Re: [Mpls] Redistricting; appreciating; wondering
Brian: thank you for providing the links. I had
wondered what other districts were affected by the
redistricting policy, since the election only focused
on the 3d {and 5th} Ward.
Which leads to my next point: I greatly appreciate the
news and views I've heard on this forum. News about
Mpls. is virtually nonexistent up here, and Twin
Cities about the 3d Ward race has been minimal
compared to what this list provides.
Because I'm not connected to the issues like you guys
are, I am going into a lurk mode for the rest of the
campaign. It's not enough to say I like this
candidate without offering a list of concrete
reasons. My support of Don Samuels is based on
personal reasons, and though people may scoff at those
reasons, I'd like to share them anyway.
When my husband and I looked for our first house in
Mpls. in 1988, we found a restored Victorian house in
the paper for $40,000. Convinced it was a misprint, we
called the realtor and drove out to see the house. It
was a beautiful house, all right, on Hillside Av. in
north Mpls. Admittedly, we were scared off by the
neighborhood and continued our search, ending up a
little further north in Folwell, where we stayed for
11 years.
The fact that Don Samuels wasn't scared off by
Hillside--in fact, he may be living in the house that
we looked at--to me shows a commitment to hunkering
down, spreading roots, and making a difference.
People have asked if being present at a riot qualifies
someone to be CM. That reason alone, no. But that is
the reason why Don Samuels caught my attention. People
from disenfranchised neighborhoods usually don't wind
up at City Hall. I had mentioned earlier that Don's is
an important voice to hear, as is Natalie
Johnson-Lee's. {It's a shame that they would be
battling for the same job if Samuels wins.}
Which leads me to my final point: while I appreciate
the news and views on this list, I am mystified by the
anger expressed by Olin Moore's supporters. What is
the reason for that anger? That Don Samuels is
running? That ANYONE is running? Should the preferred
scenario be the DFL endorsee against a Republican
candidate against all other third parties? The anger
over bucking the endorsement reminds me of Ari
Fleischer's anger when someone dares to criticize GW.
I don't know Olin Moore, but I would think that he
would welcome any and all comers.
Susan Maricle
wishing everyone a Happy New Year
from Bruno MN
.
--- Melendez, Brian [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
For the redistricting process generally, the
Geographic Information
Systems office--which the Minnesota Legislature
established as the
repository of statewide boundary information for
legislative use--maintains
a great website with information about federal,
state, and local
redistricting at
http://www.commissions.leg.state.mn.us/gis/html/redis-list.html.
The
Redistricting 2000 guide gives a good conceptual
overview.
For Minneapolis redistricting, the City
Clerk's website furnishes some
information at
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/redistricting/. The
redistricting webpage gives a brief overview of the
process, and links to
the Minneapolis redistricting plan (with a
statistical breakdown at
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/redistricting/20020430planstats.asp).
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[Mpls] Boarded Houses
I found this list to be amazing. What is the plan for all these houses? What area of city government is responsible to maintain these properties. I noticed some have been boarded for more than 8 years! What prevents the city from either tearing these down or selling them to organizations that will rehab. I am lucky that very few are in my ward as the bulk seem to be in S Mpls. What is the impact of these boarded properties to the surrounding homes? Gene Swanson Lind-Bohanon ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] 3rd Ward Primary- Political Postmortem (Street Price= $.125, 50%off!)
Title: 3rd Ward Primary- Political Postmortem (Street Price= Dennis, sit down, relax, take deep breaths, and please turn off the bold text... but even if Northside turnout had equaled Northeast's Don still would have run second, though by smaller margin. Not that it matters, but in fact, had voter turn-out in North equaled the turn-out for the NE, Don would have actually beaten Olin by a few votes and taken 1st in the primary (692-671). To simulate the effect the Northeast's 19.39% turnout would have had if the Northside had the same 19.39% turnout instead of it's dismal 9%, multiply each candidate's vote totals by the ratio of 9% to 19.39%= 2.15 or 215%. This calculation gives Olin Moore 254 votes from the Northside + 413 from the Northeast =667 votes. Don Samuels would have still come in 2nd but by a smaller margin with 148 Northeast +462 Northside =610 votes. Keep in mind that these projections are based on the turnout/number of registered voters in the Northside. These registered voter numbers are based on the number of voters who registered in the past several years elections- many of these folks are still registered from the high turnout 2000 presidential election and given the high transience of the Northside 3rd ward many have moved outside it's boundaries. Given this higher degree of registered voter migration the Northside's turnout may not have been so bad. These numbers assume that both Olin and Don have equal untapped voter bases available on the Northside. Given the incredible use Don Samuels' campaign made of absentee votes (nearly half of his total) Don may have already turned out most of his voters in the primary. Thusly the larger turnout expected in the general election may not help Don. and more likely will expand Olin's margin of victory. What is amazing here is how a virtual political unknown, Olin Moore, has finished ahead of media darling Don Samuels. It is a compliment to the voters of the 3rd that they saw past the considerable media canonization Don has received and mostly preferred Olin Moore. Thanks for the emphasis Dennis- I totally agree! Whereas,75% of the votes cast wereNOT for Olin,I think most voters in the 3rd would probably take exception to this statement. The last mayoral primary had similar results, in fact the gap between R.T. and Sharon may have been a bit narrower. Although Sharon looked to be competitive, most of her support was in low turn out precincts and she lost by about a 30% margin. This is Olin Moore's race to lose. Most of Margo Ashmore's support will go to Olin. Agreed. A very interesting theory.When speakingwith Margo's supporters over the last few weeks, i remember a recurring theme - that if Margo weren't running, they'd vote for Don. Much of Margo's support was the Northeast traditional white ethnic union DFL base. Don Samuel's union bashing will drive these folks straight to Olin. Sadly, the race cards are definately in play here- There are some voters who won't vote for Don because he's black, and some who will vote for him because he's black. Don may suffer from increased media scrutiny now that he has survived the primary- Agreed. Oddly enough I hope this happens Dyna. Everytime Don comes under media scrutiny more and morevoters in the 3rd make a choice for Don. A good analogy would be a small seismic tremor out in the middle of the ocean hardly causes a ripple in the water - at first. On its travels towards landfall the small ripplegains energy and momentum. Upon arrival at landfall, the small ripple becomes a tidal wave. Where has all this energy come from? From the voters in the 3rd, finally connecting with an authentic community voice. There is good media and bad media... As far as hydrodynamics go, I suspect the kind we see on the Mississippi makes for better analogies. Think of Don Samuels' campaign as a little canoe that been playfully drifting downriver in the current. The current is the media, and Don's campaign has been enjoying it so much they've forgotten all about navigation. They just passed Basset's Creek... still awaiting an accounting for the printing costs, etc., Dyna Sluyter in Hawthorne Dennis Plante Jordan Let the serious campaigning begin! Dyna Sluyter in Hawthorne P1 210/992 = 21.17% Olin = 71, Don = 18 P2 335/1589 = 21.08% Olin = 101, Don = 20 P3 270/1872 = 14.42% Olin = 58, Don = 24 P4 295/1655 = 17.82% Olin = 97, Don = 26 P5 263/1202 = 21.88% Olin = 59, Don = 37 P6 103/303 = 33.99% Olin = 27, Don = 23 Northeast precincts 1476/7613 = 19.39% Olin = 413, Don = 148 P7 142/1936 = 7.33% Olin = 38, Don = 43 P8 157/1347 = 11.66% Olin = 22, Don = 91 P9 171/1788 = 9.56% Olin = 36, Don = 51 P10 115/1432 = 8.03% Olin = 22, Don = 30 Northside precincts 585/6503 = 9.00% Olin = 118, Don = 215 Overall turnout 2061/14116 = 14.60% Olin = 531, Don = 363 Shane = 202, Margo = 295, Valdis = 299, Trish Shilling = 107 Fred Markus, Horn Terrace, Ward Ten, in the Lyndale Neighborhood --
[Mpls] Good housekeeping
A new year's request of all members: Please delete as much of the post you're responding to as you can. Leaving trails of repeated, unresponded-to prose (dubbed e-snot by yours truly) makes it much harder for digest readers to pick out the new content when they read through posts. Of course, if you're responding to something specific, it's fine to leave the previous post's copy inbut when you stop responding, start deleting! Thanks, David Brauer List manager ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Third Ward Wanting.../Machine-Dead or Alive?
My own experience with the resident council at Horn Terrace and on the Lyndale Neighborhood Association steering committee is perhaps helpful here. Set aside the DFL bashing. Set aside impatience with the Green Party's fascination with mountaintop yodeling. Our daily reality where I live is multi-generational, multi-lingual, and multi-cultural. Educational levels range from illiterate to post-graduate. We have a lot of contact with service agencies, police, fire and medical personnel, MPHA's many employees, and tons of volunteer involvement. This is without doubt an immersion experience in diversity and we work it out. There are folks around town who wade right into these diversity issues (that Wizard references so well, see below) and that are such push factors at Horn Terrace. R. T. clearly works on this. Horn's nearby southside council members - Niziolek, Lilligren and Zimmermann - our state legislators - Berglin, Clark, Walker - Met Council member Hornsby and County Commissioner Dorfman are all over these demographic realities. Our interests are well served by these elected officials and they move among us in a familiar way in an atmosphere of mutual respect. I have the feeling that citizen participation and representative democracy are working as well as can be expected in Horn's immediate vicinity. However, the leading personalities and experienced habitués of the voluntary political parties are either not wrapped that tightly around these ideals (the so-called DFL machine and their kissing cousins in the Stonewall DFL caucus and Progressive Minnesota, fire-breathing Republicans, NRP neighborhood elites who cross over into political party involvement) or are held back in the real world by excesses of political purity (the Green Party, New Unionists, other voices on the left - and the right - not given to the necessary art of compromise). The Third Ward contest is a serious test for both candidates and their partisans because the winds of change are blowing just as hard on the other side of downtown Minneapolis as they are on either side of Lake St. I trust that the mindset in Horn's vicinity about inclusivity will have its influence elsewhere and I expect that the next round of political party conventions will also touch on these new realities/new faces in our midst. Beware the politics of business as usual and a happy new year to all! Fred Markus, Horn Terrace, Ward Ten, in the Lyndale Neighborhood Wizard wrote: Simultaneously, Mpls. was experiencing a big influx of people from Rust Belt cities who came with the customs of their previous homes, something MN hadn't experienced in a long time and was really unprepared to cope with, mainly, I would contend, because it was so white and so insular. Now we are in the middle of experiencing a huge immigration wave comprised of people of entirely different cultures of people of color who come here poor and running from war and starvation, rather than a variety of American sub-cultures moving to where there seem to be jobs. Therefore, it's my opinion that blaming any political party for the state of the city on the level of violence and organized crime, is grossly unfair. Pretty much everyone has been caught equally flat-footed when MN suddenly had to contend with separate realities in such a dramatic fashion. I guess I will need to ask Shane Price, and Natalie Johnson-Lee, what it ultimately requires to walk away from the machine. Is cleared vision race related? WM: Yes, at this point in history, it certainly is. Not the race of any one person, but the ability to recognize, learn about, and acknowledge that race and culture are two of the greatest influences in creating separate realities among the people who live in Mpls today. Has anyone else felt like Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man? It is a healthy exercise, I imagine, to ' walk ' . Gary Hoover should be proud that Megan Thomas described Natalie Johnson-Lee's run to the Green Party, or was it FROM a Machine? A sprint indicates a healthy body; the realignment indicates a healthy mind. WM: People have different needs at different times in their lives. If you'll notice, the Greens have a goodly percentage of disaffected and younger ex-DFLers. I think both factors have equal weight in the Greens' move to create a viable third party. It does not infer that the DFL is somehow unhealthy. Having a viable third party is good for us. At the moment the Greens are still becoming viable. The Independents are doing likewise. Shane and Natalie are invisible no longer; if you are not blinded by a Machine. WM: I wish the DFL had a viable machine. It does not. It hadn't yet understood the value of the little professor who could both energize people to his principles and work within their system. They are now re-evaluating. It's another kind of learning curve. The DFL is up to the job. It's a matter of choosing to do it now. --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
[Mpls] Minneapolis wildlife
With both the railroad and the river corridors running through and next to SE Minneapolis, we're accustomed to seeing plenty of critters in the neighborhood, but the white tailed deer (ca. 1970) and the skunk with a can on its head (1991?) just got trumped. Yesterday, I had two wild turkeys in the back yard, and they are lovely birds, especially in flight. They DO say something like Gobble! Emilie Quast SE Como ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Licensure and a request of new 3rd Ward CM
[Jim Graham] P.S. Eric says, There has been illegal activity in every single employer I have ever had, and that's been everything from corporate to small business, to non-profit, to public sector. I am glad to see Eric acknowledge this. After our discussion of PPL and Fair Housing Law, is there something else? [Eric O says] - Sorry to disappoint you Jim... I was thinking of the person who got fired for dipping into the postage petty cash and secretly using a company van on weekends. Indeed, of all my employers, the worst abuse was carried out at a small chain of electronics stores I worked for in the early 80s. Massive theft, sales tax fraud and employee abuse. This was also a situation where attempts to organize employees were met with summary dismissal and harassment. I cannot elaborate much more, but let's say I was glad to move on. Eric Oines Lind Bohanon Just a Minneapolitan talking issues... _ Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Boarded Houses
Unfortunately, most of these are in private hands. I met with Steve Kramer who heads the County's Boarded Building task force 3 weeks ago to give my insight and offer my advice. Unfortunately the City and County only own 20 of the 155 boarded buildings, most are privately owned and were probably foreclosed on. The ones foreclosed on are mostly held by out of state banks. These are the ones that the City should use their 249 ordinance to either force these banks to sell or take them over and rehab, which under the ordinance and State Law they can do. But currently, as long as the owner pays an annual $400 boarded building fee, they will just sit there. Steve Meldahl - still looking for access to rehab buildings! (Jordan) work - Original Message - From: Chris [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: MPLS Forum [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, January 02, 2003 6:25 AM Subject: [Mpls] Boarded Houses I found this list to be amazing. What is the plan for all these houses? What area of city government is responsible to maintain these properties. I noticed some have been boarded for more than 8 years! What prevents the city from either tearing these down or selling them to organizations that will rehab. I am lucky that very few are in my ward as the bulk seem to be in S Mpls. What is the impact of these boarded properties to the surrounding homes? Gene Swanson Lind-Bohanon ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] EJ Campaign: Community People Needed
Project 504 is in the pre-launch phase of a project currently and boringly titled Environmental Justice Campaign. It is focused on the City's Northside, with four focus neighborhoods: Harrison, Hawthorne, Jordan and Near North. We have a community committee made up of residents of each of these neighborhoods, and that committee is helping us guide our work. We are part of a national project involving ten groups that will use simple sampling tools to document environmental hazards in people's homes, namely lead, and also cockroach debris and radon. Lead is the obvious and primary focus of the campaign, as it disproportinately affects low-income residents. We are now looking to recruit a total of ten community members from these four neighborhoods to be hazard investigators. They will be responsible for working with residents, using the sampling tools, and documenting the hazards for use in the overall EJ campaign. Each member MUST be a resident of one of the four neighborhoods. This is a paid gig for each investigator--up to $40 per home tested (after training, it should take 1-2 hours for sampling a home, plus 1-2 hours for follow up documentation). Free training is provided, and the training could lead to economic opportunities for the individuals; i.e., jobs in becoming lead clearance sampling technicians. Our hotline for more info is (612) 521-LEAD. Leave a message on the hotline if interested. The program coordinator for this is Ambur Klein (a Northside resident herself and the newest addition to Project 504), who can be reached at (612) 277-0408 or by e-mail at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please pass this on to people interested. Thanks, Gregory Luce Project 504 St. Paul ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] 3rd Ward Primary
Much of Margo's support was the Northeast traditional white ethnic union DFL base. Don Samuel's union bashing will drive these folks straight to Olin. Ok, Dyna,watching the tenor and tone of your posts on this has moved me from being relatively ambivolent to annoyed to downright angry. Dyna, When did Samuels bash the unions? Provide evidence. Going to a small local print shop that has not unionized is NOT union bashing. If you do have some actual example of bashing, the rest of this email does not apply. A month ago, I'd never heard of Don Samuels or Olin Moore so for all I know they could spend every Tuesday morning lobbing rotten eggs at picket lines, but unless you give actual evidence, I've got to assume you're basing everything on the the use of a non-union print shop. If the shop has worked to keep their workers from organizing and Samuels has knowlege of it, then you have a point, but you've provided no evidence and someone from Samuels' campaign suggested something to the contrary (something about job responsibilities not really fitting union designations). If they've crossed a picket line to do a job, then they are scabs. If it is simply a matter of the workers at the place not deciding to join the union (which does NOT mean they have not organized), then they are NOT scabs. The only claims of union bashing I have heard came from you. Unfortunately, propaganda works - if you're spreading a LIE (and at this point, that's how it looks to me), some people will fall for it. If people go to Olin because they think Don, is a union basher, it will apparently be because of lies and propaganda. Lies and propaganda are poison to democracy. Democracy relies on people being able to make an informed educated decision and when you deceive, you are making that impossible. So, do you have anything or are you spreading lies and propaganda? If you do not have anything to back your statements, you should apologize for your deception and move on to talking about why your preferred candidate would actually be good for the ward. How will he be good for: * Reducing crime and increasing quality of life * Improving relationships between the police and the community, especially when it comes to preceptions of racism and brutality. * Balancing the previous two questions * Balancing the city's budget in terms of the current deficit and upcoming cuts from the state and fed * Deal with problems of homelessness and joblessness * Deal with corporate welfare and making sure those who have already received handouts live up to their ends of the bargains. * Making sure living wage work is available. etc., etc., etc. . . . Full Disclosure: I won't be in the ward until after redistricting so while I can't vote, I do have a vested interest. My preferred candidate has already been eliminated. I think North needs more attention than Northeast right now, so while I feel that a city wide focus is mandatory, I lean towards a candidate who is more focused on N than NE, however, they still must be an advocate for my side of the river as well. More Full Disclosure: I support organized labor, but I am torn when it comes to some of the unions. Interestingly, a steward I spoke with a couple months ago seemed to share these perceptions: Unions as a organizing tool for labor is a good thing. Unions as another hierarchy of bullies controlling labor is a bad thing. - Jason Goray, Sheridan, NE. . . . Massacre of 1913 (based on a true story, by Woody Guthrie) Let me take you back to 1913 To Calumet, Michigan in the copper country I'll take you to a place called Italian Hall Where the miners are having their big Christmas ball I'll take you through a door and up a high stairs Singing and dancing is heard everywhere Befoe you know it you're friends with us all And you're dancing and dancing around in the hall You ask about work and you ask about pay They'll tell you they make less than a dollar a day Working their copper claims, risking their lives So it's fun to spend Christmas with children and wives A little girl sits down by the Christmas tree lights To play the piano, so you gotta keep quiet To hear all this fun you would not realize That the copper boss thug men are milling outside The copper boss thugs stick their heads in the door One of them screams and he yells, there's a fire A lady she hollers, there's no such a thing Keep on with your party, there's no such a thing Then some people rush, but it's only a few It's just the thugs and the scabs fooling you A man grabbed his daughter and he carried her down But the thugs held the door and he could not get out Then others rushed, a hundred or more But most everybody remained on the floor The gun thugs they laughed at their murderous joke And the children were smothered on the stairs by the smoke Such a terrible sight I never did see We carried our children back up to their tree The scabs outside still laughed at their spree And the children that died there was
[Mpls] Community Education vs. Community Schools
Several Listmembers had concerns regarding offerings in the latest MPS Community Education Catalogue. Concerns included: separation of church and state and appropriateness of offering less than core curricular offerings by a district that has low reading and math scores, graduation rates etc. The state provides separate finance mechanisms for general education funding (K-12 Education) and community education. The statutory definition guiding Community Education can be found at MN Statutes 124D.18 et seq.: 124D.18 Purpose of community education programs. The purpose of sections 124D.18 and 124D.19 is to make maximum use of the public schools of Minnesota by the community and to expand utilization by the school of the human resources of the community, by establishing a community education program. The finance mecahnism is a separate community education levy, in a separate fund to finance course offerings to the community. The description of the levy mechnism can be found at Minn Statutes 124D.20. In summary, the mechanism provides a specific dollar amount of levy authority per capita for community education programs. Community education revenues are separate distinct and not in competition with general education revenues. It would be innappropriate and illegal to use community education revenue to fund general education and vice versa - general education revenue can not be used to finance community education programs. The commnunity education revenue finances the course offereings in the catalogue and a number of other programs folks will recognize: the GED General Equaivalency Diploma Program; Adult Basic Education; ECFE - Early Childhood Family Education and more. With regard to content, I am not qualified to speak to whether a Yoga class violates the establishment clause and will leave it to constitutional scholars lurking on the list to advise us on whether we have crossed any lines there. I should also clarify that there seemed to be some confusion between Community Education Programs targeted to the broader community and MPS Community Schools, neighborhood schools offering a comprehensive elementary (K-5) or (K-8) education. Finally, in a post to this list Mr. Atherton states: I believe that the Minneapolis Public School District Administration is a left-wing progressive organization. On their website, http://www.mpls.k12.mn.us/about/referendum_class_size.shtml, they claim that their Data shows that small class size increases achievement for students of all races. This is a totally bogus, deceptive, insincere, and intellectually vacuous statement and anyone with a decent introductory statistics class knows it. And they know it too. I think we have a case where reasonable people can have reasonable disagreements. Mr. Atherton, I presume you are reasonable. I had the pleasure of meeting you during your campaign for school board. I know you have written in this forum that you don't believe investments in class size are wise. MPS district administration, and the voters of Minneapolis, three times over the course of eleven years, respectfully disagree. The MPS district administration and voters are not alone. The federal government, other states, school district adminstrations and voters have embraced class-size reduction as a valid reform tool. We don't think class size is a silver bullet. We think qualified teachers, grade-level expectations, research-based curricula all matter and we make significant investments in all these areas. In the current budget cycle we are looking at all our investments in student achievement and will be forced to choose from among those that are good and those that are best to find savings. The debate can rage on over whether small class-size is just good-practice or is it best-practice. As we conduct the debate internally and externally we do our best to respect that reasonable people can and do have reasonable differences. In my experience labelling your opponent, and your opponent's positions does not advance the debate nor bring the issues to a resolution. Happy New Year! Jim Grathwol MPS Lobbyist W. 11 612-668-0223 begin:vcard n:Grathwol;Jim tel;cell:612-290-1190 tel;work:612-668-0223 x-mozilla-html:FALSE adr:;; version:2.1 email;internet:[EMAIL PROTECTED] fn:Jim Grathwol end:vcard
[Mpls] Crime Walgreens
**Crime on Franklin Ave* In response to Jim Graham's gratituitous shot, I never denied that crimes happen in Philips. I denied they are blatant and ignored by the police. The police are very aware of all this stuff that has gone on, they have it in their CODEFOR system, and they try to approach it with a strategic method, not just running after calls. The results of that approach are clear in the continuing decline in serious crime at a time when such crime is climbing elsewhere, as reported in the links provided here (Jim should read them to modulate his cynicism just a little bit). ***Walgreens*** I read that story too and scratched my head. My favorite theory is that they had a massive shrinkage problem to which they could find no solution but closing up. I notice that the Minnehaha Mall is now a focus of lots and lots of larceny. When I asked our SAFE officer, he explained it was minor theft that was represented by all the symbols concentrated at Lake and Minnehaha. Well, if that could happen at Target and Petters, how much MORE could it happen at a Walgreens on Franklin? Getting rid of electronics and other favorite targets and concentrating on prescriptions might go a long way toward solving the problem. But that would probably need to be some other retail company. -- Jim Mork--Cooper Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be call the Children of God. Matt 5:9 http://www.unitedforpeace.org Get your free Web-based E-mail at http://www.startribune.com/stribmail ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Phillips Walgreens Closing
From what I understand, the company said they weren't making enough money from prescriptions, which seems crazy to me. I was in that store 3-4 times a week and there were ALWAYS half a dozen folks waiting for prescriptions to be filled. There is a pharmacy only in the building between Children's and Abbott-Northwestern on Chicago, but that's it for Phillips. That's an awful big area to have only one pharmacy. Contrary to what Jim Mork postulated, my understanding is that shrinkage is a bigger problem in Walgreen's type stores in more suburban and rural settings, the primary target items being makeup and Metabo-Life type diet pills (teen girls), condoms (teen boys) and pseudophed (for making crystal meth). That info comes from someone I know who was a regional manager for Rite-Aid Drugs on the east coast. Anyway, it certainly sucks that they closed. Eric Oines Lind Bohanon - Home Phillips - Work _ Help STOP SPAM: Try the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Re: Bike Racks and Paths
In a message dated 1/1/03 9:12:30 PM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes (in part): The safest plan is to allow traffic to move as quickly as possible on the major streets, and spend the money on keeping pedestrians and cars separated (maybe put up fences?). I do not agree that cars need to move as quickly as possible on major streets. I believe that we need to reduce car traffic in order to make all of our streets safer, to reduce pollution and oil dependency, and to allow for greater diversity of vehicles. To expand on this further: If we make major streets bigger, they will simply become congested with even more cars. If we increase speeds on major streets, we are likely to see more car crashes and more serious car crashes. This is more dangerous and costly than maintaining moderate speeds. The best way to help cars move through the streets more quickly is to reduce the number of cars on the streets. The best way to do that is to engage in a long-term comprehensive program to educate the public and to increase transit options, small urban ZEV options, and walking and biking options. Smart transportation options, Smart Growth urban planning, more appropriate "user-fees" to offset the safety and public health costs of car over-use, and ongoing education are vital to our city's future. During World War II, the government sponsored billboards proclaiming "When You Ride Alone, You Ride With Hitler" as well as other billboards pleading with Americans not to make a soldier give up his life because we waste gasoline at home. cf -- http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1121/p15s01-sten.html -- "Proud, Patriotic, and Green" by Amanda Paulson We could also make posters and public TV and radio announcements saying: "When you ride alone, you ride with... Osama bin Laden Saddam Hussein the 19 "911" airplane highjackers the House of Saud -- oppressors of the Saudi people global warming cancer ( a 100-fold rise in the risk of cancer for us in Mpls, mostly caused by cars and trucks -- cf http://www.scorecard.org/community/index.tcl?zip_code=55409 ) death by car crashes crippling injuries by car crashes millions of dollars in health care costs caused by car crashes millions of dollars in property damage caused by car crashes "blood for oil" war and foriegn policy and much, much more. As I give people rides on my pedicab, they remark about how nice it is to be able to sit back and notice the wonderful architecture of the houses and buildings, the yards and the individuality expressed by businesses and residents. These are things one cannot notice while speeding along as fast as possible in a car. Cars isolate people and deny the space they are moving through. This is not healthy for anyone. We need to actively encourage safe streets for bikes and other relatively low-speed vehicles. We need to pass laws which discourage car use and encourage walking, pedaling, and transit development. Bike racks and paths are good. But as I discuss these issues with fellow bikers, there is despair and anger toward those people going too fast, one-to-a-car, on city or residential streets. Not only is that behaviour anti-Minneapolis, it is anti-American, unpatriotic, anti-earth, and will cost us the relative comfort and security many seem to hold dearer than anything else. When we ride in a fossil-fuel car alone, we ride with the terrorists planning the next strike. When we ride a bike, we ride with true American patriots past, present, and future. Bike racks and paths are a good start, but the very beginning. Gary Hoover King Field
Re: [Mpls] Boarded Houses
Steve Meldahl is right that most of these boarded homes are privately owned, and in my experience they are very difficult to get information on. As a young, poor college student looking for a house in Minneapolis three years ago, I was extremely interested in this glut of boarded and (seemingly) abandoned houses. Many of them have lovely victorian characteristics that you don't find in newer buildings. Unfortunately for me, I could never reach the owners of the houses I looked at. You can find a name on the Hennepin County website, but if the address listed happens to be that of the vacant building, you're usually out of luck. As for the homes owned by the city, they are almost equally as difficult to obtain. I submitted an application to purchase a house on 24th and Chicago, and subsequently went through a six-month nightmare of red-tape and horrendous customer service before being denied because my rehab plan was not detailed enough. Finally, the question of how these buildings impact the neighborhood was posed. Let me tell you: When I moved into my home, there were 4 boarded buildings on the block. (Plus 4 vacant lots.) It has been a terrible burden on those who live here, because these houses attract prostitutes and drug dealers, not to mention litter and vandalism, and they keep the property values of neighboring houses down. Additionally, I personally feel that there is a sense of community depression that comes from being surrounded by these properties. Three of the four boarded houses on my block have now been demolished. What an awesome feeling it is to watch a turn-of-the-century home reduced to toothpicks for want of a restoration-minded owner. It's terribly sad, and in my opinion, wrong. I toured one of these buildings a couple years ago, (MCDA was kind enough to open it for at 9AM on a weekday morning for one hour...) and it had a lot of potential. I wished I'd had the $ to save it. (And MCDA connections, which seem sadly necessary.) What a shame... Connie Nompelis Ventura Village Sliced out of Ward 6 by virtue of being CM Zimmermann's neighbor - soon to embrace Ward 9 __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Boarded Houses
What I find so very interesting is that some members of the city council are so 'desperate' to get 'affordable' housing that they want to decrease the size of build lots currently in the MCDA inventory. They have already pass a change to increase the number of units allowed on currently buildable lots. At least one of the council members feels that 'density' is good, especially in the poorer neighborhoods. Well, why don't they do something with these houses, most of which appear to be on build lots under the current definition. Some of these buildings are multiple dwellings. Come on, guys, let's get going. Anne McCandless Jordan - Original Message - From: Chris [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: MPLS Forum [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, January 02, 2003 6:25 AM Subject: [Mpls] Boarded Houses I found this list to be amazing. What is the plan for all these houses? What area of city government is responsible to maintain these properties. I noticed some have been boarded for more than 8 years! What prevents the city from either tearing these down or selling them to organizations that will rehab. I am lucky that very few are in my ward as the bulk seem to be in S Mpls. What is the impact of these boarded properties to the surrounding homes? Gene Swanson Lind-Bohanon ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Crime Walgreens
Mpls is circling the toilet bowl when we make policy based on this kind of thinking. The poster wrote. ***Walgreens*** I read that story too and scratched my head. My favorite theory is that they had a massive shrinkage problem to which they could find no solution but closing up. I notice that the Minnehaha Mall is now a focus of lots and lots of larceny. When I asked our SAFE officer, he explained it was minor theft that was represented by all the symbols concentrated at Lake and Minnehaha. Well, if that could happen at Target and Petters, how much MORE could it happen at a Walgreens on Franklin? Getting rid of electronics and other favorite targets and concentrating on prescriptions might go a long way toward solving the problem. But that would probably need to be some other retail company. The poster would have us believe that getting rid of electronics and other favorite targets of theft would make things better. Let's see now. 1.We had too many drug dealers working our pay phones 10 years ago. So we got rid of large amounts of the pay phones. Bet that was a real convinence for us all. Need to make a call? keep walkin. Technology has almost got rid of them for us in the year 2003(cell phones). 2. Recently the SW Journal pointed out that the post office is pulling many of the blue mailboxes because of vandalism and theft. So the people who like or HAVE to walk now have to drive, or risk leaving outgoing mail by their own house box or what ever inconvienece this policy has created. Thanks alot Mr. Tagger. 3. Too many people throwing garbage on the street and the city is not going to pick it up. So you the citizenry better start adopting these cans or forget it, because the city isn't in the garbage business anymore. 4. Too many people sniffing glue and paint. Ban or inhibit innercity hardware and craft shops from selling paint or glue. Bet you that increased sales in the city and dug into Home Depots bottom line. 5. Let's force, convince, strong arm Wahlgreens, Target etc into dropping certain lines of products that criminals like to steal. Lets force our local employers to stop carrying products because we the people refuse to enforce the law on the criminals. BTW lets punish Target, Cub, etc for the criminals who steal the shopping carts. Is it any wonder some of these chains charge more in the city? They get taxed higher and they have to take the blame for crime to. 6. Too Much risk of terrorism in central water systems. Let's go back to wells. 7. Too much risk in you name it. We'll ban someone else. But never, never, never, never, never ban the criminal behaviour that is destroying the QUALITY OF LIFE we supposedly enjoy in the city. Hey Minneapolitans. Look how much we have sacrificed. Where do we draw the line? Did we really live in a great city once? Craig Miller Former Fultonite [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Jim Mork--Cooper Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be call the Children of God. Matt 5:9 http://www.unitedforpeace.org Get your free Web-based E-mail at http://www.startribune.com/stribmail ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Banned in Minneapolis (was Crime Walgreens)
To Craig Miller's list of things banned, banished or sold differently in the city, I'll add baby formula in its more economical, powder form. At least as recently as a year ago, it could be a huge hassle to buy it at big stores in the city, where it was stocked off limits in locked cases at special counters that weren't always staffed, while at the stores' suburban counterparts you could grab it off open shelves. I gather there is a drug market reason for city stores making baby formula hard to buy, but it was one of those everyday annoyances that makes harried parents with cars shop in the suburbs against their wishes. Chris Steller Nicollet Island-East Bank ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Locked Up Formula
I doubt this had anything to do with drugs and was related more to shoplifting. I seem to recall hearing or reading somewhere that baby formula was high on the list of shoplifted items. Kind of a sad commentary if you think about it, people shoplifting to literally feed their babies. Megan Thomas U of MN - Coffman Union (any damn day now) West Seventh, St. Paul (Look David! I trimmed off the old message!!) ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Boarded Houses
The sad thing about the houses torn down was that I had and other rehabbers had the money to immediately start any rehab projects as far back as 5 years ago. I used to do on average 10 total rehabs a year from 1974 through 1996. Most of these were government owned (FHA or VA) or bank repos. Since 1997, I have been able to find only 3 to do. Unfortunately, the previous City Hall people would not let us get are hands on any of the MCDA properties. They also took all of the County owned tax forfeiture properties that we used to be able to buy at auction. Most ended up being torn down - just a total waste! Let me give you a quick example. I bought a duplex on the North side for $5.000 that needed a code compliance (total rehab and bring up to new building code) in 1998. The City said no, they wanted it torn down. At the 249 hearing, I presented a 9 page detailed bid on the total cost to rehab the duplex for $49,000 (I have my own crew). The City rep presented an estimate that was written on 2 napkins (I am not kidding) for $140,000 with no breakdown at all, just some general estimates. The City committee (chaired by Mr. teardown himself - Joe Biernat) voted for demo. Their reason was that in their opinion there was no way I could do it that cheap. It did not matter that I had done over 250 total rehabs in my career in Mpls. I decided to fight the City in Court. After over $70,000 in attorney fees and an appellate court ruling against me, I decided not to fight any more. The City attorney privately agreed to help stop the wholesale destruction of perfectly good buildings, and the City's rate of teardowns dropped by over 80%. So all in all, I had accomplished alot! The new City Council has also basically stopped the 249 process (ie teardown) so this stupidity will not happen again, at least in the forseeable future. Steve Meldahl Jordan (work) - Original Message - From: Constance Nompelis [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: steven meldahl [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Chris [EMAIL PROTECTED]; MPLS Forum [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, January 02, 2003 5:01 PM Subject: Re: [Mpls] Boarded Houses Steve Meldahl is right that most of these boarded homes are privately owned, and in my experience they are very difficult to get information on. As a young, poor college student looking for a house in Minneapolis three years ago, I was extremely interested in this glut of boarded and (seemingly) abandoned houses. Many of them have lovely victorian characteristics that you don't find in newer buildings. Unfortunately for me, I could never reach the owners of the houses I looked at. You can find a name on the Hennepin County website, but if the address listed happens to be that of the vacant building, you're usually out of luck. As for the homes owned by the city, they are almost equally as difficult to obtain. I submitted an application to purchase a house on 24th and Chicago, and subsequently went through a six-month nightmare of red-tape and horrendous customer service before being denied because my rehab plan was not detailed enough. Finally, the question of how these buildings impact the neighborhood was posed. Let me tell you: When I moved into my home, there were 4 boarded buildings on the block. (Plus 4 vacant lots.) It has been a terrible burden on those who live here, because these houses attract prostitutes and drug dealers, not to mention litter and vandalism, and they keep the property values of neighboring houses down. Additionally, I personally feel that there is a sense of community depression that comes from being surrounded by these properties. Three of the four boarded houses on my block have now been demolished. What an awesome feeling it is to watch a turn-of-the-century home reduced to toothpicks for want of a restoration-minded owner. It's terribly sad, and in my opinion, wrong. I toured one of these buildings a couple years ago, (MCDA was kind enough to open it for at 9AM on a weekday morning for one hour...) and it had a lot of potential. I wished I'd had the $ to save it. (And MCDA connections, which seem sadly necessary.) What a shame... Connie Nompelis Ventura Village Sliced out of Ward 6 by virtue of being CM Zimmermann's neighbor - soon to embrace Ward 9 __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Boarded Houses
I agree that it is a shame to tear down some boarded houses. The Housing Committee of the Whittier Alliance saved several houses from being torn down and rehabbed them with NRP and other subsidy funding sources. What I learned from my experience with the Committee was how priceless some of the interior and exterior materials in these houses have become. The quality and type of woodwork, fixtures, and other amenities could never be duplicated today. Heck---some types of wood no longer exist on this earth! I know what it is like to have a boarded building on a block. However, sometimes patience is necessary to see a good end result. For instance, there is a large Victorian style home on 3rd Av S near Franklin. It sat empty and boarded for at least 10 years before it was finally purchased, rehabbed, and sold for home ownership. The only reason it was not demolished was because it is located in the Washburn Fair Oaks Historic District. The upturn in the housing market finally made it finacially feasible to do the rehab (however, some neighborhood subsidy funding was needed). The MCDA will not do anything with these houses---they don't have money to subsidize the rehab (if now necessary). Contact your neighborhood association and ask if they have a housing committee. Then contact the chair and/or attend a meeting and ask if they have access to rehab funds or have contacts with developers willing to do such projects. The MCDA is very strict and fussy about who does the rehab. They want to see a developer with a successful track record and the funding to accomplish the task. I know the MCDA and neighborhoods have been burned in the past by good intentioned individuals who purchase a property but fail to carry through on the rehab (usually financial reasons). Rehab can be done given enough resources committed to seeing the project through. Good luck. Terry Erickson Whittier ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Locked Up Formula/Urban Myth 101//Jean Valjean/if U know what I mean
In a message dated 1/2/03 4:11:09 PM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I doubt this had anything to do with drugs and was related more to shoplifting. I seem to recall hearing or reading somewhere that baby formula was high on the list of shoplifted items. Kind of a sad commentary if you think about it, people shoplifting to literally feed their babies. Megan Thomas U of MN - Coffman Union (any damn day now) West Seventh, St. Paul (Look David! I trimmed off the old message!!) ___ (Look David! I gave it to a poor, homeless person to roll up and smoke!!) Keith says; I imagine some people may steal Formula to feed their babies. Some people may steal shoes to put on their babies feet, too. Some kids at the U of M. may steal books to advance their education, while eating out of dumpsters. Formula is a profitable shoplifting item because of its cost and 'remarketability' . Mainly It can be resold back to corrupt store owners, and also to cash buyers, for good money. It is, like cigarettes, lingua franca of the streets. Keith Let them eat cake ReitmanNearNorth ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Crime Walgreens [White Collar Crime too]
I believe crime drove Walgreens away - and many other business persons including myself. In addition to extremely unpleasant general business conditions in Minneapolis, there is rampant white collar crime, which manifests itself in oppressive property taxes. I have spoken to several other business people in Minneapolis who are planning exit strategies. I just read that Wells Fargo is opening a huge processing center in Shoreview. Citywide Glass just moved to Fridley. Keep it up folks. Pretty soon we'll all be gone. This might be a good time for Minneapolitans to start thinking about who is going to pay the $1 billion each year that the City needs to breakeven. Good luck. Vicky Heller Cedar-Riverside and North Oaks ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
RE: [Mpls] Crime Walgreens [White Collar Crime too]
Keep it up folks. Pretty soon we'll all be gone. This might be a good time for Minneapolitans to start thinking about who is going to pay the $1 billion each year that the City needs to breakeven. Good luck. I dunno, Vicky. Some friends I know are trying to buy a building on the fringes of downtown...but the owner's price has remained stubbornly high, and quite a bit higher than even a few years ago. I think the doom and gloom might be appropriate in the short term, but not long term...at least, that's what the owners of these Minneapolis assets seem to think. David Brauer King Field ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
RE: [Mpls] Crime Walgreens [White Collar Crime too]
My prediction is that in five years, Franklin will be a destination location beyond Maria's, the Fetus and the Ancient Traders Market. I have seen some really cool development plans for different locations along Franklin. They aren't all coming with their hand out looking for the public dime. They are investing their own funds. Barb Lickness Whittier = Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. -- Margaret Mead __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
RE: [Mpls] Crime Walgreens [White Collar Crime too]
My prediction: most of the smart investors that had a business model in place and weren't in a position to adapt to changing demographics have ALREADY leaft Minneapolis. Those that are left, are trying to either develop their own exit strategies, or adapt their existing models to fit the new demographics. Dennis Plante Jordan From: Barbara Lickness <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: David Brauer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [Mpls] Crime Walgreens [White Collar Crime too] Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2003 19:28:14 -0800 (PST) My prediction is that in five years, Franklin will be a destination location beyond Maria's, the Fetus and the Ancient Traders Market. I have seen some really cool development plans for different locations along Franklin. They aren't all coming with their hand out looking for the public dime. They are investing their own funds. Barb Lickness Whittier = "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." -- Margaret Mead __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Third Ward Wanting DFL ENDORSED MOORE
Warmest Greeting's List: Happy New Year!!, May you all have a very safe, happy and promising New year. Well, it seems to me and judging by the numbers (531) that the DFL is ALIVE, KICKING and WELL, not only that, voters also spoke with their power of voting that a DFL ENDORSED candidate is a power to be reckon with. That was for all who said the DFL is dead, It just goes to show you that Neighbors ABOSOULUTLY want MOORE. Hmmm! I wonder if we will have a valentines day poem from the NON- ENDORSED camp for the February run off's. LOL ;) Vanessa Freeman Hawthorne _ Help STOP SPAM: Try the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Crass Commercial Plug
For those of you living in Kingfield and/or readers of the business briefs in SW Journal will have noticed the soon-to-be opening of a remodeled bakery on the corner of 38th and Grand. After several delays this coming Saturday will be its opening. I write about this not only because my good friends Doug and Jessica Anderson are partners in the business but also because I have had the pleasure of helping to remodel the place. It's a lovely, charming space if I do say so myself. Those of you who had frequented the previous bakery will see a marked difference in both decor and food. Don't look for kohlachis(sp?) or glazed doughnuts. Try the currant scones or semolina rolls or the breads. This will be a work in progress. The owners hope it will evolve in time into a sweet little neighborhood bistro and an adjoining space featuring a wood stove turning out thin crust pizzas and roasted chicken for take out/eat in. If any of you wonder what my contribution to the job was the most obvious examples are the painted French windows and wainscoting and trim indoors and exposed copper on the outside of the building. I apologize for the roughness of the bathroom door but I was stuck with medium sandpaper after the first coat of polyurethane and didn't dare finish the job correctly with fine sandpaper and a third coat under the watchful eyes of my bosses who sometimes wondered how much attention I was going to pay to a particular task. Maybe later I can finish the job. Tim Connolly Downtown West __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Phillips Walgreens Closing
Bill Dooley wrote: Here is the link to the Star Tribune story regarding the Phillips Neighborhood Walgreens closing. This story does not make a lot of sense. If the neighborhood is on the rebound, a Walgreens pharmacy and convenience-type store would appear to be a good fit. The article mentioned declining store sales. Why? And why would Walgreens not wait for the possibility of increased sales? Phillips list members, is there something else behind this story? http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/3566270.html Another perspective possibly is that the neighborhood is on the rebound and they cannot make as much money as they use to be able to. Remeber, the poor always pay more, which is part of why they remain poor. And it can actually reduce the income to certain types of businesses when an area becomes more affluent. I have not spent any time researching this particular situation, but it is a possible explanation if the neighborhood incomes are shifting to some large degree. If anyone has any interest, Project Censored www.projectcensored.org nominated a great story in the Nation called Cashing in on Poverty in 1997 as one of its top ten untold stories. Although I was not able to get a link to the full story (you can get their book out of the library if interested) I did find a link to some related articles about how businesses cash in on the poor and how businesses help keep people in a cycle of poverty. http://nw-ar.com/face/nocredit.html Carol Becker Longfellow ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Controversial junk mail (not from Don or Olin, from the MPS)
Eli from Linden Hills happy_happy is the first person to even speak to my first core point- is MPS subsidizing the cost of these classes? I will again state, for the benefit of those on and offlist who misread, misunderstood, or ignored me when I asked IF MPS is subsidizing these classes, there is a serious concern. Again, why are we subsidizing classes (if we are) that are immensely individual (and not pivotal to future success in life) in taste when significant numbers of MPS students are failing to read at grade level and perform math at grade level? It was suggested to me offlist that perfume blending or wreath making could teach skills for a future business. So be it, but again -not at the expense of children needing to know how to read so they may attain good jobs or run successful perfume blending businesses (among others). --- happy_kappy [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I am utterly confused about all this stuff regarding the community schools offering. I understand that the community schools are entirely self sustaining and do not rely on funds from MPS. Kristine Harley states, As for community classes, I don't believe that only demand drives curriculum. If you offer it, they will come. (Hint!) One of the reasons I moved to Northeast was the Catholic and Orthodox Christian presence here. and... There's also a disturbing trend in our nation toward a strictly emotional experience of Christianity, as opposed to scholarly knowledge. On both quotes, I agree -though I'll maybe speak for Mr. Brauer in saying the latter is probably not Minneapolis specific. DeWayne Townsend stated, As a Lutheran I do believe in an individuals interpretation of scripture, but it needs to be done in a intellectual setting not an emotional one. Most fundamentalist teaching about Christianity is not. I would mention that while there are certainly Lutherans who believe in individual interpretation and discussion is worthwhile, I'm not sure historic Lutheranism and some Lutheran denominations would agree that individual interpretation is a good, proper, or Lutheran belief. Indeed, individual interpretation can lead to two people holding opposing beliefs. A cannot equal both A and non-A. Okay, David, I'm done with the parts of non-Minneapolis specific talk. Gary Bowman Audubon Park __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Crime Walgreens [White Collar Crime too]
Victoria Heller wrote: I believe crime drove Walgreens away - and many other business persons including myself. In addition to extremely unpleasant general business conditions in Minneapolis, there is rampant white collar crime, which manifests itself in oppressive property taxes. I have spoken to several other business people in Minneapolis who are planning exit strategies. I just read that Wells Fargo is opening a huge processing center in Shoreview. Citywide Glass just moved to Fridley. Keep it up folks. Pretty soon we'll all be gone. This might be a good time for Minneapolitans to start thinking about who is going to pay the $1 billion each year that the City needs to breakeven. Good luck. Carol once again dusts off her trusty State of the City Employment in Minneapolis 1975 255,000 1993 272,700 1999 297,600 Business Establishments 1975 (not included) 1990 11,777 2000 12,912 Not too shabby for a city that essentially had been completely built up by 1950. Our city is the envy of many in this country as we have been able to 1) grow our employment base when most other cities have been hemorrhaging theirs and 2) retain all income levels of housing in our city, in part because we have been able to grow our employment base, making housing within an easy commute of these jobs attractive. It would also be helpful if Ms. Heller knows of rampant white collar crime associated with property taxes to please expose this for all of our benefit. Carol Becker Longfellow Who wishes someone would send her the 2001, 2002, and 2003 State of the Cities as a belated Christmas present... ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Third Ward Issues and DFL dominance, Why I am not a DFL
With all the crowing about the end of 3rd parties, and end of the Republican wave and so on let's remember that this was a brief special election and look a little closer. Valdis Rozenthals came in third in a field of 23 candidates, the majority of them DFLers. I would say that is proof of a growing Republican wave. Trust me I'm not happy about it, (nothing personal Valdis) I hate Bush and everything he stands for, but it's there. The Green party isn't dead. It still has two council members, one Park Board member and several members appointed to various city bodies. The Minneapolis GP will continue to grow as will the 5th District Independence Party. I'd be willing to bet that will see quite a few more independents in 2005. People want choices. The DFL has given this city: Police Brutality under the Sayles-Belton appointed Olson, the Frazer appointed Laux, and I believe it was a DFL mayor who appointed the racist Charlie Stenvig as police chief long ago. Olson is currently having a field day playing various sides against each other for the purpose of stopping mediation. Numerous financial scandals begining with the LSGI episode in the early 90's, the Hollman decree as it were and epsecially in the Third Ward where the past two concecutive DFL council members (Sandra Hillary and Joe Biernat) were involved in scandals. Power hungary and abusive officials like Jackie Cherryholms, Walt Dziedic (whom I've had the honor to have been personally yelled at by) and Barb Johnson (the only council member to support the police action during ISAG, and supports the police and Chief Olson 100% of the time no matter how many innocent people get harassed or even killed.) A city government that is only now, after so many years begining to be more open to the needs of it's residents. Believe me, there will be more independents in the year to come. Tamir Nolley Holland Ward 3 __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Controversial junk mail (not from Don or Olin, from the MPS)
Gary Bowman wrote: Eli from Linden Hills happy_happy is the first person to even speak to my first core point- is MPS subsidizing the cost of these classes? I will again state, for the benefit of those on and offlist who misread, misunderstood, or ignored me when I asked IF MPS is subsidizing these classes, there is a serious concern. Again, why are we subsidizing classes (if we are) that are immensely individual (and not pivotal to future success in life) in taste when significant numbers of MPS students are failing to read at grade level and perform math at grade level? It was suggested to me offlist that perfume blending or wreath making could teach skills for a future business. So be it, but again -not at the expense of children needing to know how to read so they may attain good jobs or run successful perfume blending businesses (among others). WM: Becuse learning isn't just for kids anymore. And, kids learn to like learning by watching parents learning. WizardMarks, Central E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Okay --so I am a sucker -- but it's not Junk mail.
List, As someone who believes strongly in the political process and still idealistically believes in the importance of political speech, my neck has bristled every time I saw the subject line that read Re: [Mpls] Controversial junk mail (not from Don or Olin, from the MPS) Being a geek, I checked the definition of junk mail. According to Merriam Webster: Main Entry: junk mail Function: noun Date: 1954 : third-class mail (as advertising circulars) that is often addressed to occupant or resident Now I can't speak for Olin's political mailings. I do know that Don Samuels campaign sent 5 pieces of mail over a five week period. Each was sent first class presort and was addressed to a specific resident at a specific address. By definition it was not junk mail. Now I understand that many people don't like to be bothered with the messiness of political mailings. So, at huge risk (I know all my friends are rolling their eyes right now) let me ask an innocent question: What suggestions do people have for balancing the need and desire of political campaigns to communicate with voters during an election with the desire by many people to not receive material about political candidates? I would appreciate it if responses would take into consideration that during every campaign, candidates and their volunteers hear the following complaints: 1. I never heard of you 2. I never heard from you 3. I don't know anything about you 4. Can you send me some material (this of course was after five literature pieces had been mailed and two had been put on their doorstep) 5. I don't vote because I don't know about the candidates. 6. Don't bothering me at home. I don't take phone solicitations. Over the next month Don's campaign would like to make our case to the voters of the Third Ward why we believe that Don is the best choice to be the next councilmember. It would thrill me to find a way to do this that did not result in accusations and attacks of flooding mailboxes or making unwanted phone calls - and resulted in view rates equal to mail or contact rates equal to the phone. Suggestions? Joseph Barisonzi Community Knowledge Specialist CommunityLeader, Inc. [EMAIL PROTECTED] 612-518-5536 ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Phillips Walgreens Closing
The closing of Walgreen's on Franklin Ave. in Phillips is very sad when so many people in the neighborhood use it. This is an action that may have been saved by thegood old days. I am talking of those days before Phillips got split into 4 parts and had an organization that sometimes unified around something important to everyone and People of Phillips provided a base and organizers to get out and ORGANIZE. Lots of others things may have gotten screwed up but for a period of time there for about 10 years (before NRP) we were really, truly organizing. That's how we got rid of 11 liquor stores on Franklin Avenue, that's how we stopped the building of a county garbage transfer station, etc. etc., etc. I know that there were petitions floating around at various meetings in December and some individuals took some of the petition sheets but it wasn't really organized and making sure that the petitions all got gathered, letters sent to all the powers that be and all those organizing activities that should have taken place around this Walgreen's closing. And besides, it was too late by then. Oh well, an opportunity lost for the entire Phillips neighborhood and a good example of probably a case of where the four Districts, regions or whatever you want to call them should have come back together to work on this common cause. I love community organizing and although I am busy in different avenues of life these days - I am really sorry I didn't take some more action than just signing a petition. I feel a great loss in a battle I think maybe we could have won. At least until we found an alternative to meet the daily medical needs of many in our community. Annie Young East Phillips At 09:40 PM 1/2/03 +, Eric Oines wrote: From what I understand, the company said they weren't making enough money from prescriptions, which seems crazy to me. I was in that store 3-4 times a week and there were ALWAYS half a dozen folks waiting for prescriptions to be filled. There is a pharmacy only in the building between Children's and Abbott-Northwestern on Chicago, but that's it for Phillips. That's an awful big area to have only one pharmacy. Contrary to what Jim Mork postulated, my understanding is that shrinkage is a bigger problem in Walgreen's type stores in more suburban and rural settings, the primary target items being makeup and Metabo-Life type diet pills (teen girls), condoms (teen boys) and pseudophed (for making crystal meth). That info comes from someone I know who was a regional manager for Rite-Aid Drugs on the east coast. Anyway, it certainly sucks that they closed. Eric Oines Lind Bohanon - Home Phillips - Work _ Help STOP SPAM: Try the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] 3rd Ward Primary
Jason Goray opined: Dyna, When did Samuels bash the unions? When he ignored the reasonably priced local union printing shops and instead gave his printing job to a non union shop. Provide evidence. Going to a small local print shop that has not unionized is NOT union bashing. In politics it is. Printing is a very competitive business and the rates quoted by union and nonunion shops will be pretty similar. There is thusly no financial incentive to excuse Don Samuels' use of a non union printer. Unless he's getting the printing donated... In which case a bit of financial disclosure is in order. If you do have some actual example of bashing, the rest of this email does not apply. A month ago, I'd never heard of Don Samuels or Olin Moore so for all I know they could spend every Tuesday morning lobbing rotten eggs at picket lines, but unless you give actual evidence, I've got to assume you're basing everything on the the use of a non-union print shop. If union shop printing costs no more, why do Don Samuels' campaign and many republicans' take their business to non union shops. Plain and simple- to send a message. The message Don Samuels' is sending to working folks is simple- he doesn't respect us. Virtually every DFL candidate uses union printers, as do most Independence and Green candidates and many Republicans If the shop has worked to keep their workers from organizing and Samuels has knowlege of it, then you have a point, but you've provided no evidence and someone from Samuels' campaign suggested something to the contrary (something about job responsibilities not really fitting union designations). The shop Don Samuels' campaign took it's printing to may well be one of the ones that broke the union in a brutal strike a few years ago. Maybe that's why Don Samuels' campaign still hasn't told us who their printer is? As for the fitting union designations, that's the kind of anti-union lies I expect to hear from anti labor Republicans. If people go to Olin because they think Don, is a union basher, it will apparently be because of lies and propaganda. Jason, are you saying that working folks are so dumb that we'll be persuaded by lies and propaganda? If you do not have anything to back your statements, you should apologize for your deception and move on to talking about why your preferred candidate would actually be good for the ward. How will he be good for: * Reducing crime and increasing quality of life * Improving relationships between the police and the community, especially when it comes to preceptions of racism and brutality. * Balancing the previous two questions * Balancing the city's budget in terms of the current deficit and upcoming cuts from the state and fed * Deal with problems of homelessness and joblessness * Deal with corporate welfare and making sure those who have already received handouts live up to their ends of the bargains. * Making sure living wage work is available. etc., etc., etc. So when is Don Samuels going to answer these questions- especially the living wage one? More Full Disclosure: I support organized labor, but I am torn when it comes to some of the unions. Interestingly, a steward I spoke with a couple months ago seemed to share these perceptions: Unions as a organizing tool for labor is a good thing. Unions as another hierarchy of bullies controlling labor is a bad thing. More anti union lies. Union leadership is elected by the workers. Corporate bullies are not. Dyna Sluyter, union and proud in Hawthorne - Jason Goray, Sheridan, NE. st, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Re: Bike Racks and Paths
Mark Anderson of Bancroft writes: Arrrgh! More kudos for the wonders of traffic calming. I've never seen any traffic calming that improved safety city-wide. (JC) Traffic calming does improve safety city-wide by making the city safer, one street at a time. I can testify as a bicyclist on Franklin that traffic calming has made a huge difference there. (Mark) When you cut out lanes on a street, the traffic merely moves somewhere else. Then you've got someone on another street complaining about all the cars. (JC) Good traffic calming reorganizes the lanes to make travel safer for bikes and pedestrians. A well-designed street will not make motorists choose another route, but will encourage them to slow down and drive safely. (Mark) The safest plan is to allow traffic to move as quickly as possible on the major streets, and spend the money on keeping pedestrians and cars separated (maybe put up fences?). (JC) On the contrary, the most dangerous streets in the city are the ones that allow cars to fly through neighborhoods. A few examples are Blaisdell, First Ave, 28th St. and 26th St. All of these are one-ways designed exclusively to move traffic quickly and are extremely dangerous for that reason. Accidents on Blaisdell through Whittier are quotidian, as evidenced by the regular reappearance of glass shards on the pavement at nearly every intersection. As for fences to separate bicycles and pedestrians from cars, I'm not sure that is a practical solution, though I'd be happy to hear you elaborate on your idea. (Mark) That'll keep a lot of the traffic off the more residential side streets. And allow bicycles a safer ride on those side streets also. (JC) You argue that traffic calming on major streets will move traffic onto residential streets. This is not true for one reason. Traffic calmed commercial corridors are still the better choice for longer distances because residential streets are very narrow with bump outs, speed bumps, and stop signs. Indeed they are traffic calmed in a different way. Calming traffic is important on residential streets to ensure that only local traffic use them. On commercial streets it is a tool to discourage driving and promote walking, biking and transit. Great cities encourage lively street life through density of structure, safe pedestrian promenades, and plenty of services within easy walking distance. The automobile is the antithesis of great city planning. Traffic calming is one measure to offset the negative impact of automobiles on our urban environment. To speak out against it is to speak out against the city itself. Jeff Carlson, Whittier __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
