(Forward-My open letter to West Broadway Stakeholders
Dear West Bro. Stakeholders, Though somewhat narrow in scope, the article below, from City Pages, does provide us some news about West Bro. Like the answer to the command, "Follow the money". No doubt 300K will not 'save' our Avenue but it is likely to move it forward. I remind; this public money must be utilized for the highest public good. The only stipulation Target Corp. attached is, it must be applied toward "planning" for West Bro. There have been a lot of 'plans' that have come down the pike in the last 22 years while I was present on the Avenue. Some have been accepted, and are being implemented (roadway and zoning are two, most recently); others seemed to suck money, and gain no traction, nor implementation. I am a volunteer Board Member of the West Broadway Area Coalition. The WBAC is a forum created to bring all stakeholders from our "Avenue with the Most Potential" to the table for problem solving and planning. It has a seasoned, and qualified, one person paid staff, and many volunteers. In fact Volunteer efforts have totaled thousands of person/hours over the years of it's agency. The main goals of the WBAC, in my opinion, are: To field a highly diverse Board representing more diverse interests, cultures, social strata, and our common geography. This Board, through study, research, presentations, and discussions, will act as a crucible for the contentious issues that confront West Broadway Planning. And respond to the transcendent communal needs of neighborhoods that surround West Broadway; as those neighborhoods rely on WBAC at the Avenue. The West Broadway Area Coalition is THE unique facilitator of planning and implementing the highest public interests of our unique and contentious "Avenue with the Most Potential, West Broadway". Isn't it in all our interests to support the WBAC process; and support allocation, in generous measure, of "Target Funds" toward that noble process? Keith Reitman, NearNorth, Property owner and volunteer, West Broadway (City Pages-BELOW) NEWS & FEATURES CITY AFFAIRS . VOL 25 #1210 . PUBLISHED 2/11/04 Up For Grabs Faith no more: The Rev. Jerry McAfee calls Target's offering "blood money" Image by BILL KELLEY More City Affairs Articles: 1/28/04 Hennepin County's plan to fund a new Twins park lets Minneapolis off the hook--on paper. 12/24/03 Rybak picks a reformer for the MPD 12/17/03 City finance guru Patrick Born on the Minneapolis budget. 12/10/03 Federal mediation of MPD-minority troubles concludes: Now what? 12/3/03 Can Michael Friedman save the civilian review authority? 11/26/03 A celebrity candidate joins the race for the MPD chief's job. Target throws money at the north side--but who gets it? by G.R. Anderson Jr. Deep in the Target Corp. website is a page called "Community Giving," where one of Minnesota's wealthiest companies promotes its longtime reputation as a corporate do-gooder. There is a depiction of a smiling black girl and the boast that "Target gives back over $2 million a week to education, the arts, and social services." Since its first store opened in 1962, the website claims, Target "made a strong commitment to support and empower the communities its store serves" and offers grants to promote, among other things, "peace at home." You might forgive some folks in north Minneapolis for finding a little irony in the feel-good aphorisms. It's been nearly nine months since Target announced it was closing its store on West Broadway, taking away 123 jobs and leaving a hole in what is essentially the North Side's only true economic corridor. When the retail giant said last May that it would shutter the West Broadway Target in August, there was an outcry from community leaders, most of them African American. "They never invested in it," Greg Gray, a former state rep for the area, told the Star Tribune at the time, adding that Target "did not work with the community" to keep the 20-year-old store afloat. The implication was that Target had turned its back on a racially diverse part of town REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ 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
