Lake Street has been a deep funnel for "Redevelopment" funds for many parties and years. It is only now that Somali and Hispanic "residents" have created a demand for retail services that the "dead" street is showing signs of life. The "RD" $ have been small and limited in support of the tiny businesses that are the true life force of the reanimation of the street. It does not matter to the small businesses if you provide the offramp to Wellsfargo empolyees and for the suburban heart patients comming into the city to enjoy luxury services at the future medical center. They, the small business people, will grow thier enterprizes around what ever urban planning mess the current gutless political leadership makes. Just go ahead and cater to big $'s. Get it over with and just like the Target fiasco downtown we will all know pronto the feeblemindedness of the "actor" in this little political drama. We in the Latino community can then get started in organzing in polictical mess left by the poorly elected officials who cast thier votes one way (stupidly)or the other(equally stupid but anti-).
A weekend ago, the Mayor came to the LHC Summit and made good words to the attendees. I hope his Latino aide advised him that a quiet group of activists sat in the back and recodred the "language". If Rt takes no position here on this matter that advances the interests of the Somali and Hispanic merchants they are preparing the grassroots camps to advance a canidate of color with a strong business sense. The weekend liberals should also put aside the "community" talk. The neighborhoods have changed in compositon and in the next year, Lake Street politics will take on a new color and out of necessity go across ward lines. A new political philosophy is at the heart of this movement: commonsense! For now enough with meanless words; give the power to the powerful and those under thier thumb and expose them to the political fire the hardworking and poor. Jimmy Longoria _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
