seek treatment. The Ethics committee takes that into account in recommending consequences from apology to expulsion. 

The Senate Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct faced similar situations in 1996, where members pled guilty to misdemeanor crimes involving domestic assault, phone misuse, and other transgressions. We had full hearings, offering an open record for the public. We recommended a range of consequences upheld by the full bipartisan senate. Some of these senators chose not to run again or were defeated. Other senators admitted their transgressions in heartfelt apologies and were re-elected with bigger margins than ever.

....important point; Olson is charged with a gross misdemeanor... 



Remember: there are many different kinds of misdemeanors. Whatever happens in this case will set a strong precedent for future cases involving future members. In cases of personal misconduct, after fair public record and consequence, is a member’s future in elected office a matter for the House to decide, or a matter for the voters of the district to decide? 

As a member of the Senate, I've been a passionate advocate against domestic violence. But the issues here go far beyond any individual case. To the House leadership I say err on the side of due process. Make the public record. Bring in outside judges to help, if necessary. The appropriate penalty will become clear. 

The minute this becomes a partisan issue on either side, the House loses credibility as an institution. We’ll see a repeat of what happened with the ethics committee in Congress when House Majority Leader Tom DeLay manipulated it. Ethics became a joke. 

We often say “do the right thing.” Thoughtful due process is the path to finding the right thing to do.


And to Republican Leader Marty Seifert: become a leader, not a grandstander. In the end, you’ll be more effective.

By refusing to resign, Rep. Mark Olson has put the Republican leadership in a tough spot.

Another Personal Rapid Transit Booster Throws Rep. Mark Olson Under the Bus (Pod)

"A Transportation Enthusiast" or "Atren" as he calls himself when he's causing trouble on Wikipedia, says the following about Zimmermann and Olson on his Weinerwatch blog:

This is the Avidor scale of justice: hundreds of respected authorities in Europe and elsewhere have endorsed PRT, but that means nothing because two insignificant politicians in Minnesota supported PRT and later got into unrelated legal trouble.

I wonder if Rep. Mark Olson was aware that he was held in such low regard by the PRTistas?

Rep. Mark Olson served 12 long years in the legislature. Much of that time, Olson carried the banner for the PRT cause. He authored legislation and gave countless interviews and speeches. He even appeared at Minneapolis City Hall with the dope-addled Zimmermann. Olson sweat buckets for the PRT cause and now, when the going got rough... when he needs a little moral support, his old pals... the PRTistas throw Olson under the bus (pod).

Nice guys, those PRTistas!

Gow Has Another Cow

Seattle PRTista David Gow (Mr. Grant) is disturbed about my opinion piece in the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

Gow received two comments from "John":

*snorts* Boy, that one really cracked me up. I had no idea that everything I saw in the news was 100% truthful. Or that the major media outlets NEVER gave space to liars and ALWAYS published stories by honest people! By your logic, everyone who's honest would be in a major media outlet!...

...and this:

Oh, and after reading Avidor's full article, I noticed this little bit:

"My advice to public officials and citizens of Santa Cruz is to pass on PRT and look at other towns and cities that have solved similar transport problems with a more tried-and-true transit mode such as streetcars."

He hints at streetcars, but he offers it as a suggestion. Now let's take a look at how you put it:

"But his biggest deception is that he tries to set up a false choice: you have to pick PRT or LRT, you can't have both."

Gosh, what article were you reading?

John is right. I never say that the choice is between LRT and PRT. That is how the PRTistas prefer to frame it. There's a lot of real options Santa Cruzans could consider including doing nothing at all (no build). I am a great believer in local control over transportation decisions. I believe that if given the facts, citizens are more likely to choose what is best for their community. The key is that their choices must be REAL choices, not unproven concepts like PRT.

Let's take a look at another of Gow's claims:

...One such is Light Rail Now--an allegedly nonprofit organization that nonetheless takes credit for influencing politics in Minnesota for the benefit of the Minneapolis light rail system.

This is misleading.

Light Rail Now is a Section 501(c)(3) non-profit, grassroots organization that educates citizens and public officials about Light Rail and other transportation modes. Education about issues in an election is permitted under IRS law. What is not permitted is electioneering; telling people specifically who or what to vote for in an election. As far as I know, LRN has not engaged in electioneering.

The Citizens for Personal Rapid Transit, on the other hand violated this IRS rule against electioneering in 2005 by encouraging CPRT members through its newsletter to volunteer for the campaigns of PRT-promoting candidates including Dean Zimmermann.

Personal Rapid Transit in Santa Cruz?

Like a zombie from a George Romero movie, PRT keeps coming back from the dead.

On the last day of 2006, an opinion piece appeared in the Santa Cruz Sentinel promoting PRT:

Up-to-date information on options for PRT in Santa Cruz is available from City Council member Ed Porter, who has championed this sensible new solution to our traffic woes for several years.

Ed Porter is yet another gadgetbahning Green councilman like Dean Zimmermann. I figured I could save Santa Cruzans the hassle of taking the PRTistas seriously by telling them the Minnesota story:

Although the Taxi 2000 Corp. lawsuit and the trials of its most prominent promoters, Olson and Zimmermann, likely sealed PRT's fate in Minnesota, a far more important factor in the demise of PRT in Minnesota was the phenomenal success of the Hiawatha Light Rail Line.

My advice to public officials and citizens of Santa Cruz is to pass on PRT and look at other towns and cities that have solved similar transport problems with a more tried-and-true transit mode such as streetcars.

Not too many cities left... maybe the PRTistas should try Baghdad next.

Rep. Mark Olson Versus Rep. Steve Sviggum

I'll bet Rep. Steve Sviggum is kicking himself for writing this:

From The Sherburne County Citizen:

Sunday, November 05, 2006

To The Editor,

I often refer to your state representative, Mark Olson, as the "conscience of the Legislature." Mark is one of the most principled and thoughtful persons I know - certainly one of the most principled legislators I've ever had the opportunity to work with.

Mark makes a positive difference for governing at the State Capitol. He is a person who gets results and that you can work with, but you better have your facts and information correct and supported. For instance, Mark led the repeal of the Profile of Learning before it was the popular thing to do. In the middle 1990's he stood almost alone gathering support every year until in 2003 the repeal passed the Legislature almost unanimously.

Yes, the State Legislature needs a whole lot more people like Mark Olson. At times his standards and expectations are difficult to meet, but Mark's makes me, the Legislature, and the State of Minnesota so much better.

Steve Sviggum

Speaker of the House

St. Paul, MN

Now that Olson has slipped his MGOP moorings, he's rolling around the deck of the legislature like a loose cannon.

Lawrence Schumacher:

The point is that Republicans wanted to put Democrats on record opposing a rebate, which is former Speaker Steve Sviggum's, R-Kenyon, main goal this year.

Added fun: Republican-non-grata Rep. Mark Olson of Big Lake is arguing with Sviggum on the floor, agreeing with the Democrats that the Republican amendment is not germane.

Watch Sviggum's reaction to Olson on this video taken from the House website:

Rep. Mark Olson's Declaration of Independence

From Lawrence Schumacher of the SC Times:

Olson's day

Olson is still looking for a legislative assistant.

The eight-term veteran has been without a caucus to support him since last month. Fellow Republicans decided then to suspend his membership pending the outcome of two misdemeanor domestic assault charges against him. Olson last month pleaded not guilty to both charges.

The caucus suspension means he has no help with research or communications. He is entitled to an assistant and office, paid for by the state.

Olson still voted for caucus leader Rep. Marty Seifert, R-Marshall, in a party-line vote Wednesday that saw Minneapolis DFLer Margaret Anderson Kelliher elected Speaker of the House.

He said he'll be interviewing legislative assistant candidates soon and doesn't believe the pending court proceedings will affect his ability to represent his constituents.

"I think I'm going to enjoy being an independent Republican," Olson said.

"The pressures of the caucus caused some strain. You want to do something ... and there'd be pressure for you not to. That's gone now."

Will Mark Olson introduce more Personal Rapid Transit legislation?

Rep. Mark Olson's Future Looks Bright... (if Olson Does the Right Thing).

"When life gives you lemons... make lemonade."

The casual observer would say that few politicians have fallen so hard and so fast as Rep. Mark Olson of Big Lake. Five days after he won re-election to the Minnesota House of Representatives, he was arrested for domestic assault. He spent a couple days in jail. When he was released, he was mobbed by the media.

In the wake of that fiasco, Mark Olson was kicked out of the House Republican Caucus. It's no secret that Mary Kiffmeyer is getting very impatient for Olson to resign so a special election can be called. Even his old PRT pal, Dean Zimmermann has sneered about Olson's predicament.

It is unlikely Olson will emerge from a trial without a guilty verdict. He practically confessed to the crime. If Olson refuses to resign, he may become the first legislator in Minnesota history to be expelled by his colleagues... and then where would he be? There just isn't a lot of people wanting to build log homes these days.

But, Mark Olson could take another path...the path of honesty and integrity. Olson could seek professional treatment for his anger problem. With over a decade in office, Olson could write a spellbinding account of all the nasty, dishonest things he did with the very people who are throwing him under the bus right now.

For instance, Olson could come clean about the PRT scam. He could give us the inside story on how so-called "fiscal conservatives" like Michele Bachmann could promote Zimmermann's billion dollar boondoggle.

If Mark Olson wrote a tell-all memoir, I predict it will be a bestseller in Minnesota... maybe even a national bestseller!

Heck, Olson would make a fortune blowing the whistle on the folks who are turning their backs on him now. What's he got to lose?... go for it, Mark!!!