Mayor Rybak writes: > I am passing along an excerpt from my veto letter for Karmel Plaza. The > net effect of the veto will be to send this back to the council for more > discussion, which I hope will focus on two important goals this project > delivers: creating affordable housing options along transit corridors > and increasing home ownership among communities of color:
<snip> > My veto allows us to continue to discuss ways to make this project > successful. That is important because this project represents many of > the values I believe we should be bringing to discussions of development > in Minneapolis and the region. It fosters transit-oriented development > and helps close the significant homeownership gap for communities of > color. The most cogent charge I've heard from the mayor's critics on this one is that the public is not realizing full value for the land it sold to Sabri. When Basim won the bidding, it was for an industrial plot of land - now, after much delay, that has changed to include housing. So it's only fair to other bidders AND city taxpayers to rebid the property under the changed rules. That seems reasonable to me, and from what I read, the mayor's veto explanation doesn't speak to this point. RT: why not let the Council action stand, rebid the land and let the best developer win under the new paradigm. Since the city owns the land, it can still require the housing to be built; that doesn't seem to depend on one developer. David Brauer Kingfield 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
