[Mpls] Section 8;Hiawatha;Panhandling
David Wilson wrote: One other story. There is a panhandler who works Nicollet and Grant. He rode the bus with me once. He put the touch on the passengers and then got off at Franklin Liquors. I never give he any money. He replied once when I said no :So you don't participate? My reply was Put me on your 'Do not ask List. I know. Thats why I no longer hand out money on the street. Even if their need is totally legitimate, it seems to me they might not fill it with my money. I give money to organizations that have a record of filling the needs so that people can get them met without begging on the street. I once had little coupons to hand out to go to one of the places I give to, so I could hand them one and say Go get a meal. I also started using my bus card down to where it had one ride and then would hold onto it until someone said they needed money for a ride. Then I would hand them the one-ride bus card and say Heres a ride for you. I have a story about being hit twice by the same person with a lame story, but it happened in St Paul. - Steve Meldahl writes: He told me that he averages 3 to 4 calls per day for service or maintenance. Thats 40 times more aggravation than I have to endure. Now I ask you, which scenario sounds like the best way to run a business??? Well, but thats due to the neglect of the building, not Section 8. - Jeff Carlson wrote: Hiawatha Avenue is a death-trap to cross either by bike or foot and is way too wide for the 35 mile-an-hour speed limit mandated by MnDOT's promises to ourneighborhoods. Death-trap is stronger language than I would use, but it does make me glad I dont have mobility problems. As before, the solution to me is tunnels underneath where people would have to cross to a transit station. -- Jim Mork--Cooper War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it; and those who brought war into our Country deserve all the curses and maledictions a people can pour out. Gen. William T. Sherman (1864) Letter to the Mayor of Atlanta. Get your free Web-based E-mail at http://www.startribune.com/stribmail TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] List server problems MSN user note
Folks - I apologize because we're having some technical problems with the website that allows me to release posts held by the list server. Those of you (all AOL users and some others) who have sent posts NOT in plain text will have to wait until our volunteers fix the problem. If anyone who CAN'T send plain text wants to send me their post to forward to the list, I'll do it. The rest of you, this is a sign from the Technology Gods to abandon HTML and turn off MIME formats and send plain text! ;) PS This is why you read Greg Luce's response to Britt Robson's post, but not Britt's original post. It's one of the ones stuck in purgatory. PPS MSN users - here's how to send plain text. I'd ask you all to do this. This is for MSN Version 8. Courtesy of Ron Lischeid: 1. Along the top like any Windows-based Program are the icons for File/Edit/View/Sign Out/HelpSettings; Click on HelpSettings; 2. This brings up a list that includes Help on this Page/Help on MSN/Help for AOL Users/E-Mail Settings/Settings/Member AccountsBillings/About MSN; Click on the Settings icon; 3. On the left side of the screen will be a list of icons and the bottom one is called Show All Settings; Click on this icon; 4. The next screen will have 2 columns of items and on the right side will be a heading called E-Mail; The fifth (5th) item under that heading is an icon called Text Formatting; Click on Text Formatting; 5. At the top of the next page will be the option to use Rich text or Plain text; Click on the option that says Use plain text for compatibility with any e-mail program; 6.Click on the bottom of the page for Save Changes David Brauer List manager TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] Minneapolis schools may not be targeted by Pawlenty cuts
From this morning's PiPress, noting that no agreement was reached by legislators on 2003 cuts last night: [Finance Commissioner Dan] McElroy had suggested Wednesday that Pawlenty might cut financial aid the state pays to school districts, especially the Minneapolis and St. Paul school systems, that have large numbers of low-income students. But he said Thursday that was unlikely to happen. http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/5125058.htm David Brauer List manager TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] No Longer the Giveaway County Board
--- steven meldahl [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Unfortunately, most of the landlords that take
section 8 have dated buildings with little or no
amenities. They charge more rent than the regular
landlord
SAM:
I'm sure that answering more service calls is a big
part of the price equation. But when I was the mom
of a mom/pop landlord operation, I heard another
reason why section 8 rents were higher. Don't know how
widespread, or anecdotal, it is.
Apparently section 8 pays for a portion of the
renter's rent. {Say it's 70 percent, for example.} We
knew two landlords who said they never received the
remaining 30% from the renters. So they artificially
jacked their rents up 30% so that when they received
their 70% and no more, they were actually receiving
100% of their rent.
Understandably, no one likes to lose money. But as a
result, housing funds were being drained that much
quicker and surrounding rents were skewing higher
because of this artificial inflation.
Housing vouchers were talked about at one time, but
some renters objected to them--they were being treated
as irresponsible children. I wonder if vouchers need
to be relooked at. They'd be guaranteed rent payment
AND guaranteed rent income.
Susan Maricle
Bruno, MN
formerly of Folwell
Who never realized the pitfalls of owning one rental
property unit until she played Monopoly
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[Mpls] Controversy/ Black History Display/Honorable mention/menschuen
In a message dated 2/6/03 11:36:25 PM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: A whole set of 6 dozen or so souvenir postcards of various lynchings is online at http://www.journale.com/withoutsanctuary/ Tim Bonham, Ward 12, Standish-Ericsson Keith says; This lynching was a despicable hate crime, gleefully committed. I am glad it was grimly and graphically documented. Anyone looking at it on display should suffer; and learn. But all in fair measure in viewing this terribly unfair act. Should a vast number of our Minn. youth be required by their school boards curriculum to visit Mpls.and see this exhibit? I say yes. Can both the curator/presenter of this exhibit, Leola Seals, and the Hennepin County host, Mike Opat, learn from their apparent clash? Can they use their energy, thus generated, to maximize the learning experience for our State's youths, and adults? I believe they can. For Leola Seals, I say that yes, a picture is worth a thousand words. And your thousand-and-one efforts to assemble this gem, and bring this exhibit forward, is beyond simple commendation. I salute you. I only ask, would making this picture the same size as all others; and an additional thousand words teach even more lessons? Especially if some reluctant readers were willing to read the thousand words after viewing the picture? For Mike Opat, I say that yes, the nuts and bolts job of managing the Government Center must seem more, or less, thankless, on any given day. Yet you still show up and take responsibility, and make decisions, most every day. I believe you helped facilitate the exhibition. I believe you were then moved, after hearing, and feeling, the concerns of others, to quickly respond and take reasonable mitigating action. Perhaps you then expected to amicably, and positively, facilitate modest adjustment of the exhibit; to teach a little more, and shock a little less. I humbly offer that I know and respect both of you. I know of excellent work done by each of you for the common good. I anticipate that two sincere individuals will reach an accord, for the sake of the common good, and this wonderful, vital exhibit. I know they can; I hope they will. Keith Reitman NearNorth TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] No Longer the Giveaway County Board
I did not realize the different source of funds for vouchers versus new construction. I now understand why we continue to build more apartments to solve the homeless problem even though we already have thousands of vacant apartments around the metro area. I learned something new today. Jason asked a few questions about section 8. The program can be burdensome for smaller landlords. Two reasons: First, PHA has their own rules that are difficult to understand without specific training. Second, they have annual inspections that are always done during normal working hours. Small landlords usually have a full time job and leaving to meet inspectors might not be an option. For the full time landlord, the section 8 program works very well. Jason asked if landlords must subscribe to section 8. No law requires a landlord to accept section 8. However, it is unclear if refusing section 8 is discrimination. Tyrone Terrill (sp?) sent a letter to many landlords informing them that refusal to accept section 8 is illegal discrimination. The Minnesota Multi-Housing Association asked Mayor Randy Kelly to clarify. Mayor Kelly wrote that refusing to accept section 8 is NOT discrimination. I am unaware of this being tested in the courts. Section 8 is no more lucrative than non-section 8 applicants. It is illegal to charge different rent because of a section 8 voucher. There are non-profits that have voucher programs. Wilder Roof project comes to mind. They have a wonderful program. Steve Meldahl stated that good landlords are certainly not professing for more section 8. I disagree. ALL of the landlords I talk to prefer more vouchers to building new subsidized housing. I believe the example Mr. Meldahl gave is a function of screening criteria. His acquaintance likely has very low (or no) screening criteria. I have about 10% section 8 and find them to be wonderful tenants. The section 8 tenants must meet the same rental criteria as non-section 8 tenants. I encourage Mr. Meldahl to post again with his recommendation on solving the homeless problem (which is how this thread started). If it makes any difference, I am a hands-on landlord. I have been doing this since 1989 and currently own 190 apartments. I am senior VP of the St. Paul Association of Responsible Landlords, I teach classes on how to be a good tenant, I have turned around problem properties (and been featured in local newspapers for doing so). I appreciate your time. Regards, Bill Cullen. Hopkins Landlord. -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Victoria Heller Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2003 11:25 AM To: Mpls Forum Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Mpls] No Longer the Giveaway County Board Michael Hohmann inquires: The rent subsidies also allow renters a degree of locational flexibility. I imagine there are problems with which sources of funds are available, i.e. funds to subsidize new construction vs. direct rent subsidies, federal vs. state vs. local funds, etc. Also, I believe many landlords dislike the Section 8 program. Any comments from knowledgeable government folks (MCDA, MPHA, state/local folks, etc.) and private landlords? Craig, Vicky, Keith...? Vicky Replies: I can address the sources of funds issue. Section 8 vouchers require real cash, that is, out of HUD's pocket/budget. New construction financing gets FRESH MONEY (doesn't come out of any government budget.) Municipal bonds are sold to rich folks, pension funds, etc. who wish to avoid paying taxes. Government agencies (MCDA for example) get paid big fees for underwriting the bond issues. Rating agencies (Standard Poors for example) get paid big fees for rating the bond issues. Brokers (Steve Yanisch, via Piper Jaffray and Dain Bosworth for example) get paid big commissions for selling the bond issues. Purchasers of the bonds (the Yanisch family for example) receive tax free interest and zero risk - 9% interest in the case of the Orpheum Theater bonds. If a developer adds a handful of affordable units to the development - he or she gets an extra bundle of money and other goodies, including reduced property taxes. Some of these municipal bond issues are guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the taxpayers. Others are not. The Target Store bonds were pay as you go (not guaranteed) in the beginning. When interest rates dropped, the bonds were re-financed and OOPS - all of a sudden the taxpayers are on the hook. Sneaky little devils. Vicky Heller Cedar-Riverside and North Oaks TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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 TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much
[Mpls] Public Forms for Minneapolis Bill of Rights Defense Committee Tonight South High
THE MINNEAPOLIS BILL OF RIGHTS DEFENSE COMMITTEE presents A Community Forum Discussion The federal government is trading in YOUR rights to privacy, free speech, and personal security, all in the name of fighting terrorism. 30 cities have passed Resolutions resisting these unconstitutional measures Lets organize to take the Constitution back! Friday, Feb. 7, 7:00 9:00 p.m. Featured Panelists MN State Reps. Keith Ellison and Karen Clark, Minneapolis MN State Sen. Scott Dibble Peter Erlinder, President, National Lawyers Guild Omar Jamal, Somali Justice Advocacy Center MN State Rep. Neva Walker, Minneapolis Moderator: Leslie Reindl, Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers South High School Auditorium 3131 - 19th Avenue South Minneapolis * The Minneapolis Bill Of Rights Defense Committee was formed in order to promote a city Resolution opposing those parts of the USA PATRIOT and Homeland Security Acts and associated orders and directives that threaten our constitutionally guaranteed civil rights. We are circulating a petition in support of this initiative. We welcome the participation of people and groups from across the political and social spectrums to join our efforts. contact: web: http://minneapolis.bordc.org email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] phone: (612) 305-1232 * Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States government responded to the threat of terrorism by passing the USA PATRIOT Act, the Homeland Security Act, as well as a series of Federal Executive Orders issued by President Bush, the Department of Justice, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Most Americans are not aware of the extent to which these measures expand the governments power to invade their privacy, to imprison people without due process, and to track and punish dissent. These acts empower government and law enforcement agencies from the federal level down to the local level. Are you worried yet? If not, read on The USA PATRIOT Act violates First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and the press. Section 215 of the Act authorizes federal agents to demand, from bookstores and libraries, records of books that a person suspected of terrorism has purchased or read, as well as records of a suspects activities on a library computer. The Act also prohibits the bookseller or librarian from informing anyone of this search. The USA PATRIOT Act violates the Fifth Amendment guarantee of due process of law. Section 412 of the Act allows that, upon the mere suspicion of engaging in terrorist activities, a non-citizen may be detained for as long as seven days without being charged with any violation. Furthermore, the Attorney General is not required to inform the detainee of the evidence on which a certification of terrorism is made, nor to provide him or her with an opportunity to contest the evidence at a hearing with an Immigration Judge. The USA PATRIOT Act violates the Fourth Amendment right to privacy and protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. Section 213 of the Act allows law enforcement officers to search a persons home or office without notifying the person of the search warrant until after the search has been completed. What about those other Acts and Executive Orders? The Homeland Security Act allows law enforcement officers to trace internet activity without a court order. A Department of Justice regulation effective October 31, 2001, allows eavesdropping on attorney/client conversations; prior court authorization can drop the requirement of written notice to the inmate and attorney. An interim regulation issued by the Attorney General on April 22, 2002 forbids any state or county jail from releasing information about INS detainees housed in their facilities. Lets organize and make Minneapolis safe for democracy. For further information on these and related issues: Minneapolis Bill of Rights Defense Committee http://minneapolis.bordc.org Bill of Rights Defense Committee (national) www.bordc.org American Civil Liberties Union www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFreeMain.cfm Center for Constitutional Rights www.ccr-ny.org/whatsnew/usa_patriot_act.asp National Lawyers Guild www.nlg.org/post911/legislation/legislation-index.htm They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin Ken Bradley Corcoran Neighborhood 612-728-8962 __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] Rybak orders police not to talk to media
I must say I'm curious about the lack of response on this list to the Mayor's latest effort to try to spin news out of City Hall. As someone who has been both a reporter and an elected official I have found that the best way to have a relationship with the media is to be open, available and honest, regardless of whether it is good or bad news. In fact I think the media is often fairer with those folks who are, than those that aren't. Case in point...how the media often treated past City Council President Jackie Cherryhomes, who was generally unavailable to the media. I'm bewildered that the Mayor and his chief of communications and the communications director could all make such a bonehead move with the media, especially since two of the three had been reporters themselves. And clearly from the amount of backpadeling in today's paper by the Mayor in an article and a letter to the editor, indicates that this wasn't a well thought out decision. Quite frankly reporters will report the story of the day and you can't ask them to sugar coat it by giving them some goody, goody news to print at the same time. Good public relations folks know that. You try to push the positive stories as stand alone articles highlighting the accomplishments of the police department. And this new city communications policy in no way makes that happen, any more than the previous policy. In fact it might cause reporters to not pick up positive stories because they figure it is an attempt by the Mayor's office to control the news. If the Mayor is so concerned about controlling what the media gets, than why in a recent Strib article, when asked what he though about the incident in the Native American Community, did he say no comment and direct reporters to the police chief. That's hardly consistent with this new policy. Secondly his comment in today's paper indicating that reporters should asked the police chief why he disagreed with the change came across as petulant. Yesterday's article indicated that the Mayor instituted this change to give people the reality... the good, the bad and the ugly. Unfortunately I'm afriad this latest policy is an attempt to give only the good, and hide the bad and the ugly to the detriment of citizens. If the current administration is concerned about the bad and the ugly then they need to do something about those problems. What I currently see is an administration that one week is involved with mediation and the next week shoves it off on the chief. One week they want better relationships with the Native American community and the next week the refuse to talk to the media and direct them to the Chief. Perhaps this schizophrenic approach is part of the problem and probably equally as confusing to the police department. If reporters can't talk to the rank and file about some of the policy stuff going on city wide eventually the public will lose out. Changes will be made that we aren't going to know about because the administration will try to control the flow of information to us. It's ironic that the open door policy is closing fast. Witness this, the mediation process and the recent council action on a five year budget plan with no public hearings. The Mayor's public relations skills and his desire to tout the city's good points are appreciated by the populace, but this job is more than just a spin game. The Mayor needs to realize that this job involves taking the heat as well. Lisa McDonald East Harriet From: David Brauer [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [Mpls] Rybak orders police not to talk to media Date: Thu, 6 Feb 2003 21:16:47 -0600 I'll have more to say about this later, but G.R. Anderson has a wonderful _ MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] County Board/Black History Exhibit
One of the primary concerns of educators teaching the history of the Graphic material should be used judiciously and only to the extent necessary to achieve the objective of the lesson ...The assumption that all students will seek to understand human behavior after being exposed to horrible images is fallacious. Some students may be so appalled by images of brutality and mass murder that they are discouraged from studying the subject further. Amy Draeger Audubon Park (Vanessa Freeman) Amy, I think you find on this link below, provided by Tim Bonham. There is a lesson for educators on how to speak with youth first about the history and such. I also feel that it good for our students to learn from history past. They will be our next leaders in life and how are they to know how to move forward if at first they can't see and learn from the past. No matter how horrible the past was. (http://www.givens.org/curriculum_detail.asp?CurriculumID=112) When I was in Jr. high, I remember in Social Studies, we were learning of slavery, I must admit that up until that time, I was green behind the ears. I never seen racism, or if I did did not understand what was happening and as homework, we were to watch Alex Haley's Roots. I must say I thought this was a good thing, I get to watch television for homework, YEA!. I soon found out, the story of one man's family greatly disturb me. When the assignment was over we all talked about our feelings and how we felt about seeing something so horrific. I also understood racism did not stop, it only changed forms and formats. Vanessa Freeman Hawthorne _ Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] Why vacancy and homelessness?
I think you make some good points here Bill. I know that numerous other places I've lived and sat on local community boards dealing with discrimination and on others dealing with housing that there were highly different norms than there are here. First of all, no place else I've lived held landlords accountable for the activities of their residents unless if there was a clear demonstration of intent to enable criminal activity. Secondly, some other places I've lived it was illegal to discriminate in housing on the basis of one's history with the criminal justice or public assistance systems. This type of discrimination seems to be encouraged by the system we have here. There appears to be far less of the opinion that if someone has the done the time for the crime that they've paid their debt to society and should not be subjected to further punishment. There appears to be a noxious classism underlying the idea that people who rent need to have their activities monitored by their landlord as if all rental properties are really minimum security prisons to contain the power and minorities. Note that these issues are unlikely to be a problem for those who can afford more expensive apartments in the community. I'd be interested in exploring the history of these public policy decisions and see if there are disparate impacts on those populations that comprise our communities homeless. David Strand Loring Park --- Bill Cullen [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: It seems that many of us equate homelessness with lack of housing. This had merit when housing was tight in 2001, but on 8-Jan-03 the Star Tribune reported that vacancy rates have increased to 6.6% in the metro area. The article said Leasing agents say this is the worst market they've seen in more than a decade and they're offering a variety of rent specials to attract residents.This survey included 124,000 apartments - meaning the surveyors located approximately 8100 apartments vacant right now. This data implies a problem different than availability. Are landlords discriminating? Is one's income too low to afford rent? Is one's history (drugs, crime, etc) preventing them from passing a rental application? Is it something I have missed? I certainly don't mean to be callous or point fingers, I just want to make sure we understand the problem before we propose solutions. Regards, Bill Cullen Hopkins -- Landlord TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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 __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] LWVMN Citizens in Action Workshop cancelled
Due to low registration numbers and similar programs that are taking place on and around this date that focus on specific advocacy issues, Citizens in Action on Saturday, February 8, has been cancelled for this year. It is with regret that we make this decision, but unfortunately our numbers are not sufficient to go forward with it this year. We will be refunding all registration fees. Heidi Losinski LWVMN Development Director [EMAIL PROTECTED] TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] 9th ward state of the ward address
To all list members: A full text version of Council Member Schiff's 9th Ward State of the Ward Address, which was held on Friday, January 31, 2003, is now available on the 9th Ward website listed below. http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/council/ward9/state2003.asp#TopOfPage Jeffrey Hayden Council Member Assistant Ward Nine 350 S 5th Minneapolis,MN 55415 WWW.CI.Minneapolis.MN.US. (612)-673-3196 [EMAIL PROTECTED] TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] NRP isn't so bad!
I don't believe political parties are the same type of non-profit or citizen participation programs that Barb is referring too. Tim, you are mixing apples and coconuts here. And how soon we forget the Rapson, Belton convention. But,admittedly, the longest ones tend to be the state conventions (of any party). And let's get down to some of the facts, folks ... this is really about power - the power of making decisions about the money to be spent in the neighborhoods. Over the years there have been councilmembers who have not really liked (putting it mildly) all the bother and dither of relating to the neighborhoods and citizens (the grassroots) meaning they wanted to make the financial decisions themselves. For most citizens NRP has been a very positive, empowering sort of thing - makes you feel connected to your neighborhood, to those who live, work and play there. That brings safety and security along with sharing the knowledge of what goes on in our government to the citizens - they like that. With the dollars tightening and tightening there are going to have to be lots of no's, no expansion, no new programs and get more efficient and better at what you do. It is not going to be pretty! And some people will never like the decisions that will have to be made. But I don't think anyone can deny that the NRP has engaged the citizens in caring even more about this City than one already does just by living here. Annie Young CODE PINK - East Phillips At 02:05 AM 2/6/03 -0600, Tim Bonham wrote: While I agree the meetings can be cumbersome, so can the political conventions that go on for 8 - 10 hours to endorse candidates. Talk about family unfriendly. Barb, you are exaggerating here. The longest DFL endorsing convention in the city council races was yours, in the 6th Ward. It convened at 10:30, and finished business at 3:37, for a length of 5 hours 7 minutes. Even the City Convention, with a multi-candidate mayoral endorsement and many other school board, library board, park board, board of estimate taxation candidates to endorse finished in just over 6 hours. It may have felt longer to you, but in reality no Minneapolis endorsing conventions have taken 8-10 hours. I want you to show me one other Minneapolis program or process that has been successful at engaging over 5,000+ citizens into the process in a sustainable way for over 10 years. Name one. Elections? They involve about 10 times that number of people, and have been held at least every 2 years for the last century or so here in Minneapolis. Tim Bonham, Ward 12, Standish-Ericsson Barb Lickness Whittier
[Mpls] HOWTO - Send Text Only With Various Email Clients [VERY LONG]
I sent this to the list when I heard there were people having problems 1.5 years ago with sending text (ASCII) only emails to the list. Here it is again with updates. Hopefully it will get archived this time. --- HOW DO I STOP AOL FROM SENDING HTML TO THE INTERNET? Ripped from various places on the Internet. With the release of version 6.0 of its Windows client software (and continued in Windows AOL 7.0 and 8.0, and AOL for Mac OS X 10.2.1), AOL began to embrace the use of full HTML in email (see FAQ item 8). This included a controversial feature in the sending of email to the Internet, in which messages were sent in a format known as multipart/alternative (see RFC 2046, 5.1.4), which uses MIME enclosures to include two copies of every message: one in plain text, and one in HTML. Ideally, Internet email programs should be designed to display the version that they understand. HTML-compliant programs can display the HTML section, showing the formatting that the original sender included with the message; while text-only programs would only show the text section. Even HTML-enabled programs could be made to allow their users to choose (or switch to) the text portion if they prefer simplicity. However, some Internet email programs were never designed to recognize these MIME sections, resulting in the recipient of such a message seeing both the plain text and HTML versions of the email. This also causes problems with some mail systems that will not accept individual lines in excess of 998 characters (per RFC 2822, 2.1.1), and AOL (like many mailers) does not wrap lines in HTML messages. This issue was partially corrected in AOL 7.0, which does not send HTML if the user sticks with the default font and formatting. The problem got worse in AOL for Windows 8.0 and AOL for Mac OS X 10.2.1, neither of which seem to be capable of sending plain text email. (Amusingly, AOL versions prior to AOL 6.0 for Windows and AOL 5.1 for Mac OS X are not very good at handling multipart messages. Although mail sent from a member using AOL 6.0 or later directly to someone using AOL 5.0 or earlier will not show both copies, the same mail sent first through the Internet (perhaps through a mailing list) will result in the AOL recipient seeing both copies.) (Thanks to John W. Johnston for identifying the line length issue.) BEST SOLUTION FOR ALL AOL VERSIONS If you are using AOL 6.0, 7.0 or 8.0, then you need to log on to AOL and select either Netscape or Internet Explorer as your browser -- Do not use AOL's web browser. Launch the browser, and type www.aol.com in the URL field. Sign on with your screen name and password. Click on mail. You will then be able to submit messages using AOL's AOL Mail on the Web service. ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS (USING NATIVE AOL MAIL CLIENT) Ideally, users should try to pick a version of AOL that allows better control of the sending of HTML email (such as AOL 7 for Windows, AOL 5.1 for Mac OS X, or AOL 5 for either platform), or use some other method of sending AOL mail. AOL 6.0 for Windows When communicating with Internet recipients who are not using an email program capable of selecting which MIME section to view, an AOL 6.0 user can turn off the HTML by taking the following steps exactly as described: Change your global email preferences (only needs to be done once): Go to Keyword: Preferences (or choose Preferences from the Settings menu on the AOL 6.0 toolbar). Click on Font, Text, Graphics Preferences. Click on the Reset button at the bottom of the resulting window. Do not make any changes in the Font Preferences area of the window. Click on the Save button. Change a specific email to plain text (must be done for every email): Compose and address the email as desired. Choose Select All from the Edit menu to highlight the entire message. With the mouse arrow somewhere over the highlighted text, click the Right mouse button, revealing a contextual menu (AKA Right-Click). Choose Normal from the Text menu. Taking care not to make any further changes to the message, send it. Note that changing the text to normal will eliminate the blue bar quoted text indicator, but will not remove some HTML elements of the quoted text. The entire quoted section must be deleted (or simply not quoted in the first place), followed by the re-entry of the text quoted manually, prior to changing the text to normal. Changing the text to normal will also eliminate any styled text that would have been seen by AOL recipients of the message, which cannot be re-added. Testing also suggests that messages with hyperlinks cannot be converted to normal text, requiring the prior removal of the link. Finally, one must suppress their email signature if it contains any styled text, as that will push the whole message back into HTML. (Thanks to Carpenma for identifying step two of the plain text solution. Thanks to LuvsAfGrey for pointing out the signature issue.) AOL 7.0 for Windows AOL 7.0 only requires step one,
[Mpls] (no subject)
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/local/5124814.htm MINNEAPOLIS: Rybak to unify how information is released In a move that some observers say could affect how much residents learn about their police department, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak on Thursday said all information about the police should go through the city's communications director. Judith Yates Borger Staff Reporter Minneapolis Bureau St. Paul Pioneer Press 612 338-8198 Cell: 651 503-0162
[Mpls] sec 8
Jim Mork did not quite understand my comment about the physical abuse differences between Sec 8 tenants and non section 8 tenants. Section 8 inspects each unit before a section 8 tenant moves in to make sure that it meets current code. So his argument that the neglect of the building is the reason for more service calls has no merit, unless he is implying the the section 8 inspectors are incompetant. To Bill Cullen: You mention that you have 190 units. I would immagine that most are smaller, ie 1 and 2 bedrooms. Therefore your section 8 tenants are smaller families - 2 or 3 kids only. Our units are all 3, 4, and 5 bedroom houses which therefore house much larger families. In 1999, the last year that I had section 8 tenants, my average damage loss at move out time was just under $5,000 for section 8 tenants. My average damage loss for non section 8 tenants was just over $900. This was the same pattern as from previous years. You ask my what my answer is to the homeless problem. The actual problem is not lack of units - it is the lack of good paying jobs. As the federal reserve report said recently, if a tenant can't pay the electric bill, we do not build more power plants There are thousands of apartments and houses vacant right now in Minneapolis. One last question for Bill, Are you a politician?? You mention that you turned around some problem properties. We landlords that have been in the business for over 30 years know that buildings do not cause problems. only the people in them do. Steve Meldahl Jordan (work) TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] Rybak orders police not to talk to media
I do not see why Mayor Rybak's idea of having a unified front is merely putting a spin on the issues coming out of city hall. Right now, when the police force is under extreme scrutiny from the media and public, instead of letting the police hang out to dry, the Mayor has chosen to solidify himself and his office with the police force and make sure that everything coming out of the office has been examined and reported in a valid nature. In the corporate world, situations which occur internally are not discussed with the media until either the situation is resolved or a majority of the investigation surrounding the incident has been completed. If a unified message is not given before an issue has met resolution, then the media will drag out premature conclusions and blow them up all over the 5 o'clock news. Lets let the decision makers make their decisions and report in due time. We have elected these officials, its about time we start showing our trust and appreciation for them in this city's time of need. Ryan Hagemeier Minnetonka Message: 11 From: Lisa McDonald [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [Mpls] Rybak orders police not to talk to media Date: Fri, 07 Feb 2003 08:42:33 -0600 I must say I'm curious about the lack of response on this list to the Mayor's latest effort to try to spin news out of City Hall. As someone who has been both a reporter and an elected official I have found that the best way to have a relationship with the media is to be open, available and honest, regardless of whether it is good or bad news. In fact I think the media is often fairer with those folks who are, than those that aren't. Case in point...how the media often treated past City Council President Jackie Cherryhomes, who was generally unavailable to the media. I'm bewildered that the Mayor and his chief of communications and the communications director could all make such a bonehead move with the media, especially since two of the three had been reporters themselves. And clearly from the amount of backpadeling in today's paper by the Mayor in an article and a letter to the editor, indicates that this wasn't a well thought out decision. Quite frankly reporters will report the story of the day and you can't ask them to sugar coat it by giving them some goody, goody news to print at the same time. Good public relations folks know that. You try to push the positive stories as stand alone articles highlighting the accomplishments of the police department. And this new city communications policy in no way makes that happen, any more than the previous policy. In fact it might cause reporters to not pick up positive stories because they figure it is an attempt by the Mayor's office to control the news. If the Mayor is so concerned about controlling what the media gets, than why in a recent Strib article, when asked what he though about the incident in the Native American Community, did he say no comment and direct reporters to the police chief. That's hardly consistent with this new policy. Secondly his comment in today's paper indicating that reporters should asked the police chief why he disagreed with the change came across as petulant. Yesterday's article indicated that the Mayor instituted this change to give people the reality... the good, the bad and the ugly. Unfortunately I'm afriad this latest policy is an attempt to give only the good, and hide the bad and the ugly to the detriment of citizens. If the current administration is concerned about the bad and the ugly then they need to do something about those problems. What I currently see is an administration that one week is involved with mediation and the next week shoves it off on the chief. One week they want better relationships with the Native American community and the next week the refuse to talk to the media and direct them to the Chief. Perhaps this schizophrenic approach is part of the problem and probably equally as confusing to the police department. If reporters can't talk to the rank and file about some of the policy stuff going on city wide eventually the public will lose out. Changes will be made that we aren't going to know about because the administration will try to control the flow of information to us. It's ironic that the open door policy is closing fast. Witness this, the mediation process and the recent council action on a five year budget plan with no public hearings. The Mayor's public relations skills and his desire to tout the city's good points are appreciated by the populace, but this job is more than just a spin game. The Mayor needs to realize that this job involves taking the heat as well. Lisa McDonald East Harriet __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in
[Mpls] RE: No Longer the Giveaway County Board
.Susan Maricle, writes I wonder if vouchers need .to be relooked at. They'd be guaranteed rent payment .AND guaranteed rent income. Folks, the city must NEVER get in the business of providing a guarantee for someone else's investment. While I'm sure there are enough posters here, myself included, that believe MCDA effectively does this with big city projects for fat-cat friends, we should not validate it with the broad implementation that Ms. Maricle would prefer. If the business of being a section 8 landlord becomes too much of a burden the answer is clear. Exit the business of being a section 8 landlord. I appreciate the comments from both Cullen and Meldahl. Jason Sittko Harrison attachment: winmail.dat
[Mpls] Control the media: That's what tyrants and dictators do
Lisa McDonald writes: Unfortunately I'm afraid this latest policy is an attempt to give only the good, and hide the bad and the ugly to the detriment of citizens. Vicky adds: This has been the City's policy regarding financial misdeeds and mismanagement for the past decade. The Mayor and Council should realize that we are willing to pay for their mistakes, if only they would tell us the truth. 'Fess up when you mess up - for starters: 1. Why would the City lend $37 million on a property worth $7 million (Brookfield)? 2. Why would the City pay $6 million (plus $2 million interest) for a building worth $2 million (Stimson)? 3. Why would the City lend $20 million on a building that was already OVER mortgaged by $30 million (Radisson)? ..and so on. Vicky Heller Cedar-Riverside and North Oaks TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] City Communications
Talk about ham-handed. Could the Rybak administration make itself look anymore incompetent and conniving by messing with information dissemination? It would be laughable if it weren't so chilling. Happy News, we demand Happy News. Tim Connolly Downtown __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] Section 8
I've read the posts concerning Section 8. Twenty five years of participating with the program has taught me a few things. 1. For legit to discussion to occur, everyone has to understand and agree that about 95% or better of the landlords who do business in the city are law abiding and solid business people. Failure to grasp this knowledge, makes discussion useless. 2. Good landlords are defined by their tenants. Good tenants are defined by their landlords. 3. Bill Cullen points out the higher vacancy rate right now. It's come to my attention that the rate is actually higher then that. Throw in the free rent and bonus' being given, and the rate is even higher. Bill also notes the pure amount of units available. I've said it many times, there is no shortage of housing. That issue is over. Take those precious resources and spend them somewhere else. Henn County should shut down it's newly created housing department before it grows roots and stays forever. 4. There are 10,000 plus units avail in the metro right now, with over 3,000 on-line for occupation in 2003. Those who say those are too expensive and luxurious to help out are not paying attention to econ 101. The financiers of the new place will not allow the owners to lose money. They will force the A+ (new bldg) owner to fill her building with tenants. Take them from A- or B buildings if you must. The B building owner then chases C building tenants and so forth and so forth. End result, rent is going down, not staying even. The same report from GVA says rents are staying about even. Not true, the posted rent is staying even, but if you give a free month away, the rent just fell by one month or 8.5 percent. This is looking like 1988-1993 all over again. Great time to be a renter with bargaining position. 5. Bill Cullen asks if landlords are discriminating. Section 8 is a voluntary program. Regardless of tenants advocates protestations. The program is voluntary. 6. Bill Cullen asks if applicant's histories are preventing them from renting. YES. The city, county, state have made renting to high risk tenants ( Julie Sabo's term not mine) a potentially dangerous proposition for the small part time landlord. BTW it is the small part time landlord that has the most desirable units for families. Duplexes and houses. 7. Bill's final point is apt. Let's understand the problem before we start proposing solutions. 8. HUD is now again requiring full year leases as Keith has pointed out. HUD seems determined to never address this issue until 10's of thousands are in such desperate situation. Month to month leases are the only way management can deal with a situation that has gone bad. Mr. Meldahl points out, rightly so, that most Sect 8 renters are judgment proof. 9. Winning a judgment isn't easy, it's a pain in the a--! For those of you on the list who have gainful employment with no projected end date or desire to leave, you will never risk a judgment if you know your in the wrong. Those who have nothing to lose, or un-reliable income have nothing to fear. I.E. renting to someone with a rock solid income for 12 months or more at a crack is sensible. 10. Paper work, paperwork, paperwork. Oh and btw, don't let a Sect 8 Administrator say something like the rent's guaranteed, or it's simple, or they just don't know what their talking about. It doesn't wash. Ask the landlords. I refer you to item #2. Landlords and tenants decide if Section 8 is a good program. Not the administrators. Most of the landlords just hate it, I'll bet a large majority of the tenants wished there was a better way. 11. Jason Sittko asks two questions. Two answers. 1. The landlords are not professing more of it will cure the housing problem. More units solves the problem. His question number two I refer all to my point #1 12 Mr. Meldahl points out that there is higher maint cost on sect 8 units. Someone professed that older less maintained buildings are more likely the cause. Sect 8 certificates and vouchers go to any building, not by date or location. All things being equal and two 2-bedrooms next to each other on the same side of a building. The Section 8 one will likely need more work, a lot more. This is not a guarantee in every situation. But is something I will bet on. Like insurance actuarial tables, the facts just can't be argued. 13 We've played blame the landlord for too long in Mpls for housing needs. We have vacant units coming out of our ears. We have Executive Directors, and govt programs to choke all the kings horses. It's time to pursue completely different directions. Craig Miller Former Mpls Landlord Living in Rogers - Original Message - From: Bill Cullen [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2003 8:10 PM Subject: RE: [Mpls] No Longer the Giveaway County Board It seems that many of us equate homelessness with lack of housing. This
RE: [Mpls] Rybak orders police not to talk to media
Hello Folks, I do not see why Mayor Rybak's idea of having a unified front is merely putting a spin on the issues coming out of city hall. Right now, when the police force is under extreme scrutiny from the media and public, instead of letting the police hang out to dry, the Mayor has chosen to solidify himself and his office with the police force and make sure that everything coming out of the office has been examined and reported in a valid nature. Ryan, your statement contradicts the fact that when the Mayor was asked about the Native American man who was supposedly urinated on, the Mayor said, No comment and directed the question to the police. It does not jibe with the fact that when the Mayor was asked why the chief didn't like this new policy, his response was ask him. Ask him? I thought that communication now had to come from city hall? If this policy is to save the police from being hung out to dry, then why is the chief not in favor of the policy and their spokesperson immediately resigned upon learning of it? If this is to save the police from being hung out to dry, then why did the Mayor instantly start backpedaling on this policy and attempt to say he wasn't backpedaling, but he was misunderstood, in part because the chief had mischaracterized what he said, even though the chief quoted directly from his memo? I agree with Lisa, this was an ill thought, poorly executed blunder. The Mayor should take his medicine, admit his mistake and move on. Being Mayor is not all smashing guitars and skiing. Neal Levine Whittier TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] Black History Building
Jeffrey Strand wrote: Perhaps List Members can facilitate a constructive outcome to this dialogue by offering ideas about how to assist Ms. Seals to raise private sector funds for a permanent facility in Minneapolis to house her important collection? Thank you for your post, Jeffrey and for this suggestion. I think it's a great idea. I'd like to respond to some points that have been made in this discussion the last few days. Let me start by offering that a person's reluctance to view or exhibit a 4ft by 6ft image of a lynching is really not a reliable indicator of that person's propensity to be a racist anymore than a person's reluctance or inability to go to peace rally indicates his or her propensity to support war. I understand the argument about graphic images everywhere in our world but a distinction needs to be made between government-sponsored images and privately-sponsored images. MTV does not have the power to me in jail, the government does. Additionally, to a defendant or a family member of a defendant in the Hennepin Cty court system for whom English may not be a first language and America might not be a first culture, the image of a lynching displayed in a courthouse might mean something quite different than it would someone born and raised here. As Minneapolis is home to the Center for Victims of Torture and the American Refugee Committee, this scenario is not as remote as it may seem. The fact that many are characterizing the downsizing (not the removal) of the lynching image in the government center as racist-motivated censorship indicates to me that in spite of black history month, the complete history of African American experience in this country has not/is not being told. Like everyone else who has cared enough to respond to this issue (on this list or off) I, too, would like it to be. I think that the history building Ms. Seals' imagines can and should become a reality. Perhaps as part of the future history walk proposed for Van White Boulevard in the Heritage Park Development plan. Amy Draeger Audubon Park _ MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] Criminalizing housing?
Out of the mouths of babes or those who are relatively new to town! First of all, no place else I've lived held landlords accountable for the activities of their residents unless if there was a clear demonstration of intent to enable criminal activity. Thing of Phil Hartman in a guest appearance on the Simpsons. Welcome to the Mill city. You can't quite place blame where you want to? Can't figure out what's wrong? One party town, got you down? Can't pin the tail on the donkey for politically in-correct reasons? Well come to Mpls. We've a fall guy like you haven't seen since Nixon left office. We blame the landlord. This all encompassing bad guy has worse press then the big bad wolf. He's to male, white, has more money then most of his tenants, might live in the suburbs. Drives a truck or luxury car. He's such an obvious target. It's easier then shooting fish in a barrel. Crime? Garbage in the streets? Drugs? Schools failing? -You name it, we got a program based on landlord hate to assuage your anguish. Or pass the blame. -We've got executive directors of all stripes who are hungry for funding. -We have so many government agencies trying to solve the housing shortage it makes other wars on look timid. Secondly, some other places I've lived it was illegal to discriminate in housing on the basis of one's history with the criminal justice or public assistance systems. This type of discrimination seems to be encouraged by the system we have here. There appears to be far less of the opinion that if someone has the done the time for the crime that they've paid their debt to society and should not be subjected to further punishment. Minnesota leads the nation in non-incarceration punishment. Hennipen county and the Minneapple receive the disproportionate share of the criminals. There appears to be a noxious classism underlying the idea that people who rent need to have their activities monitored by their landlord as if all rental properties are really minimum security prisons to contain the power and minorities. Sad but true. Phillips, Hawthorne, Jordan fit that description. Take a look at CCP Safe handouts. A little over one third of the latest brochure shows how you can keep an eye on those renters next door. How to call the police up and make life hell for the tenants and the landlords. Note that these issues are unlikely to be a problem for those who can afford more expensive apartments in the community. Class cleansing. Not just the housing, but the smelly factory jobs and those ugly looking places where they fix their cars. Thanks for the rant and the show. Craig Miller Former Mpls Landlord Living in Rogers David Strand Loring Park TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] City Communications
timothy connolly wrote: Talk about ham-handed. Could the Rybak administration make itself look anymore incompetent and conniving by messing with information dissemination? I cannot agree more with Tim, (and earlier posts from David and Lisa). Although if the rumors are true, I do like the proposal that the Mayor, Ms. Plewacki, the Chief, etc. will conduct all future news conferences while holding fuzzy little kittens and/or puppies. richard carney (with permission, of course) st. paul timothy connolly wrote: Talk about ham-handed. Could the Rybak administration make itself look anymore incompetent and conniving by messing with information dissemination? It would be laughable if it weren't so chilling. Happy News, we demand Happy News. Tim Connolly Downtown __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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 TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] No Longer the Giveaway County Board
Just some clarifications and comments concerning Section 8 issues and vouchers. Under the program, Section 8 pays what is called a Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) directly to the landlord. The HAP is the difference between what the tenant pays and the lesser of 1. the actual rent or 2. the established Fair Market Rent (known as FMR). A section 8 tenant pays rent in the amount of 30% of the tenant's houshold income. So, as an example, a landlord charges $1,000 for an apartment and the tenants' household income is $1,000 per month. The tenant pays $300 to the landlord for rent, and Section 8 pays the remaining $700.00 to the landlord. The Fair Market Rent is essentially a ceiling on rent a landlord can charge to a Section 8 tenant. FMR levels are established annually by HUD. In Minneapolis-St. Paul, the fair market rent for a 1 bedroom is $713, a 2 bedroom $912, a 3 bedroom $1,233 and a 4 bedroom $1,397. These are in line with average rents in the City. Utility costs typically also factor in to the allowable overall rent that can be charged. Charging side payments or under the table payments to a section 8 tenant is illegal (e.g., you pay your $300 share, plus a $100 side payment, and I'll let you have the place cuz I'm also getting $700 from MPHA). Steve Meldahl implies or directly states that Section 8 tenants cause more damage than other non-subsidized tenants, based on his anecdotal stories. Other than those anecdotal stories (which I have very serious reasons to doubt) there are no factual bases for concluding that section 8 tenants are any different than other low-income tenants, or tenants in general. While Mr. Meldahl states that Section 8 tenants are judgment-proof, the possibility of losing a voucher subsidy is a significant penalty for a family and one that most families take very seriously, so there are certainly consequences for a tenant who excessively damages property or fails to live up to the tenant's end of the bargain. And thanks for Mr. Cullen, who spoke up as a landlord who has positive experiences renting to folks with Section 8 vouchers. Gregory Luce St. Paul TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] NRP isn't so bad! Even at its worst NRP is better than Politicians making decisions!
Anne Young is correct in her description of the problem with NRP. It is not a problem of citizen participation. It is a problem of who gets to make decisions about development and dollars. Neighborhoods sometimes decide that they wish to correct a blight problem and spend NRP funding to that solution. This may be in direct conflict with the plans of some politicians and their Developer Cronies. Anne is correct, NRP isn't so bad. If fact it is just the best investment Minneapolis has ever made. It put revolution into minds as well as houses over those heads. Those minds are going to make Minneapolis a better safer place for both babies and elders. NRP Neighborhoods are Lifecycle communities that value all people in them, and seek the best solutions for all their people. Something that seems to scare Down-Town interests who are so busy patting themselves on the back with their self-righteousness that they seem to not care about real people and real solutions in real communities. I have said in the past that NRP is not the perfect solution; you have some groups deciding to spend their allotment in ways some may find foolish. It is not the perfect solution, but like Democracy it just happens to be the best one we have right now. Decision-making is far easier and cleaner with an Emperor and his Court, unfortunately thought such decisions only serve the interest of that Emperor. We can go back to that more centralized system of politics and that more centralized system of deciding on revitalization needs. But not without a fight. Sure there is bickering about what direction to go with NRP dollars. It is usually fierce, because the parties care deeply about their community. It is the reason they give so much of their time. Anne Young and I, I am sure would agree about the depths of those fights. She and I have had some dozzies. The reason was that we both cared and had a commitment to our community and City, and were willing to fight for what we viewed as the best way! Those arguments, as frustrating and maddening as they often can be, are what is good about NRP; people end up sorting things out and choosing what is best for them and their communities. People make a lasting commitment and identification with their communities. It is not about just the money. The NRP money is the carrot that gets people to the meeting and involved. The important thing is the organizing around solving community problems. If the City of Minneapolis paid these people even minimum wages there would probably be more dollars than they get from NRP. It's the difference between vegetables bought at the Cub Market, and those you raise in your own garden. The Cub veggies will keep you alive, but which ones taste better and fulfill your actual desires and needs? Sure the hand grown variety take huge amounts of time and you may argue with your partner about the best way to fertilize and water them, but they are worth more and more valuable because of their quality. NRP projects are the same. Sure they take more time, but they build community; so they are far more valuable than just the dollars they bring. The neighborhoods that are most impacted by the attack on NRP are also those that are most impacted by the Cities development ambitions for zoning changes. They are also those neighborhoods that suffer from concentrations of poverty in higher minority communities. The reason the powers that be wish to attack NRP autonomy is that such Impacted Neighborhoods have been empowered to begin to fight the City's plans to continue this pattern of discrimination. Neighborhoods are of course fighting for decision-making autonomy and also to free themselves from such discrimination. It is little wonder that the City Council Members most interested in attacking NRP are also the ones who want such a concentration. Because of the organizing experience of NRP, Neighborhoods have started to organize for mutual defense and improvement. The Coalition of Impacted Neighborhoods will be hosting a City Wide meeting on February 20th to address such concentration issues. Concentration of poverty, concentration of Level Three Sex Offenders, concentration of crime, concentration of supportive housing, concentration of criminals on supervised probation. To see a flyer for the meeting and material on COIN go to, and look at, the site www.pnn.org/coin/index.htm I certainly hope those interested in the pattern of discrimination on Impacted Neighborhoods and the possible attack on NRP come to the meeting on February 20th at 6:30 PM. The meeting will be at the MCDA -NRP headquarters building - The Crown Roller Building. It will be for Impacted Neighborhoods and their friends. - Original Message - From: Annie Young To: Tim Bonham ; mpls-issues Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2003 6:16 PM Subject: [Mpls] NRP isn't so bad! I don't believe political parties are the same type of non-profit or citizen participation programs that
[Mpls] A Building for Black History
Jeffrey Strand wrote: Perhaps List Members can facilitate a constructive outcome to this dialogue by offering ideas about how to assist Ms. Seals to raise private sector funds for a permanent facility in Minneapolis to house her important collection? Thank you for your post, Jeffrey and for this suggestion. I think it's a great idea. I'd like to respond to some points that have been made the last few days in the discussion about the Black History Exhibit. Let me start by offering that a person's reluctance to view or exhibit a 4ft by 6ft image of a lynching is really not a reliable indicator of that person's propensity to be a racist anymore than a person's reluctance or inability to go to peace rally indicates his or her propensity to support war. I understand the argument about graphic images everywhere in our world but a distinction needs to be made between government-sponsored images and privately-sponsored images. MTV does not have the power to me in jail, the government does. Additionally, to a defendant or a family member of a defendant in the Hennepin Cty court system for whom English may not be a first language and America might not be a first culture, the image of a lynching displayed in a courthouse might mean something quite different than it would someone born and raised here. As Minneapolis is home to the Center for Victims of Torture and the American Refugee Committee, this scenario is not as remote as it may seem. The fact that many are characterizing the downsizing (not the removal) of the lynching image in the government center as racist-motivated censorship indicates to me that in spite of black history month, the complete history of African American experience in this country has not/is not being told. Like everyone else who has cared enough to respond to this issue (on this list or off) I, too, would like it to be. I think that the history building Ms. Seals' imagines can and should become a reality. Perhaps as part of the future history walk proposed for Van White Boulevard in the Heritage Park Development plan. Amy Draeger Audubon Park _ Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] NRP isn't so bad!
Anne Young is correct in her description of the problem with NRP. It is not a problem of citizen participation. It is a problem of who gets to make decisions about development and dollars. Neighborhoods sometimes decide that they wish to correct a blight problem and spend NRP funding to that solution. This may be in direct conflict with the plans of some politicians and their Developer Cronies. I have said in the past that NRP is not the perfect solution; you have some groups deciding to spend their allotment in ways some may find foolish. It is not the perfect solution, but like Democracy it just happens to be the best one we have right now. Decision-making is far easier and cleaner with an Emperor and his Court, unfortunately thought such decisions only serve the interest of that Emperor. We can go back to that more centralized system of politics and that more centralized system of deciding on revitalization needs. But not without a fight. Sure there is bickering about what direction to go with NRP dollars. It is usually fierce, because the parties care deeply about their community. It is the reason they give so much of their time. Anne I am sure would agree about the depths of those fights. She and I have had some dozzies. The reason was that we both cared and had a commitment to our community and City, and were willing to fight for what we viewed as the best way! Those arguments are what are good about NRP; people end up sorting things out and choosing what is best for them and their communities. It is not about just the money. The NRP money is the carrot that gets people to the meeting and involved. The important thing is the organizing around solving community problems. If the City of Minneapolis paid these people even minimum wages there would probably be more dollars than they get from NRP. It's the difference between vegetables bought at the Cub Market and those you raise in your own garden. The Cub veggies will keep you alive but which ones taste better and fulfill your actual desires and needs. Sure the hand grown variety take huge amounts of time and you may argue with your partner about the best way to fertilize and water them but they are worth more and more valuable because of their quality. NRP projects are the same. Sure they take more time but they build community so they are far more valuable than just the dollars they bring. I had some consternation about Luce's seeming turn around about NRP. Luce had tried unsuccessfully to steer our NRP away from housing. Then I realized the direction he was going. Luce and 504 are possibly intending to access NRP housing dollars for his own organizations. The neighborhoods that are most impacted by the attack on NRP are also those that are most impacted by the Cities development ambitions for zoning changes. They are also those neighborhoods that suffer from concentrations of poverty in higher minority communities. The reason the powers that be wish to attack NRP autonomy is that such Impacted Neighborhoods have been empowered to begin to fight the City's plans to continue this pattern of discrimination. Neighborhoods are of course fighting for decision-making autonomy and also to free themselves from such discrimination. It is little wonder that the City Council Members most interested in attacking NRP are also the ones who want such a concentration. Because of the organizing experience of NRP, Neighborhoods have started to organize for mutual defense and improvement. The Coalition of Impacted Neighborhoods will be hosting a City Wide meeting on February 20th to address such concentration issues. Concentration of poverty, concentration of Level Three Sex Offenders, concentration of crime, concentration of supportive housing, concentration of criminals on supervised probation. To see a flyer for the meeting and material on COIN go to, and look at, the site www.pnn.org/coin/index.htm I was told it would be up by tomorrow. I certainly hope those interested in the pattern of discrimination on Impacted Neighborhoods and the possible attack on NRP come to the meeting on February 20th at 6:30 PM. The meeting will be at the MCDA -NRP headquarters building - The Crown Roller Building. It will be for Impacted Neighborhoods and their friends. Jim Graham, Ventura Village There is no finer investment for any community than putting milk into babies and revolution into minds - Toe TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] Lynching image exposes the terror of mob rule......
It should remind us that our laws exist to protect the INDIVIDUAL, ESPECIALLY ONE WHO IS UNPOPULAR. The political majority in Minneapolis should keep this in mind, lest they behave like a mob. Vicky Heller Cedar-Riverside and North Oaks TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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: NRP isn't so bad! Even at its worst NRP is better than Politiciansmaking decisions!
Jim, You write of council members who are in favor of concentration of poverty and discrimination against certain neighborhoods. Which council members are these? Is there a clear-cut difference on this issue amongst council members? If there is, why aren't you naming names? Barbara Nelson Burnsville Once and future Minneapolitan who wants to hear specifics for accusations such as these TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] City Communications
David, The Mayor has been talking with the Chief, communications staff (and other relevant department heads) about consolidating City communications functions for over a year. This directive was in the budget footnotes that came out last year, and it will eventually include CPED (former MCDA comm staff), Police and Fire. The memo sent earlier this week, which outlined a broad policy change, was distorted and exaggerated. The intention is increase the visibility of the Police Department and get more information out about the work of the Department. This change will result in more actual cops (and fewer spokespersons) talking with reporters, not fewer. The broad goal is to get City departments out of their individual silos and working together to coordinate functions. This absolutely does not mean that cops will be gagged. The Mayor, Chief, City Communications Director and top police officials met yesterday to spell out specific criteria for police to consult with communications. As I've been saying to anyone who will listen for the past 48 hours, reporters aren't going to see much of difference. Police are asked to consult with their communications staff if there is a police or City policy in question, officer misconduct or officer-related shooting. As Cyndi would have done, the new police communications person will still sit in the Police Department and do basically the same job. This is similar to (and actually looser than) St. Paul, Hennepin County and every major city we could find. New York City Police require media requests in writing in advance. Chicago's protocol requires that requests come through media relations. In LA media requests are directed through media relations and approved by a commanding officer. I'm glad to hear that City officials have been more responsive lately. I'm confident that trend will continue. Laura Sether Office of Mayor Rybak Standish Ericsson One of the many disturbing things about R.T.'s policy is that city = officials are better than they've ever been about returning phone calls - and = giving substantive answers. (This goes for council people too.) However, there's one exception - former police spokesperson Cyndi Barrington, of whom G.R. writes Ah, yes, Cyndi Barrington (nee = Montgomery). Her departure causes me just a little bit of glee, she whom I've come to believe legally added Did Not Return Phone Calls to the end of her = name. As outraged as we were about the policy as reported in the Strib, one reporter in my shop actually did a little dance when he heard Barrington = was gone. Cyndi wasn't mean, or malicious, just endlessly unavailable. So there's a silver lining to this turmoil. But that's what makes this policy so frightening. Cops like Craig = Williams, Sharon Lubinski, Lucy Gerold, Rob Allen and many beat cops have been = just excellent, and candid, about discussing public information, no matter = where the chips fall. Having another gatekeeper/hurdle between the press and public = information won't serve either side well. Either R.T. and Gail Plewacki - both = former reporters (and bulldogs at that) - have done a horrible job of = explaining what they're doing (note to communications specialists: it's not good = for other media outlets to learn about your new rules from the Strib), or they've made a horrible policy. David Brauer King Field Editor, Skyway News Southwest Journal TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] No Longer the Giveaway County Board
Mr. Luce appears to be new to the game. The fact is this - if a section 8 tenant wrecks a house or apartment, they do not lose their voucher in Minnesota. In fact I brought this fact to the attention of Representative Ramstad and Senator Grams in December 1997. They referred me to Jerry Benoit, one of the heads of HUD in Washington DC and on 12-19-97, and he told me that it was up to each state individually if they would allow these destructive tenants to remain in the section 8 program. Our liberal state decided that it was ok to leave them in the program. In fact, this was one of the reasons that Rick Giller left as head of the local Section 8 office. I also received a letter from Thomas Feeney, Coordinator for HUD in Minnesota on 12-16-97 that states, Minneapolis Public Housing has elected not to release participant (tenant) information. In other words, they can remain in the program and we do not have to tell you or anyone! After 5 straight destructive section 8 tenants, that was it for me! If you would like, Mr. Luce, I would be happy to meet with you and show you proof that shows the difference between the damages caused by non section 8 low to moderate income tenants and section 8 tenants. In fact, I would even be willing to possibly hire you to collect on the large judgements that I obtained against them for these excessive damages. Oops, I forgot. If a judgement debtor is on any type of assistance of any kind, you can not collect. I would also venture to say that Mr. Cullen has no Inner city of Minneapolis section 8 tenants. My guess is that his section 8 tenants are in Hopkins - just a guess. Maybe he can comment on this? Steve Meldahl Jordan (work) - Original Message - From: Gregory D. Luce [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: 'Susan Maricle' [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, February 07, 2003 12:59 PM Subject: RE: [Mpls] No Longer the Giveaway County Board Just some clarifications and comments concerning Section 8 issues and vouchers. Under the program, Section 8 pays what is called a Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) directly to the landlord. The HAP is the difference between what the tenant pays and the lesser of 1. the actual rent or 2. the established Fair Market Rent (known as FMR). A section 8 tenant pays rent in the amount of 30% of the tenant's houshold income. So, as an example, a landlord charges $1,000 for an apartment and the tenants' household income is $1,000 per month. The tenant pays $300 to the landlord for rent, and Section 8 pays the remaining $700.00 to the landlord. The Fair Market Rent is essentially a ceiling on rent a landlord can charge to a Section 8 tenant. FMR levels are established annually by HUD. In Minneapolis-St. Paul, the fair market rent for a 1 bedroom is $713, a 2 bedroom $912, a 3 bedroom $1,233 and a 4 bedroom $1,397. These are in line with average rents in the City. Utility costs typically also factor in to the allowable overall rent that can be charged. Charging side payments or under the table payments to a section 8 tenant is illegal (e.g., you pay your $300 share, plus a $100 side payment, and I'll let you have the place cuz I'm also getting $700 from MPHA). Steve Meldahl implies or directly states that Section 8 tenants cause more damage than other non-subsidized tenants, based on his anecdotal stories. Other than those anecdotal stories (which I have very serious reasons to doubt) there are no factual bases for concluding that section 8 tenants are any different than other low-income tenants, or tenants in general. While Mr. Meldahl states that Section 8 tenants are judgment-proof, the possibility of losing a voucher subsidy is a significant penalty for a family and one that most families take very seriously, so there are certainly consequences for a tenant who excessively damages property or fails to live up to the tenant's end of the bargain. And thanks for Mr. Cullen, who spoke up as a landlord who has positive experiences renting to folks with Section 8 vouchers. Gregory Luce St. Paul TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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 TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] subscription
David, Trying to sign on with my new address. Thanks, Jon Gorder Loring Parkj TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] City Cabs and African American Riders
Becuase of our extremely authoritarian and mean director of Lisencing and Cuonsumer Services, Clara Schmidt-Gonzales, (who treats the taxi industry with total contempt) it often seems as though cab drivers are not stoping for people at will. This isn't exactly true. The Taxi ordinance prohibits any taxi from picking up anyone downtown when the taxi is not on the taxi stand. I once got the bejeezes beaten out of me by the MPD for picking up a fair in a non-designated area and my cab was towed. It's extremely unerstandale, considering that most of the cities cab drivers are of East-African origin and are experiencing a lot of racial profiling from the MPD that they would be a little paranoid about picking up in certain areas. If you are at a grocery store it's better to call the cab rather than wave one down. Most cabs will not stop if they are on the way to a radio call, and most of the business in Minneapolis are dispatched radio orders. Rainbow Taxi usually has the best response time. The taxi ordinance does prohibit any taxi driver from refusing a fair if they are the first in line and there is no radio call. If this happens to you, get the number of the taxi, note the time of day and call the taxi inspector I believe the number is (612) 673-2080. Right now, most cab drivers are desparate to make money. There's not a whole lot out there as business has been at it's worst in two decades and I'm sure that there are drivers out there cutting corners and breaking rules, but they don't really work for the city, there independent contractors and essentially small business owners. They aren't paid hourly, they don't have benefits, they don't have unions and are treated like criminals by the leadership in the city. The MPD is always running a sting on them or just looking for a reason to bust them or beat them, hence my 2001 city council run. Unfortunately, this hasn't changed. That's why I stopped doing driving taxi. Tamir Nolley Holland 3-2 'till '05 59a Vanessa Freeman wrote: Okay list, I have one thing that disturbs me greatly, cab's and why many of the drivers will not pick up african americans at any of the stops in downtown Minneapolis, especially when they, the cab drivers are black like me. It is very frustrating to walk up to a cab, and be told, take the one behind me, and when you go to that one, he says take the one behind me or I am waiting on somebody. Then there are times, when the cab driver downright refuses to make a quick stop by a store, or to take you grocery shopping. I thought we had cab inspectors, that are supposed to regulate cab drivers, that work for the city. Where are they, and why aren't they cracking down on this horrible problem. I remember a few years ago, Bill Cosby addressed this problem and it seemed to be good for a while, but, now I guess it is back to the norm. I think it's wrong to past somebody because they are not a hugh fair or not going to the airport. Vanessa Freeman Hawthorne __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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: NRP isn't so bad! Please leave the Coconuts and politicians out of the salad
From Tim Bonham, So if you are going to claim that NRP is somehow better or more democratic than having the elected officials do it, you have to address this issue, not just dismiss it. P.S. My Aunt Hazel used to make a salad that involved mixing apples and coconuts and several other fruits; I never saw anything wrong with that; I always thought it was pretty good! Tim, I guess you probably also thought that chopped up coconuts grew the same size as grapes. Your Aunt might have fed you that, but please don't try it with Anne. Though Young, she ain't no Mikie. Having been active in politics and in NRP, I doubt if she is going to swallow that one. So lets try to compare apples and apples, and leave the coconuts out of the bowl of your mind. General elections are like coconuts; NRP is more like a sub-caucus of a ward convention. Since caucuses and ward conventions pick the candidates for office, they are where the real political power lies. So lets compare a ward convention to Prospect Park's NRP meeting. We have just had one of both. The 3rd Ward Convention had 75 delegates show up to vote for the DFL endorsed candidate, and 250 people came to one neighborhood's, (of several in a ward) NRP meeting. Which is more democratic? I think you should also compare the amount of time and effort committed to the NRP process. If the DFL or one of the other Parties had that much effort they would win handily. So your comparison of levels of involvement just does not hold water. If the number of folks who showed up for NRP in Prospect park showed up for caucuses I bet we would have a new City Council person in each and every ward and possibly a new mayor. Those same NRP activists also generally do the work for the different political parties. Some people devote as much time each and every month to NRP as those individual delegates did at the Ward convention that one time every four years. Though after the convention some Neighborhood people probably did contribute a lot of time. That is why a non-endorsed candidate won. Congratulations to Don, but also congratulations to the neighborhood people. That is what it takes to get the CM your neighborhoods deserve, and it is the way to get the NRP programs your neighborhoods deserve. I hope other neighborhoods take notes about those great Jordan and Hawthorne Neighborhood people. Use the same tactics with your Council Members and we will solve the NRP problem. Of course Anne knows about this because she has contributed countless hours to each. She knows from experience with both. I might not agree with her about something's political and something's NRP, but I must admit Anne knows what is what when comparing political and NRP involvement. To some, NRP is just some kind of social engineering theory, but to those involved in their neighborhoods and communities it is something more; it is the act of a community coming together to address the needs of that community. That is why politicians have a problem with it. Autonomous Communities taking initiative to better themselves scare politicians and political hacks even more than they do social service industry workers. Neither one is particularly needed by a community intent on addressing its own needs. Before some political hack says, Yes, but where would they get the money? remember the politicians get the money from us; not the other way around. They are only bribing us with a small part of our own money. Since we are making comparisons of viewpoints and facts, I had to laugh about Greg Luce discounting Steve Meldahl's post on Section 8 as nothing more than anacdotal. Actually I think Steve's testimony would come under personal knowledge. Steve offers specific acts and not hearsay as evidence. Now he might also offer anecdotal evidence, because I am sure many other landlords have told Steve similar stories that if repeated would be anecdotal. What Mr. Meldahl offered was direct empirical evidence from a specific sample or universe, his past tenants. From that empirical data I believe Steve can make certain knowledgeable extrapolations and generalize about that particular sample. Mr. Luce's statements are anecdotal. He likely has no direct experience with this particular group of tenants. In fact Luce is often on the other side in such issues and as such getting and giving a completely biased anecdotal account. Unless of course he has access to Steve Medal's records and experiences. Does he Steve? For Barbara Nelson: You should be able to figure out some of the CM's who attempt to concentrate poverty, and who also attack NRP. Their voting records and statements made at the Council and at Committee Meetings, (which are televised), demonstrate who is who. Some change back and forth, so lets give them a chance to switch sides. We already know a couple that have switched. We have hopes for others. How
RE: [Mpls] Why the NRP is a Very Bad Thing
Jim Graham wrote: ...I find Michael Atherton's post so filled with sour grapes that it puckers my mind just reading it. David Brauer wrote: Frankly, I find the demonizing of disagreement to be particularly distasteful. It seems like so much of our civic discussion lately does not recognize legitimate differences of opinion - someone must be corrupt, or selfish. Terrell Brown wrote: I'm not willing to demonize my neighbors who have a different view on a subject than I do. These responses to my post are interesting given that they assume that I was upset about the proposals. I am not upset about the proposals. The majority of funds, approximately 80%, was allocated to our local community school. I am strongly in favor of community schools as long as per pupil spending is equivalent to other parts of the city. No, what I am upset about is the PROCESS, not the particular outcomes. It's the same issue that I've been raising here since I began posting about the NRP more than two years ago. It is also interesting that these posts seem to imply that being upset or angry diminishes the credibility of one's experience or the value of their opinion. But, this isn't Leave it To Beaver and it's no longer the 1950s when emotions were left out of polite conversation. I believe that in order to understand the worthiness of someone's perspective you need to know what lead up to their emotional state, not to claim that a person's emotional state invalidates their viewpoint. I believe that my original post in this thread identified general problems with the reallocation process, and my second post dealt with more specific details. I don't believe that this is sour grapes, the demonizing of disagreement, nor am I demonizing my neighbors because they have a different view. I am criticizing my neighbors because I believe that they were complicit in an unfair and biased process. And as I have repeated pointed out, some inherent aspects and the current policies of the NRP engender these types of negative interactions. My next post will be more specific. For the moment I want to emphasizes that the posts quoted here do not seem to me to deal directly with the issues I raised, but rather border on character assassination. I have repeatedly asked NRP representatives and supporters to address specific questions, but I haven't gotten direct responses. And, as I pointed out in a previous post: Minnesota Niceness seems to be used to suppress opposition, not only during NRP meetings, but now here as well. Michael Atherton Prospect Park TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] Rights and Wrongs
I'm not sure where Vicky Heller is coming from in her talk about rights. If you have a true understanding of American law, whenever individual rights came into conflict with the property rights of elite insiders, the property rights prevailed. And that includes the property rights of corporations. As you know, corporations are not individuals, thus the preference given to their property rights is not the protection of the rights of individuals. I wish that our governments did care about individual rights as much as the collective rights of shareholders and managers. It would be quite a different world. I want a transparent local government as much as anyone, and government meetings are supposed to be public business. However, a lot of times when communication is mishandled, you then have an enlarged crisis, inflamed by the poor quality of communication. How can you solve any problem without accurate communication? Take a listening class sometime, and you will find out communicating is not NEARLY as easy as you may suppose. It could be that most trouble in human communities are due to bad communication. If the mayor can actually improve it so we're looking at only the problem, not the distortion of it due to poor communication, he will have moved local government a step in the right direction. -- Jim Mork--Cooper War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it; and those who brought war into our Country deserve all the curses and maledictions a people can pour out. Gen. William T. Sherman (1864) Letter to the Mayor of Atlanta. Get your free Web-based E-mail at http://www.startribune.com/stribmail TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] County Board/Black History Exhibit
One of the primary concerns of educators teaching the history of the Graphic material should be used judiciously and only to the extent necessary to achieve the objective of the lesson WM: I don't know who is being quoted here, but I completely disagree with the sentiment. What does judiciously and only to the extent necessary to achieve the objective of the lesson mean? Judicious to whom? The individual teacher? The Bd. of Ed? The population in general? The student? Children and adults see many things, none of which can be truly controlled by schools or anyone else for that matter. It drove me crazy, as a student, from the time I was quite small, to have teachers and librarians trying to govern what I could see and read--despite the fact that my parents gave permission to both school and library that I be allowed to read anything I liked and look at picture books I chose myself. My parents were poor as church mice, as were most of my known relatives. We relied entirely on public libraries and the school for reading material, except for the daily newspaper. We relied on the art museum for pictures. We relied on the TV for baseball. ... The assumption that all students will seek to understand human behavior after being exposed to horrible images is fallacious. Some students may be so appalled by images of brutality and mass murder that they are discouraged from studying the subject further. WM: It was ever thus. Some people, on hearing and seeing, will create mythology by declaring loudly and often that the pictures, the stories, the written accounts are all a conspiracy and a lie. Some of those folks, currently, deny that the Holocaust happened. Others, being less agressive, join the Flat Earth Society. None of this quote is germaine to why Mike Opat censored a history exhibit. His own justification was, in my mind, way lame. For whatever reason, Opat, who works in that building, didn't want to look at that picture every weekday, so he used his bigger hammer so that he wouldn't have to. Neither can we look at it. Who died and left him in charge of what the population can see? WizardMarks, Central 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 TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] 5th Park Dist- First Round of Finalists
The first round of finalists has been chosen for the 5th District Park Commissioner seat. The following 7 folks will now have a 20-minute interview this coming Wed. (Feb. 12th) where they will answer questions developed by the current Commissioners while also having some personal time to speak to us or for QA. Commissioners will vote for two after these interviews and another interview may occur. It takes six votes to receive the appointment. These meetings are open to the public. Greg Bastien Lou Chouinard W. Harry Davis Mary Ann Feldman Larry Fitzgerald Carol Kummer John Lilly Again, folks who want to give input publicly or off-line please feel free to e-mail me with your comments. This is an extremely important decision - I value your input. Annie Young CODE PINK - East Phillips citywide Park Commissioner TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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: Section 8 Issues
Here's the law: A public housing authority (in this case the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority) must terminate a tenant from the section 8 program if that tenant is evicted for a serious lease violation. Damaging a property to the extent that Mr. Meldahl alleges would amount to a serious lease violation, and the MPHA has no discretion to allow that tenant to remain in the program--federal law mandates that it must terminate the voucher. It is also law--and good sense--that the general public cannot obtain data about persons who receive public assistance (which includes Section 8), especially since those that do are often maligned or stigmatized based solely on the fact that they receive such assistance. So the fact that MPHA would not release individual data on a Section 8 recipient is perfectly and understandably legal-- indeed it is compelled by law. Ultimately, a previous landlord would not know if a tenant was terminated from the voucher program. But, having represented or advised tenants in termination proceedings, I can tell you first hand that it happens. Am I saying tenants do not damage rental property? No. Am I reiterating that Section 8 tenants are no different than other tenants? Yep. Gregory Luce St. Paul Steve Meldahl wrote: Mr. Luce appears to be new to the game. The fact is this - if a section 8 tenant wrecks a house or apartment, they do not lose their voucher in Minnesota. In fact I brought this fact to the attention of Representative Ramstad and Senator Grams in December 1997. They referred me to Jerry Benoit, one of the heads of HUD in Washington DC and on 12-19-97, and he told me that it was up to each state individually if they would allow these destructive tenants to remain in the section 8 program. Our liberal state decided that it was ok to leave them in the program. I also received a letter from Thomas Feeney, Coordinator for HUD in Minnesota on 12-16-97 that states, Minneapolis Public Housing has elected not to release participant (tenant) information. In other words, they can remain in the program and we do not have to tell you or anyone! TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] Why the NRP is a Very Bad Thing
Michael writes: I believe that my original post in this thread identified general problems with the reallocation process, and my second post dealt with more specific details. I don't believe that this is sour grapes, the demonizing of disagreement, nor am I demonizing my neighbors because they have a different view. For the moment I want to emphasizes that the posts quoted here do not seem to me to deal directly with the issues I raised, but rather border on character assassination. I would say this is an example of what I'm talking about. In your original post, you wrote What I find most distressing about this process is that my neighbors care little what means they use as long as their ends are achieved. Now, to some, that might be character assassination. It is at least mind-reading...and very unkind mind-reading at that. Discussing process, in my view, doesn't absolve one of demonizing disagreement. As I wrote in my original post, It seems like so much of our civic discussion lately does not recognize legitimate differences of opinion - someone must be corrupt, or selfish. When I was neighborhood board president, I received a call from a councilmember about the proposed Ace Hardware house move. The councilmember was letting me know a new organization had approached him about moving the houses. At the time, they were offering to move the houses WITHOUT NRP money (potentially saving us money) but making them affordable. So I told the councilmember sounds great to me and he should see what the organization could do. This was really a courtesy call, because the board's only goals at that point were saving the houses and making them affordable. No decisions had to be made by us. The new group still would present in front of our full board at our next meeting. Since this was between board meetings - which is why the councilmember called me in the first place - I notified the rest of the board so they were in the loop. For this, a board member who opposed moving the houses accused me of being part of the good ol' boy network for having the conversation. My mouth was agape, and still is. It hurt. Big deal, you say, I'm a big boy. Yup. And I'll add, as a journalist, I have probably levied the same charge at others - so it was my karma coming back. But, from my vantage point, what was going on is that someone who didn't like my decision (pro-house-move) had decided that my motives must be wrong and my therefore, my actions corrupt. Not that I was a good person who had come to a different conclusion for legitimate reasons and was proceeding ethically. As I said, I see this all over the place, and part of it is human nature. There are also times when something IS really wrong, when someone does something dishonest. But based on several years of neighborhood involvement - and seeing some decisions I didn't like - I believe the demonizing of disagreement happens WAY more often than is justified among volunteers. It is a cancer that drains good people of energy. It's no way to build a city. So I guess, on some level, I too am making a process argument. David Brauer King Field TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. 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] A Building for Black History
In a message dated 2/7/2003 1:58:34 PM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: to a defendant or a family member of a defendant in the Hennepin Cty court system for whom English may not be a first language and America might not be a first culture, the image of a lynching displayed in a courthouse might mean something quite different than it would someone born and raised here. As Minneapolis is home to the Center for Victims of Torture and the American Refugee Committee, this scenario is not as remote as it may seem. Speaking as one who has traveled extensively, I must say that nothing is farther from the truth. The world is long aware of America's racist history, more particularly, of its continuing, however disguised romance of the notion of supremacy. It is flagrantly flaunted around the world in the form of "foreign policy", supported primarily by the iexportation of disgust, deceit, and implements of destruction. Yes, the world knows. The question is not simply whether or not the painting sparked a rennasaince of grieviances toward racist attitudes, nor is it any longer whom is more racist than the other, a theme to which the picture cannot subscribe. It is however and indication of the depth, or lack of depth, associated with the clandestine atmosphere surrounding rascism, and a pretty good indicator of how volatile a matter the subject is. The real question is what should be done because of it? Let's bring it to the center, deal with it for what it is, and decide to get on with the business of building lives, irrespective of skin color, origin, gender, or perception. It is time that we realize that the truth of existence is not captive in the views of others, rather it is the prisons that we build in our minds based on the actions or reactions of other filtering into our perceptions of self. We should all learn from our history and carve out those elements that have lead us to perceive one another as "different, therefore, bad". There is good and bad in all. But by learning from past mistakes, we can project ourselve around the obstacles presented in the baggage that comes with misplaced emotions. Spend your energies on your vision, as long as that vision reflects you, and is not subject to anothers perception. When we have learned that this is the path traveled to success, we will all attain it. It does not matter what others think of you unless you concede to their thoughts, perceptions and views rather than your own. I submit to you however that you cannot get here without learning the pitfalls and mistakes of your past. Remember that God has given to no one any more than he has given to you. What will you do with yours?/ Robert Anderson Field Regina South Minneapolis.
Fwd: [Mpls] Rybak orders police not to talk to media
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: In the corporate world, situations which occur internally are not discussed with the media We are discussing our city's government here, not the corporate world. Free, intelligent media - like the one we are participating in now - are a requirement for a healthy democracy. The media have a right to expect access to the city government players in a news story. Individuals with something to contribute to a story - be they city employees or not - have a right to talk to whomever they choose (be they reporters or not). Discussion about centralizing the city's communications functions have been going on for quite a while at City Hall. I did not know when, or how, this was going to be rolled out. I also did not know that the mayor was going to propose limiting access to police officers. And I do not support this. This action raises many questions: Who will craft the unified message that the centralized communications department delivers? Is it valuable to have ALL city communications uniform and unified? Does this mean that the mayor's own CIO, Laura Sether, will now report to the city's Communications Director? How is this reform to the city's communications functions formalized by city council action? I am a reform minded person. I am always interested in thoughtful, responsible improvements. I hope that we can use the mayor's proposal as a starting point in the discussion about how to find efficiencies and cost savings by integrating some of our city's communications. Yours, Robert Lilligren Ward 8 ---BeginMessage--- I do not see why Mayor Rybak's idea of having a unified front is merely putting a spin on the issues coming out of city hall. Right now, when the police force is under extreme scrutiny from the media and public, instead of letting the police hang out to dry, the Mayor has chosen to solidify himself and his office with the police force and make sure that everything coming out of the office has been examined and reported in a valid nature. In the corporate world, situations which occur internally are not discussed with the media until either the situation is resolved or a majority of the investigation surrounding the incident has been completed. If a unified message is not given before an issue has met resolution, then the media will drag out premature conclusions and blow them up all over the 5 o'clock news. Lets let the decision makers make their decisions and report in due time. We have elected these officials, its about time we start showing our trust and appreciation for them in this city's time of need. Ryan Hagemeier Minnetonka Message: 11 From: Lisa McDonald [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [Mpls] Rybak orders police not to talk to media Date: Fri, 07 Feb 2003 08:42:33 -0600 I must say I'm curious about the lack of response on this list to the Mayor's latest effort to try to spin news out of City Hall. As someone who has been both a reporter and an elected official I have found that the best way to have a relationship with the media is to be open, available and honest, regardless of whether it is good or bad news. In fact I think the media is often fairer with those folks who are, than those that aren't. Case in point...how the media often treated past City Council President Jackie Cherryhomes, who was generally unavailable to the media. I'm bewildered that the Mayor and his chief of communications and the communications director could all make such a bonehead move with the media, especially since two of the three had been reporters themselves. And clearly from the amount of backpadeling in today's paper by the Mayor in an article and a letter to the editor, indicates that this wasn't a well thought out decision. Quite frankly reporters will report the story of the day and you can't ask them to sugar coat it by giving them some goody, goody news to print at the same time. Good public relations folks know that. You try to push the positive stories as stand alone articles highlighting the accomplishments of the police department. And this new city communications policy in no way makes that happen, any more than the previous policy. In fact it might cause reporters to not pick up positive stories because they figure it is an attempt by the Mayor's office to control the news. If the Mayor is so concerned about controlling what the media gets, than why in a recent Strib article, when asked what he though about the incident in the Native American Community, did he say no comment and direct reporters to the police chief. That's hardly consistent with this new policy. Secondly his comment in today's paper indicating that reporters should asked the police chief why he disagreed with the change came across as petulant. Yesterday's article indicated that the Mayor instituted this change to give people the reality... the good, the bad and the ugly. Unfortunately I'm
Re: [Mpls] Doug Grow: Controversy draws attention to black history display
Hello List, Can someone please tell me when it is officially White History Month? I would be interested to know when and where this exhibit will be put up, and by whom. And, what specifically would this exhibitcontain? Sounds stupid does it not? A White person will never even have to think of such a thing in their lifetime. I don't believe some people really understand how degrading having the lifetime achievements of ones race relegated to one month out of the year. There exists so very many everyday unsung Rosa Parks and MLK Jr.'s in our world. Yet every year we elevate the status of these two to near sainthood, and overlook these remarkable treasures walking unherlded amongst us. We miss the chance to honor them "Simply Because" of who they are everyday of the year. We wait for special occaisions instead of living and making them daily. I ask you again, as I have before: What are we waiting for? and WHY ARE WE WAITING? We are going to war. Must someone die before we celebrate them? Must someone give their life willingly or will one be taken by default. Must we wait for the designated month, day or hour? Or worse still - PERMISSION? I would like to say how much I appreciate everyone on this list whether I agree with their thoughts or not. You have helped shape my world on a daily basis, by living in the moment. I salute your freedom of words and deeds and have been inspired time and again to do the same.I have deeply held values and beliefs that rock my soul on a minute by minute basis, and which do not allow me tovalueone race overanother. I recognize the inherentdifferences in the races, but the race of humankind is the one I most revere and love. This is the one thing that my God requiresme to do with a willing heart,and I promised him I would keep that mandate first and foremost. I am going to spend a moment in silence tomorrow (Saturday) at high noon to give thanks for someone or something inmy life just because. I welcome your shared communion wherever you are. God Bess. Pamela Taylor (Whose soapbox sometimes becomes a pulpit, because her spirituality is a gift she sometimes cannot contain, preaching from the heart in Tampa) Further, a document reciting the history of African American settlement in the Shingle Creek community was produced as part of the Humboldt Greenway project. This document was later serialized in the Shingle Creek neighborhood (NRP) newsletter to honor BlackHistory Month.Some Information on Activities during Black History Month:http://www.co.hennepin.mn.us/pa/newstips/PAnewstips143.BlackHistory.htmJeffrey L. StrandShingle CreekDo you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now
