Anne Young is correct in her description of the problem with NRP. It is not a problem of citizen participation. It is a problem of who gets to make decisions about development and dollars. Neighborhoods sometimes decide that they wish to correct a blight problem and spend NRP funding to that solution. This may be in direct conflict with the plans of some politicians and their Developer Cronies.
I have said in the past that NRP is not the perfect solution; you have some groups deciding to spend their allotment in ways some may find foolish. It is not the perfect solution, but like Democracy it just happens to be the best one we have right now. Decision-making is far easier and cleaner with an Emperor and his Court, unfortunately thought such decisions only serve the interest of that Emperor. We can go back to that more centralized system of politics and that more centralized system of deciding on revitalization needs. But not without a fight. Sure there is bickering about what direction to go with NRP dollars. It is usually fierce, because the parties care deeply about their community. It is the reason they give so much of their time. Anne I am sure would agree about the depths of those fights. She and I have had some dozzies. The reason was that we both cared and had a commitment to our community and City, and were willing to fight for what we viewed as the best way! Those arguments are what are good about NRP; people end up sorting things out and choosing what is best for them and their communities. It is not about just the money. The NRP money is the carrot that gets people to the meeting and involved. The important thing is the organizing around solving community problems. If the City of Minneapolis paid these people even minimum wages there would probably be more dollars than they get from NRP. It's the difference between vegetables bought at the Cub Market and those you raise in your own garden. The Cub veggies will keep you alive but which ones taste better and fulfill your actual desires and needs. Sure the hand grown variety take huge amounts of time and you may argue with your partner about the best way to fertilize and water them but they are worth more and more valuable because of their quality. NRP projects are the same. Sure they take more time but they build community so they are far more valuable than just the dollars they bring. I had some consternation about Luce's seeming turn around about NRP. Luce had tried unsuccessfully to steer our NRP away from housing. Then I realized the direction he was going. Luce and 504 are possibly intending to access NRP housing dollars for his own organizations. The neighborhoods that are most impacted by the attack on NRP are also those that are most impacted by the Cities "development" ambitions for zoning changes. They are also those neighborhoods that suffer from concentrations of poverty in higher minority communities. The reason the "powers that be" wish to attack NRP autonomy is that such "Impacted Neighborhoods" have been empowered to begin to fight the City's plans to continue this pattern of discrimination. Neighborhoods are of course fighting for decision-making autonomy and also to free themselves from such discrimination. It is little wonder that the City Council Members most interested in attacking NRP are also the ones who want such a concentration. Because of the organizing experience of NRP, Neighborhoods have started to organize for mutual defense and improvement. The Coalition of Impacted Neighborhoods will be hosting a City Wide meeting on February 20th to address such concentration issues. Concentration of poverty, concentration of Level Three Sex Offenders, concentration of crime, concentration of supportive housing, concentration of criminals on supervised probation. To see a flyer for the meeting and material on "COIN" go to, and look at, the site www.pnn.org/coin/index.htm I was told it would be up by tomorrow. I certainly hope those interested in the pattern of discrimination on Impacted Neighborhoods and the possible attack on NRP come to the meeting on February 20th at 6:30 PM. The meeting will be at the MCDA -NRP headquarters building - The Crown Roller Building. It will be for "Impacted Neighborhoods" and their friends. Jim Graham, Ventura Village >>>"There is no finer investment for any community than putting milk into babies and revolution into minds" - Toe 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
