Good Morning List, I was one of the persons hired by CNIA to organize a community meeting early in the NRP process. Although I had gone to school in the neighborhood, as did my son (Green Central), I was at that time a resident of KingField. I was hired by then Executive Director Jana Metge. I would have applied for a position there, but Ms. Metge alerted me to the fact that a position was open at NRP. Though she was not responsible for my getting a job as an NRP Specialist, I do credit her with alerting me to the fact that it existed.
I later bought my home and moved back into the Central community. I moved in around the time the community came together to vote on the NRP Plan. I voted against the Plan because there were too many areas that did not seem well thought out. A lot of it appeared to be lifted out of other neighborhood plans that did not gel with what our communal needs were. But the plan passed. I also recall that the numbers given to NRP as to how many people were in attendance to vote on that plan was inflated. That is when I began attending meetings regularly as a resident, and asking questions. As a person of color, it was important to me to find out the who, what, where, why, and how come? I did not want to come in assuming anything because I had not been around for the initial work that went into the plan, and did not want to make anyone who had feel devalued. As a NRP rep, I know the long hours committed people put into the process. At the same time, I wanted us as a neighborhood to really think about just what we were committing, and not committing, ourselves to. There were far too many large gaps and gray areas, and our dollars seemed to be falling into them. And, the needs of people of color, and lower income folks, seemed to be falling in alongside them. Though, I always made sure that I was wearing my resident hat and not my NRP hat, and deferred the questions asked of me that were NRP related to our assigned rep, Joe Horan. This is when a lot of my own personal struggles with CNIA began, which I will not go into as the issue is closed for me. I just concur that from where I was sitting, observing and working, the statement alluding to the exclusion of the needs of people of color and renters, etc., is quite correct. I do not choose to believe that that was the intent on everyone's part, but on some levels, in quite a few neighborhoods, that was always a part of the overall NRP plan. Pamela Taylor (Tampa) _______________________________________ 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
