The State of Minnesota closed their institutions for most of the Mentally Ill and threw these unfortunate people into the streets to be homeless and victimized. Or institutionalized them in "Supportive Housing" institutions in crime ridden areas. The City of Minneapolis has concentrated, if not most, a very high percentage of them within a quarter mile of Chicago and Franklin or in the Whittier Neighborhood.
Now the State of Minnesota appears to be intent on saving dollars by closing the institutions that house the most severe sexual predators in the State of Minnesota. (According to an article on the front page of the Sunday edition of the Stribe.) Since the majority of Class three sexual offenders are now housed in the Phillips and Jordan-Hawthorne Communities, who wants to bet on where they will attempt to concentrate these even more vicious predators. The parole officers and social workers already steer sex offenders to these communities, and I am sure they will continue the same policy with the even more predatory sex offenders. City Ordinances be damned when it comes to concentration into "Impacted Neighborhoods". We not only have the most per capita rapes, and the most drug dealers, but we also have the most sexual offenders. You just know those hard core predators will NOT be allowed to be housed anywhere in "good neighborhoods". I read this plan to release them right after reading some of the comments on child abuse and prostitution on today's "List". When will our City Council stop discriminating against poor neighborhoods by allowing this atrocity to happen? I have a suggestion. How about the council voting to place the next thirteen Supportive Housing projects within two blocks of the homes of each Council Member voting for it. ---- And when will pigs fly? I have a small amount of difficulty with a some of the DFL grousing about the tax cuts, but some Republicans need to get real. Cutting the budget to pay for housing these predatory animals at the Moose Lake Institution is NOT a very good investment for the State. Habitual sexual abusers, rapist, and other sexual predators re-offend, we know this. How much is the life of even one child worth? There are some ways to possibly correct this activity such as "tanking" them in sensory deprivation chambers for such a long time that you can induce complete aversion to their prey of choice. The old Soviets perfected this technique I hear. The good liberals are not going to allow that, so we are probably stuck with institutionalizing them in facilities such as Moose Lake. Or the good Republicans might want them institutionalized in our poor neighborhoods of color. I wonder what those good Republicans would think if one of the sexually assaulted children were their own. Of course these rural and suburban republican legislatures probably are not too concerned. Since they probably know that the vast majority will be housed in poor inner-city neighborhoods just like the present level three sex offenders are. I have a question! When is enough ENOUGH? Almost 20% of the population of Ventura Village is already made up of those in "Supportive Housing". The City Ordinance says no more than 32 beds within a quarter mile of each other. A wise ordinance because statistics show that such a number does not greatly affect the quality of life for either the community or the individual occupants of such a facility. There are presently over 700 such beds within a quarter mile of Chicago and Franklin. With the City of Minneapolis trying to force another 125 into the same area. So I ask, when will the City Council Members show even a little sympathy and care, or even SHAME for breaking their own ordinances and laws? When will they feel even a little compassion for the plight of people trying to raise children and families in these communities? How many children and women owe their rape and sexual abuse to our good City Fathers decisions? How many addicted people find they can not overcome their addiction to drugs because the Council had decreed the only available housing for them is in the same place where they have institutionally concentrated narcotics sales and criminals? Don't these Council Members have any shame? Or does it not matter as long as it does not directly affect them personally? I do not know the answers to these questions, so perhaps the list members could start asking their City Council Members the same questions. Reduce the number of Police Officers and concentrate crime and supportive housing in small pockets of poverty. Sounds like a good idea for savings in a City strapped for cash because of poor management. It sounds like a blueprint for disaster for the people in concentration areas in "Impacted Neighborhoods". Well, the Republicans passed the "right to carry", so perhaps they are expecting women and mothers to solve their problem for them. Jim Graham, Ventura Village >"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. - Martin Luther King, Jr. TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ 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
