T H E M I N N E A P O L I S O B S E R V E R A Weekly Digest of All Things Minneapolitan www.mplsobserver.com Vol. 2, No. 2 August 19, 2002
This is a preview issue of The Observer. To subscribe to the full-text edition ($12/yr.), just hit 'reply' and state your interest, and we'll set you up. Thanks. ********************************************************** THIS WEEK IN THE OBSERVER: * Renters' Group Challenges NRP * Hennepin Avenue May Go Two-Way * Former City Controller Lands at 'U' * Firepower Increasing Among Local Gangs * Solar Homes in Holland Plus: Disappearing mailboxes, the invincible Rose Tillemans, black pride, and the joy of local politics. *********************************************************** RENTERS' GROUP CHALLENGES NRP A citywide tenants group contends that the 12-year-old Neighborhood Revitalization Program has unfairly favored white homeowners over renters of color and is calling for the program's elimination unless that pattern changes. Research compiled by the Tenant Issues Working Group (TIWG) reportedly shows that between 1993 and 2000 only 12 percent of those receiving NRP financial assistance were people of color, writes Britt Robson in City Pages (www.citypages.com). "What's so frustrating is that everyone agrees this is a problem and that something needs to be done about it, but then nothing is proactive in that direction and the onus is put back on the tenants' advocates to change it," says TIWG member Gregory Luce. "So that's what we're trying to do." But Jim Graham, a Ventura Village landlord, argues that homeowners are more stable and committed to their neighborhoods than renters and should be encouraged by the city to make improvements to their property. "Owning property stabilizes a community and gives people more of a vested stake," says Graham. "We have programs that encourage renters to buy property in the neighborhood. But overall it is more difficult to get renters involved than to get homeowners involved." But Luce and TIWG remains determined to force NRP to fulfill its legislative charter, which requires that the program address the needs of renters, people of color, and lower-income residents. The group, he says, is considering filing suit against the agency to push those changes. "What the law says NRP must be doing is not what NRP has been doing. It is our job to call attention to the fact that they have to change." HENNEPIN AVENUE MAY GO TWO-WAY More than 20 years after the city slapped one-way signs on Hennepin Avenue downtown, the 10-block thoroughfare may be going two-way. FORMER CITY CONTROLLER LANDS AT 'U' Former city controller Kathleen O'Brien has landed on her feet six months after leaving City Hall, accepting a high-profile job at the University of Minnesota. FIREPOWER INCREASING AMONG LOCAL GANGS There may not be more guns on the streets these days, according to recent police reports, but they're packing a lot more punch. DISAPPEARING MAIL BOXES Between March and July the post office removed or relocated 127 of the city's familiar blue mail collection boxes. SOLAR HOMES IN HOLLAND Eight new solar-powered townhomes are under construction in the Holland Neighborhood. ********************************************************************* Craig Cox Editor The Minneapolis Observer: A Weekly Digest of All Things Minneapolitan www.mplsobserver.com Fight media consolidation! Support the independent press! Pick up your neighborhood newspaper! _______________________________________ 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
