Perhaps one's perspective of NRP depends upon from where it is being viewed. Living in Jordan, I can assure you that NRP has been a most valued tool in fighting urban blight. We used 98 % of our funds on housing. And yes, we had minorities working on the process. We did not get as much involvement from minority and renters as we wanted, but it wasn't because we didn't try or that they were not welcomed.
NRP funds helped us get rid of and rehab many substandard housing units in our neighborhood. As a result, we have many new homeowners who are participating in the neighborhood. That's the good news. The bad news is that the city seems to be putting less emphasis on listening to the neighborhoods and more emphasis on making changing that could be detrimental to our poorer neighborhoods. This is not giving much hope to our new residents, or to those of us who have lived through the hard times and were looking forward to some progress and innovation. Anne McCandless Jordan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Atherton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, January 13, 2003 4:38 PM Subject: RE: [Mpls] Saturday NRP session- Sly Di takes her sawzall to thebudget... > David Brauer wrote: > > > The housing target was over the life of the program...which > > is only half over (there were no interim targets), even if > > the second half is minimal. As I recall, the housing expenditures > > didn't miss by much in the first 10 years. > > 40.2% vs. the 52% target is not much? And, it is unlikely that > the program will ever meet its intended goal. I think this > just shows how inefficiently the NRP has been managed. Even when we > are so far behind, a reallocation procedure in my neighborhood > has no explicit directions to correct this problem. I believe > that it's because there never was any intention of meeting > the housing goal (at least that's the impression that I got > from Bob Miller). > > > Second, the allegation of racial bias is far from proven. The one > > statistical summary alleging has not presented a detailed view of its > > methods to be able to peer review, which, as Michael often > > asserts, is a necessary component for judging validity. > > Great, let's hear the statistics from the NRP! My hunch is > that they don't exist. From my personal observation, in a > neighborhood with approximately 8% African Americans, it is > extremely rare to see any Black faces at our meetings. The > one African American I know who use to attend meetings > left in disgust. > > > (A side point: even if certain groups received more than > > their share of expenditures, that does not inherently connote > > bias. Or, as many a stat proof has said, "correlation does not > > equal causation.") > > If the purpose of the NRP was to provide neighborhood > involvement in tax revenue decisions and if African American > do not participate, then the decision making process may > not representative. An inherent flaw and continual > problem with the NRP. > > > I would argue that opinion polls showing Minneapolis > > residents consistently, overwhelming supporting NRP, > > plus the success of many candidates supporting > > NRP in the last election, are a good evidence that > > the program has succeeded. Of course, that may be a > > problem for those same politicians now. > > What polls showing that residents overwhelming "support" > for the NRP? Even though it appears that many residents > think that they have heard of the NRP, I have not > seen any evidence that people actually known or understand > what the NRP does. > > I thought that you just mentioned that correlation > does not imply causation, so why do you claim that > the success of candidates is linked to their support > of the NRP? It could have nothing to do with it. It > didn't seem to do much for Cherryhomes and Campbell > Politically that is, Cherryhomes did get a home > improvement loan from the NRP and Biernat applied for > one. I don't know if he ever got it. > > The NRP has succeeded in creating, what I think, is the > biggest pork trough in the city's history. In a time > when were are considering cutting basic services, I don't > see how people have the nerve to suggest moving > funds away from the basics to fund superfluous projects. > It might be wiser to decommissioning the NRP until we have > a budget surplus again and concentrate on correcting the city's > financial woes in the meantime. I think that the only reason > the NRP has the support that it does is that the people who run > and implement it are politically active and well connected. > I can see no other reason for supporting an organization > that does not understand representative government, due > process, or minority rights (and shows no inclination in > learning). > > Michael Atherton > Prospect Park > > _______________________________________ > > 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 _______________________________________ 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
