T H E M I N N E A P O L I S O B S E R V E R A Weekly Digest of All Things Minneapolitan www.mplsobserver.com Vol. 2, No. 24 January 27, 2003
This is a preview issue of The Observer. To see a sample issue, check out the Web site at www.mplsobserver.com. Subscriptions are $12/yr. ********************************************************** THIS WEEK IN THE OBSERVER: * Neighborhoods Bark as City Hall Moves to Slash NRP * Midtown Farmers' Market to Be Unveiled * Park Board and MCDA at Odds in Community Garden Tiff * Pawlenty Hedging on No Tax Increase Pledge? * University Med School Student Debt Called Worrisome * Piper Jaffray Suitors May Include Dain Plus: Downtown bike racing, camping out at the government center, Natalie Johnson Lee's State of the Union, the art of wrestling, and the power of neighborhoods. ********************************************************** NEIGHBORHOODS BARK AS CITY HALL MOVES TO SLASH NRP Mayor R.T. Rybak and three city council members on January 10 proposed a budget-cutting resolution that could cut more than a third of the 2003 budget for the Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP). The move, according to David Brauer in the Southwest Journal (http://www.swjournal.com) triggered a resolution from a group of neighborhood organizations and a sharp response from leading council members. The community response, authored by representatives of 35 city neighborhood organizations, demanded that the council allocate $33 million for community development in 2003 and that one-third of that amount be set aside for the NRP budget. The neighborhoods also demanded that they control the designated funds and that the NRP continue as an independent agency rather than be consolidated in the city's new planning and economic development agency. This sparked a testy retort from three influential council members, who argue that the neighborhood demands "are so far from the reality we face in this financial climate that we need to address them immediately so that no one will be forced to reject this resolution if and when it comes before the council." The council members, Barret Lane (13th Ward), Lisa Goodman (7th Ward), and Scott Benson (11th Ward), noted that the largest source of community development funding comes from federal Community Development Block Grants, which account for about $18.5 million a year. This money, however, cannot be applied to neighborhood projects. Indeed, they note, two-thirds of the city's $33 million for community development is ineligible for NRP use. And if that $11 million was guaranteed to the NRP, no money would be left for other projects. Lane, Goodman, and Benson go on to point out that because the city last year used a $4 million community development levy to support an NRP budget that had been eviscerated by tax reform legislation at the state level, the program now has to compete with other essential services for general funds. "With state Local Government Aids cuts a real possibility, we must preserve our ability to fund basic services in the general fund (police, fire, and public works) before funding community development," they wrote. The city's precarious budget situation, they add, requires that the NRP, like every other city department work toward the most efficient structure and cost-effective operation. Demanding that the agency remain an independent entity, they argue, makes no sense. "The purpose of NRP was to redesign city services and better integrate neighborhood planning into all city planning and development decision-making," they conclude. "Now, NRP has become more about the money, not the planning, and that's unfortunate." About 30 neighborhood activists met with Rybak and council members January 16, but were unable to get officials there to back off from their budget-cutting intentions. Rybak said flatly that he would not guarantee $11 million to NRP and Goodman reiterated that "the money simple isn't there." The next day, however, Deputy Mayor David Fey e-mailed neighborhood activists, reassuring them that city officials have no intention to eliminate the program. "The resolution doesn't address NRP at all," he wrote, "except to clarify that NRP funding is part of total community development funding . . . that can be supported within its property tax policy." MIDTOWN FARMERS' MARKET TO BE UNVEILED Mayor R.T. Rybak and Ninth Ward Council Member Gary Schiff will host an open house February 18 to introduce the new Midtown Public Market, an outlet for fresh vegetables, baked goods, and other products at the intersection of Hiawatha Avenue and Lake Street. PARK BOARD TRUMPS MCDA IN COMMUNITY GARDEN TIFF The Park Board last month adopted a resolution supporting community gardens now threatened by the Minneapolis Community Development Agency's (MCDA) aggressive building program. PAWLENTY HEDGING HIS NO TAX INCREASE PLEDGE? Governor Tim Pawlenty toured North and South Side businesses January 10, seeking support for his budget plan, and may have hinted at abandoning his no tax-increase pledge. MED SCHOOL DEBT LOAD CALLED WORRISOME For the first time in history the average University of Minnesota medical student's debt load is expected to hit six figures, and health care observers are voicing concern about the trend. ********************************************************** The Minneapolis Observer is published 48 times/year by Independent Media, L.L.C. �2003 Independent Media, 4152 Snelling Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55406; www.mplsobserver.com. No part of this publication may be reprinted without the permission of Independent Media. Subscriptions: $12/yr. To unsubscribe, send us an e-mail ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) and we'll get you off the list and refund the unused portion of your subscription. Editor: Craig Cox Deputy Assistant Senior Executive Editor: Sharon Parker Contributing writers: Chris Dodge, Leo Mezzrow Equine consultant and coffee shop correspondent: Nora Cox Perspective: Martin Cox Thanks to: Sara Barrow, Jan Delcalzo ******************************************************* Fight media consolidation! Support the independent press! Pick up your neighborhood newspaper! ******************************************************* TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ 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
