Ms. Miles-

You must have misread my posting.

First, my posting dealt only with the distribution of "supportive housing"
not "affordable housing." These are two distinct categories of housing with
differing impacts on neighborhoods.  My understanding is that supportive
housing is disability based, affordable housing is based on economics only.
Secondly,  I did not say that housing (supportive or affordable) should be
distributed to "all of Minneapolis." I did say that:

1. -it is an unwise public policy to segregate the disabled into enclaves,
intentionally or not,
2. -that a greater number of neighborhoods should be involved in shouldering
the responsibilities of caring for the neediest citizens, and
3  -that our 1/4 mile spacing law is one of the only means that might, over
time, begin to ameliorate our existing segregation of housing for the
disabled, and
4.  -if the 1/4 mile law is weakened, our segregation of the disabled will
certainly worsen.

As for the name of my neighborhood not being attached to my name, I don't
know how that happened. I've not been exactly a low-profile guy for the last
10 years, and many, many people know that I have two homes, one in Loring
and one near Navarre. I have small businesses in Whittier and Stevens
Square. I Co-Chaired the Street-scape Improvement committee for Nicollet
Avenue (Named the Best Economic Development Project of NRP I), I've been a
board member of the Whittier Alliance, I'm  a member of the board of the
Empowerment Zone, I've served on numerous task forces and committees in both
Stevens Square and Whittier. I currently chair the Nicollet Avenue Business
Association and helped to create the Eat-Street campaign with Joanne Christ
(of the Black Forest), Tammy Wong (of the Rainbow), and others.

I do wish that you would've responded to the substance of my posting rather
than imply that I have something to hide as a way of dismissing the issues
raised. The matter of Minneapolis' history and habit of segregating the poor
and disabled deserves a serious, vigorous debate, and I hope you join-in.

Tom Berthiaume
Loring, Navarre, Stevens Square, Whittier






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