I'm not sure what to think. These changes or nonchanges--and the change in Phillips is immense--need some time to sink in and consider. Here's my layperson's initial and off-the-top-o' the-head take:
Phillips and Wards 9 and 6. Getting rid of the Ward 8 chunk of Phillips (a good idea) and replacing it with a huge portion placed in Ward 9 is an immense change, though there is some initial boundary logic. The boundaries appear to place all of Midtown Phillips and all of East Phillips in Ward 9, leaving North Phillips (aka Ventura Village) and West Phillips in Ward 6. Interestingly, the redrawn Ward 9 puts a thin eastern slice of North Phillips into the ward, a slice that both East Phillips and Ventura Village have been fighting for in determining final sub-neighborhood boundaries. Hmmm. I'd be curious to know what East and Midtown Phillips folks think about joining Ward 9, which doesn't seem a good fit to me. In fact, it seems like a bad fit. I liked the NAACP plan of joining Phillips with Powderhorn in a new Ward 6. That seemed more appropriate. I think the new Ward 9/Ward 6 change signals the final end to any chance of a more unified Phillips community, but we'll see. 5th Ward. The nonchange is the biggest news, and I still don't get it. Let's take a ward that represents some of the most powerful and wealthy and extend it to other areas that are gaining increasing wealth and power, instead of taking a ward that represents the least powerful and most poor and effectively making it more so. The Process. I chastised the process on this list and received a response from one of the Commissioners off-list essentially informing me that I was being disrespectful. Hey, though-- the Commissioners are dealt a terrible process that is not amenable to true transparency, and it is forced to make immense decisions, under pressure, in a short amount of time. I think criticsim of the process is well warranted, though I'm sorry to Commissioners if they felt I was disrepectful. I'm convinced we'll see reform of the process now. Race. I truly believe that race--not housing, not jobs--is the most overarching issue facing this city, and the Commission and its plan and process brought that fact out. In dealing with race on the Northside, the Commission has packed that ward with predominantly African Americans (and a quickly growing Asian and Hispanic population), which is unacceptable. The Commission's plan--if adopted--will effectively radicalize a great many more folks in the near northside communities, and that may or may not be a bad thing. I tend to look forward to it, as it may lead to real change. Where do former DFL folks sign up to join the Greens? Now, some questions. 1. With no representative in Ward 8, I assume this will hasten one of two things. Either a lawsuit for elections in 2003 or a legislative change for elections in 2003, no? 2. Who fares better in Ward 6, assuming that Zimmerman moves a block into it to run (I think he stands little chance in the new Ward 9): Lilligren or Zimmermann? Or is this the rebirth of Rick Stafford's drive to elect Dean Kallenbach? Gregory Luce Project 504/Minneapolis (North Phillips, and believe it or not, nearly in Ward 9). _______________________________________ 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
