In today's Strib article on th 35W Access Project they list the Phillips Partnership as a source for information on the Access Project. There is no official "AccessProject.org website that I can find...you have to go to the "www.phillipspartnership.org" to get Access Project info on the web. Who is the "Philips Partnership?" Sounds like some folksy sort of neighborhood group, huh?
>From their web site... "The Phillips Partnership is comprised of top executives of prominent corporations and non-profit organizations, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, Metropolitan Council Chair Ted Mondale, and Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin. Commissioner McLaughlin and Jim Campbell, retired CEO of Wells Fargo, serve as the Partnership's Co-chairs.. " Also...Tom McGrevey and few other businesses aren't the only ones against the project....there's a solid and growing group of ordinary citizens from different neighborhoods against the Access Project. Check our website : ( http://www.stride-mn.org ) .... or go to the corner of 31st and 2nd Avenue and look at the banners and signs in yards and on neighbor's houses...STRIDE is having a tough time keeping up with all the requests for signs and banners... I wish the Strib would have looked into the role of the law firm , Smith Parker in the 35W Access Project... Smith Parker manages the whole 35W Access Project on behalf of the Phillips Partnership and Hennepin County. The Phillips Partnership includes Wells Fargo, Allina/Abbott Hospitals, Fannie Mae, Hennepin County, and the Met Council. Smith Parker is a law firm which does extensive lobbying and public relations work. They are involved in just about every single transportation project in South Minneapolis. They have recently been selected by the MetCouncil to manage the region's "Smart Growth" initiatives. Smith Parker's client list includes Allina/Abbott Hospitals and Wells Fargo, who (surprise) will directly benefit from the project's recommendations. You can find Smith Parker's client list at http://www.smithparker.com/selclients.html - I wish someone would do an article on "Public/Private Partnerships" ...the kind that Smith Parker specializes in.....what is the role of these very powerful organizations in a democracy? Should we always assume that such partnerships will always do "nice" things for us?....Perhaps we need legislation to protect communities from these "partnerships" that carry so much combined economic and political clout....even Smith Parker seems to agree... >From the Smith Parker Web Site... ".... New initiatives to create public-private partnerships raise numerous state and federal regulatory issues relating to procurement, financing, and public purpose...." Ken Avidor STRIDE Kingfield _______________________________________ 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
