FYI... E~ Eric Makela Audubon Neighborhood, Minneapolis Chair, Minneapolis/5th District Green Party [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________
Press Advisory � April 23, 2002 COUNCILMEMBERS CHALLENGE LOCAL REDISTRICTING PLAN Press Conference: Wednesday, April 24, 12:30 PM Minneapolis City Hall (main level, near front desk) For information contact: Natalie Johnson Lee, 5th Ward Councilmember, (612) 673-2205 Dean Zimmermann, 6th Ward Councilmember, (612) 673-2206 Cam Gordon, Spokesperson, Minneapolis/5th District Green Party, (612) 296-0579 MINNEAPOLIS � Two members of the City Council are calling the official plan of the city�s Redistricting Commission �outrageous,� and are rallying their colleagues to reject it on Friday, when it goes to the Council for approval. They will announce this at a press conference at City Hall on Wednesday, and discuss some options, including a possible lawsuit. �I have a very serious problem with the current plan,� said Natalie Johnson Lee of the 5th Ward and the Council�s lone African-American. �This is not what the people voted for. It overrules the will of the people and limits their future choices. �The Commissioners also completely ignored issues raised at the public hearings. My constituents told them that the proposed plan was nothing short of �packing,� designed to keep them from participating in the planning of our City at large. The community won�t stand for it, and I won�t either.� The term �packing� refers to the intentional concentration of minorities in a single area, which diminishes the political influence of minority voters in other wards. Dean Zimmermann of the 6th Ward thinks a Minneapolis Redistricting Commission made up of three Democrats, three Republicans, two Independence Party members, and only one Green gives credit to his theory that the Commission is trying to destroy the Greens through a pervasive attack. �Why in the world would this group have a single representative from the City�s second-largest party, but five members from parties that aren�t currently serving in a city office?� Mr Zimmermann and Ms Johnson Lee, who are both Green-Party endorsed, believe it is because the members of the city�s Charter Commission � which appoints the members of the Redistricting Commission � has it in for the Greens and other underrepresented groups. They�re also concerned that the Charter Commission�s chair, Karen Dziedzic, a DFLer who is interested in running in the newly proposed Third Ward, helped select the people who drew the new lines. �The Charter Commissioners should have followed the law, ensuring that the people of Minneapolis were adequately represented on the main decision-making body,� said Cam Gordon of the Green Party. �Of the nine members who were appointed to the Redistricting Commission, none resided from the neighborhoods and wards hurt most by the new map. That is totally unacceptable. �Under the new plan, Downtown would become its own island � and a powerful one at that � insulated from the interests of the neighborhoods and the City at large.� Mr Gordon added, �Ultimately, what we need in Minneapolis is a government that is based on grassroots democracy, which means that we should all be able to equally participate in the way we are governed.� At Wednesday�s press conference, the participants will also be encouraging citizens to attend a community meeting on Thursday, 6:00 PM, at the Sabathani Community Center (318 East 38th Street, Minneapolis), and Friday�s City Council vote, scheduled for 9:00 AM in the Council's chambers. -30- _______________________________________ 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
