Well, considering all the handwringing about violence, I was kind of surprised at how SMALL the turnout was for Don Samuel's community meeting on the problem tonight. I'm sure he wasn't disappointed because where he comes from, not turning out is a cultural thing, but I've seen much better for Longfellow, so my expectations are inflated.
To post notes on the thing would lead to an outsized message, so I'm gonna create a web page and just post an address that people can look at if interested.
The executive summary for here is that Don shared some of his personal experiences touching on the violence problem. And he brought 6 scenarios with him for us to brainstorm in subgroups. When that time period was over, we presented the substance of our discussion and there were reactions both from Don and from other attenders. It was enlightening in a lot of ways. Don called it "practice for what you might do at your church, block club, or neighborhood association." So, I think it was good practice.
My report on the meeting can be found at: http://www.usfamily.net/web/mirth/violence.html
A question came to my mind as I drove home: How much does one bad landlord cost the city? I know from checking that some rental properties pay a lot in property taxes. But some aspiring public affairs student ought to really dig out the cost-benefit ratio. I have a feeling that some of these people cost us a lot more than they contribute. Don gave a kind of a �this is the way it is� statement in a conversation afterwards. He had mentioned youths who get in and out of the system 75 times, and I said �Well, what about these property owners who have zero accountability?� I told Don if city government people were going to shrug their shoulders, then we have anarchy, and I�m not paying salaries to live in anarcy.
Lobbying
If they can get enough people to attend, the Southwest Citizens for Civic Engagement will have a person who lobbies for nonprofits present a workshop on lobbying on November 15 at a community school down there in Linden Hills. I hope it happens because I want to go. They give this information number on their flyer: 612-922-3106. I hope they will also post more information here.
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Jim Mork
Cooper Neighborhood
No bonds for colonial wars. Say "no pay no play" and spare the grandkids from a life of poverty.
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