Ed Felien:
"Some Somalis were upset that they
were always asked to identify themselves with proper ID, but white people
walked into the room and were recognized and allowed to participate."
As an African American member of the board, I can say that Ventura Village
has never stopped participation based on anything other than unruliness of
which I can bear witness that Sabri was from the moment the meeting
started, and has been every time he has attended a Ventura Village meeting.
You have to understand that most of the time, these meetings are pretty
hum-drum yawning affairs with about 20 - 30 people in attendance depending
upon the agenda.
Anyone can attend a meeting, join in discussion, make movements...etc. The
only thing a non-member cannot do is VOTE (raise a little yellow card. The
reason some people (White, Black, Somali,Latino...etc)may not be asked for
I.D.'s is because we attend regularly so naturally the attendants recognize
us and we have already completed the process of address verification.
More to the point, I actually encountered Mary Watson walking briskly, on
our way into the church, with a whole new list of eligible VOTING members
from the Somali Community that she worked on days prior to the meeting to
make sure everything was in order so they could VOTE at the meeting. The
meeting was actually delayed as Mary and a Somali volunteer read through a
list of about 20 names and handed to each one a VOTING card. I can say with
confidence that at least 85%-90% of the Somali's attending were given
voting cards. Furthermore, there was a professional Somali interpreter
standing in front to relay EVERY word, move, motion and joke that was said
at the meeting. On top of all this, we took a 15 minute break at 8:30 so
the Somali members could do an evening prayer.
Also, the chairman of the board has always handled the meetings
consistently and professionally for as long as I have attended. I had to
leave at 9:00, but I know from past experience that if someone is ruled out
of order, believe me, they are OUT OF ORDER! He does not discriminate with
the Gavel.
My point: Ventura Village did everything they could and MORE to accommodate
the Somali members attending the meeting, and this should not be lost in
rhetoric and baseless accusations by persons who do not attend the meetings
regularly and have an agenda against the Ventura Village board. Sure the
kinks had to be ironed out, but all in all I would say it was a good
logistical test for the board and new members.
Robinson Cook
Ventura Village
"Barbara
Lickness" To: "Ed Felien" <[EMAIL
PROTECTED]>,
<[EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
.com> cc:
Sent by: Subject: Re: [Mpls] What did happen at
Ventura Village?
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
um.org
08/20/2003 04:39
PM
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
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