Jim Mork wrote: "For starters, I hope a rep comes on here to explain RT's reasoning. But, hey, if you have solid evidence of both cases, rich and poor neighborhoods, why not post it here?"
Thanks for your question Jim. I too would like an explanation of the Mayor's apparent change of position. Within the last ten years the Federal Fair Housing Act has not been used to over-ride chapter 536.20 to place supportive housing ANYWHERE, but the following: -Midwest Challenge 3159 Park Ave. -Portland Village 1900 Portland Ave. -Lydia "Apartments" 1920 LaSalle -Collaborative Village Initiative 815 Franklin Ave. What do these sites have in common? They have few voters and can be used with impunity. I certainly do not advocate law suits as a first course of action. But when the City so deviates from the rule of law and acts as if it can pick and choose which ordinances it wants to enforce and where, what choice is left? Affordable and supportive housing needs to be built and fast. But if the mayor's housing solutions are predicated on further concentration, further segregation, and further unequal protection, no one should be surprised that suits proliferate. Will no one confront the fortress neighborhoods? Why do they get a pass? And please don't change the subject by blaming the suburbs, however much they deserve it. Minneapolis can choose to integrate, but it will have to abandon the longstanding habit of packing it's difficult-to-place populations into just a few politically weak neighborhoods, and, as of today, that doesn't seem to be the way we are being led. Tom Berthiaume Whittier, Stevens Square, Loring Park, Navarre _______________________________________ 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
