Hi Folks: Tuesday Night, I dropped by the Urban Ventures show. They were showing the plan for a youth center and affordable housing they wanted to build just north of Lake St. They were also lobbying the legislature -- so they are planning some public funding for this thing. They want several zoning variances from the city in order to build this.
Folks were giving testimonials about what Urban Ventures had done for them. They showed a very slickly produced video. I'm still not clear on the following: how much have they raised for this proposal, and how much public funding are they asking for. I understand they are asking for public funding for the housing portion, but not the youth center part of this. The architect's plan looked wonderful -- and I think it would be wonderful if Central could have a center like this -- but I question whether Urban Ventures is the appropriate outfit to offer this. Central has a large gay and lesbian population, and Urban Ventures leaders -- especially Art Erickson, has been quoted making anti-gay statements in the Star Tribune. The Urban Ventures claimed that they had a partnership with the Minneapolis Public Schools and the Park Board. If the Minneapolis Public Schools and Park Board are going to be partnering with Urban Ventures on this center, I assume the center will not discriminate against gays in hiring, or discriminate against gay youth in terms of providing services. Eva Eva Young Central Neighborhood Minneapolis _______________________________________ 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
