Jim, I am sorry that you didn't actually hear my comments at the Hennepin County Bar Association's Brown Bag Lunch on Tuesday. If you had been there, perhaps you would not have misquoted me and taken my comments out of context.
First, an audience member asked me if neighborhoods were a "fly on the ox" of the City. I did not and would not characterize neighborhoods this way. I did respond to the question by noting that while some could see it that way, both I and the Rybak administration do not. Instead, I reiterated that a major component of the Mayor's housing agenda is civic engagement and that we value working with neighborhood groups and citizens in all aspects of increasing housing throughout the city. I never made any comments, as you assert, "That the 'City is planning to vigorously fight' any neighborhood that gets in the way of downtown interests." Again, I wish you had been there to hear what I did say first hand. Second, while I did comment that the success of the NRP has been a double-edged sword, I did not suggest that it was because "those neighborhoods then felt they could stand in the way of downtown interests and plans for forcing non-profit developments into those neighborhoods." I did say that because they are empowered, it is imperative that the City engage neighborhoods in how to increase housing opportunities in all parts of the City. Third, my comments regarding the Minneapolis Plan had nothing to do with "shortcut[ting] any opposition from neighborhoods" as you assert. I did comment on the fact that the Minneapolis Plan, the Zoning Code, and City policies are not particularly clear and are not consistent with one another. I indicated that as part of our regulatory reform agenda, Mayor Rybak is interested in clarifying the goals and priorities of the City and reflecting these in a clear, concise, and consistent way in the Minneapolis Plan, Zoning Code, and other policies. Jim, in closing, we do appreciate your continued support. In this light, if, in the future, you hear things second-hand that are not consistent with your understanding of the Mayor or our agenda, it would be great if you could simply contact us directly to clarify what may have been said. Our door is always open. I can be reached directly at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thanks again. Sincerely, Erik Takeshita (Ward 11) Senior Policy Aide Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
