First off, thanks to the list members who have been appreciative of my efforts to inform folks in a timely way and to encourage participation in this complex process of redistricting Minneapolis wards.
The list manager has the map and it will also be on the city's web site shortly. Commissioner Stafford moved to adjust boundaries and put CMs Zimmermann and Lilligren back into their wards of origin in a stand-alone amendment but the attempt failed 4-4 with me joining the 3 DFLers and the 2 IRs and 2 Inds voting against, the chair abstaining as usual. I cast the sole vote against the final plan because I felt that the decision to extend the downtown ward Southwest into Kenwood instead of Northwest into Near North was not in the best interest of the city. I continue to feel that this segregates by income and fails to bring stability to a challenged area long overdue for the collective attention of the city as a whole. I voted against the Zimmermann plan (Green Plan) along with five other Commissioners. Commissioners Stafford (DFL) and Schwarzkopf (IR) voted for this plan. My reasoning was based on my preference for advantaging neighborhoods rather than incumbents and my context is that of one who has seen citizen participation evolve over several decades from the anti-poverty federal programs of the 1960s to the current NRP II as possibly impacted by the bill now in conference committee in the Legislature that may address needed reforms related to continuing inclusivity issues. This Green Plan would have partitioned each of seven neighborhoods into three wards (7 triple splits) and had a total of 29 splits. A considerable number of neighborhood voices were raised in opposition to these and other possible splits and we decided early on as a Commission to avoid splitting neighborhoods between wards as best we could. The enacted plan has 12 splits. I voted for the NAACP plan along with the 2 IR Commissioners. This plan was by far the most reflective of the city's changing demographics/geography regarding people of color. The 3 DFL Commissioners and the 2 Ind. Commissioners had other intentions long in the making and were unmoved by the eloquent testimony of the many people who testified at the final public hearing last evening in passionate opposition to the draft plan whose major features were enacted today. Fred Markus, Horn Terrace, Ward Ten, Redistricting Commissioner _______________________________________ 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
