Keith Reitman/World headquarters Penn/Bro, October 26, 2000 12:53 am CST "THIS JUST IN... COUNCIL MEMBERS FRITTER WHILE WEST BRO BURNS! Business and property owners are dazed and confused by the lack of attention and neglect shown to West Broadway by our three City Council Leaders. Many of us believe and hope that the "softening-up" faze is over..The softening up I refer to was to allow City Hall to gain land at a reduced price or free by coldly neglecting small business's need for a safe street and blaming their landlords for the crime wave. This predation has been highly successful for City Hall but a tad unfair for some others. I wish to ask you readers a question: What is the easiest way to acquire land for classic "urban renewal"? The easy answer is to allow unsafe streets with open drug dealing to soften retail prospects, the general effect being the flight of small, legit, family businesses and the closing of the buildings they occupy. This downward spiral feeds itself; as legitimate business declines, illegitimate business grows (an inverse proportion) causing more despair and decline. Repeat, and guess who gains. Well, lets see. When I said classic urban renewal, I meant the city's vision: Take whole square blocks of older business and residential property, knock down and haul to dump, then build new strip center (example-Hawthorne Crossings). Good bad or ugly that is what the city wants us to have right now. Rather than a design question I re-pose my earlier question: What is the easiest way for the City to acquire large parcels of land on West Broadway? Answer: Unsafe street scene>flight of business as City Leaders and bureaucrats are either blind or hostile> demand for space declines and vacant buildings get boarded, vandalized, condemned and hauled to the dump> worthless property and vacant lots revert to Henn. County for unpaid property taxes>The City of Mpls bids in land and buildings from the county for one-dollar a whack by Minn. State Statute(Often the county will even lose our tax money on these deals with the City, ask Gordy Ramm at Henn. County Tax Forfeited Land Dept.). The bottom line is the city has used a method of degradation of our community to grind many down and force people from ownership of their property without paying them. By the way affordable housing was lost in huge numbers with this program and the tenants, if it was rental property, did not have to be paid relocation money by our venal City Mothers. Thankfully, that left more City money subsidies for the current Tower of Babel DT, the Target Tower and store. Battle cry at City Hall: EASY ACCESS TO TOILET PAPER DT NOW!! Much less loud: Let honest people rot on West Broadway, they will move on and their property will be abandoned to Us and those &*#^ low income losers can be housed at the shelter at County expense. Is this right and fair and is it prudent? There are better ways to develop an avenue. "Softening" can be done with free reign of street thugs or bureaucratic manipulation, a vacant lot is just as bare if cleared by bulldozer or bomb, people move on when frightened by ethnic cleansing tactics or urban renewal tactics. Stealing is Stealing. (The above reprinted from the web site of the West Broadway Area coalition but is the Opinion and creation of me, Keith Reitman, Near North.) Of the current three council members on West Broadway Jackie and Joe need to be defeated for the above mentioned activities. My opinion is only C.M.Barb Johnson has shown much understanding of small business needs, offered a fair hearing and compassion for all sides of an issue on West Broadway. I do wish her victory in her reelection race. Keith Reitman Near North _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
