Just to respond to a couple of Michael's points. I'll let others carry on the debate.
> 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? No, it's not. It's all relative, but housing was still by far the biggest chunk of NRP spending...to within 80% of the target. And everyone - thanks in part to the press doing its job - knows that the first half fell short. City leaders and neighborhood leaders all know the 52 percent must be hit - it's state law. I'd say even if NRP is mortally wounded, the money must be found to meet the housing goal. Certainly, the falloff (from majority to plurality) is not enough to pronounce the program a failure. > 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. Hey, so did one conservative grad student, but I'm not sure that's statistically significant. Seriously, I do think that the hurdle for NRP involvement is huge. There's no doubt that the time requirements needed to sit on any board - neighborhood, NRP, or elective office - are tougher on the poor, who are disproportionately minority. HOWEVER, this is a problem throughout society. The Minneapolis City Council, elected by the people, is disproportionately white. Voting is disproportionately white - but is voting (except in Florida) biased? I'd say not - there are no racist barriers to entry, no poll tax, no lack of registration drives, no unequal treatment whatever. I think in other contexts, Michael would oppose a quota system, since it denies individual initiative. Yet he appears to be advocating this here. What's your preferred system of decision-making, Michael? What would have all groups equally represented? > What polls showing that residents overwhelming "support" > for the NRP? >From the Star Tribune pre-election poll, 9/23/01, page 1a: "Voters were overwhelmingly supportive of continued funding for the Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP), with 77 percent saying it should be continued and only 15 percent saying the money could be better spent elsewhere." > 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'm sorry, I think this statement is yours to prove. The rest of the pro-versus-anti NRP debate has happened many times on the list before, so I'll listen to others. David Brauer King Field _______________________________________ 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
