Hi Jordan,
(CC: Mpls Issues)
My name is Connie Sheppard, and I'm a member of
Ventura Village. (I'm sad that I missed an
opportunity for introduction at the meeting, it seems
you were there and I didn't know it.) I'm the one you
referred to for saying that vulnerable people would be
more safely housed in the likes of Kenwood, SW Mpls,
suburbs, etc.
As I said to Tim Connolly, I agree that the supposed
Sabri-brother-takeover was totally a sidebar, blown up
by certain VV members to overshadow the voting issue
that could plague us now for who knows how long.
Indeed, there are some issues with the Grahams. (Both
of them - remember who's Chair.) We've had a lot of
infighting and jockeying, esp. with regard to
development. The Carriage House plan is up there on
the list of developments, to be sure.
I must agree with Jim Graham on one thing though, and
I ask you to give it consideration. Activists in our
neighborhood come from a very diverse background,
99.9% of us get along very well. What's going on in
VV is NOT a racial issue. It's a power issue, and as
such, spans race, gender, geographical location, etc.
If you want to know which non-white people were
against the PPL project, I can certainly put you in
touch with them. There were quite a few... and the
important thing to note is that they are RESIDENTS,
(rather than business owners or representatives) and
as such would be most affected (their quality of life,
that is) by such a development.
Folks like the Sabri brothers (whom I know and like,
esp. Omar, my buddy) didn't have any personal reason
to care about the PPL project. Omar lives in Kenwood,
and I don't know where Basim and the younger one live.
Another brother who was in attendance is visiting
from his home in Jordan. They, along with some
employees, (mostly Latino) where in the back of the
room that night, and did not vote against PPL. Most
of them were not eligible to vote in the first place.
(Omar is, but told me he really doesn't care about
PPL...)
The point I'm making here is that the impression of
minorities being overrun by white interests is (in my
humble opinion) gotten through lack of information.
Right now, there's a lot of behavior in VV that has
made me feel ashamed of our group. One thing that I'm
PROUD of, however, is the way so many have crossed
racial barriers in this neighborhood and built
friendships upon the common ground with which we're
all equipped.
Yours Respectfully,
Connie Sheppard
Ward 6 - Ventura Village
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