I came late to this meeting and was not there to witness all that took place before my arrival. However, as I stated in an earlier post I had a direct conversation with one of the officers on the scene. She indicated that she had asked Mr. Metoyer to leave the premises. Since I did not see him after that point, I am assuming he abided by the police officers request.
I am well aware of the Ventura Village request to see I.D.'s as people check-in. There have been several people in recent months attending Ventura Village meetings that did not live or own property in Ventura Village and as such did not qualify for voting rights. However, these people are welcome to attend any meeting and participate. They just cannot vote. It is my understanding that I.D.'s are being requested from ALL people attending the meeting in an effort to sort out who is eligible to vote and who is not. Voting cards are given to those who are eligible to vote. I believe this action to be appropriate. What I am most pleased about is that as a result of the last Ventura Village meeting new relationships were forged with several key members of the Somali community in Ventura Village. NRP and some Ventura Village members are now working together on a project that will help Somali people become more comfortable with the neighborhood process, gain a better working knowledge of Robert's Rules of Order and come to understand why their participation in the neighborhood and NRP process is so important. These new relationships were forged in spite of any attempts by other persons present to caste Ventura Village leadership in a negative light. Many of the Somali people that attended the meeting that night did so because they are looking to forge relationships that can help them address the violence that is being perpetrated on them by "out of control" youth in the neighborhood. The Ventura Village membership I know and work with on a regular basis are excited and encouraged by the great participation of the Somali community. Nearly half of the membership of Ventura Village Neighborhood Association is now Somali or East African. Mr. John Bergin and Ventura Village secretary Mary Watson have been instrumental in working together to ensure eligible neighborhood residents and property owners are registered as members. My hats go off to both of them and the rest of Ventura Village. Barb Lickness Whittier NRP ===== "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." -- Margaret Mead __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com 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, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
