Thanks for the helpful suggestions gentlemen. I've been
through this before with 315 25th Avenue North- after a lot of work
they were finally shut down. Now we have another problem house at
310, and I'm not about to devote the same amount of time doing the
city's job for them.
I spent from midnight to 4 am saturday morning doing
surveillance on 310. Their was a continuos stream of customers, and I
have a hard time believing that our police department is unaware of
the criminal activity their. But this is a Criminal Containment Zone,
so it's going to take some serious felony activity to get any police
action at 310. Unlike 315, the proprietors of 310 have adopted a
"kindler, gentler" business strategy- they tend to do their deals
inside instead of on the street and I haven't seem them engaging
children in prostitution yet. However, in some ways they are more
amateur and easier to bust- it's not unusual to see their customers
"firing up" in full view with the dome light on for extra
illumination! BTW, the landlord is Bob Zeman of 1011 Morgan fame- not
much point in negotiating with him. And who the hell in city hall
gave him a rental licence again?
None the less, I think my friend Stephanie has come up with a
better solution, and I will probably follow her example. Stephanie is
an engineer for the Canadian Pacific and makes 3 round trips a week
between Minneapolis and Glenwood, Minnesota. For years she had
maintained a very pricey downtown condo in Minneapolis and had the
railroad pay for her hotel in Glenwood when she was there. Recently
she sold her tiny condo, and without using even using all the
proceeds bought a 4,000 square foot building near Glenwood. She now
has a quieter and safer home, and renting out part of that huge space
has greatly reduced her housing costs.
Last night she got called to take an extra train to Glenwood,
and left me a note suggesting I should drive out and meet her their.
I didn't get the note till about 11. But having slept till noon after
the druggies kept me up late I was wide awake and up for a drive.
I threw my overnite bag, thermarest, and sleeping bag in my
Ranger pickup's camper shell. At midnight I headed west on the Floyd
B. Olson Memorial Highway. Once past the 'burbs I had a lovely cruise
on an empty highway under a canopy of stars. Arriving at the Glenwood
railroad station, I found Stephanie's car still there and thusly she
was still stuck at work. The CP is a pretty slow railroad- she
started at 5pm and apparently I still beat her train to Glenwood!
I parked in the scenic overlook above the town and Lake
Minnewaska. For some time I drank in the beauty of the scene, then
crawled into my sleeping bag and slept soundly till dawn. I drove
along the glacial ridge and lake to Stephanie's new home, finding her
just getting up for breakfast after a couple hours sleep.
I was impressed by her home- it was a doctors office, built
like the probervial brick biffy in the 1950s and 1970s. It has a full
basement and off street parking as well, with a lot of extras like
multiple toilets, bathrooms, kitchens, etc. Stephanie already has
roommates and a commercial tenant helping make the payments. The lake
is only a couple blocks away, and within the same couple blocks are
grocery, hardware store, lumber yard, and the new medical clinic and
hospital. The local phone company offers better DSL service than
Qwest. All this set Stephanie back less than $100,000- what will that
kind of money buy in Minneapolis' overheated housing market?
Stephanie showed me a couple other properties in the area.
One was a former car dealership with shop building- 5,000 square foot
plus a drive in basement for $60,000! A short distance out of town 40
acres of land plus a house can be had for $50,000. I've seen many
similar bargains like this the last few years- a decent down payment
on a house in Minneapolis will buy the house outright in greater
Minnesota.
Stephanie needed to get some sleep before going back to work,
so I left about noon, taking the long way home. I touched both
Dakotas and sadly mourned the disappearance of the old Soo Line Depot
in Hankinson. All the while I took in the excellence of CBC radio,
funneled down the Red River Valley from Winnipeg. Coming back on the
Floyd B. Olson, I enjoyed the excitement of the harvest.
Pulling into my driveway I was greeted by a couple junkies
trying to subtly park their late model car in front of my house. That
clinched it- I, like many folks, I will be retiring within a few
years. We're not stuck in Minneapolis- we can spend our pension
checks anywhere.
The Jordan riot has already slipped off city hall's radar.
Most of our city fathers and mothers don't have to rub shoulders with
armed drug dealers while transferring buses at Franklin and Chicago
or Broadway and Lyndale. As long as the tax base exists to fund their
city government and positions, they pretty much don't care.
I think we need to send a message to Minneapolis city
government where it hurts- in their property tax receipts. Unless
Minneapolis finally performs their duty to provide all neighborhoods
equal protection under the law, we need to make our housing and
business investments elsewhere.
back in the Northside Criminal Containment Zone, Hawthorne Sector,
Dyna Sluyter
>Shawn Lewis seems surprised at the letter from Dyna and says he would like
>to help. He also asks how other City of Minneapolis residents can help the
>Northside. Well Shawn first you can help by being aware of the problem and
>making others aware. Start by realizing you have problems within a mile of
>your front door. Franklin Avenue from Chicago to Tenth and Bloomington
>Avenue from 25th to Lake Street are much the same. Earlier this summer I
>sent the list accounts of guarding a family for several nights in a row, all
>night long because of Drug Gang violence. There are sometimes twenty or
>thirty drug dealers in a block doing business.
>
>Unless you have lived in such circumstances it is hard to believe the
>frustration. You either want to flee that community or you get outraged
>enough to fight. And yes, as Linda Mann points out occasionally you do have
>a troublesome house even in good neighborhoods. Yes these problems make
>people want to sell and get away from the City. Yes Shawn, you folks in
>"Good" neighborhoods can help. Call "Your" City Council Person and demand
>that they help the other City Council person representing that area solve
>these "City" problems. Also call the Mayor's Office and demand that HE
>address these "City" problems.
>
>Linda's post is representative of the problem many have in fighting such
>houses and such people. I was struck by all the things she "almost" did but
>did not do because of pessimism about the Police. And her decision to not
>do them now and wait until next spring to see if things get better. What a
>joke, it is like waiting to see if a snake forgets how to bite. Problem
>houses should be a problem that is attacked immediately, here are a few
>suggestions for Linda and other readers:
>
>1. Call the police each and every time you see any problem. With the other
>information give the time and tell them you will be calling back with the
>exact time the police arrive(and do it). If they do not arrive in a
>reasonable time have the civic responsibility to call back, give the time an
>d ask when they will be there. Be nice and understanding, but be very, very
>firm. Occasionally send a written report to the Precinct Inspector of the
>type of call, time of response, and action taken. Even if you have a
>"liberal" antipathy to Police, you would be surprised how many policemen are
>nice people, whose greatest pleasure in life is to help you. Yes, especially
>you, because you CARE.
>
>2. Get your neighbors to also call the police each and every time they view
>an illegal or suspicious activity. (you will be surprised how empowering it
>is to have someone else "fighting" on your side)
>
>3. Start the CCP Safe officer doing proceedings for a disorderly house or a
>nuisance house ordinance.( it is the job you pay them to do). They can call
>the land lord about the problem.
>
>4. Go on your computer, (I Know you have one, cause you posted to the list),
>go to the Hennepin County website and get the owners name and address. Send
>a registered letter with a copy of the disorderly house statute and inform
>that person of the fact that he may own and/or be in control of a
>"Disorderly House", a gross misdemeanor under Minnesota Law. Offer to help
>the "poor landlord" avoid being prosecuted. Offer to testify concerning the
>matter if he or she has problems evicting the troublesome renter. (or your
>willingness to testify in a criminal action if they are not evicted). You
>would be surprised how much action this gets from a good property owner. If
>you do not have a copy of the statute call the County Attorney, they will
>send you one.
>
>5. Send cc's of everything you do to the City Council Person and the
>neighborhood organization. City Council people just seem to help more when
>you make your request for help more public, and Police also seem to be more
>responsive if the Council-member sends a query about their actions.
>
>6. Now this is the most important one - so pay attention: NEVER, EVER,
>ALMOST CALL THE POLICE TO REPORT A CHILD BEING TOSSED OUT OF A CAR WINDOW,
>or any other child abuse. Call each and every time, no matter how frightened
>you are of the people, and even though you "KNOW" the judges are going to
>give the child back. Not calling means a person is more concerned for
>themselves than they are about the possible maiming or killing of a child.
>If you are more scared of the Police than you care about the child call me
>or someone else. I promise you some of us care enough to overcome "scared".
>There is nothing that gets the attention of a patrol officer like a call
>about something happening to a child. The 911 operator may not make it a
>high priority, but I assure you the patrol officer will.
>
>Following a few things each and every time begins a culture of civic
>responsibility that sometimes appears to be lacking in Minneapolitans. It
>also starts training problem people in the social expectations of a
>community. Though it may be a surprise to middle class America, some of this
>"problem behavior" is just ignorance of social expectations, and ignorance
>of the fact that behaving in such a way will NOT be tolerated in your
>community.
>
>It is also time for some in Minneapolis to start a "Political Culture" about
>our expectations in ALL of Minneapolis, not just "Good" neighborhoods
>
>Jim Graham,
>Ventura Village
>
>_______________________________________
>
>Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy
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