RE: [Mpls] What will the war against Iraq cost Minnesotans?
Despite the misaddressed complaints, they are right: this thread is far from Minneapolis-specific. Statewide issues cannot be justified by our share of the state population (8 percent). Members: please don't use that as an excuse. I'm unfortunately in warning mode. Please, everyone, get back to Minneapolis-specific topics. That's what this list was set up for. There are statewide lists at www.e-democracy.org or many, many, many national lists for other concerns 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] Speaking of Bus Stops . . .
Why are the schedules in [Minneapolis, have to relevant here] bus stops generally placed over the seats so that I have to stick my face in somebody else's face in order to find out when my bus is due? Not very user friendly, I'd say. Ray Marshall, Hiawatha 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] Mourn, don't organize antiwar protests
MoveOn.org is the prime organizer of the candle light vigils in Minneapolis. MoveOn.org has been hot-wired to the Democratic Party from the git-go. It fundraises for Democratic Party candidates. MoveOn.org was launched with a campaign called something like 'Do the impeachment vote and move on back in the mid-1990's. Since then, MoveOn.org has raised beaucoup bucks for Democratic Party politicians. I looked over the whole MoveOn web site a few months ago. Last fall MoveOn.org set up the 'Win Without War' coalition. These people support the project of disarming, overthrowing and replacing the government of Iraq, preferably with UN approval. The only way to win without war is to prepare for war, and hope that the Iraqi government will roll over and play dead. (That's the Sojourners Plan in a nutshell) MoveOn.org is not going to call for the immediate withdrawal of US troops from the Persian Gulf. They prefer to help give Bush the cover he needs to prepare for war, and to weep and light candles for all the people who are about to be slaughtered in order to make Iraq a de facto colony of the US. The 'Iraqi threat' is a smokescreen. -Doug Mann, King Field Mann for School Board web site http://educationright.tripod.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] Star Tribune Story About Fire Department Cuts/Safety
Hello Minneapolis Folks: Please read this Star Tribune article about Minneapolis Fire Department cuts, and the impact public safety. http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/3757552.html Ken Bradley Corcoran Neighborhood __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Web Hosting - establish your business online http://webhosting.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] Thank You, Governor. One More Minneapolis Program Bites the Dust
All: I've recently learned of another item of collateral damage from the Governor's budgetary bombs on Minnesota cities. There will be no more Spring Clean-Up Saturdays in Minneapolis. While individual neighborhoods supported the Saturday Spring Clean-Ups with volunteers and other help, the chief aid came from the city of Minneapolis in its willingness to supply packer trucks to dispose of all the stuff left at curbside for disposal. In Prospect Park we got four or five packer trucks and they each made two to four trips to the burner. It was a very useful project that not only got rid of everyone's excess stuff but also tires, paint, brush, Buckthorn, metal, and cement. But without the city's ability to contribute, Spring Cleanup in all Minneapolis neighborhoods is going to go away. I'm not so foolish as to say we should keep the Spring Cleanup assistance and do with less police and firefighters. But it's a shame that choices like that have to be made at all. This is another example of what you get when no new taxes has been sold by Governor Pawlenty as a universal cure. Steve Cross 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] Thank You, Governor.....and I mean it sincerely
Steve Cross wrote: [Spring Cleanup Saturdays] was a very useful project that not only got rid of everyone's excess stuff but also tires, paint, brush, Buckthorn, metal, and cement. But without the city's ability to contribute, Spring Cleanup in all Minneapolis neighborhoods is going to go away. But it's a shame that choices like that have to be made at all. Vicky replies: There is one more choice that Mr. Cross didn't mention: Property owners can be responsible for cleaning up their own messes. Neighbors might even ante up and get a dumpster - they're not that expensive. I do agree with Steve Cross on one point however. Thank you Governor Pawlenty. Those of us who do the heavy lifting taxwise sincerely appreciate your efforts. 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] Thank You, Governor. One More Minneapolis Program Bites the Dust
Bill Cullen said: We don't get either program in the burbs. I pay for my spring cleaning annually. My reply: Here we have what is the essence of the problem with Minnesota politics right now. It's the attitude If we don't need it in the burbs, then nobody needs it. Until we get back to some kind of acceptance that we've got different needs (and living in the burbs doesn't make you a rugged individualist) and that we've all got to stick together to support those needs, then our society is just going to get more and more sick. When that time comes, as it surely must with politics divided the way it is, then living in the central cities or the burbs will both be harrowing experiences. Steve Cross 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] Bus Stop
I cannot IMAGINE who came up with the idea of stopping busses in the very place where vehicles have to be to turn, AND where cars from the side street have to look to see if traffic is coming. Tell ya, it makes one VERY nervous about making a turn into a traffic lane, wondering if the bus is hiding some oncoming vehicle. Anyway, long-story-short, MCTO should hasn't this process as fast as funds will allow. We have innumerable traffic hazards built into our urban life, but every one that disappears brings some improvement (when can we get parking by vans and huge trucks right AT the intersection banned?) Jim Mork Cooper Only a LUNATIC would cut schools to buy more bombs. We hold these truths to be self-evidentthat governments derive their just powers by the consent of the governedDeclaration of Independence _ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. 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
Re: [Mpls] Thank You, Governor.....and I mean it sincerely
Victoria, Can you please elaborate on your concept of 'those who are doing the heavy lifting taxwise' ? I'm trying to figure out who falls into this group. If I fall into your grouping, I would appeal to you not to thank the governor in my name. I would gladly pay higher taxes to retain some of the services getting the axe. Respectfully, Jason Stone / Nokomis Victoria Heller [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Steve Cross wrote:"[Spring Cleanup Saturdays] was a very useful project that not only got ridof everyone's excess "stuff" but also tires, paint, brush, Buckthorn,metal, and cement. But without the city's ability to contribute, SpringCleanup in all Minneapolis neighborhoods is going to go away. But it's ashame that choices like that have to be made at all."Vicky replies:There is one more choice that Mr. Cross didn't mention: Property ownerscan be responsible for cleaning up their own messes. Neighbors might evenante up and get a dumpster - they're not that expensive.I do agree with Steve Cross on one point however. Thank you GovernorPawlenty. Those of us who do the heavy lifting taxwise sincerelyappreciate your efforts.Vicky HellerCedar-Riverside and North OaksTEMPORARY 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-DemocracyPost messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mplsDo you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Web Hosting - establish your business online
[Mpls] Lack of Diversity in political thought/application
Bill Cullen said: We don't get either program in the burbs. I pay for my spring cleaning annually. My reply: Here we have what is the essence of the problem with Minnesota politics right now. ( CM) I call it differences of opinion settled on election day. It's the attitude If we don't need it in the burbs, then nobody needs it. (CM) I would say the same but converse thinking has ruled the city for two decades. I call it the Imperial Paris method thinking of your typical Minneapolitan. You must support our great things-programs inside of our mother city boarders. You suburbanites have no desire, brainpower, or cultural need to have these things in your ugly conformist bedroom communities. Snif-Snif. Until we get back to some kind of acceptance that we've got different needs (and living in the burbs doesn't make you a rugged individualist) and that we've all got to stick together to support those needs, (CM) Translation, suburbanites pay higher taxes to support your entertainment, cultural pursuits,NRP's etc. then our society is just going to get more and more sick. (CM) Self inflicted? When that time comes, as it surely must with politics divided the way it is, then living in the central cities or the burbs will both be harrowing experiences. (CM) I'll bet you your wrong. The suburbanites will pay taxes to support their basic needs. They already do and then pay some of Mpls's basic needs. Why can't the city of Mpls behave like the oldest child in this big Minnesota family and take a LEAD roll in starting a new renisaince of municipal governance and life. Show the rest of the state how a vibrant, bustling, pounding city can pay for itself and kick the junk habit of moaning in withdrawal pain of not having someone elses money to spend? Leadership is not crying about how the rest of your family won't help you in your addiction of someone elses money. Craig Miller Rogers, MN Former Citizen and Future Citizen of the Minneapple 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] Solutions for Trash
Sorry, Vicky, but you do come up with quite a few impractical suggestions. No one can contradict your statement that property owners can be responsible. Of course they can. Criminals can be honest. Rich men can ge generous. Presidents can be peaceful. Yada yada yada. What if a property owner isn't? How intrusive do you want the government to be? Are you suggesting inflating the size of the government to whatever size necessary to harass property owners who aren't up to your standards? And you forget another thing. Travel is free in the USA. That's a constitutional right. City people could drive to your street and leave their trash there as you could drive to a Minneapolis street and create a mess with little or no danger to yourself. So, now what do we do? If it isn't really my neighbor's mess, what is the solution? As for renting a personal truck, I know that will sell big-time in the suburbs, but it seems foolish to pay those rates if as a city we can OWN our truck or even have our county own it and serve everyone. This rent it yourself tendency suggests a small-business outlook, which ignores everything humanity has learned about economies of scale. If there are cities in our region who have decided to do it that way, the leaders must have been hampered by the general attitude of non-cooperation between residents. I agree that the best solution is personal if your problem is UNIQUE. But there's nothing unique about cleaning up trash. It is mundane and predictable problem which is most economically handled by permanent solutions. Those who live in distrust of others pay monetarily for their condition. Jim Mork Cooper Only a LUNATIC would cut schools to buy more bombs. We hold these truths to be self-evidentthat governments are formed, deriving their just powers by the consent of the governedDeclaration of Independence _ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. 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
RE: [Mpls] Solutions for Trash
Title: RE: [Mpls] Solutions for Trash Hi Jim, I think the point that Vicky was trying to make is that people need to be responsible for their actions and pull their own way. That's all! Sincerely, John Mueller Audubon Park -Original Message- From: Jim Mork [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Sunday, March 16, 2003 4:48 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Mpls] Solutions for Trash Sorry, Vicky, but you do come up with quite a few impractical suggestions. No one can contradict your statement that property owners can be responsible. Of course they can. Criminals can be honest. Rich men can ge generous. Presidents can be peaceful. Yada yada yada. What if a property owner isn't? How intrusive do you want the government to be? Are you suggesting inflating the size of the government to whatever size necessary to harass property owners who aren't up to your standards? And you forget another thing. Travel is free in the USA. That's a constitutional right. City people could drive to your street and leave their trash there as you could drive to a Minneapolis street and create a mess with little or no danger to yourself. So, now what do we do? If it isn't really my neighbor's mess, what is the solution? As for renting a personal truck, I know that will sell big-time in the suburbs, but it seems foolish to pay those rates if as a city we can OWN our truck or even have our county own it and serve everyone. This rent it yourself tendency suggests a small-business outlook, which ignores everything humanity has learned about economies of scale. If there are cities in our region who have decided to do it that way, the leaders must have been hampered by the general attitude of non-cooperation between residents. I agree that the best solution is personal if your problem is UNIQUE. But there's nothing unique about cleaning up trash. It is mundane and predictable problem which is most economically handled by permanent solutions. Those who live in distrust of others pay monetarily for their condition. Jim Mork Cooper Only a LUNATIC would cut schools to buy more bombs. We hold these truths to be self-evidentthat governments are formed, deriving their just powers by the consent of the governed Declaration of Independence _ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. 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
RE: [Mpls] Thank You, Governor. One More Minneapolis Program Bites the Dust
Steve Cross said: Here we have what is the essence of the problem with Minnesota politics right now. It's the attitude If we don't need it in the burbs, then nobody needs it. Until we get back to some kind of acceptance that we've got different needs (and living in the burbs doesn't make you a rugged individualist) and that we've all got to stick together to support those needs, then our society is just going to get more and more sick. When that time comes, as it surely must with politics divided the way it is, then living in the central cities or the burbs will both be harrowing experiences. My reply: Wait a second. My response was factual. I said 1) there is a free alternative still available in Mpls and 2) Hopkins doesn't provide either of these programs. In the future, should I assume that all experiences in the suburbs are not welcome here? If you don't agree with my points, then argue the facts. Dismissing anyone's input as the problem with Minnesota politics right now is not productive. Regards, Bill Cullen. Hopkins (I own a business in Uptown) 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] Thank You, Governor.....and I mean it sincerely
The biggest mess makers in my neighborhood are the rental properties. Got any ideas for getting them to 'take responsibility'? Anne McCandless Jordan 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] Clean Sweep
Minneapolis does more than most cities as far as trash removal is concerned. Regular pickups include such things as mattresses and furniture besides the garbage and recycling. Every household may request vouchers to dispose of spring cleaning items. Tires, petroleum, building products and chemicals can be deposited at transfer stations. Given the level of regular services, Clean Sweep was an expensive perk that neighborhoods can easily do without. There are considerable differences between trash collections in urban grids (cities or towns) and suburban developments. Density, the number of people contributing their share of trash and garbage is only one example. To their credit, for the past two years Hennepin County has sponsored a program that made compost systems available at a very reasonable price to city residents to encourage a reduction in wet and dry garbage suitable for composting. For many neighborhoods, the real product of Clean Sweep was not the trash. It was the opportunity for volunteers to meet and greet neighbors, get to know their neighborhood better and if the sweep event was shared, the opportunity to get to know neighbors across the borders. Clean Sweep tours of the alleys also turned up some beautiful gardens usually not seen from the street. There were at least two gardens, first seen during the Sweep included on Folwell's Secret Garden Tour, held for the first time last year in conjunction with the annual Blue Ribbon House and Garden competition. In the spirit of pride some neighborhoods will still hold Clean Sweep celebrations. Those events will just be different; graffiti removal, alley cleaning and any number of other projects like picking up trash in vacant lots or intersections. Perhaps the folks who will be the saddest to see Clean Sweep go will be those who really love to ride on the garbage trucks! Roberta Englund, Folwell 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] Interest Payments to Tax Avoiding Bondholders Threaten Public Safety
In response to Ms. Heller's post: Does anyone on the list recognize that the financial weapon of mass destruction is DEBT? I think that everyone who holds a mortgage would have to argue with this statement. Also the bond rating agencies who give the City a AAA bond rating would probably argue. Does anyone on the list realize that the DEBT SERVICE expenditures slated for 2003 are $180,642,000? (Page 32 of the 2001 Minneapolis Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports.) Yes. That's right - debt service is $34+ million MORE than the Police and Fire budget of $146.4 million. On the 2003 Truth in Taxation Expenditure Budget ($1.22 billion) Police is shown as 8% of the spending plan ($97.6 million), and Fire is shown as 4% of the spending plan ($48.8 million.) The implication here is that this money could be used for police or other general tax needs. Simply put, it can't be. Most of those revenue sources are only available for their own uses and can't be used to buy cops. Examples include tax increment debt, water, and sewer debt. I don't know if this includes the non-profit debt. Minneapolis shot itself in the foot. We have actually REDUCED the taxes collected by the State (and Federal government) by excessive use of MUNICIPAL BOND FINANCING FOR PRIVATE BUSINESSES and by promoting an incredible proliferation of NON-PROFIT and TAX-EXEMPT enterprises. Well given that the biggest user of these have been hospitals and schools and such, it is sort of hard to see this. It is in the City's best interest to have a healthy non-profit sector as there are certain services that are best provided through this sector of the economy. When a business borrows money from a bank, the bank must pay Federal and State taxes on the interest it earns. When a business uses the government to borrow, the government sells municipal bonds to get cash, then gives the cash to the business. The business (in the case of self-supporting bonds) pays interest to the bondholders - but the bondholders don't have to pay taxes on their income. This is true - this is why there is a financial advantage to using municipal bonds for non-profit agencies. As of 12/31/2001, Minneapolis had general obligation debt reported as self-supporting bonds of $829,902,000. (Whether or not these bonds are really self-supporting is another story.) Well it actually isn't another story. If the CAFR says that they are self-supporting, they are self-supporting according to generally accepted accounting principals (GAAP). I get the impression that Listmembers resent rich folks who don't pay taxes. Well, then why don't you stop giving them the opportunity to avoid paying taxes? STOP - before you hurt yourself again. No, what I think is that people resent is that over the last ten years there has been a steady shift of taxes off the rich and onto the middle and lower class, which has resulted in the highest concentration of wealth in REMEMBER THE ADAGE: FIGURES NEVER LIE, BUT LIARS ALWAYS FIGURE And sometimes people don't understand the figures at all... Carol Becker Longfellow 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] Affordable Housing - Other Ideas/Wanted:Skilled Repair Person
In a message dated 3/16/03 4:48:22 PM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: So what else is there? One thought I had was whether it would be possible to create a voluntary program for businesses located in Minneapolis. The business pays a living wage to employees who are Minneapolis residents (maybe leave out teenagers that are working the after-school or summer job) and get a tax credit of some kind. I'm guessing it would probably have to be a property tax credit, since I don't know what other taxes business pay specifically to Minneapolis. Obviously, there would be folks who say we cannot afford to do something like this with the deficits we're facing, but I wonder. If our residents are earning a paycheck they can thrive on, how much would we save in not having to subsidize housing as much? Keith says; Your heart is in the right place; improving peoples' lives. And your mind is open; listening to the ideas of professional problem solvers called landlord. It is the conditioned response, your knee jerk response, that needs to be checked. You, and others, say city dwelling heads of families, in poverty, need better pay. Let us promote the individual; not subsidize the market place. Let us determine, and promote, learning the skill sets needed to earn more in the market. Let us promote the individual's marketability. Let us not set up an arcane, labyrinthine system to subsidize burger flipping, or whatever else in a low orbit, with government money. It is a dead end with a huge price tag. Recommendation: Train a person to repair older dwellings. Replace door knobs, change a lock, refit a door. Also fix, and unplug, toilets, and other minor plumbing. Replace a smoke detector is common. Paint a wall, or a room. Rescreen, or reglaze a window, is often essential. Some knowledge, an alarm clock, a couple buckets of tools, sobriety, a drivers license, and a small PU. Good to go. Subsidy over. I just wrote the job description of the guy, or gail, that could come to work for me tomorrow. If you qualify, please E-mail me. 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
[Mpls] Democratic Parks
I just returned from seeing my daughter and granddaughter off at the airport and on my way home I took adrive around Lake Harriet. What a lovely sight! People walking, as many as four abreast, on the walking path and the bike trail.There werecertainly several thousand,with candles and flashlightsand alight fog veiling the view. Soft singing, "All we are saying is give peace a chance." The original people who conceived of and built the public parks in America talked about the democratic idea of public parks.They were to be harmonious gathering places for the masses. We are fortunate to live inAmerica where we have theright toexpress our opinion, and we are blessed to have been provided with these democratic gathering places in which to do it. This was awonderful example of democracy at work.Thanks to those who organized the peace walk. Joan Berthiaume Minneapolis Parks Legacy Society
[Mpls] Candlelight Peace Vigil Update
This is as Minneapolis as it is going to get... The Windom Park/Audubon Park gathering at Lowry Ave and Johnson St in northeast Minneapolis drew approximately 150 people. Kind of surprising given that our area of town is generally perceived to have more of the law and order types than other parts of Minneapolis. We pretty much lined up along one of the Windom Park walking paths. Like Betsy's gathering, lots of families with children were there, but also a lot of older folks as well. Even though I knew only a few of the other people there, it was really nice to be a part of it. Mark Snyder Windom Park, Minneapolis On 3/16/03 10:04 PM, Betsy Barnum [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: There were approximately 175-200 on the Franklin Ave. bridge. It was so lovely, the quietness, the misty twilit sky, almost-full moon coming out of the clouds and reflecting in the black water of the river, lots of families, children, babies, people singing softly, chatting, lining both sides of the bridge in groups and clusters, some walking along to see who had comeone couple passing out good candles and small paper cups to catch the wax to those whose own candle wouldn't stay lit. I saw so many of my neighbors, greeting, hugging, everyone was touching, smiling, so many people wanting peace, just wanting peace. My boarder, a young woman from Germany, was delighted to see a sign saying Deutschland, ja! and she stopped to chat a bit with those who held it. We came home and ate potato soup. Good comfort food. Life in the world could be so good, so sweet, so creative and celebratory, so connected, connecting, affirming of all life's desire to live, to be Betsy Barnum Seward neighborhood Minneapolis [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: The Candlelight Peace Vigil held in Wayzata was 350-400 strong tonight. Pretty impressive being it was one of the first in Wayzata, a western suburb in a very conservative area. Keep on marching and praying for peace, Danene Provencher Mound 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] This Week in The Minneapolis Observer
T H E M I N N E A P O L I S O B S E R V E R A Weekly Digest of All Things Minneapolitan www.mplsobserver.com Vol. 2, No. 31 March 17, 2003 This is a preview of this week's Observer. To check out a sample issue of the e-weekly, visit www.mplsobserver.com. If you like what you see, please consider subscribing ($12/yr.). Just hit 'reply' and we'll set you up. Thanks. ** THIS WEEK IN THE OBSERVER: * New Central Library May Not Be Built * University Opens Health Clinic to Uninsured * Scully Returns With Gay Men's Dance Group * Rybak Rallying Opposition to Noise Insulation Cuts * Students Plan Walkout When Bush Invades * Metro Transit Goes Hybrid Plus: Sabo brings home the bacon, library chief takes a pay cut, remembering Ferris Alexander, and disarming the White House ** NEW CENTRAL LIBRARY MAY NOT BE BUILT Minneapolis Public Library director Kit Hadley will deliver a set of recommendations designed to salvage plans for a new downtown library when she meets today with the city council's Ways and Means Committee. The meeting comes at a time of mounting pressure to kill the $140 million project because of city budget constraints. As Ellen Nigon and Bob Gilbert note in the Skyway News (http://www.skywaynews.net), the mayor and the city council are contemplating whether to issue the bonds required for the project even as the old library becomes a pile a rubble. The problem, they explain, is that the city and the Library Board may not be able to afford the debt service on the $140 million project. The city council recently approved budget cuts of $55 million and may have to cut another $80 million in the next two years. The Library Board this year faces a $25 million operating shortfall. Because of the severity of the proposed LGA cuts to the city, everything has to be on the table, including the library, said Rybak. In November 2000 city voters overwhelmingly approved a $140 million referendum to build the new library, but that money does not include operating expenses--a key sticking point, according to the mayor. We cannot build the Central Library and all the community libraries in the way we have envisioned them, Rybak said. Compromises will have to be made. Among those compromises could be a less ambitious design, no new planetarium, community library cutbacks, or even a merger with the Hennepin County library system. Scrapping the new library altogether is not an option, said Second Ward Council Member Paul Zerby, but he's not sure what the solution might be. The old library is being demolished, the books are over in the old Federal Reserve Building, we got a $110 million referendum passed, and every year we wait will make it that much more expensive to build, he said. I cannot conceive that we are in a situation where we are going to stop everything. But how we get out of this I do not know. UNIVERSITY OPENS HEALTH CARE CLINIC TO UNINSURED The University of Minnesota last week opened a new medical clinic in the Phillips Neighborhood designed to meet the health care needs of people without health insurance. SCULLY RETURNS WITH GAY MEN'S DANCE COMPANY The creative force behind Patrick's Cabaret is creating a new dance company. RYBAK RALLYING OPPOSITION TO NOISE INSULATION CUTS Ending a long silence on the airport noise issue, Mayor R.T. Rybak last week encouraged city residents to pack today's Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) meeting and speak against Northwest Airlines' plan to cut the number of homes covered by the MAC's noise insulation plan. ** The Minneapolis Observer is published 48 times/year by Independent Media, L.L.C. ©2003 Independent Media, 4152 Snelling Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55406; www.mplsobserver.com. No part of this publication may be reprinted without the permission of Independent Media. Subscriptions: $12/yr. To unsubscribe, send us an e-mail ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) and we'll get you off the list and refund the unused portion of your subscription. Editor: Craig Cox Deputy Assistant Senior Executive Editor: Sharon Parker Contributing writers: Chris Dodge, Leo Mezzrow Equine consultant and coffee shop correspondent: Nora Cox Perspective: Martin Cox Thanks to: Robert Pickering, Erik Riese *** Fight media consolidation! Support the independent press! Pick up your neighborhood newspaper! *** 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] The War- About to become a major Minneapolis Issue...
In the next few weeks fuel prices will skyrocket. Our city budgets, with their assumption of dollar a gallon or so prices for tax free bulk fuels, are about to be blown as Minneapolis is forced to pay twice that and more for fuel. We will have no choice- our Crown Vic cruisers won't run on ethanol, and apparently our city hasn't had the wisdom to keep a tank car or two of soy diesel handy. Just as the layoff notices to police and firefighters go out the domestic security alert will go to the highest level. Overtime pay will set new records as police work long hours to escort peace marches and secure our waterworks and such. Our firefighters will draw overtime pay checking out possible hazmat attacks. With payroll and expenses skyrocketing It would be no surprise to see R.T. asking citizens to pay their taxes early so the city can make payroll. All because of a totally uncalled for and inexcusable war that some say is not a Minneapolis issue. peace, Dyna Sluyter, hanging on in Hawthorne 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] Thank You, Governor.....and I mean it sincerely
- Original Message - From: Anne McCandless [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, March 16, 2003 7:36 PM The biggest mess makers in my neighborhood are the rental properties. Got any ideas for getting them to 'take responsibility'? Anne McCandless Jordan From the looks of things, lots of renters might not be renters any more. Tim Plenty and his hatchet gal Pat Awada, (some call them the Axis of Eagan) will probably soon be declaring any sort of housing subsidy to be non-essential. That ought to take care of the problem. In case anyone missed it, here's an interesting story. http://www.startribune.com/stories/465/3650321.html Mike Nelson Central 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
