Barb and Jim are right....this is a travesty and the needs of the neighborhood must be heard. Whomever is elected for the next set of terms...hold onto your hats. Many, many activists are getting together across all issues to demand fair representation of community needs and also true service to our city's residents and neighborhoods.
Thanks to folks such as Jason Stone and many others, we have the scoop on the dysfunction of the current park board...and real choices to stop the dysfunction. Thanks to people on the Police Community Relations Council, we have the scoop on the way community concerns are being ignored. Thanks to Samantha Smart, I see a way for us to get people on our Library Board who will be responsive and engaged in serving our community. Thanks to Guy Gambill, I see a person who exemplifies how very important it is to be informed, passionate and an unrelenting advocate and pain in the rear to elected officials.The lesson being that change does not occur without agitation and challenge to the status quo. This is an example of only a few ways activists are communicating among and to each other. My focus may be homelessness, but I rely on folks such as Jason, Samantha Smart, Mark Anderson of the PCRC, Jim G., Barb Blickness to keep me up to speed on the issues they focus in on. I seem to be sitting in on more meetings these days with public officials and departments and I am amazed at how well-informed those of us who are grass-roots volunteers are , versus those who are paid to address problems such as poverty and homelessness. One example: Guy Gambill--at his own expense-- did extensive research on the arrests of people with no permanent address to get a picture of how this cuts (disproportionately by the way) along racial lines, types of arrests and the costs of arrests for what are called "livability crimes." His research for our Decrim Task Force provided City Council persons and many other officials with the first coherent analysis of this issue. (Guy can explain in more detail if he chooses.) The folks who do know the waste of time and money to punish not assist such persons are the rank and file police officers. The officers we have spoken to want to see a positive approach to this issue. The majority do not want to be forced to be the resort of last choice in dealing with people experiencing homelessness. The message is getting out in ever-increasing volume from those of us who work on the above issue, that excuses are not enough. My particular area of focus is civil rights violations of persons experiencing homelessness. The growing encroachment on people's ability to go about their lives in public spaces impacts all of us, not just persons experiencing homelessness. The "free speech zones"set up for demonstrators to keep them far away from what they are exercising their free speech rights about, is another example of what is a violation of civil rights. A mockery of our Constitution. Yet I have sat in meetings with many a public official who clearly does not understand the issue of civil rights and how that pertains to the rights of persons experiencing homelessness. NOTE: that is one of the reasons I am voting for Elizabeth Glidden for my City Council Person. I want a civil rights attorney on my City Council. And she also is quite responsive to my inquires regarding her approach to homelessness in Mpls. Keep using this list serve folks, it is one of the most powerful tools for change in this community. Kudos to David B. for its existence. Margaret Hastings Kingfield <<<<<This is a travesty folks. Both the School Board and Park Board members should be ashamed of themselves. Of all the parks in Minneapolis to close-down, Peavey isn't one of them. The surrounding neighbors worked very hard to stabilize this park in a very fragile area. Parents in this neighborhood compete regularly with the drug dealers for control of their children. When kids can play at the park or be engaged in positive activities, they are less likely to turn to drugs and gangs. Well, now the kids around there have fewer choices for engaging in positive activities.>>>> REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact 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 Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
