Some thoughts: Constance Nompelis wrote:
> Regardless of AIBDC's rights to not renew, the bottom > line is that the Dollar King will be sorely missed on > Franklin Avenue. I don't dispute that it will be missed. Many residents and tenants I work with directly were surprised and a bit saddened to find out it won't be around next year. My point was that the current protests are being sold as some sort of last stand against gentrification, and the non-renewal of this lease ain't gentrification, despite legitimate feelings that the store will be missed. > AIBDC can go ahead and try to put a Starbucks in, (as > everyone keeps mentioning,) but I really don't think > it would do well . . . As far as I know, there is no plan for a Starbuck's and never has been. I just used Starbuck's as a convenient symbol of gentrification and uniformity. I can see the headlines now . . . . > What's happening is a shame, mostly because > Theresa Carr is refusing to explain her reasoning. > Members of the Ventura Village neighborhood > organization, who have supported and worked with AIBDC > on multiple issues in the past, are now essentially > being slapped in the face. > > AIBDC and Theresa Carr are free to do as they see fit > with their organization, but I firmly believe that the > citizens of this neighborhood deserve an explanation. This is the point of my post-- is this a genuinely principled stand against gentrification or "payback" for a landlord who legitimately (for primarily legal reasons) refuses to provide a reason for non-renewal? (and, ask any landlord on this list about the headache that occurs once you must provide a reason). From all appearances, this seems not to be about gentrification (AIBDC's record doesn't support such a case) but about punitive politics because Theresa Carr is perceived to have slapped the neighborhood in the face. I thought we were getting away from punitive politics in the city. If this is a principled and genuine stand, then folks in Ventura Village should be careful about such loose principles, as it passed a resolution earlier this year stating that "Ventura Village continue to support the right of property owners to engage in legal and acceptable rental practices without fear of outside agencies engaging in adversarial and antagonistic practices." That's why I find this whole thing so amusing, if it weren't for the fact that we should concentrate more constructively on what will replace Dollar King once it's gone. > BTW: I'm not sure how Greg Luce knows who's shopping > at the Dollar King... for all his talk (and post > signatures) of North Phillips, he DOESN'T even live > here. Yeah, my point about the leaders of this protest not shopping at Dollar King was rather petty. Given the list manager's reminder over the weekend about signing posts, however, I was careful to sign North Phillips as my work place, not residence. If anyone, including the list manager, wants to know why I don't reveal where I live, I'll gladly talk about it off-list. Gregory Luce North Phillips (where I work--a mere hundred feet from Dollar King) _______________________________________ 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
