WOW, It is hard to know where to begin with all the discussion on MPRB issues here!
1) When I ran for office I thought combining the MPRB Police and the city police was an idea worth considering. Since that time I have done an about face on this issue. The purported savings that city hall has used were a result on Chief Olson's estimates and not any real numbers that I could find. If I recall correctly, the actual savings was the possible elimination of a single sergeant's position (approx. $75-78,000). The question in my mind is whether there are some places in the city where the public wants to maintain a higher level of security. I believe that people do want to have additional policing in schools and parks! 2) One day driving to work I heard that the Minneapolis School District was not happy with the service which they were receiving from the Minneapolis Police Dept. As a result, they were looking to contract services from another organization and were looking at County police. It seemed as though a cooperative relationship with the Park Police and the schools made sense. Our police were least busy when kids were in school after all. Since the beginning of this relationship, things have worked out very well for everyone. 3) I too, as Comm. Young, am not thrilled that neither of us was informed that any proposal about Parade Stadium was being presented to the city! 4) No decision has been made about DeLaSalle having a new football field on Nicollet Island. All Commissioners have seen plans for a facility mostly using the existing football field that is already there. The general proposal simply was to upgrade the existing field (make it bigger and re-grade/surface), add some seating (hardly a stadium), and possibly add lighting. They proposed at that point that Minneapolis Park Users would be able to use this facility for soccer and other sports activities when not being used by the kids, thus providing a new field for general use. Nothing is being sold. All Commissioners suggested that neighbor support would be critical to the project and no cost to the Park Board. Also, as this was acquired through regional dollars there are other issues, as mentioned by another post, that would have to be resolved. 5) No decision has been made with respect to a University Women's Crew Boathouse yet. The University has come to the MPRB and the neighborhood organizations for years with a variety of building designs - none of them have been accepted. Hope this at least partially answers some questions that have been asked! Sincerely, John Erwin City-wide (At-Large) MPRB Commissioner 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
