Pothole Confidential: My Life as Mayor of Minneapolis

R.T. Rybak has had an incredibly overrated reputation during his tenure as the Mayor of Minneapolis. As with many politicians it seems that one of his biggest problems is that he's just too overly impressed with himself.To this day he shies away from answering "difficult questions." After reading his book and engaging with him on Twitter fairly regularly he seemed to be a decent person. This lasted until I brought up something that "hizzoner" disagreed with. (And also he knew nothing about.)When I brought up the fact (it is a fact) that Valerie Jarrett by all accounts is an Iranian citizen he chastised me and tried to say that I was wrong (and attempted to embarrass me by saying I probably ridiculously thought that Obama was Kenyan). I tried to explain to Mr. RT the difficulty associated with ridding yourself of Iranian citizenship if one is born there. To support my assertion I sent him Iranian citizenship guidelines to which I received no reply.In order to rid yourself of Iranian citizenship you need to go before an Iranian council and it is quite difficult to do so, as such there is no record of Jarrett having done that and I highly doubt that she has. I know a lot about international affairs thanks to my professional career serving the federal government in a classified capacity. (This is something hizzoner clearly could care less about...)I followed up later and asked him if he'd support Hillary Clinton if she were indicted by the FBI and he refused to answer. The issue was close to me because I know firsthand the consequence of the unauthorized disclosure of classified information. At the time, respecting Rybak, I assumed he'd have a quick and direct answer on his thoughts.I followed up to reiterate that I was asking seriously and respectfully and in response he ignored me then blocked me from communicating with him via Twitter (huge loss). The reason I brought up the Twitter episode is that it is symbolic of the "man" as a whole.Rybak in his book cherry picks stories or like in the Twitter case my questions which will make him "look good" while failing to confront the issue. He decided to talk about the portions of his mayoralty that make him look good while many issues persist in Minneapolis that he failed to address during his mayoral term.I had the opportunity to talk to a Minneapolis government employee who also read the book who also had very few kind words to say about him. They discussed the level of bureaucracy that he added to their jobs and his general "sliminess" as a politician. RT- if you'd like this employee is happy to go on record and talk to you.It's convenient (and sometimes necessary) for politicians who were less than average at their jobs, similar to Rybak, to write a book in order to passively "white wash" or rewrite history with their preferred narrative. It's common for poor politicians to write a surreptitious justification for what they did while I. Office.I don't expect to hear from Rybak again (nor do I hope to) but unfortunately little did you know, a member of my family is very close to one of yours.Mr. Rybak, I am sorry that you wrote a book that was mediocre and likely ghost written for the most part and that you frankly cannot handle dealing with people who have different opinions than you do. You seem to have skin as thick as Donald Trump's. ;)Perhaps you desperately hope that this will get you a position in the never-going-to-happen Clinton administration but it's just not going to happen. When this government worker was talking to me I actually made the mistake of defending you. She described you as "icky" and "gross."I am sure it's too late in your life to get over your superiority complex but if you ever choose to interact with uneducated morons like me again you know my Twitter handle and website. Perhaps this is a manifestation of the good ole Blake/Breck rivalry or even the new to me London School of Economics/Boston College rivalry. Either way RT, time to grow up (says the person less than half your age), no one respects someone who fails to stick behind their principles.I highly recommend you buy the book if you're a diehard liberal or a wealthy conservative who needs expensive kindling and wishes to contribute to the "buy RT Rybak" a little bit of class fund.

This is an excellent account of RT Rybak's time as Mayor of Minneapolis. Written with compassion and understanding of the many social and political problems he faced, it makes for a cracking read. Anyone interested in how a mayor and his allies need to work to effect real change in a community will relish the detail in this book. You don't have to have an intimate knowledge of Minneapolis politics to enjoy the many anecdotes that illustrate how tough the decisions were that had to be faced and how fair this mayor was to all parts of the community. I was particularly taken with the descriptions of paying visits to the homes of the victims of random violence. RT writes with a fluency and an attention to storytelling that is very impressive.

I could hear RT's voice with every word. He is the real deal, and this book is a must read for anyone looking to run for public office, especially Minneapolis!

My favorite Minnesotan. He has done a massive amount of good for Minneapolis and I was very sorry to see him not run for Mayor again.

A thoughtful review of lessons learned as mayor of a big city. Things are always more complex than the outsider realizes.

This book is really quite good and interesting. An easy read!

A refreshing take on politics in a great city. Thanks RT!

I really enjoyed this book! I moved to Minneapolis a few years before R.T. Rybak first ran for mayor and was always impressed at how well he managed the city and showed that a politician can be both politically savvy while not losing a down to earth approach to touching people's lives. But as the saying goes, "You never really know someone until you walk a mile in their shoes." Or in this case, sprint from side to side of a street during a pride parade. And, man, did he ever let you into what was going on in his head over those 12 years in office (and more).It turns out, that even if you get the chance at your dream job, it doesn't mean that you'll master it from day one. I was intrigued at just how much he admitted he needed to learn when he started. Seeing events that I lived through as one of his constituents (the 35W Bridge collapse, the Vikings' stadium, the tornado in N. Mpls, etc.) through the eyes of someone who was literally on the front lines of, and the mental/emotional toll it took, really helped me to understand just how much love and devotion you'd have to have for a city and its people to throw yourself so completely into public service as he did.I'd also like to put in my two cents and say that I think poodles in eating establishments work better in Minneapolis than R.T. thinks/thought. But as a poodle owner I'm very biased. (You’ll understand when you read it). I can't speak as to the choice of headgear though.An excellent read. I highly recommend!