I too was impressed by the meeting, more by the energy than by the substance of the discussions (not to say the substance was "off," but there is only so much you can discuss in general terms before 350 people). My impression so far is that the Mayor and his team are "open ears" to ideas and suggestions, and that was clear from the summit. I disagree slightly with Frank (who, by the way, was introduced by the Mayor) about the diversity of the crowd, which easily could have included more people of color and also more of the very tenants that this housing crisis so largely affects. But that's another issue--engaging low- and moderate-income tenants in the debate--and you should see something along a couple of forums for tenants from Project 504 in the near future. I hope other tenant advocates do the same.
One caveat as the Mayor puts this thing on a "fast track": when and how will we (all of us) have the time to review and critique these apparently fast moving proposals? One thing, for instance, that I think the Mayor should do right away, in conjunction with calling for the release of the frozen NRP funds ($4 million), is to release publicly the proposals of the neighborhoods so we can see what ideas these neighbhorhoods have for getting money from the Affordable Housing Reserve Fund. Right now those proposals are sealed (unless they have more recently been released). Make the proposals easily accessible to the public so we can discuss those ideas and how they may affect the city and its various constituents. Gregory Luce North Phillips (work) Frank Hornstein wrote: > > > It was a large and diverse crowd (at least 350 by one account) that > included landlords, housing advocates and other public officials. A > number of people commented on how energizing the morning was, and that > the meeting was well-run and informative. > _______________________________________ 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
