[Mpls] Marathon Supporters and Volunteers, Thank You
I want to thank all those wonderful supporters and volunteers who lined the streets mile after mile along the Twin Cities Marathon. This was my first and perhaps only marathon. I, like so many on the course, am a jogging hack. The night before I was sick with nervousness, and wondering what had ever gotten into my head to try this. I was wavering about even showing up. My neighbor, who had run a marathon a few years ago, told me to just go out and have a good time, that the fans were great, and the whole route was like one vast party. And she was right. Mile after mile after mile we were greeted with cowbells and placards and drums and bowls of starbusts and orange wedges. One guy was even serving goblets of champagne to the runners. I know that we hacks far in the back of the pack were so tired and so near collapse that we could not even muster a weak wave or an under-your-breath thank you or a wan smile for all the words of encouragement. But believe me, your cheers made all the difference in the world. And I know that the crowd of supporters showed as much stamina as the runners. On Summit Ave., by the time we miserable wretches crawled and dragged ourselves along, the gazelles at the head of the pack had already sprinted by three hours before. Which meant that the onlookers had been yelling and cheering on the runners for three long hours, to an ever more bedraggled and forlorn group. I’m sure that more than once they were cheering “you’re looking great” when they really thought “Should we call an ambulance?” The fans and the volunteers made all the difference between the Twin Cities Marathon being a physical endurance test and being a truly wonderful and fun and inspiring experience. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And in future years I will also be on the curb, cheering on the marathoners. And I will make a special point of yelling words of encouragement to those stumbling and lumbering along far back in the pack. Jay Clark Cooper 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:mpls@mnforum.org Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Hmong Cultural Forum Tonight
HMONG CULTURAL FORUM Organized by Southeast Asian Community Council Everybody is invited to learn about Hmong History and Customs When: Wednesday February 16, 2005 Time: 6:00 to 8:00 pm Dinner 6:00pm Where: Lucy Craft Laney Community School Penn Avenue North Minneapolis, MN 55412 Enjoy Traditional Hmong: Food Dancing Martial Arts Costumes Music (Hmong Flute) Storytelling (Tapestry) History of the Hmong Question and answers = I went to this last year, and it is really first rate. They have great food here. Not the Americanized stuff you get at restaurants, but what Hmong families actually eat at home. You will also see unbelievable traditional clothing, dancing, and hear haunting music on these huge curved Hmong flutes. And since the whole idea is to introduce non-Hmong to Hmong culture, they explain the meanings of the costumes, songs and dances. Hmong elders will also explain the history of the Hmong. Using a giant tapestry (an incredible work of art in itself) they will go through the Hmong’s journey through China, into Laos, and their flight through Thailand and into the United States and Minnesota. Last year the Hmong elders also spent over an hour answering questions from community people. If you want to learn more about the Hmong, this is a great event to go to. I am sorry that I did not think of forwarding this announcement to the issues list until today. Jay Clark Cooper 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:mpls@mnforum.org Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Basim Sabri and City Hall (was: Friends)
A few weeks ago I was doing some research, and stumbled across a 2001 article by the City Pages on Basim Sabri. As I read the article, I was struck by what seemed to me to be flattering and at times even cozy comments offered up by minneapolis councilmembers on Basim Sabri - and not just by Brian Herron. A few days ago David Brauer challenged Jim Graham to provide documentation that Minneapolis officials have referred to Basim Sabri as a "friend." I went back and re-read the City Pages article. I admit that I did not find any councilmember who is quoted as calling Basim Sabri a "friend." However, I am going to type out a few of the comments offered by councilmembers in this article. I will let the list members judge if these comments are "friendly," or "positive." Jim Niland: "I know he's controversial, but I've certainly found him to be someone I can work with. He's certainly shown his ability to get projects done". Lisa Goodman: "I have found him to be someone who takes on challenging projects and sees them through. It's not like he picks off the easy ones. He has picked some extremely challenging sites. I believe that he has been a tremendous benefit to these immigrant business owners." City Pages writes "Sabri has never done a project in Lisa Goodman's Seventh Ward, but the city council member is ready to roll out the red carpet.” A chuckling Brian Herron: "He is not the easiest person to work with, but I have established a good working relationship with him." Lisa McDonald offers a different opinion of Basim Sabri: ""He's an intimidator, that's how he operates.” I was just stunned as I read through this article. Given Mr. Sabri's recent conviction, other list members may also find this article enlightening. The web site address is http://www.citypages.com/databank/22/1067/article9550.asp Or you can find it by googling "sabri" and "city pages." This article quotes several Minneapolis Issues List contributors, including David Piehl, Zack Matoyer, and Wizard Marks. We are even treated to a portrait of a radiant, beaming Wizard - can I get an autographed copy? Jay Clark Cooper David Brauer wrote: Jim, I just did a search of the Star Tribune's archives back to '86 - no hits for "Basim Sabri" and "friend" or "positive." City Pages' database turns up Burl Gilyard's 2001 cover story where Basim Sabri identifies a Steve Wash as a "friend," but none where people refer to Basim Sabri as a friend. Another 2001 piece has Selwyn Ortega calling Sabri a friend, but Ortega is not a public official. A Google search turns up a lot of posts from Mpls-Issues where people (especially Jim) refer to people referring to Basim Sabri as a friend, but none where elected officials call Sabri a friend. So far, this tip seems like a dry hole. In at least one other list post, you allude to unnamed Mpls officials who have referred to Sabri as a friend. Can you provide something more specific - like who you are accusing? 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:mpls@mnforum.org Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] School Yard Bullying
I did not see the channel 5 report, but I did see a nasty case of bullying today. I was driving to a meeting, and drove past the Longfellow school playground. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw five kids chase another kid into the corner of the playground. He fell down, and the other kids stomped on him and kicked him. At least one of the kids was a lot bigger than he was. I jumped out of my car and ran into the playground. Tears were streaming down this kid's face, and he just lay there crumpled on the ground. By the time I got to him a monitor was next to him, and picked him up and escorted him into the building. She did not see the incident, but did not ask me to identify the other boys who had chased him. I found it very hard to intervene in this situation. I see this motion out of the corner of my eye, and I cannot tell if they are play-roughhousing or if they mean business. I really did not conclude for sure that this kid was being hurt until the other kids ran away and the kid remained lying on the ground. And picture how ridiculous or even threatening it would have seemed if the kids were simply play-fighting, and suddenly this stranger jumps out of his car and starts yelling to stop it, or even runs onto the playground. And while I was staring at the playground and trying to figure out what was going on, other cars were waiting for me to go and I was tying up traffic. I have no idea if the other cars saw what I saw, and none stopped. I made myself try to help, but I can understand why some people might choose not to get involved and just keep going. I do not know how frequent this type of behavior happens, but I know a number of parents who refuse to send their kids to public schools because they believe the Minneapolis public schools are too violent and dangerous. No child should have to fear this type of mob attack during recess. Jay Clark Cooper 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
[Mpls] Turnout 12-1, Immigrant Outreach
I walked over to the 12-1 polling station at Cooper school at about 7:45 A.M. Armed with a thick magazine, I was ready for a big crowd . But even I was taken aback - indeed I was unprepared for what I saw. The line snaked all the way through Cooper school, out the door. looped around the parking lot, and finally spilled onto the front sidewalk. It took us close to an hour just to get inside and out of the rain, much less get into the voting booth. This turnout is significantly bigger than in 2002, which itself was massive. Frankly, I have no idea what pores and nooks and crannies all these people were coming from. I think the turnout is going to be absolutely massive, even more than the mainstream media has been predicting. I base this in part on the turnout strategies I have seen with the immigrant communities in Minneapolis in the past week. Late last week I saw a major phone bank operation at Southeast Asian Community Council, to get the Hmong out to the polls to vote. At least a dozen teenagers and adults were working through phone lists and a Hmong phone book. Earlier in the week, SEACC held a candidates forum and voter education drive in Hmong. The meeting was held in the Harrison neighborhood in north Minneapolis. Mayor Rybak came, and let me tell you he can be VERY engaging and even funny. I an sure that his performance that night will pull several Hmong into the polls who might not have voted otherwise. His charm cuts right across any language barriers. I have been told that the younger Hmong will mostly vote for Kerry, but some older Hmong will vote for Bush, because general Vang Pao, their leader in the Indochinese war, told them that Bush will be tougher on the communist Laotian government that Kerry. (I lived in a Lithuanian neighborhood in Chicago, and they voted solidly Republican, because they blamed FDR for selling Lithuania down the tubes at the end of WW II) I know that there have also been powerful hands-on voter registration drives and get-out-the-vote drives in the Latino and Somali communities. I gut tells me that the get-out-the-vote drives to these and other typically disenfranchised groups has been even more massive than we think and has largely been flying below the radar screen of the mainstream press. I have also seen these black November 2 t-shirts around Minneapolis. This is one of the most brilliant marketing campaigns I have ever seen. I have a suggestion: I saw one Noviembre 2 tshirt. I knew several organizers who were doing meetings for largely Latino crowds and\or were going doorknocking in largely Latino areas. I tried desperately to come up with Noviembre 2 tshirts for them. I knew if they wore them it would spark talk and there was a good chance that some of the people would end up voting that might not have otherwise. I found mounds of the November 2 -tshirts, but could not get my hands on any NOviembre 2 tshirts. My suggestion is to get plenty of the November 2 t-shirts (corrected for date) printed in the languages of the major immigrant groups. Many can't vote, but many can, and having the t-shirts in their native languages (in Minneapolis I would suggest at least Spanish, Hmong, Somali, and Oromo) is sure to spark conversations and result in some additional people getting to the polls. Jay Clark Cooper 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
[Mpls] Colors and Moods of the Mississippi River Gorge
Saturday around dusk I ran along the Mississippi river. The fall colors along the Mississippi river are at their peak, and the scene I saw was so beautiful that I feel compelled to try to entice you to come over and enjoy the scenery for yourself. As I ran along the bluff, I felt as if I were swimming in a sea of translucent, glowing leaves, with breezes rustling through the branches and sunbeams dancing along the footpath. I crossed the Ford Parkway bridge at about 6:25, just as the sun was setting. The west bank was already shrouded in shadows, but the eastern bank was ablaze with color. The reds and yellows of the sumac, maples and beechwoods were bolstered by the deep orange glow of the setting sun. This wide ribbon of warm colors was framed by the deep cool blues of the Mississippi river and the Minnesota sky. As I ran along the St Paul side of the river, I saw many smiling faces of people who had come out to enjoy the foliage and the sunset. I saw one group of people who had set up a card table and folding chairs, and were enjoying a tea party as they watched the collage of colors along the Mississippi. As my creaking bones, aching muscles and gasping lungs slowly dragged my haggard body homeward, sunset deepened into twilight. Just when the yellow and red leaves faded, and the show seemed over, the cirrus clouds high overhead blazed in pastel shades of pink and orange. I grew up in New England, and this is the one time of year that my soul yearns to be travelling along the roads and the landscapes of my youth. I have learned to deeply appreciate the somber tans, browns and purples to be found in Minnesota's prairies, cornfields and oak forests. But Minnesota's subtle hues cannot match the spectacular explosions of colors performed by New England's maples. With one exception. I can tell you first hand that the vivid colors and the stunning vistas to be found along the Mississippi river gorge between the Ford Parkway bridge and the Franklin Ave. bridge are the equal of any scene you will find along any of Vermont's country roads. I urge you to take a few minutes out of your busy day and come over and enjoy our little hidden urban cornucopia of color, before the next gust of wind blows it all away for another year. If you want to experience the river gorge in a completely different mood, I have another suggestion. Around midnight on the night of the full moon, stroll about halfway across the southern walkway of the Lake street bridge. You will see two moons: one up above hanging up in the sky, and one far below reflecting off the waters of the Mississippi river. The entire river gorge is lit up a deep, soft, stunning grey-blue. You will not find a more tranquil scene, and any stresses and worries you may have will be carried off by the gentle summer breezes. Jay Clark Cooper 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
Re: [Mpls] RE: Critique of Neighborhood Association priorities
I was at a Standish Ericsson meeting on LRT parking and traffic issues on September 28. I counted 55 people. I don't know how they got the word out. I live in Longfellow, with 22,000 people living in 7,000 households. Getting the word out in big neighborhoods like Standish Ericsson and Longfellow is a daunting task. There is no way staff can go out and flyer 7.000 addresses. Doing a mailing to 7.000 addresses is prohibitively expensive. I have a couple of suggestions on how to get large areas flyered, strategies that we have been using in Longfellow. FLYER DISTRIBUION NETWORK At every meeting, we have been asking people to volunteer to pass out flyers on two blocks four times a year. People like doing this, and at some meetings half the people there sign up. At last count, we had about 150 flyer distributors. When we have a big meeting coming up, we identify the area we need flyered, and (ideally) about a week before we need the flyers out we send a letter to the distributors living in that area to watch for the flyer packet and to please get the flyers out by xxx day. We bundle about 70 flyers with a map showing the blocks we want them to cover. A volunteer then takes all the bundles and drops them off. We have been building this network for two years. We still have a few weak spots, but in an emergency we can flyer 6,000 households within 72 hours. Getting flyers out the the entire neighborhood is still not easy, but with this flyer distribution network it is doable. And it is a great way to involve new people without overtaxing them. And we have had meetings with hundreds of people, most of whom learned about the meeting through the flyer distribution network YOUTH FLYERING BRIGADE If we have, say, a development meeting coming up, another option we use to get flyers out is to put together a kids flyering brigade. First, we have built relationships with staff at local parks by meeting with them. Then we ask if park staff if some kids would like to help us pass out some flyers for the upcoming meeting. We pick a time, and park staff will find say a dozen youth who want to help. Usually both a park staff person and some LCC volunteers go out with the youth. A dozen youth can easily get over 400 flyers out in an hour. Generally we only have the youth out there for an hour, or an hour and a half at most. Then afterwards we have a pizza party or a chips party back at the park building. The kids love to do this, and every time they see me now they ask when can they pass out flyers next. At Longfellow we have generally done this with the the parks, but at Jordan it was informal, with just kids and their friends coming over. You probably know one or two kids in your neighborhood or on your block. Go out flyering with them for an hour, and have a little pizza and pop afterwards. They will like doing it, they will tell all their friends, and next time you will have not two kids but a dozen kids helping. One time in Jordan we had 22 youth pass out close to 2000 flyers in an hour and a half. And we had kids coming over almost every day asking if we had something for them to do. In Longfellow, youth helped pass out flyers for a meeting on the Brackett Park Rocket. They were so interested that several are now involved in the campaign. Gina, next time I talk with Standish volunteers I will be glad to pass on that you are interested in helping build SENA's capacity to distribute flyers and get the word out. You are also welcome to cross Hiawatha Ave. and drink Longfellow coffee any time you want. Jay Clark Cooper Gina Palandri wrote: Recently I received a flyer on my door from SENA in regards to a public meeting on a variance for a coffeehouse right here in SENA. Standish Ericsson where we have "NO" coffee. Here since the LRT started all of us neighbors have been dealing the parking issues without even a "bean" of support from the SENA staff. From a development standpoint: we absolutely need "Tillies Bean". As a matter of fact after getting my critical parking petition signed and sent in monthes ago-I kid you not; monthes ago; they sent me another one, as the first one is null and void as 97% of my street wanted 24 hour parking by permit only. Now I have to go door to door again and have all the neighbors sign this again only this time we all have to agree upon a "time window" for permitting. As for some reason we did not qualify for 24 hour permits. Would have been nice to know that before. Now do you think since they(the SENA Staff) obviously have the manpower to flyer an array of streets in regards to a coffeehouse which we so need, as we have nothing to drink on this side of Hiawatha; that they will help me with my critical parking petition?? I doubt it. Can you "recall" neighborhood associations? Gina Palandri Standish REMINDERS: 1. Think a mem
[Mpls] 46th St LRT Meeting - Concerns and Solutions Voiced by Neighbors
On August 17, Longfellow Community Council held a meeting for Hiawatha neighborhood residents of the 46th LRT stop. The meeting was held at the Minnehaha Falls pavilion The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the impact of the opening of the LRT line after 6 weeks of operation on neighbors of the 46th St. stop. Sixty-two people and three dogs attended the meeting. Since LRT problems have been discussed so prominently on this list, I thought people might find it interesting to see what a group of immediate neighbors have to say. People brainstormed and then voted on their top concerns and top solutions. vote results are listed after the ideas. Top 5 Concerns from residents: * Left turn traffic off 46th St. onto Hiawatha (22 votes) * 46th St. pedestrian crossing (20 votes) * The [traffic] lights (17 votes) * Can't get on train (over-full) for events [downtown] (8 votes) * Traffic moving to side streets and Minnehaha Ave. (8 votes) Top 5 Suggestions for Improvement from residents: * Make double turn lane on 46th turning south on Hiawatha (28 votes) * Traffic cop helping left turn on Hiawatha off 46th St. (17 votes) * Pedestrian bridge over Hiawatha (15 votes) * Right turn only from Walgreen's (15 votes) * Let left take left [from 46th St.] when LRT arms are down (14 votes) All Concerns from residents: * Parking (designated areas) 4 * Ruined Hiawatha for driving 4 * Traffic 2 * Left turn traffic onto Hiawatha 22 * 42nd & 46th traffic 4 * Only one kiosk (long line to get tickets) 8 * Taxes if ridership isn't high enough 2 * The light 17 * Not enough garbage cans and maps at stations * Change box in kiosk is too low * Traffic moving to side streets and Minnehaha 8 * Pedestrian crossing alternate at Hiawatha & 46th 3 * Better job educating on bus/train connection * Emergency vehicles when "arm" is down 1 * Train too crowded at rush hour (single trains) 2 * 38th Street station area - angry "signs" - don't park here * 46th St. pedestrian crossing 20 * Crime 1 * Narrowed lanes west on 46th St. due to increased parking * Alternate routes are getting crowded, congested 2 * Increased commute time when driving 6 * Railings at station 2 * More benches 3 * Length of time to resolve traffic problems 3 * Busses on 46th St. is a bad thing 1 * Honesty from public officials 1 * Timing of bus schedules on 46th St. 5 * Can't extend line fast enough to mall and airport * No drop-off/pick-up for local daycares * Can't get on train (over full) for events 8 * Audible message not always working (on which side to board train) * Transfers have lengthened commute * Not winterized 4 * On 50th - need time countdown on walk sign (like 46th St.) 3 All Suggestions for Improvement from residents: * Time lights better with LRT 13 * Parkboard open up Parkway - gate 2 * Let left take left when LRT arms are down 14 * When arms are down, let traffic move east on 46th St. 4 * Make double turn lane on 46th turning south on Hiawatha 28 * Arms where pedestrians cross at station 1 * Allow left turn onto Hiawatha from 35th St. 1 * Pedestrian bridge over Hiawatha 15 * Right turn only from Walgreen's 7 * Right turn only from Holiday 15 * A bridge for Hiawatha at 46th St. * More enforcement of tickets * Optional free permit parking for blocks impacted by commuters 2 * Better lighting * Add cars to LRT during events downtown 6 * Keep alternate routes open 1 * More ticket booths 2 * Move towards pedestrian oriented development 3 * Traffic cop helping left turns off 46th south on Hiawatha during rush hour 17 * Visible public parking signs when there's public parking 1 * Do not put in developments that increase congestion 7 * Add longer-term public parking 4 * More police patrolling station 3 * Put a stop in at Northwest Airlines 3 * Park 'n rides with shuttle 5 * People mover * Time LRT arms better 1 Note: at 46th St. the LRT station is on the west side of Hiawatha Ave., and the Hiawatha neighborhood is on the east side of Hiawatha Ave.. So far the only block being impacted seriously by LRT commuter parking in the Hiawatha neighborhood is the 4500 block of Snelling. This is why the parking issue is much further down the list of concerns than you might expect, and lower than it would likely be if a similar meeting were done with the 46th street neighbors on the west side of Hiawatha Ave. A great deal of print ink has been given the to pickup in business for restaurants along the LRT line. When we did our doorknocking for the meeting, Walgreens and a few other stores at 46th said that business had gone down, because people were refusing to pull into the parking lot with all the congestion. The Longfellow Community Council will be doing similar meetings with 38th St. and Lake St. neighbors living east of Hiawatha over the next few weeks. Jay Clark Cooper REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] b
Re: [Mpls] Chicago ain't the enemy, contrary to popular posts
A few years ago, I was at a meeting in Powderhorn of some neighbors with a Start Tribune reporter. I don't even remember what the meeting was about, but I remember hearing a couple of landlords going on and on about how the problems were being caused by all these people coming up from Chicago and going on welfare and selling drugs. I got more and more angry and finally told them that I moved here from Chicago, and I did not come here to go on welfare or sell drugs. While they stared sheepishly at their toes, I told them that yes, there were some very tough characters who had moved here from Chicago. But I told them that I knew and had talked with a lot of people from Chicago, and that the reason most Chicagoans moved here was to get a better quality of life. Minneapolis certainly has its share of problems. But there is nothing that compares to the worst bombed-out neighborhoods in Chicago. If you ride a southside El, you will go past blocks that may have only one or two two-flats left standing, and the entire rest of the block is nothing but rubble and broken glass and trash. Every other building on the block has been destroyed, through fire and condemnation and neglect. In Chicago some landlords were setting fire to their own properties to collect the insurance. You had streets that were literally 100% white on one side and 100% black on the other side. The Chicago public school system was a total failure. Gangs had a hammerlock on many of the housing projects and neighborhoods. I lived for three years in one of Chicago's toughest neighborhoods, South Austin on the west side. On my block just during my three years there, someone was murdered and a house was burned to the ground. For all the problems here, it cannot compare with the degree of hopelessness, fear and entrapment that people feel in Chicago's worst neighborhoods. And this is the number one reason why Chicagoans come here. Because compared to what they left behind, Minneapolis and Minnesota offers a much higher quality of life. And I find that when I talk with people from Chicago, in general they tend to be much more optimistic about conditions here , because they are comparing it to what they had in Chicago, not to an idyllic view of what Minnesota may have been like 30 years ago. As for me, I cannot even claim that my reasons were that high-minded. I came here for a job. I had the very vaguest notions that Minnesota was a nice state, but I really knew nothing about it, and had to get a dictionary to learn words like DFL and lutefisk and bar and hotdish. I will say that I love Minnesota, and am very grateful that I landed here. In Minneapolis, I particularly like how you can find lakes, river bluffs, streams and wildlife right here in the city. Though I would rather drink transmission fluid than eat lutefisk, I have developed a taste for pickle herring. I would never consider moving back to Chicago. But there are three things I miss about Chicago: 1) The rock'm-sock'm politics. I remember one city council meeting where the aldermen - and yes, even the women are aldermen - were throwing their shoes at each other, and another where mayor Harold Washington tried to drag Fast Eddie Vrdolyak out into the alley to pound the living daylights out of him. 2) The ethnic restaurants. You could spin the globe and stick your finger down, and find a restaurant from the country your finger landed in. The Twin Cities has gotten much better, but still cannot hold a candle to Chicago. By the way, for those pining away for Chicago-style junk food, try Joey D's at 31st Ave. and 42nd St. 3) The ethnic neighborhoods. I had a map of the ethnic neighborhoods in Chicago, and after work at the Chicago Historical Society I would take the bus and visit the different neighborhoods. You could find a Ukrainian neighborhood, Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Yugoslav, Greek, Korean, Lithuanian, East Indian, Polish, Irish and on and on. You would find ethnic churches, restaurants, businesses, sometimes statues and museums. And if you listened, you would hear the words of many foreign lands. Yet with this quaintness came a parochialism and a hostility towards outsiders that, thank God, has never taken root in remotely the same degree here. Jay Clark Cooper P.S. I'm sorry it took so long to respond. I have such an avalanche of emails piled up that it has taken me this long to stumble upon this thread Eric Mitchell wrote: --- gemgram <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: I believe a few of our drug and gang problems are home grown, some came from L.A., some bad ones from Detroit, some from K.C, and some from other U.S. Cities. But yes, indeed, a whole lot of the gang and drug problems have come to Minneapolis from Chicago... The "Gang Strike Force" is a good resource if you have questions. Vice Lords, Disciples, Bloods originating in Chicago,
[Mpls] Pillar in the Lake Street Revival
Let me take a moment to say a few words about someone who has quietly put her soul into reviving Lake St.: Julie Ingebretsen. Julie owns Ingebretsen's, and is president of the Bloomington Cedar Lake Commercial Association. Many have visited her store. I have been in the basement, and I can tell you that it is so full of nick-nacks floor to ceiling and so abuzz with the ceaseless scamperings of the Ingebretsen's Ladies that if feels much more like Santa's workshop than a traditional stockroom. Fewer people know about her hard work at reviving Lake street. And very few know of all the time she has invested in reaching out to and building relationships with and involving the surrounding Latino businesses. Julie has spent hours and hours in early-morning meetings with students, visiting Latino businesses, cranking surveys and documents off her office xerox machine, and calling everybody from the police inspector to university professors. When the students have looked tired and droopy, I have seen her reach over to a store shelf and revive them with special Norwegian chocolates Julie also worked with Manny Gonzalez in organizing an extremely successful field trip for Latino businesspeople to visit different streetscape designs in different parts of the city, in order to get firsthand feedback on what kind of streetscaping Latino businesses would like on Lake street. Julie is always upbeat, and is an energetic go-getter even when I know she is dead tired. She is a pillar on Lake street, and key to the revival we are seeing. Jay Clark Cooper P.S. In the spirit of multiculturalism, Julie Ingebretsen is also the inventor of the lutefisk quesadilla 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
[Mpls] Lake St. Repaving and Latino Businesses
needs. In particular, we need to reach out to those free-standing businesses that are not part of such organizations as Mercado Central. Jay Clark Cooper P.S. Several businesses have reported that the streets are a lot quieter this summer than in past years. The is probably, at least in part, because of the intensive efforts of the Minneapolis Police department at Bloomington and Lake. 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
[Mpls] Light Rail Transit and Permit Parking
Permit parking is to Light Rail Transit what sound barriers are to highways. Blocks impacted by LRT commuter parking should be allowed free permit parking. When a highway is built, it is assumed (at least by those advocating the highway) that the metro population as a whole will benefit. But even if the highway is a net surplus, it is also accepted that a subset of the population, namely those living closest to the highway, will have their quality of life harmed from the highway, namely by the noise. And it is also accepted that when a highway is built, there is a responsibility to ameliorate the most harmful side-effects of the highway on the immediate neighbors by building sound barriers. Can you imagine if, at the end of the construction of the highway, construction companies and the government said "whoops, we're running out of money, things are tight, and there will be no sound barriers." or "you can have sound barriers, but only if you pay $10 a square foot. Those who don't cough up the money won't get the sound barriers" There would be a huge outcry. People would say that that a great wrong was being done to those living next to the new highway. The same is true for Light Rail Transit. LRT was built with the idea that as a whole people living in the metro area will benefit. Even so, many living closest to the stops are suffering from the harmful side-effects of LRT by having commuters and partyers park on their streets. Just as government had the responsibility to put in sound barriers - at no charge to the neighbors - for those living closest to the highway, government also has the responsibility to provide - at no charge to the neighbors - permit parking for impacted blocks. If we could afford the $800 million for the LRT, we also have an obligation to cough up a few extra dollars to help neighbors impacted by the parking. And remember that most of the people living next to the LRT stops moved in long before there were any plans for building LRT. They never chose to become neighbors to an LRT stop. I lived a 1/4 mile from an El stop in Chicago, and parking was mahem on blocks with no permit parking. I got involved because I was concerned Minneapolis neighbors could suffer the same problems. I remember hearing the theories that there would be no problems and we needed no park-and-rides because people would take buses. I'd love to know what cities they were basing this on, because the parking problems I have seen in Chicago and Boston certainly suggested we would have problems here. Those saying this will go away after the line opens to Mall of America are wrong. At least at 46th St., the commuters are coming from the east, not the south. I doubt St. Paul commuters will be parking at the Mall of America. Longfellow Community Council has a meeting coming up for 46th St. neighbors to find out what residents like about LRT and what would make LRT a better neighbor. Tuesday night I was biking to different block parties in Hiawatha to publicize the meeting and to find out what neighbors had to say. First, in fact most neighbors (at least to date) said they had not yet had big parking problems from LRT. (the Hiawatha neighborhood is east of Hiawatha Ave., and at 46th st. the LRT stop is west of Hiawatha Ave) They reserved most of their parking complaints for weekend visitors to e.g. the Sons of Norway event at Minnehaha Falls. Then in the same breath they both oohed and aahed about how they liked riding the train, and complained about all the traffic problems. Everybody knows about the tie-ups at the intersections. Neighbors said that these problems were spreading into the neighborhood. Some said they saw increased traffic on Minnehaha parkway and sidestreets as people tried to avoid Hiawatha and 46th. Some were talking about putting in speed bumps to control the increased traffic. Others complained how traffic on 46th St. was backed up to the river at rush hour, and they could not make left-hand turns onto 46th. And some also said that they had seen emergency vehicles get tied up in all the traffic delays, and had seen police cruisers zoom over the parkway bridge to avoid 46th and Hiawatha. Two people also confessed that one of their favorite activities is to set up lawnchairs in their front yard and watch drivers get tangled up in the rotary at Minnehaha Ave. and the parkway. Jay Clark Cooper 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
[Mpls] Light Rail Transit and Permit Parking
Permit parking is to Light Rail Transit what sound barriers are to highways. Blocks impacted by LRT commuter parking should be allowed free permit parking. When a highway is built, it is assumed (at least by those advocating the highway) that the metro population as a whole will benefit. But even if the highway is a net surplus, it is also accepted that a subset of the population, namely those living closest to the highway, will have their quality of life harmed from the highway, namely by the noise. And it is also accepted that when a highway is built, there is a responsibility to ameliorate the most harmful side-effects of the highway on the immediate neighbors by building sound barriers. Can you imagine if, at the end of the construction of the highway, construction companies and the government said "whoops, we're running out of money, things are tight, and there will be no sound barriers." or "you can have sound barriers, but only if you pay $10 a square foot. Those who don't cough up the money won't get the sound barriers" There would be a huge outcry. People would say that that a great wrong was being done to those living next to the new highway. The same is true for Light Rail Transit. LRT was built with the idea that as a whole people living in the metro area will benefit. Even so, many living closest to the stops are suffering from the harmful side-effects of LRT by having commuters and partyers park on their streets. Just as government had the responsibility to put in sound barriers - at no charge to the neighbors - for those living closest to the highway, government also has the responsibility to provide - at no charge to the neighbors - permit parking for impacted blocks. If we could afford the $800 million for the LRT, we also have an obligation to cough up a few extra dollars to help neighbors impacted by the parking. And remember that most of the people living next to the LRT stops moved in long before there were any plans for building LRT. They never chose to become neighbors to an LRT stop. I lived a 1/4 mile from an El stop in Chicago, and parking was mahem on blocks with no permit parking. I got involved because I was concerned Minneapolis neighbors could suffer the same problems. I remember hearing the theories that there would be no problems and we needed no park-and-rides because people would take buses. I'd love to know what cities they were basing this on, because the parking problems I have seen in Chicago and Boston certainly suggested we would have problems here. Those saying this will go away after the line opens to Mall of America are wrong. At least at 46th St., the commuters are coming from the east, not the south. I doubt St. Paul commuters will be parking at the Mall of America. Longfellow Community Council has a meeting coming up for 46th St. neighbors to find out what residents like about LRT and what would make LRT a better neighbor. Tuesday night I was biking to different block parties in Hiawatha to publicize the meeting and to find out what neighbors had to say. First, in fact most neighbors (at least to date) said they had not yet had big parking problems from LRT. (the Hiawatha neighborhood is east of Hiawatha Ave., and at 46th st. the LRT stop is west of Hiawatha Ave) They reserved most of their parking complaints for weekend visitors to e.g. the Sons of Norway event at Minnehaha Falls. Then in the same breath they both oohed and aahed about how they liked riding the train, and complained about all the traffic problems. Everybody knows about the tie-ups at the intersections. Neighbors said that these problems were spreading into the neighborhood. Some said they saw increased traffic on Minnehaha parkway and sidestreets as people tried to avoid Hiawatha and 46th. Some were talking about putting in speed bumps to control the increased traffic. Others complained how traffic on 46th St. was backed up to the river at rush hour, and they could not make left-hand turns onto 46th. And some also said that they had seen emergency vehicles get tied up in all the traffic delays, and had seen police cruisers zoom over the parkway bridge to avoid 46th and Hiawatha. Two people also confessed that one of their favorite activities is to set up lawnchairs in their front yard and watch drivers get tangled up in the rotary at Minnehaha Ave. and the parkway. Jay Clark Cooper 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
[Mpls] OOPS
Forgot to sign my neighborhood Jay Clark Cooper 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
[Mpls] Star Tribune Coverage of Minneapolis Local Stories and Neighborhoods
It has been a little over six months since the Star Tribune yanked Steve Brandt off the neighborhoods beat. How do you think the Star Tribune has been doing covering Minneapolis neighborhood stories since pulling Steve Brandt? Are there stories that the Star Tribune has missed or under-reported? Are there changes that you would make in how neighborhood and local stories get covered? Have there been improvements? For that matter, have you even noticed a change? Do you care? Steve Brandt got shifted to the schools beat. Have you noticed any change there? Jay Clark 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
[Mpls] Jordan, Tot Lots, NRP, and Housing
Jordan has the largest population of any neighborhood with no park building and no staff. Jordan also has one of the largest concentrations of youth of any neighborhood in the city. Jordan is one of the most underserved neighborhoods in the park system, and the city needs to correct this. As for Jordan, NRP, and tot lots... When NRP was set up, NRP guidelines stipulated that at least 52% of NRP expenditures be directed toward housing. One of the most repeated criticisms of NRP has been that NRP housing expenditures has fallen significantly short of that figure. Most neighborhood groups have ignored NRP housing expenditure guidelines. Jordan suffered terribly from blighted housing, with people living in appalling conditions and with boarded houses dotting the landscape. Jordan residents were desperate to find a way to pull out of this rundown housing tailspin, and saw NRP as perhaps their last and best chance to do something. Jordan residents decided to throw 95% of their NRP dollars into housing. They took down the boarded houses, and put loan and grant money into repairing the housing stock that was salvageable. Jordan was one of the few neighborhoods whose housing expenditures exceeded NRP guidelines. And by throwing 95% of its NRP money into housing, Jordan helped make NRP's overall housing expenditure record look a little better for all those neighborhoods that chose to ignore NRP housing expenditure guidelines and spend their money instead on, say, park facilities. Perhaps if Linden Hills had been suffering the same crisis in rundown housing that Jordan did, Linden Hills residents too would have made getting roofs over people's heads and running water in the sinks a higher priority than new tot lot equipment and milfoil harvesters. Given its population size and concentration of youth, Jordan is woefully underserved by the park system. It is not an adequate response to say that Jordan should have spent its NRP dollars more wisely on tot lot equipment. Jordan complied with NRP housing expenditure requirements, when most Minneapolis neighborhoods did not. The correct response is to say that Jordan residents have the same right to basic park amenities as everybody else in Minneapolis, and the city will make it a top priority to provide the park facilities that Jordan residents deserve. Jay Clark Cooper P.S. Here is my pet idea on how NRP could maintain compliance with the 52% housing guidelines while still giving neighborhoods complete flexibility over how to use its NRP dollars Every neighborhood gets xxx NRP dollars. 52% of those dollars are allocated to housing, and 48% are unallocated. Let's say the neighborhood of Foofyton Meadows has average housing values of $400,000, The residents decide that housing rehab is not their top priority. Instead, they want to use their NRP dollars to build a merry-go-round and a gazebo in Double Latte Park. Foofyton Meadows can trade its housing-allocated dollars at a discount, say 3 to 2 or 2 to 1, to Jordan for some of Jordan's unallocated dollars. This way, Foofyton Meadows can spend its NRP dollars any way it wants, Jordan gets more money to put into stabilizing its housing stock, and NRP overall housing expendures actually inch above 52% --- Replying to these comments: how do you explain to one of the kids in Jordan that they've got to wait until next year for the basics in playground equipment, because some kid in one of the "nice" neighborhoods needs to have internet access while sitting by the lake? Many neighborhoods paid for the tot lot upgrades using their NRP funds. All the Longfellow neighborhoods did. At Whittier Park, the PB paid for the tot lot but we put $2M into the gymnasium addition and other building upgrades. Linden Hills NRP also did a Tot Lot at the local park, added a new playground at an elementary school; added new fill, grass, backstops and benches along the baselines on two ball fields,; put over $100K into renovating our community library; and, worked with another neighborhood to put a community computer lab in SW High School. We also worked and put money into opening public school gyms for community use in the evening and on weekends, And, we donated a new milfoil harvester to MPRB to help keep the lakes clean. 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
Re: NIMBY Alert! Re: [Mpls] cell towers
Radio towers all over the country are protected with red dimmer lights. Show me one study that proves that planes crash more frequently into radio towers protected with red dimmer lights than with white strobe lights. Jay Clark Cooper Dyna Sluyter wrote: > > First off, for those who are loosing sleep over the prospect of cell > phone towers in Minneapolis parks, you can rest easy- it probably won't > happen. For the quoted $15,000 a year lease rate the cell companies can > find a lot better sites than our parks. For a start, I'll offer my roof > for a thousand less and supplement my retirement! There are only a few > potential "hilltop" sites in our parks that have much value, > unfortunately, given our Park Board finances. As for appearance, it is > possible to build cell tower that look like anything but cell towers. > > So the NIMBYs can relax and worry instead about a micro hydro plant > destroying the Corp of Engineers handiwork, St. Anthony Falls... > > On Sunday, April 11, 2004, at 12:59 PM, Jay Clark wrote: > > > I would like to make a request for any cell phone towers on park > > property: > > > > Please put red dimmer lights on top of the towers, not white strobe > > lights. > > Sorry, but the FAA decides what color lights go on top of towers. > While it would be entertaining to let our Park Board light up the city > like a christmas tree with their choice of colors, it would be quite > confusing to pilots. > > > I think those strobe lights are ghastly to look at, and can destroy > > otherwise beautiful night-time scenes. > > Airplane crash scenes are even uglier. > > > Try standing on the hill at Farview park at night, and look at downtown > > Minneapolis. The view is badly damaged by the nauseous strobe lights > > on > > top of the garbage burner. > > An academic issue, because it isn't safe to wander about Farview Park > at night anyway. > > > And hasn't anybody driven at night along, say, I-90, enjoying the > > brilliant starry sky, only to have the scene destroyed by epileptic > > pulsing white strobe lights blasting away? > > Those of us who drive a lot at night appreciate the lights- they give > us landmarks to chart our progress by. If you're not familiar with the > road they also give you an idea of a town's size and likelyhood of > services, etc.. > > > Maybe I am the only person on the planet who thinks that these white > > strobe lights are ugly visual air pollution, but please save us. > > No, please save us from air crashes and such. > > > Jay Clark > > Cooper > > > > P.S. Responding to urgent queries from concerned Nokomis residents: > > the loons I saw waddling around Lake Nokomis are of the winged variety, > > not the two-legged variety. > > > > P.P.S. Weird bird update. As of 8:00 P.M. last night, there were > > still > > loons on Lake Nokomis. > > Their ancient and melancholy calls pierce straight to my heart. They > > have been joined by pie-billed grebes and flocks of mergansers. Great > > blue herons have also made their first majestic appearance. And while > > not quite qualifying as weird birds, I have also seen bats darting > > around street lights at 50th and Woodlawn. > > > > A hint for those who enjoy watching great blue herons: go out to Lake > > Nokomis (or Harriet, Calhoun, Grass, etc.) after 10:00 P.M., and > > unobrusively approach a street lamp that is near the water. There is a > > good chance that you will see a great blue heron in the water opposite > > the street lamp. I think the herons are using the light from the > > street > > lamps to help them hunt for fish at night. > > 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 > > 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
Re: [Mpls] cell towers
I would like to make a request for any cell phone towers on park property: Please put red dimmer lights on top of the towers, not white strobe lights. I think those strobe lights are ghastly to look at, and can destroy otherwise beautiful night-time scenes. Try standing on the hill at Farview park at night, and look at downtown Minneapolis. The view is badly damaged by the nauseous strobe lights on top of the garbage burner. And hasn't anybody driven at night along, say, I-90, enjoying the brilliant starry sky, only to have the scene destroyed by epileptic pulsing white strobe lights blasting away? Maybe I am the only person on the planet who thinks that these white strobe lights are ugly visual air pollution, but please save us. Jay Clark Cooper P.S. Responding to urgent queries from concerned Nokomis residents: the loons I saw waddling around Lake Nokomis are of the winged variety, not the two-legged variety. P.P.S. Weird bird update. As of 8:00 P.M. last night, there were still loons on Lake Nokomis. Their ancient and melancholy calls pierce straight to my heart. They have been joined by pie-billed grebes and flocks of mergansers. Great blue herons have also made their first majestic appearance. And while not quite qualifying as weird birds, I have also seen bats darting around street lights at 50th and Woodlawn. A hint for those who enjoy watching great blue herons: go out to Lake Nokomis (or Harriet, Calhoun, Grass, etc.) after 10:00 P.M., and unobrusively approach a street lamp that is near the water. There is a good chance that you will see a great blue heron in the water opposite the street lamp. I think the herons are using the light from the street lamps to help them hunt for fish at night. 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
Re: [Mpls] RE: Kids, sports, summer and the MPRB
Just to make it clear, I never said that the neighborhood brought it upon itself by allowing inappropriate behaviour at the basketball hoops that used to exist at Jordan Park. Neighborhood residents cannnot be held responsible for the behavior of people in the park, unless it is their own kids. If this comment was a reponse to my posting, it unfairly distorts what I said. Just like 2600 Knox residents, people living in the immediate vicinity of a local park have the right not to be inflicted with fighting, drinking, loud bad language, wielding of knives and weapons, etc. This is what the immediate neighbors at Jordan Park were concerned about. There needs to be effective strategies for making sure that outdoor basketball courts do not become magnets for this type of behavior. If those strategies do not exist. then expect the immediate neighbors of parks to continue to fight the installation of outdoor basketball courts. The unusual and unintended partial solution that has been implemented in Jordan has been the demolition of the houses closest to the former site of the basketball court, thereby forcibly removing the people complaining the loudest about the courts. The biggest difference I have noticed is that most city parks the same size as Jordan located in more affluent areas have full-service park buildings and staff able to monitor what is going on at the basketball courts. Jordan Park has no building and no staff. Jay Clark Cooper > It'd be very easy to point-out that yes, the kids in Jordan could walk to a > park closeby (say farview) to recreate, or that the neighborhood brought it > upon it's self by allowing inappropriate behaviour at the basketball hoops > that used to exist at Jordan Park. However, I've visited parks in more > affluent neighborhoods of the City enough to know that such inappropriate > behaviour exists at these parks as well. The difference is that the > residents (in those neighborhoods) wouldn't stand for the removal of > recreational facilities because of it. > > Dennis Plante > Jordan > 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
Re: [Mpls] Things Have Changed
Dennis: The Jordan basketball court was controversial when it first went in. Neighbors were concerned about the problems that could arise from the courts, and parents with little kids were concerned about the language. Neighbors also said that many of the adults driving in to play basketball were not from the immediate area, although Jordan was designed to be a neighborhood park There were a bunch of indoor basketball courts put in a Farview park precisely to provide an alternative place to play basketball that was not as stressful to the immediate neighbors. One police officer suggested that the Jordan hoops should be put in at half regulation height: provide plenty of fun for local youngsters, without becoming a hangout for a bigger and rougher crowd. My guess is that if the disturbance you described, with 40-50 youth in the middle of the street causing a very loud disturbance and at least one youth carrying a 5" knife, had taken place on the 4700 block of south Vincent, the desk sargeant would not have said that you should be thankful that the kids aren't out causing trouble and that there really wasn't much that could be done anyway. And I think the city would be mounting a major campaign to make sure that the 4700 Vincent neighbors were never subjected to such a scene again. I also remember a Phillips resident wonder about what would happen if they ever managed to whisk all the Bloomington and Lake prostitutes over to 43rd and Upton, and set up shop there. She suspected that the police and city response would be explosive, and that within half an hour the prostitutes would be stopped from plying their trade. I would suggest that your block set up a meeting with the new 4th precinct inspector, and maybe councilmember Samuels, and make it clear that you are prepared to work with the officials, but that you expect that the police and the city will take whatever steps are necessary to make sure that this dangerous scene does not become entrenched on your block. Jay Clark Cooper Dennis Plante wrote: > > A week ago Friday, at about 12:30 AM, my wife and I called 911 as there was > a group of roughly 40-50 youths in the middle of the street (in front of our > house) causing a very loud disturbance. The reason they're congregating > there? There are two (2) portable basketball hoops opposing each other on > the side of the street. > > Three squads responded in short order, and when the kids saw the squads > coming, they scattered immediately. The next morning, our suspicions were > confirmed when we found a 5" knife lying in our front yard. One of the > youths more than likely tossed-it as they were fleeing. > > As the weather has warmed-up, the number and frequency of kids playing in > the middle of the street has increased. Many of the kids aren't old enough > to be in school. I'm talking 2-4 year-olds, relying on the good graces and > commong sense of the drivers going up and down the street to come to a > complete stop and honk their horns, instead of hitting them. > > Today, thinking it was appropriate, I called and spoke with the desk > sargeant at the 4th precinct. I was told by the desk sargeant that I should > be thankful that the kids aren't out causing trouble. I was told that there > really wasn't any other place for the kids to play basketball because the > hoops had been removed at Jordan Park because there was too much trouble > occurring at the courts. I was told there really wasn't much that cou;d be > done anyway, as the City didn't have a place to take the hoops, even if they > did confiscate them. However, if I was to witness anyone blocking traffic > why playing basketball, I should feel free to call 911 and someone would > check-it-out. The most humurous part however (to me anyway), was when I was > asked by the desk sargeant if I was aware of what went-on in the > neighborhood I called regarding. I (probably not very nicely) responded > that I did. > > I'm left scratching my head. Is this the best we can do for our children? > A B-Ball hoop in the street? > > Dennis Plante > Jordan > > _ > Check out MSN PC Safety & Security to help ensure your PC is protected and > safe. http://specials.msn.com/msn/security.asp > > 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 mess
[Mpls] Loon Alert
While out jogging this morning I saw 9 loons on Lake Nokomis, mostly on the southern end of the lake. The ice melted off Lake Nokomis just Saturday night. Saturday morning at 9:00 A.M., half the lake was still covered with gossamer-thin deep blue ice. By 4:30 that afternoon, it was all gone except for about 30 feet of loose shards along the southern shore. I drove up to Duluth Friday, and noticed that all the lakes north of the Twin Cities were still covered with ice. I think the loons migrate north as fast as they can, and rest at the northern-most lakes that are ice-free. So if you want to get out there and see and hear loons, you better do it now, before lakes to the north are ice-free. Jay Clark Cooper P.S. A few days ago I got an official list manager warning for mentioning Vermont cheddar cheese on the Minneapolis Issues List. For years I have watched legions of list participants be warned, rebuked, reminded, chastised, cautioned, admonished, suspended, and expelled. Yet, try as I might, I never got so much as raised eyebrows from the list manager. Was I an apple-polisher? A goody-two-shoes? Just plain boring? What was I doing wrong? At last, last Saturday, I reached one of my life's goals, and received an official rebuke from the list manager. I have now returned to humanity. With this list manager rebuke, I at last understand the absolute liberation that Thelma and Louise must have felt as they sent their Thunderbird careening over the cliff and into the Grand Canyon. P.P.S. A few years ago a Hmong girl in Jordan was mauled by a pit bull that had gotten loose. The Pit Bull was destroyed by animal control, and I believe a civil suit was launched against the owners. People who let their pit bulls, or any dangerous dogs loose absolutely are responsible. 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
Re: [Mpls] University and country living
Thanks to Emily and Steve for their wonderful posts. I have occasionally ventured over to the St. Paul campus, but clearly have not done enough exploring over there: an oversight I fully plan to rectify. And yes, that Chanhassen arboretum is beyond wonderful. I have occasionally driven past the Morris campus: next time I am popping in. Let me share a couple of more references from the Great Minnesota/New England Dictionary: In Minnesota, the eggs are white and the cheddar cheese is yellow. In New England, the eggs are brown and the cheddar cheese is white. And logic to the wind, I swear that white cheddar tastes different from yellow cheddar. God, do I crave the taste of some Vermont sharp white cheddar cheese! Does anybody know where in Minneapolis I can find some Vermont white cheddar cheese (or any sharp white cheddar cheese for that matter) at something approaching an affordable price? The only places I have seen Vermont white cheddar are at over-priced foofy wine and cheese shops, where the Vermont cheddar is treated as some sophisticated gourmet delicacy even more rarified than beluga caviar or French truffles. Jay Clark Cooper 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
Re: [Mpls] Gop[her Gals
P.S. If you visit Storrs, Connecticut, be sure to stop in at the UConn Dairy Bar and enjoy some blueberry cheesecake ice cream. You can look out over the corn fields and see the cows that the cream just came from. I am writing this in my West Bank office, and out my window I am looking at the Metrodome and the downtown Minneapolis skyscrapers. I cannot help but reflect on the different educational experiences that UConn and Minnesota students get. The University of Minnesota is one of the few land-grant universities located in the middle of an urban setting. I see students here who get fantastic learning experiences doing internships and research in the greater Twin Cities area. And I think I would have greatly benefitted if I had had this kind of fieldwork in college, and had not done only coursework. On the other hand, the University of Connecticut is located in rural northeastern Connecticut, nestled in amongst ancient weathered foothills, whitewashed congregational churches, and picturesque hamlets. UConn has a wonderful, warm, nurturing collegial atmosphere that the U of M cannot hope to match. Who gets the better college experience? For those daring to set foot in the home state of Benedict Arnold, here are some handy references from the Great Minnesota/New England Dictionary. A creek is a brook A subway sandwich is a grinder And a liquor store is a package store. And Nutmeggers will stare at you blankly if you offer them hotdish for dinner, a bar for dessert, or lutefisk as an appetizer. Actually, I think that Nutmeggers will stare at you with a look of disgust if you try to serve them lutefisk. Jay Clark Cooper 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
Re: [Mpls] Gop[her Gals
What do I do now? I work at the University of Minnesota, and my alma mater is the University of Connecticut. Should I yell "GO HUSKPHERS!" Or "GO GOPHKIES!" I am going to wear my UConn sweatshirt under my Minnesota windbreaker. Jay Clark Cooper [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > Gopher's are in the final four! The women whipped the number > one team in the country to gain a berth in New Orleans this weekend. What a > fabulous game! Just pure stuff from both sides (and a little crap from the > refs). > > This is what sports is about . I defy any of you sports > haters to tune in this weekend and deny the thrill or the passion involved in > this simple contest. Go Gophers!! > > Jon Gorder > Twin Cities ( Cathedral Hill) > 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 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
[Mpls] Is Chicago the Future for Minneapolis Community Schools? The Longfellow Example
et out there and listen to and involve parents and neighbors. There will not be consensus, there will be passionate disagreements. In the end the Minneapolis school system will still have to show strong leadership and make difficult decisions that many will disagree with. But my experience in Longfellow tells me that if all the thinking and decision-making is top-down, the result could be parents pulling their kids out of the community schools in droves. Jay Clark Cooper P.S. I am sorry I did not send this in when this issue was on the front page and talked about on this list. It took me this long to sort out my thoughts and get them down on paper. P.P.S. I know that a few years ago there was a major effort by the school system to get Longfellow-area school supporters to come together and reach agreement on what to do with area schools. I was only tangentially involved. I think the effort was very well-meaning, but I think the problem was that they were trying to achieve consensus, which I am convinced is virtually impossible. 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
Re: [Mpls] Police chief candidates
When I was at the Jordan Area Community Council, we worked with sergeant Sharon Lubinski on a project that closed 50 drug houses in 18 months, and then on opening one of the first police substations at Penn and Lowry. I was very impressed with Sharon Lubinski as a tough, no-nonsense police officer, totally dedicated to her job and able to get things done. Sharon is very sharp, and ready and willing to think outside the box. At the same time, I found her to be very loyal to her fellow police officers. I have appreciated how, for years and years and years, Sharon Lubinski has quietly lived in Minneapolis' Standish-Ericsson neighborhood. Sharon is also one of the Minneapolis police department's main proponents of Community Oriented Policing. A couple of years ago, I worked with some St. Paul police on a Community Oriented Policing project. Sharon Lubinski was the first name they mentioned as a Minneapolis police officer that they liked to work with. I have not worked with any of the other candidates, and I am not trying to compare Sharon Lubinski's credentials with anybody else. I am confident that Sharon Lubinski would be a strong, effective and committed chief for the Minneapolis police department. Jay Clark Cooper 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
[Mpls] Star Tribune Pulls Steve Brandt Off Neighborhoods Beat
Steve Brandt is being pulled from the Star Tribune Minneapolis neighborhoods beat at the end of November. There are no plans to replace him. I have always appreciated the hustle and commitment that Steve Brandt has shown in his coverage of Minneapolis neighborhoods. I have seen him pounding on doors of tenements, driving through blinding snowstorms to cover events, poking through dark alleys, and showing up at more than one meeting that I really didn't want him at. And I think that Star Tribune neighborhood coverage has significantly improved in recent years. It is hard to deal with strange streets, unknown people, and complex issues with long histories. But I have seen a number of neighborhood stories where the Star Tribune has gone the extra mile to get beyond the simplistic headlines and tell the deeper narrative - we have gotten to know people, the challenges they face, how they are trying to improve their communities, the long-term results. Believe me, neighborhood coverage by the Star Tribune was much worse in years past. Covering the urban beat meant taking the elevator and chatting with your political connections in city hall. The only time reporters ever dashed out to Jordan or the north side was when there were dead bodies on the sidewalk. As soon as they got some gory pictures and a few juicy quotes, they high-tailed it back to city hall. I worry that the removal of Steve Brandt from the neighborhoods beat could signal the return to some bad habits by the Star Tribune. Steve has been assigned to cover Minneapolis schools. I certainly support adequate coverage of Minneapolis schools, but not at the expense of Minneapolis neighborhoods. Anybody who wishes to share their thoughts on the removal of Steve Brandt and the importance of covering Minneapolis neighborhoods can contact assistant managing editor Robert Buoen at 612-673-1729, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Jay Clark Cooper 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
Re: [Mpls] Housing codes
The Jordan Area Community Council led the campaign to get a rental property licensing ordinance passed in Minneapolis in 1991 We wanted rental property licensing because we found that too many problem landlords, when cited for serious code violations, would choose to pay the fine rather than make the repairs. Rental property licensing put real teeth in the inspections department's bark, because inspections could pull the license, denying thousands of dollars in rental income. With the extra bite, the inspectors could more effectively force problem landlords to comply with citations. But we never intended to simply leave the books on the table. We wanted to use block meetings to identify the houses that were the most delapidated and dangerous, and have block volunteers work with the inspections department and elected officials to use rental property licensing to get these properties cleaned up. I think that neighborhood organizations and neighbors need to be actively involved for rental property licensing to be used effectively. By the way, I also think that rental property licensing can be an effective tool for fighting drug dealing. Drug dealers usually are not practising Martha Steward Living. The places they live in often have serious code violations. Send the inspectors in, and the housing code violations can be used to get the drug dealers evicted and the property cleaned up. We never had the chance to do block organizing with rental property licensing because about the same time RPL was passed we were picked in the NRP lottery and we were off to the races. Jay Clark Cooper 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. 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
[Mpls] Name
Sorry I forgot to put my name on my posting Jay Clark Cooper TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Dodging Permit Police at Minnehaha Falls
Last Saturday I complained about the practice of ticketing people at Minneapolis park parking lots for not having permits when they couldn't buy the permits. On Tuesday a park administrator sent me this reply: Until the lot has the daily fee machines installed, it is a patron permit lot unless it is staffed by a parking attendant. If you park in a patron lot without a season pass and there is not an attendant on duty, you will be ticketed. This condition will exist until the daily fee machine is installed(within 10-14 days). So until the machines are installed, it would be business as usual, and people would continue to be ticketed for not having permits when they can't buy permits. I thought the threat was an interesting literary flourish. This was my response: It is shameful that you are continuing your parking trap. I never thought the park system could sink so low. You won't get the chance to ticket me. I abandoned your parking lots years ago, because too many cars got their windows smashed in. My response was the Minnesota equivalent of "You'll never take me alive". But it was all bluff. In fact, I knew the park system would have its chance to get me that very Friday. We had scheduled a neighborhood organizer's picnic at Minnehaha Falls - before we knew about the park system's parking scheme. I decided to park my car on a side street, but pull into the lot to unload supplies. Friday morning I looked at the Minnehaha parking lot the way Pickett's charge must have looked at union lines at Gettysburg. Of course there was nobody selling permits. I also saw no police. Knowing that it would take less than ten minutes to unload the barbecue supplies from my car, and that otherwise I would have to lug heavy coolers full of food over Minnehaha Creek or across two roads of traffic, I decided to do the evil deed and pull into the lot. I waddled with my first heavy cooler over to a picnic table. I turned around, and I couldn't believe my eyes. A dd cop was hovering around my car, and pulling out his pen and pad. Was he hiding in the bushes? did he pop out of a trash can? Did he materialize out of a transporter beam? Yelling "don't do it", I leapt over bushes and flowers in my dash back to the car. A scowling officer watched as I jumped into my car, cranked the engine, threw the gears into reverse, and prepared to peel out of the parking lot. Just then two buses from St. Something-or-Other church creaked into the lot and parked directly behind my car. For over five minutes two busloads of senior citizens disembarked, along with their canes, walkers, and wheelchairs. I was trapped like a rat. The officer's scowl turned to a smile as he admired my license plate. Finally he decided to show some mercy, and moved on to the next car. Once I made my escape I hid my car on a side street. But now I was on a mission to save humanity. Dodging my way through two lines of traffic, I raced back to the park, dragging a clanking Weber grill behind me. I burst into the pavilion and warned everybody that the police were ticketing cars, and they should be moved. The purple-haired punks Jostled with the blue-haired ladies through the doors as everyone stampeded into the parking lot. I then ran down to the falls, and warned everybody there. Even though I knew no Japanese, the tourists got the message and joined the race to the parking lot. Finally, one woman said "Do I have to move my car even if I got a ticket from the machine?" I walked up to the parking lot, and indeed a permit dispensing machine had been installed that very day. While many of the people had not purchased permits, and I had saved them from a ticket, I felt bad that I told people to move their cars when they didn't have to. But guilt turned to a certain sense of redemption later in the barbecue, when people looked at their permits. The permit clock was set two hours early and the tickets were good for only two hours. This meant that every permit was expired the moment it was purchased. The ever vigilant/carnivorous park police had spent much of the last two hours ticketing everybody who had expired permits - which meant everybody in the park. The only people who escaped were the people who took my advice and moved their cars. -- The permit machines at Nokomis are an improvement. But there are still some major problems. First, they are fairly inconspicuous. they look like newspaper dispensing machines. I knew what I was looking for, and I had to walk right up to the machine and look at it to know what it was. Plenty of people will have no idea from a distance what it is. The only people likely to come into direct contact with the machines are those who park in the lot and head straight for the bathrooms. Anybody
[Mpls] Minnehaha Ticketing and Parking Permits
Robert D. Smith asked me to forward this message to the Minneapolis Issues List Jay Clark Cooper -- Mr. Clark Your comments on the dunderheaded and arrogant new "Patron Pass'' system were forwarded to me. I got ticketed at Mhaha recently and everything you say about this new policy is dead on. There was no way for me to buy a ticket and the closest free parking was way the heck far away and we had a bunch of stuff to haul for a picnic. An angle you missed in your critique oops accidentally sent my mail before I was done... As I was saying, an angle you missed is the impact on non-Minneapolitans. It's a way to rip off the unwary outsiders, who come only occasionally and are unaware of, or just don't see the new signs. Once you get the ticket of course, your average outsider has a greatly reinforced stereoptyple of a city that they already view as basically hostile, arrogant, weird, dangerous, irrational, poorly managed, and obvlivious to the outsider, even urban kinfolk over in St. Paul. I always try to argue the contrary with suburbanites who level these charges at Minneapolis, but it's harder now.I am left with no other alternative but to buy a $27 ticket for my two or three trips to Minnehaha a year ($9 a park) or quit coming. I will try to do the latter, and the city will no longer get the few bucks it got when I always used the honor box. Of course, what does the park board care, they got $20 from me right now. Finally, and facetiously, I am going to suggest to my city leaders that we continue to keep the very popular Como Park and its zoo and arboretum free to outsiders. Except for Minneapolitans. We will be checking for IDs, and if you are from there, you must pay $27 for an annual Como "Patron Parking" permit. You Minneapolitans can park your car on non-park property and walk a mile to the zoo. You might want to forward this to park authorities. It was very gratifying to see another citizen with the same sense of outrage over this policy. Loved how you remembered the grass-cutting policy. Robert D. Smith TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Nokomis Ticketing and Permit Parking
The installation of daily fee machines would address the concerns I have about unfair ticketing practises at Nokomis, as long as the machines are accessible all the time. In the meantime, I hope the park police will stop the practise of ticketing people for not having permits at those times when there is no way to purchase permits on site. I consider a ticket fair when someone is informed that he must have a permit, he can purchase the ticket on site, he chooses not to purchase the permit, and then is ticketed for not having the permit. I consider the ticket to be unfair when someone is informed he must have a permit, there is no way to purchase the permit, and then he is ticketed for not having the permit. Jay Clark Cooper "Siggelkow, Donald E." wrote: > > Jay, > > We will continue to make improvements to the parking system. I'm not sure anybody > perceives a parking ticket as "fair". We are installing daily fee machines at > Nokomis that will eliminate the need for the parking attendants. The parking > attendants are there during peak periods to provide the convenience of a daily fee > as opposed to the season pass. The lots are for season pass permit holders and we > are accommodating daily users. If there are not attendants on duty - the lot is for > permit holders only. The daily fee machines will be a great improvement for the > daily users. We are also improving the signage to accommodate the visitors that do > not know that we charge for parking (and have since the mid 90's). > > Let me know if you have any other concerns, questions, Don Siggelkow - Assistant > Superintendent. > > -Original Message- > From: Annie Young [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Saturday, June 21, 2003 11:57 PM > To: Jay Clark; Minneapolis Issues > Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; > [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Siggelkow, Donald E.; Merrill > Anderson, Mary E.; Merrifield, Norman C.; Schmidt, Michael P.; Hill, > Dianne S.; Rietkerk, Judd H.; Ero-Phillips, Emily N. > Subject: Re: [Mpls] Nokomis Ticketing and Permit Parking > > Thank you Jay for your comments on the parking problems. I have forwarded > your message to staff and will get a clearer (I hope) explanation to you > regarding the several issues you brought forward. I will also maybe > attempt myself tomorrow when I am not so "ready for bed". > Thanks for your comments, > Annie Young > citywide Park Commissioner > > At 07:20 PM 6/21/03 -0500, Jay Clark wrote: > >In the past week or so, I have seen many people visiting Lake Nokomis > >who are being unfairly ticketed. I want it to stop. I describe here > >what I have seen at Nokomis, but I think there is a good chance this is > >going on at Minnehaha, Harriet, Calhoun, and other popular park > >destinations. > > > >The park system has instituted a new permit parking system at the main > >Nokomis Beach that works something like this: > > > >You drive into the Nokomis parking lot. You see a blue sign with white > >lettering telling you that you must purchase a permit to park in the > >lot. An attendant comes to your car and sells you a permit for two > >dollars. You put it on the dashboard, and you park legally. The park > >service has picked up some extra revenue, and you are operating within > >the law. > > > >However this tidy new revenue strategy has an ugly side. > > > >I do not know the hours of the permit sellers, but I know that there are > >great chunks of time during the week when there are no permit sellers to > >be found. I have been over there on weekday mornings as late as about > >11:30 A.M., and saw no permit sellers. Today (Saturday) I was at > >Nokomis at 9:30 A.M. and 1:00 P.M., and saw no permit sellers. There > >are also no instructions on the sign on how to purchase permits when the > >permit sellers are not there. This means that for many, many hours of > >the week you pull into the Nokomis parking lot, see a sign saying you > >must purchase a permit, and have no way of purchasing a permit. > >Surprise surprise, many people park in the lot. > > > >But parking at the Nokomis parking lot is akin to swimming at Amity > >Island when Jaws is loose. Because the park police are mounting the > >most aggressive ticketing campaign at Nokomis I have ever seen. I am at > >Nokomis about a half hour a day. In the past week, I have seen police > >at Nokomis ticketing vehicles four times. Three times they were in the > >Nokomis beach parking lot ticketing people for not having permits, when > >there was nobody to sell permits and there was no way for the beachgoers > &
[Mpls] Nokomis Ticketing and Permit Parking
policy of the old system. I cannot help wondering if the park police are systematically targeting those people who cannot purchase the permits on site. It is like shooting fish in a barrel. And a great way to rake in a lot of money fast. I know that the park system is desperate to bring in new revenue. But this is not the way to do it. The park system should either find a way to make permits available all the time on site, or they should not ticket people for not having permits when the park system has failed to provide those permits. This new revenue scheme will drive people away from Nokomis and other parks and will damage the credibility of the park system and the park police. This revenue scheme of ticketing people who cannot buy permits belongs in the same dust bin as the strategy a few years ago of saving money by allowing the grass to grow like weeds and then announcing that the park system is restoring native prairie. Jay Clark Cooper P.S. I abandoned the main lake parking lots years ago when far too often I saw the colorful sparkling green piles of glass that indicated yet more car break-ins. TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Re: Startribune.com registration
You could also take my approach and lie. The last time I had to register for a newspaper, I marked myself down as female, over 100 years old, making less than $8,000 dollars a year. I didn't graduate from preschool. I have no car, no phone, no television set. my favorite hobby is decomposing, my favorite food is Metamucil, my favorite drink is anti-freeze. I have not been hit with lots of ads trying to zero in on target populations. Jay Clark Cooper Tim Bonham wrote: > > So this means you keep track of which pages I look at? > That's even more reason not to register. > TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] cub foods in north minneapolis
I have to eat my words. Four hours after saying I knew of no plans to build a Cub in north Minneapolis, I heard from people involved in the Cleveland Neighborhood Association who told me that Cub is scouting Penn and Lowry. People in North Minneapolis are starving for a major league grocery store, and I hope a site can be found that fits in well with the community. Jay Clark Cooper andrew korf wrote: > > I have heard that Cub is looking at two sites in North Minneapolis: > Lowry/Emerson and Penn/Lowry. > > Anyone know anything about this rumor? Have there been any community > meetings about it? > > and does the addition of a Cub Foods improve the quality of life to a > neighborhood? or just traffic? > > thanks in advance. > > akorf > (part time audobon, part time cleveland,) > > TEMPORARY REMINDER: > 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. > 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. > > > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Cub/ LRT
I find it interesting where in Minneapolis Cub Foods is trying to open new stores. They want(ed) to open a Cub store at 46th and Minnehaha, even though there already is a Cub and a Rainbow at 27th and Lake, and a Cub at 60th and Nicollet, and a Lund's right across the river in Highland Park. Cub is also desperately trying to find someplace on Central Ave. in Northeast to open, even though Northeast is already served by Rainbow. Meanwhile, north Minneapolis has no big box grocery store at all. People have to leave north Minneapolis if they want to shop at a Cub or Rainbow. I worked in Jordan, and believe me, a Cub or a Rainbow in north Minneapolis would be a big hit. Yet, as far as I know, neither Cub nor Rainbow are making any efforts to open a store in the one area of the city not already served by a big box grocery store. Why? Jay Clark Cooper Irish Could I now be looking forward to a happy St. Patrick's Day card from representative Lindner? What working class folks need is > reasonably priced stores like CUB in their neighborhoods. I and many > Minneapolis residents are forced to travel to the suburbs to obtain > usable and reasonably priced food, clothing, etc.. Minneapolis' failure > to welcome more affordable retailers has thusly hurt both the city from > a revenue standpoint and inconvenienced it's citizens. > TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Cub wants to be a part of my neighborhood........
Nancy: I was one of the people who helped run the meeting last night. This meeting was actually held earlier in the planning process than traditionally happens. Too often neighbors see plans when they are completed products, with no time or ability to modify their plans. And often these plans are full of huge problems - problems that could have been fixed had they only come to the neighbors for input first, instead of last. However, this time we got the plan - er, concept - to the neighbors early in the process, so the neighbor's ideas and preferences could be incorporated into any final plan they, or any other developer, may have. Last night the big message was that neighbors did not want a big box grocery store at 46th and Minnehaha. 230+ people said that absolutely loud and clear. I think that because of the voice of the people last night, you will never see a big box grocery store at that location. Jay Clark Cooper P.S. I expected maybe 30 people at the meeting. We were we so packed and had so many people flowing into other rooms that when question time came around we actually had to give the people standing in the kitchen special time to ask their questions. TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. You'll find all those typos only after you have already sent the posting 2. You will accidentally send a private posting to the entire list only when it is really, really embarrassing TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Favorite Minneapolis Restaurants
Barb Lickness' review of Azia had my mouth watering. And I am sure that other Minneapolis List members know of equally great restaurants. So I am asking list members to take a shot at one of the following two questions: What is your favorite Minneapolis restaurant? What is your latest Minneapolis restaurant find? I will share my latest find: Taco Cabana in Marcello's at the north east corner of Bloomington and Lake. Last week I had a meeting with two people at Marcello's. Marcello's strikes me as a fairly typical semi-interesting, semi-foofy, semi-organic coffee shop. To pay for the rent for the table, I went to the front counter buy a cookie. The woman behind the counter stared at me blankly, and shook her head no. I then pointed at random inside the display case. I ended up with a chicken taco. 99% of my experience with tacos has been with the likes of Taco Bell, and I thought I didn't like tacos. So the taco sat on the plate, and occasionally I poked and prodded and pecked at it. Finally, in boredom, I took a bite. And I was sent into Taco Heaven. These are by far the softest, juiciest, tastiest tacos I have ever had. They are oozing over with cilantro and lime juice and quacamole. The taco pollo a la Mexicana has just the lightest hint of a kick. The Taco Pollo Verde has enough heat to give my bland northern European tastebuds a workout, without putting them into cardiac arrest. They also gave me this wonderfully smoky red sauce, but the seeds put the fear of God into my tastebuds, and I didn't dare put it on anything. For those who think all tacos are made of iceburg lettuce and grated American cheese, be ready for a taco epiphany. These tacos are not even the same species. I have become a tacoholic. I am powerless to resist. Word of caution. At least when I have been there, you better either be fluent in Spanish or fluent in pointing your fingers. Jay Clark Cooper P.S. Regarding police, community meetings and the media. A police officer said don't worry about it, and that it is business as usual except for things of an extraordinary nature. I went to a Windom Park meeting last night regarding the recent shooting of a convenience store employee. A beat cop was freely talking with the community and answering questions, even with a channel four camera lurking about. Based on the comments by reporters and the police, and based on the Windom Park meeting last night, I'd say that my concerns that the police could clam up in community meetings with the media present can go into remission. A media person also said that the best and perhaps only way to get the police to cooperate with reporters is to have the mayor order the police not to talk to reporters. TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Rybak orders police not to talk to media II
I have talked with a couple of reporters this morning. They have told me that if there is a community meeting, and a police officer is making a presentation or answering questions from neighbors, the police officer would probably feel as free now as before to talk, even if there are reporters present. They were not sure of the answer to one scenario. Let's say there is a community meeting on some moderately hot topic. A police officer is taking questions from neighbors in the room. There are reporters present, and they start raising their hands and directing questions to the police officer. Would the police officer feel as free as before to answer the questions coming from the reporters? Or would the police officer feel she had to refer the questions to someone else? The reporters didn't know. Does anybody in City Hall know? Jay Clark Cooper P.S. Sorry if you get this message twice. The first time I sent this message early this morning, my clock was apparently on the fritz and sent the message into who knows where TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. David Brauer is our Issues List Bodhisattva 2. His words light up the List the way the stars light up the Heavens TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Rybak orders police not to talk to media II
I have talked with a couple of reporters this morning. They have told me that if there is a community meeting, and a police officer is making a presentation or answering questions from neighbors, the police officer would probably feel as free now as before to talk, even if there are reporters present. They were not sure of the answer to one scenario. Let's say there is a community meeting on some moderately hot topic. A police officer is taking questions from neighbors in the room. There are reporters present, and they start raising their hands and directing questions to the police officer. Would the police officer feel as free as before to answer the questions coming from the reporters? Or would the police officer feel she had to refer the questions to someone else? The reporters didn't know. Does anybody in City Hall know? Jay Clark Cooper TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. David Brauer is our Issues List Bodhisattva 2. His words light up the List the way the stars light up the heavens TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Rybak orders police not to talk to media
I am concerned about the problems the new police/media rules may cause for neighborhood organization meetings. For example: As part of the outreach to the Hmong community sponsored by the Hawthorne, Jordan, and Cleveland neighborhoods, a series of informational meetings have been organized. At many of these meetings members of the Minneapolis police come and talk on topics ranging from using 911 to protecting yourself from dog bites to improving relations with Hmong teenagers. We also have reporters come to our meetings from time to time, both local and metro. In fact, we have had reporters come to meetings where police were giving presentations and/or talking with Hmong residents. And we have had comments end up in print If we have a meeting where a police officer is talking and a reporter walks in, what are we supposed to do? Make the police officer stop talking? Make the reporter leave? Close the meeting down? Would the police officer be required to leave according to these new rules? If the police officer continues to talk, could she be subject to some sort of punishment? If the reporter walks in and the police officer is allowed to continue to talk, could the neighborhood groups be liable to some sort of sanctions? We also have a couple of people who are reporters as a profession and live in the neighborhood and who have come to meetings and events as neighbors. Do these same rules apply when reporter/neighbors show up? If the police officer is speaking in Hmong, and the observing reporter understands only English, is the police officer still breaking the rules? (not a joke, this has happened before) This is not theoretical. We expect this situation to arise before the end of February. Any guidance would be helpful. And this problem will confront any neighborhood group which has, say, CCP/SAFE at a meeting along with a member of the local newspaper, which I am sure happens regularly. Jay Clark Cooper TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Miss-Information about NRP and Police Competing For Same Dollars
David Brauer wrote: NRP DOES have a dedicated revenue > stream - TIF proceeds from the Downtown Common Project. However, tax > increment revenues were cut dramatically by the 2001 state legislature. I > believe there is not enough NRP-dedicated TIF to pay the $11 million > currently obligated to the program. > I am sure this proves what an ignoramus I am, but how much NRP-dedicated TIF money is there now? Jay Clark Cooper TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Always be nice to David Brauer 2. Treat all other temporary reminders like the Ten Commandments TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] NRP and Hmong Neighborhood Involvement
I disagree with the argument that participating in procedural meetings is the only significant way to help one's neighborhood. There are precious few people who, because they are angels, or policy wonks, or have nothing better to do with their lives, are willing to sit through an endless series of dreary, drab, boring policy meetings. The vast majority of people are not willing to subject themselves to that pain. Those who believe that power resides only in suffering through the never-ending merry-go-round of procedural meetings are consigning 98% of Minneapolitans to irrelevance. I also disagree with the argument that hundreds of Hmong working together to implement a translation card to improve Hmong-police communications have no power. When you are in a packed room with 200 neighbors telling the politicians at the podium to get the card enforced, you are wielding a lot more power than if you are snoozing your way through yet another mind-paralyzing procedural meeting. And if this solution to a major neighborhood problem doesn't cost an arm and a leg, so much the better. Anybody who wants to engage large numbers of people and all the major constituencies in active involvement in improving their neighborhoods needs to think way way way outside of the box of excruciating policy and procedure meetings. And the first step is simply to listen. I believe that the most important job of a neighborhood organization is to get as many people as possible involved in successfully dealing with issues of neighborhood concern. No neighborhood group can rest easy until hundreds of people are actively involved and all the major constituencies are at the table and participating. Projects like the North Minneapolis Southeast Asian Initiative and Lyndale's Latina Women's Group and Holland's recent Youth Candidate Forum show that neighborhoods with the determination and the willingness to think outside the box can succeed. While the debate around NRP always seems to focus on how much money was spent and for what, for me the more important question is how much has NRP been decisive in enabling neighborhood groups to get people involved and develop the internal capacity to take on neighborhood concerns. Jay Clark Cooper Michael Atherton wrote: > > > A recent posting said that few to none of the participants in the NRP > > program have come from the ranks of minorities. > > Ok, how many NRP staff members are Hmong? How many Hmong > are board members of NRP contactors? What are the attendance > figures for Hmong at reallocation meetings and neighborhood > group meetings? It sounds to me as though the meetings > you are describing are not part of the regular NRP process, > but special meetings. I think that participation must be > measured as part of the NRP's normal process and decision > making; that is where the power is, not "The Initiative." > Participation is not White Folks doing their best for > Minorities. > > Michael Atherton > Prospect Park > > ___ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] NRP and Hmong Neighborhood Involvement
A recent posting said that few to none of the participants in the NRP program have come from the ranks of minorities. The writer of these comments must not know about the North Minneapolis Southeast Asian Initiative, which has gotten hundreds of Hmong involved in their neighborhoods and developed the Hmong Emergency Translation Card. The initative is cosponsored by the Jordan, Hawthorne and Cleveland neighborhoods along with the Southeast Asian Community Council. This Initiative could never have happened without NRP. The first step the Initiative took was to interview 150 Hmong families in their homes. A top problem voiced by many Hmong was that they had trouble communicating with the police. Many Hmong speak little or no English. When they get pulled over by the police for a traffice violation, or when they are involved in a fender bender, the police cannot talk with the driver. Many Hmong believe they are wrongly given tickets because the police do not hear their side of the story. This communications problem can be life-threatening in the case of firefighters fighting a blaze, paramedics rushing someone to the hospital, or police responding to a violent situation. Scores of Hmong and non-Hmong neighbors discussed what could be done to deal with this communications problem. After months of research, they developed the Hmong Emergency Translation Card. About the size of a business card, it has three numbers of people who are bilingual and can provide real-time translation between the police and the Hmong driver. The Hmong family puts the card in the glove compartment, and when they are pulled over, the present the card to the police officer. The card says "I would like to talk with you, but I do not speak English, I speak Hmong." The police officer can then use her cell phone to call one of the bilingual people, who can then translate between the police officer and the driver. The Initiative has gotten hundreds of these cards out to Hmong families, and now Hmong in St. Paul are beginning to ask for them. But the work is not done. Many more families want the cards. There have been problems with the police ignoring the cards. And other immigrant groups in Minneapolis need to hear about these cards. Potentially, translation cards such as this could be used in cities across the country. And the card was developed by some Hmong resident volunteers working to improve the quality of life in their neighborhoods. It is one of those ideas that when people hear about it, they say "Why didn't anybody ever think of this before." But in fact nobody in the United States ever did anything like this before. The Initiative has also done bilingual meetings on topics ranging from using 911 to rights of U.S. citizens to protecting yourself from dogs to choosing a school. Several of these meetings have pulled in over 100 people, and one has pulled in over 200 people. The meetings are 90% Hmong. These are the biggest neighborhood meetings in north Minneapolis. To get political support for the card, the Initiative sponsored a 3rd ward Hmong candidates forum this past Saturday, with 70 people participating. This Initiative would not have happened without NRP. NRP provided the capacity of the neighborhood organizations to take on this project. In turn, hundreds of Hmong residents took the initiative to identify community concerns and then do something about it. Jay Clark Cooper P.S. 4th precinct inspector Tim Dolan has been incredibly supportive and helpful in the development of this card. Has has spent many long hours in meetings, working with Hmong residents, and then getting the word out on the card to police and to other jurisdictions. P.P.S. Re. Highway 55 speed limits. I said that residents at local meetings had identified problems for pedestrians getting across Hiawatha as a top concern. The 46th St. meeting took place before the speed limit question came up. We intend to ask people their opinion on speed limits at an upcoming Lake St. LRT meeting. P.P.P.S. I wish to report that rumors to the contrary, Matt Thoren really does exist, he really does live in Jordan, and he really has been involved in the Jordan Area Community Council. When I worked at JACC he hosted block meetings and went doorknocking with me. ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Speed limit on Hiawatha II
P.S. at the LRT meetings, we also found out that the 46th St. residents really know how to have a good time. In addition to asking people about their concerns regarding the LRT stops, we also asked people what they saw as the biggest advantages to LRT. At the meeting we held for the 46th St LRT neighbors at the Minnehaha Park pavilion, almost half the people participating were senior citizens. The 46th St. LRT neighbors voted that the biggest advantage of LRT was that they would no longer have to drive their cars downtown when they went partying. Jay Clark Cooper Jay Clark wrote: > > Longfellow Community Council has been hosting a series of meetings with > neighbors closest to the LRT stops at 46th, 38th, and Lake. > > When we asked what concerns people had about the LRT stops, two answers > have gotten the most votes: > commmuters parking on residential streets, and difficulties pedestrians > will have in getting across Hiawatha to the LRT stops. > > With the congestion, the width of Hiawatha, and the speed people drive > even with the current speed limits, residents find it a daunting task to > walk across Hiawatha. > > Add a 55 mph speed limit and trains tangling up traffic, and residents > worry that crossing Hiawatha will become even more dangerous and > intimidating for pedestrians to cross, particularly the elderly. > > Jay Clark > Cooper > > Anderson & Turpin wrote: > > > > I drove down Hiawatha highway yesterday, from 46th St to the West Bank exit. > > I looked hard for the reasons to keep Hiawatha at 35 mph, but I didn't see > > any. There are no residences anywhere near the road. Can anyone tell me > > why the speed limit isn't 55 mph throughout that whole stretch of highway, > > besides the promise of a misguided politician a number of years ago? If > > anywhere should be a highway, it's that road. > > > > Mark Anderson > > Bancroft > > > > ___ > > > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > > Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls > ___ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Speed limit on Hiawatha
Longfellow Community Council has been hosting a series of meetings with neighbors closest to the LRT stops at 46th, 38th, and Lake. When we asked what concerns people had about the LRT stops, two answers have gotten the most votes: commmuters parking on residential streets, and difficulties pedestrians will have in getting across Hiawatha to the LRT stops. With the congestion, the width of Hiawatha, and the speed people drive even with the current speed limits, residents find it a daunting task to walk across Hiawatha. Add a 55 mph speed limit and trains tangling up traffic, and residents worry that crossing Hiawatha will become even more dangerous and intimidating for pedestrians to cross, particularly the elderly. Jay Clark Cooper Anderson & Turpin wrote: > > I drove down Hiawatha highway yesterday, from 46th St to the West Bank exit. > I looked hard for the reasons to keep Hiawatha at 35 mph, but I didn't see > any. There are no residences anywhere near the road. Can anyone tell me > why the speed limit isn't 55 mph throughout that whole stretch of highway, > besides the promise of a misguided politician a number of years ago? If > anywhere should be a highway, it's that road. > > Mark Anderson > Bancroft > > ___ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Minneapolis Third Ward Politics
utely immaculate house and yard, and participated in the block club and the bike patrol. She complained to me one day about how, when she saw a burglar breaking into a neighbor's house, the police officer told her that what did she expect, she lived in north Minneapolis. This was a complaint I heard again and again in Jordan. I was also amazed at how many people would tell me about how they or a friend or a relative had been mistreated by north Minneapolis police. In the past week, I have heard from someone who is white, someone who is black and someone who is Hmong who told me about how they or a relative had been slammed down across the hood of their car during a traffic stop. During last summer's drug dealing on 26th Ave., neighbors exhorted the police to aggressively combat the drug dealing, and applauded when the police scored a victory. Yet several times I privately heard people question whether the police were going all-out to close down the drug dealers or were just going through the motions. I even heard a couple of people wonder if the police were willing to allow continued drug dealing on 26th, because at least then they knew where the drug dealers were. In short, on the northside people are scared of crime and want the police to do a good job, but many at the same time feel a deep ambivalence about how police officers sometimes do their jobs. The differing perceptions in north and northeast about crime and the police is just one example of the challenges facing any candidate trying to fashion a message that can appeal to both sides of the river. Doing this is the key to any black and/or northside candidate winning the 3rd ward race. Jay Clark Cooper ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Goose Poop Glaciers at Lake Nokomis
While debate swirls around gangs, taxes, and highways, list members ignore the greatest crisis facing Minneapolis: goose poop at Lake Nokomis. Geologists believe that 18,000 years ago Minnesota was covered by ice sheets originating in northern Quebec. Anybody who uses the paths around Lake Nokomis knows that this theory is wrong. In fact, the last ice age was triggered by Lake Nokomis goose poop. Today, Lake Nokomis is a goose poop disaster zone. Goose poop tar pits here, goose poop avalanches there, and little green landmines everywhere. At the biggest goose poop debris field, people take desperate measures to try to get across unscathed. One guy grabbed a big stick and tried to pole vault over the poop. A figure skater attempted to triple axle her way across the mess. I took a running start and practised my high hurdles. All in vain. Anybody foolish enough to venture into the goose poop morasse is doomed to having his boots sink deep into the green muck. And every day the goose poop piles get bigger and bigger. By day hundreds of geese wallow in the lake, honking and laughing at us. By night they waddle onto land, feasting on the grass and leaving behind their calling cards. 18,000 years ago, the goose poop piles reached such an incredible depth that they began to wobble and wiggle and ooze. They combined into massive goose poop glaciers, flowing across the land and engulfing Minnesota and half of North America. The Lake Nokomis goose poop glaciers were so immense and so heavy and so unstable that they knocked the planet off its axis, plunging the northern hemisphere into an ice age lasting thousands of years. Looking at the green goo encrusted in my sneaker treads, I'd say that we are again facing a climatic catastrophe. Using a Cray computer, I have calculated that if the geese continue using Lake Nokomis as an all-you-can-eat buffet for only a few more weeks, great goose poop glaciers will again gush forth across the continent, extinguishing civilization as we know it. Our occupational responsibilities will revert back to throwing sticks at cave bears and woolly mammoths. Only Mother Nature can save us now. If she freezes Lake Nokomis solid before the goose poop reaches critical mass, then the geese will fly south, and civilization and pedestrian footwear will be saved for another year. Jay Clark Cooper ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] From our list to their pages
So now the secret is out. The quickest and surest way to become Minnesota's newest Ole Rolvaag, land on the New York Times Best Sellers List, and win the Nobel Prize for Literature, is to participate in the Minneapolis Issues Forum. And have Steve Brandt as your agent. Jay Clark Cooper List Manager wrote: > > In what may be a first, an entire list post becomes a Star Tribune > op-ed. > > http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/3416726.html > > Congrats, Jay Clark! > > PS To the Strib: thanks, but could you please mention the place this > missive originally appeared? We can always use new members... > > David Brauer > List manager > > ___ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Minneapolis Elections Rock
I want to express my deepest gratitude and respect for my neighbors who, in one week, built an inspired and populist campaign from nothing on the ashes of a terrible tragedy. I was amazed as I drove around Minneapolis to see the home-made lawn signs of all possible shapes and sizes and colors sprout up like mushrooms. Like rabbitprints in the snow, I would find the handiwork of people working overnight - flyers on my car, new messages tacked on lawn signs. Particularly committed was the guy wandering around lost in Lyndale at 11:00 P.M.in pitch black, but still loyally carrying around his home-made Mondale sign. My job had me criss-crossing south Minneapolis on Tuesday between 9:00 A.M. and 9:00 P.M. My first surprise was at 35th and the frontage road, where a troupe of people started waving their campaign posters in front of my windshield. I looked down the street, and saw people hanging over the bridge holding huge signs out for the I-35W drivers to see. As I drove around, I saw these scenes repeated again and again at virtually all the major intersections. At Franklin and Nicollet, the Mondale people ran into the Pentel people. Instead of squabbling, they divvied up the real estate and they were all waving around their signs and yelling "vote!" There were so many blue and orange and yellow signs waving up and down that I thought I had fallen into a giant Tide detergent box run amok. Because of my job I try to stay nonpartisan, But I was so carried away with these impromptu street parties that even I would surreptitiously start waving and hooting and honking. The whole experience felt like a cross between a pulsating rock concert and a city-wide block party. At 7:57 P.M. I was pulling into my final stop of the day. There at 27th and lake was still a team of people yelling and having a good time and waving around their signs. When I moved here from Chicago, one of the things I missed was the political theater, what with councilmembers throwing shoes at each other and the mayor trying to drag his opponents out into the alley to pound the living daylights out of them. But the political theater I saw in the past week has exceeded anything I have ever seen in my life. And it was performed not by powerful elites in smoke-filled rooms, but by the neighbors next door on our doorsteps and at our street corners. For those of you who worked so hard to breathe fire into our election process, I thank you for renewing my faith in the power and the vibrancy of our democracy. Jay Clark Cooper ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Minneapolis Wild Animal Safari
This morning, while driving into work, I saw a woodchuck nonchalantly munching on some delectible grass near Franklin Ave. and West River Road. I thought of some of the wildlife I have seen in Minneapolis that is rarely seen in other cities: Foxes scampering in the grass under the Washington Ave. bridge along the river. Beaver swimming near Pike Island under Fort Snelling A big owl staring into my face in the middle of the night at Lake Nokomis. Great Blue Herons fishing by streetlamp, again at Lake Nokomis. And I began to think: we could actually put together a pretty respectable wild animal safari here in Minneapolis. And I wanted to know: have other Minneapolis issues list members had their own wild animal encounters in Minneapolis? What wild creatures have you seen? Where have you seen them? Any other tips for people looking for wild animal experiences in Minneapolis? Jay Clark Cooper P.S. Many people on this list volunteer their time to improve their communities. The roll call of neighborhood volunteers lost a dedicated member with the death of Merriam Park resident Mary McEvoy, lost in the plane crash with Paul Wellstone last Friday. Since my main post was Minneapolis specific, I hope people will grant me a little slack to say a few words about Mary. I first met Mary at a planning meeting to prevent the hookup of Ayd Mill Road. I remember how she walked in and sat down, and somehow she instantly lifted the spirits of everybody in the room. She was a little fireplug, filling the room with enthusiasm and confidence. She also came up with a great strategy of forming No Connect groups at the local caucuses, which were successful in helping to stop the connection in 2000. I have worked with many volunteers in many neighborhood groups over the years, and rarely have I seen someone with such sheer force of personality so profoundly uplift people and embolden the efforts to tackle powerful interests and take on a tough community issue. She was so encouraging to everyone else, and I just enjoyed watching her work with others. She always built up other people, she never sought the limelight for herself. I already knew she was a special person, but then I started running into her in the most unexpected places. With a river and a bridge between me and any No Connect signs, I went to my Minneapolis DFL caucus. There I saw Mary McEvoy on the sidwalk hobnobbing with Buck Humphrey. I found out that Mary held a state position in the DFL party. Several months later, I was involved in a neighborhood organization history project. A graduate student had done extensive research, but had never turned the research results over to us. We called the student and her faculty advisor for close to a year, with no results. Finally, in desperation, we called the student's department head. Within 48 hours we got the research work. The department head was Mary McEvoy. Until I heard her voice, I could not believe that the feisty Ayd Mill neighborhood activist was also an accomplished and internationally recognized scholar. The respect I already had for Mary took a big jump when I realized that with all her major political and scholarly responsibilities she still took the time to be involved in a very local issue. I think most people holding statewide political positions would shy away from getting involved in a local fractious controversial issue such as Ayd Mill Road. But not Mary. She dove in headlong, and we were all the better for it. Her willingness to fight for causes she believed in regardless of the consequences was a trait she shared with Paul Wellstone. Her zeal was infectious, and her work will be continued by those of us lucky enough to have been inspired by her passion and energy and commitment. ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] residency
I am in favor of requiring people joining the Minneapolis police force to live in the city. When I organized in the Jordan neighborhood, I would hear people complain regularly how, when they reported a crime, a police officer would tell them what do they expect, they live in north Minneapolis, or why don't they move out to the suburbs. I used to live in Chicago, which has a residency requirement for police officers and fire fighters. I organized on the northwest side, in a predominantly Italian neighborhood. It was also one of the neighborhoods with a disproportionate number of police officers. About 1 out of 10 houses had either a police officer or fire fighter. I worked with about 400 of these homes total out of a population of about 10,000. I never once heard a Chicago police officer badmouth the city of Chicago, either on or off the job. I also never heard of a police officer or family in my neighborhood be the target of revenge for a criminal the officer had offended. Chicago avoided this problem by always assigning the police officer to a district other than where he\she lived. I am sure that there were some police officers that would have preferred to have lived in the burbs. But I never heard police officers cursing out the neighborhood they lived in. those who detested the idea of living in chicago probably stayed out of the Chicago police force, and I for one think it was an effective screen for keeping out some bad apples. Only very rarely did police officers get asked by neighbors to perform their job off-duty. Police officers would sometimes get asked questions by their neighbors. residents did feel more safe for having the off-duty officers in the neighborhood, and felt it helped strengthen house values. For those police officers who don't like residency requirements - teach your fellow police officers to stop badmouthing the city and the people you get your paycheck from. If you can. This is where much of the support for residency requirements comes from. I am sure that not every police officer shows this disdain, and many officers living in the suburbs have never murmered a disrespectful word about Minneapolis. However, these stories are endemic in north Minneapolis, and helps drive a wedge between the police and the people they are supposed to serve I once asked someone working in the police department what could be done to reduce the comments like "why don't you move out to the suburbs." She told me that this was an urban myth, and doesn't happen. I hope the rest of the police department takes this more seriously. Jay Clark Cooper I would not be effected by any residency requirement ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] re: neighborhood fundraising
While working for a neighborhood organization in Chicago, I was in charge of running a weekly bingo that netted $30,000 a year. My organization ran a total of five bingos, pulling in a total of around $150,000 from bingo alone. They raised 70% of their total budget through grassroots fundraising. They could spend it any way they wanted, even for food. They weren't dependent on outsiders, either foundations or government, for their existence. In turn, they felt more self-assured and immune from retaliation when they needed to criticize government for, say inadaquate police protection. Here are some other grassroots fundraisers that I know from personal experience can be done by any neighborhood organization and which can bring in thousands of dollars: Raffle Direct Mail Business Directory Volunteer Canvass Neighborhood groups should also be making mucho money on their summer wingdings, and not see them solely as social extravaganzas. Neighborhood groups should be getting two-thirds of their funds from non-governmental sources. If you are getting 90%-100% of your money from the government, your finances are in a precarious state even if you are balancing your books for the time being. Being so dependent on one source of funding endangers the very existence of your organization. For those who advise against neighborhood groups doing charitable gambling, I assume that you have alternative grassroots fundraisers that are at least as lucrative. Please share them with us. Jay Clark Cooper ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Power Walkers: Scourge of the Pathways
Some people on this list have written and complained about the problems caused by meanderers on city sidewalks. These complainers have missed the true menace lurking in tennis sneakers. I am writing today to expose the deep psychological traumas inflicted on me for years by the true scourge of the pathways: the Power Walkers. Pretty much every day, I run around Lake Nokomis. More precisely, I crawl, heave, stumble, and scratch my way around the lake. I run so slow that caterpillars pass me by. Every venture around the lake is a new lesson in humiliation. My already anemic blood turns to ice when, far down the path, I see that the Power Walkers are on the loose. They are walking, and I am, at least in theory, running. Therefore, by definition, I must be going faster than them. My primordial drive demands that I do something to salvage what few shreds of self-respect I have left. I wheeze into motion in a vain attempt to catch up with the Power Walkers. The miles click by, and I am further behind than ever. Finally, I pull even. There's me, on the left: slouching over, sweaty, panting, near collapse, miserable. On the right are the Power Walkers: tall, erect, confident, radiant. Their elbows slice through the air every which-way as they float along the path. Their celestial smiles proclaim that the are fitness bodhisattvas, attaining aerobic nirvana. Many carry weights or push bionic baby buggies, for the sole purpose of humiliating me even more. Somehow I summon my last shreds of stamina, and creep out ahead of them. At last, with the Power Walkers behind me, I can relax. But then Lake Nokomis plays a cruel trick. There are several shortcuts around the lake. As I round a curve, I see to my horror that the Power Walkers that I passed a half mile back are again in front of me and pulling away fast. At heart a couch potato wannabee, I seize every excuse to grind to a dead stop. Any bug, bird, plane or flower that crosses my path demands my detailed and time-consuming investigation. I also know the locations of every fountain, puddle and subterranean spring along the route, and I stop at every one to lap up a few drops of water. But I don't dare do any of these pitstops when the Power Walkers are on the rampage, because if I pull over, even for a second, they will overtake and lap me, and my agony will start all over again. But my most fearful encounters are not with the Power Walkers, but with Viola Carlson, the 90 year old senior aide at the Hale Page Diamond Lake Neighborhood Association. Every day, Viola rides her adult tricycle around Lake Nokomis. And more than once, I have suffered a run-in that goes something like this: Once again I am skulking my way along the lake path. Suddenly, I am blinded by some neutronic energy explosion rocketing by me. As my blurred sight gradually returns, I see Viola and her tricycle accelerating to warp 9 down the path. I am granted a few seconds of quiet reprieve before I am bowled over from behind by Viola's sonic boom. The trees quake, the birds flit away in panic, and I am on my knees, gasping for air in Viola's dust. Jay Clark Cooper. ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Theft at Lake Nokomis
I also jog around Lake Nokomis. This is a habitual problem. I regularly see the glittering green rubble of another smashed window courtesy of the wallet and purse snatchers. I am sure that they are watching and waiting until you get halfway around the lake. and then they do the smash-and-grab. I bet this also goes on at Calhoun and Harriet, but I see it at Nokomis. In addition to wanting you too far away to do anything they also want to be able smash your window with privacy. I have run at Nokomis virtually every day for 15 years, and have never had a window smashed. My strategy: I park on a residential road that abutts the lake, directly across the street from a house. Usually I park on Woodlawn, Edgewater, or 54th Ave. A neighbor could be looking through the window, or be drawn to the sound of tinkling glass, and so the risk to the smash and grabbers is too high. I think you are in the most danger of getting nailed if you park along the side of the parkway or in the small remote parking lot at the north end of the lake, where they are most likely to get some privacy while helping themselves to your goods. I have also seen cars broken into at the main parking lot, (ironically) usually when there aren't a lot of people there I hope this helps you from being victimized again. Jay Clark Cooper Daniel Kramer wrote: > > Last Friday I had my car broken into and my wallet stolen as I was jogging > around Lake Nokomis. I believe I was watched the entire time as I arrived, > put on my shoes, dropped my things in my trunk, and then left to run. This > is the second time in three years this has happened to me at Nokomis. > > I am writing to the list to get some advice. I called my credit card > company, and they notified me of an unauthorized charge at a local > SuperAmerica on my card only 20 minutes after the event. I called the > SuperAmerica, and they told me they have video tape both inside and at the > pump. However, the police told me they are unwilling and/or unable to > investigate any further. SuperAmerica will not release the tape to me. I > am tired of being a passive victim!! Do I have any alternatives or am I > left only to move to the rear of the long line of ignored and apathetic > victims of lesser crimes? > > Dan Kramer > Bancroft > > Daniel Kramer > Ph.D. Candidate > University of Minnesota > Conservation Biology > Room 180 > McNeal Hall > St. Paul, MN 55108 > > _ > Join the worlds largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. > http://www.hotmail.com > > ___ > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: > http://e-democracy.org/mpls ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Strobe Lights
I think white strobe lights on top of radio antennae, phone towers and skyscrapers are ugly visual air pollution And I want to know if the further spread of white strobe lights in Minneapolis can be stopped. I remember growing up near a set of tall radio towers protected with traditional red dimmer lighting. To me the gentle fading on and off of red lights was peaceful, tranquil, even beautiful But I find these white strobe lights to be terrible visual gashes on the nighttime sky. And they are gradually encroaching here in Minneapolis. An obnoxious strobe light on the garbage burner ruins an otherwise beautiful view of the downtown from north Minneapolis. A few have sprung up on the downtown skyscrapers. And KSTP has a nasty string of strobe lights stabbing the sky. Mercifully, they usually switch to red dimmer lights at night. Believe me, it can get a lot worse. Lubbock, Texas has so many white strobe lights that I thought I was trapped in a giant carnivorous disco ball. Des Moines has dozens of transmittor antennae packed together at one site, all blasting their strobe lighting into the night sky. It seemed like a monstrous and macabre Christmas display. And in Cheyenne, Wyoming, a religious radio station has such powerful strobe lights on its antenna that I think it is lighting up a landing pad for the Second Coming. Bryant resident Paul Robinson used to work for the Medina town government. He tells me that Medina law prohibits white strobe lighting on towers, and the one tower in the town has red lighting. Can a law like this be passed in Minneapolis, that prohibits white strobe lighting and requires red dimmer lighting on towers and buildings? Do others also find this white strobe lighting ghastly? Or am I the only one who is bothered by it? Why has the trend switched from red dimmer lights to white strobe lights? Are we really having a rash of color-blind pilots hitting (at least accidentally) towers with red dimmer lighting? or is it simply cost? Is white strobe lighting required by law? HELP! Jay Clark Cooper ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Loon Alert
Yesterday evening I saw at least 20 loons on Lake Nokomis. Including a flotilla of six loons floating just offshore of the 50th St. beach. >From time to time they were giving out their mournful cries in unison I have never seen so many loons together in one place. And rarely I have I witnessed a more stunning, inspiring, and haunting scene from nature. Along with them were hundreds of common mergansers, eared and pie-billed grebes, and coots. Along with the first graceful appearances of great blue herons Literally clouds of birds were circling the lake overhead, so high that I wondered if the airport was going to have to redirect traffic They were so loud that for once I thought the neighbors might be complaining not about airport noise but bird noise. I hope others can enjoy these magnificent loons. But with strong winds out of the south today, I fear that they may already have left us for another year. For once the crows have had to take a back seat. And yes, as always, there were plenty of mallards, canada geese, and sea gulls waddling around too Jay Clark Cooper ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Ice-out Dates for City Lakes
Ice out for Lake Nokomis will be tonight or tomorrow. I was over there this morning, and there was the thinnest grey film of ice covering maybe ten percent of the lake. I run around Lake Nokomis every day, and I write down the ice-out days for Lake Nokomis in my journal each year. If I have time this weekend, I will dig out the information for you. there are also loons on lake Nokomis. Jay Clark "Barbara L. Nelson" wrote: > > Does anyone know the average ice-out dates for the City's lakes? > > I have walked around Harriet, Lake of the Isles and Calhoun within the > last week and the thin ice signs are out all over the place. It would > be fun to have a pool to guess the correct date this year. > Barbara Nelson > Burnsville > > -- > Barbara Nelson > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > "We have to do the best we can. > This is our sacred human responsibility." > - Albert Einstein, Physicist > > ___ > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: > http://e-democracy.org/mpls ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] House File 3445 - Neighborhood Organization Elections
This is why it is illegal for neighborhood organizations to have open elections under current Minnesota non-profit statutes. Neighborhood groups are covered under Minnesota's non-profit law. In a non-profit corporation, you must be a member with voting rights to be eligible to vote at a meeting. (317a.437 subd. 1) a person cannot be a member without the person's expressed or implied consent. (317a.401 subd. 2) What consent means, is open to interpretation. Some neighborhood groups have people sign forms saying they want to be members. In any case, you cannot simply say that all the people in your neighborhood are members and have voting rights. After fixing a date for a meeting, the nonprofit must prepare a list of voting members. (317a.439 subd. 1) When a date is fixed, only voting members on that date are entitled to notice of and permitted to vote at the meeting (317a.437 subd. 1) What this means is that you cannot simply go to your neighborhood organization's annual meeting and say that you want to vote, the way you can go and vote for, say, president. If you are not on the membership list when the date of the meeting is fixed, you cannot vote. And I did not dream this up. We have had at least one non-profit lawyer who has been telling neighborhood organizations that if they hold open elections they are out of compliance with Minnesota law, and that they must change their bylaws. It was only after hearing what she was telling the neighborhoods that I became concerned about this issue. I will write another posting on the practical impact the current law has had on neighborhood groups. Jay Clark Cooper Robert Johnson wrote: > > Jay Clark wrote: > > > > According to current Minnesota state law, it is illegal for neighborhood > > organizations to do open > > elections, where the people who live in the neighborhood are allowed to > > come to the annual meeting and vote, the way you can go and vote for, > > say, president. > > [RJ] Please provide complete cite in Minn. Statute 317A. for your opinion > above. Thanks. > > Robert Johnson > Professor Emeritus, UM > West Bank Cedar Riverside ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] House File 3445 - Neighborhood Organization Elections
According to current Minnesota state law, it is illegal for neighborhood organizations to do open elections, where the people who live in the neighborhood are allowed to come to the annual meeting and vote, the way you can go and vote for, say, president. House File 3445 allows (but does not require) neighborhood organizations to open voting at annual meetings to those who live in the neighborhood These are some problems caused for neighborhood organizations by the current Minnesota non-profit membership statute: 1) It is much harder to vote for president of your neighborhood organization than for president of the United States 2) the vast majority - probably around 85% - of all Minneapolis neighborhood groups elect their board members in an open election, where the people who live in their neighborhoods can come to the annual meeting and vote for the board. These Minneapolis neighborhood organizations, by saying that the people living in their neighborhoods may come and vote at the annual meetings, are committing illegal acts. 3) Many neighborhood groups are spending hours and hours of volunteer time, and/or shelling out big bucks for legal help, attempting to bring their bylaws into compliance with state law. Despite these efforts, many groups are still out of compliance 4) Neighborhood groups holding open elections are vulnerable to legal action by those unhappy with election results If House File 3445 passes: Neighborhood organizations will be legally able to have open elections. They can allow anybody who lives in the neighborhood to have the right to vote. It will be far easier for neighborhood groups to be in compliance with state laws If House File 3445 passes, neighborhood groups will still have the option of conducting their elections under the current restrictive non-profit guidelines. The bill also does not force any type of membership on organizations - again, neighborhoods may have either open or restricted membership. No state law should be dictating to any neighborhood organization how to run their annual meetings. And this bill does not. On the contrary, it will stop the state of Minnesota from telling 85% of Minneapolis neighborhood groups that they are electing their boards illegally. This bill is permissive only. No neighborhood organization is required to change anything about how it elects its board. It simply adds the option that neighborhood groups may legally, if they choose, vote for their boards in an open election. Jay Clark Cooper P.S. I have been assured by both the house author of the bill, Jean Wagenius, and nonpartisan house legal staff that this bill is permissive only. ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] youth sports
Perhaps this attitude shown by U of M coaching staff helps explain why Khalid el-Amin chose to go to the University of Connecticut instead of the University of Minnesota. Then again, thank God he did, since he would have been caught up in the basketball scandal vortex at the University of Minnesota. Jay Clark Cooper Steve Kotvis wrote: > > What we have in the Minneapolis park system is not so much a system that > will find our next Olympian, but one that offers the broadest opportunities > for youth to develop sports skills limited to achieving recreational level > skills at best. > > I have coached youth baseball for the past six years, and youth basketball > for the past three. As my children approach the 6th and 8th levels I am > faced with the reality that they will not find them with the competitive > skills approaching their suburban brothers and sisters, where resources and > competitive levels are much greater. The commissioner of our baseball league > stated in a parents meeting tonight that John Anderson, the University of MN > baseball coach does not even look at Minneapolis high school players in his > recruiting. > -- > Steve Kotvis > ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Campbell and Van White Defeats
Van White was knocked out of office by Cherryhomes in the general election. Campbell was knocked out of office in the primary by Zerby and Gordon. Mr. Bonham's example does not disprove the newspaper report that Campbell was the first council incumbent knocked out in the primary in 40 years. And I do not believe everything I read in newspapers. Unless, of course, it is written by Steve Brandt. Jay Clark Cooper Tim Bonham wrote: > > >The voters of Ward 2 showed their opinion of their Council Member who > >was effectively the Chief Financial Officer of the City Council. A > >newspaper report claimed that it had been about 40 years since an > >incumbent DFL City Council Member had been defeated in a primary > >election. > Not correct. Don't believe everything you read in newspapers!! > For example, it was much less than 40 years ago that Jackie Cherryhomes > defeated Van White in the 5th ward. At that time, she was the young > reformer from the neighborhood running against the entrenched politician > supported by the downtown business interests. > The more things change, the more they stay the same. > > Tim Bonham, Ward 12 > > ___ > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: > http://e-democracy.org/mpls ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] More crow stories - and lotsa list members in the news
I think that with this article we all have something to crow about. Mr. Haga is a very clever writer, he writes in a very entertaining style. Do we have any royalty rights? Jay Clark Cooper ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Ace Hardware Parking Lot Proposal
Great problem, and one that is repeated in difference permutations throughout the city. For me, the most important job of the neighborhood organization board in a situation like this is not to debate the pros and cons of the proposal, but to make sure that the community, and especially those living most closely to the proposed parking lot and those most effected by the lot, hear the proposal and say whether or not they want it. My suggestion would be to organize a meeting as close to the proposed parking lot as possible and then flyer at least those within, say, a two or three block radius of the parking lot. If you can expand the outreach area, go for it. Here is what a meeting regarding this zoning change could look like: Ace Hardware makes its presentation Community people ask questions. Community people brainstorm the pros and cons of the proposal. Community people vote the proposal up or down. The neighborhood organization then reports the vote to the councilmembers, along with an endorsement or the results. Often those living on the block have information or a perspective that the board alone does not have. If I lived on the block, was against the proposal, and then found out that the neighborhood board had approved the proposal without ever asking the opinion of the neighbors most effected, I would be pretty ticked. I know that some will come in with only a few days lead time. You have the right to say that you need at least ten days or two weeks to organize the meeting. I have noticed that often those with the shortest timelines are actually the ones that most need scrutiny by the neighbors. And remember that although they are coming to you with say four days advance notification, they have probably been thinking about and planning the zoning change for months. Such short notice should be their problem, not yours or the neighbors. Neighborhood organizations obviously cannot organize a meeting every time someone wants to change his bathroom faucets from chrome to brass. But I would say that for significant zoning changes such as tearing down two houses, the number one job of the neighborhood organization is to get out and find out what those most effected want, and then back them up Here are a couple of alternative methods of getting a vote on the proposal if you do not have the capacity to do a meeting: 1) Set up a box in someone's porch. Flyer the surrounding, say, two blocks with a explanation of the proposal and a ballot to vote. Tell people that for their vote to count they need to drop their ballot in the box by 5:00 P.M. Wednesday. 2) Instead of a box, you can have people phone their votes into the office. We did this in Jordan, and never had a problem with ballot stuffing. If you want, you can number the ballots and/or print the ballot on weird color paper. Jay Clark Cooper P.S. On Advanced Placement courses. I had a year's worth of credits when I went to college, mostly from advanced placement courses. I graduated early, and it saved me a lot of money. For students with moderate income, it can make the difference between affording college or not. I also learned a hell of a lot. A.P. classes are not simply some sort of foofy designer boutique social club for knock=kneed dweebs. I urge Minneapolis to support and expand the A.P. program. ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Killer Crows II 1/2
I think that people are fascinated by crows because they are crafty, opportunistic, and at times viscious killers - just like human kind. And to Make this Minneapolis specific - of course Minnesota crows are nicer and more compassionate and more willing to help their neighbor crows that the average American crow. Jay Clark Cooper ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Killer Crows II
While jogging around Lake Nokomis, saw an idyllic scene of a mother duck escorting her flock of ducklings from a grassy knoll to the lake. Suddenly a crow flew down and mobbed the ducks with its wings. In the confusion, the ducklings scattered. The crow then grabbed one of the ducklings by the neck and flew off with it. I threw a big stick at the crow to try to make it drop the duckling, but missed. Another bird tip. At least at Lake Nokomis, great blue herons like to fish at night using streetlamps. they wade into the water under or near the lamps, and use the light to see the fish and snare them. It is a great scene. Jay Clark Cooper P.S. I am noticing that more and more often people are posting messages without stating where they live. People are supposed to state their neighborhood or their ward district, and I find it interesting to know where people are from. ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Minneapolis Legislative Redistricting
I suspect that the reason that these and other neighborhoods lost population was BECAUSE they are middle class neighborhoods without a lot of apartments. And I will predict that all the neighborhoods that lost population also share one other feature in common: the average age will be higher than the city as a whole. Here's what I think happens. There are neighborhoods that a lot of people settled down in 20, 30, 40 years ago. Being maybe 80% owner-occupied, there isn't a lot of turnover. Kids grow up and move out. If the parents are old enough, maybe one of the parents has died. And the average number of people living in each house starts to drop. And the average number of people living in the neighborhood also drops. This would not be true in neighborhoods with a high percentage of rental property. Because of the affordable housing crunch, more people on average will be living in each rental unit, pushing overall population levels in a neighborhood higher. The population dropoff would not tend to happen in neighborhoods with high immigrant populations. I expected to find several neighborhoods in north Minneapolis north of Lowry to have lost population. In fact, only one lost population: Lind-Bohanon. And one or two showed significant increases. I think the reason is that a significant population of Hmong families have moved in, along with African-Americans. These families tend to be younger with more children. They tend to reverse the empty nest syndrome. Re. population gains and representation at the legislature OVerall, Minneapolis gained something like 14,000 I suspect that north, northeast and south Minneapolis all, in raw numbers, actually gained population 1990-2000 But that isn't really the hurdle. Between 1990 and 2000, Minnesota's population grew 12.4%, from about 4.4 million to about 4.9 million. For Minneapolis to not lose representation in the legislature, its population also had go grow at least 12.4% 1990-2000. In Northeast, several neighborhoods lost population, several others showed stagnant growth, and only three neighborhoods out of 13 met or exceeded the necessary 12.4% population increase. Therefore, even though northeast probably has more people living in it overall in 2000 than in 1990, because the growth was nowhere near the 12.4% statewide average, northeast will have to lose representation. The question is, how is that done. Jay Clark Cooper loki anderson wrote: > > --- Jay Clark <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > There are neighborhoods in south, north and > > northeast Minneapolis that > > have lost population > > > Northeast and the outer fringes of south Minneapolis > > have suffered the > > worst declines. > > For the record, now that I have looked at the > demographic info, the Columbia, Marshall Terrace, > Holland, Logan Park, Bottineau, St Anthony West, St > Anthony East, Beltrami and Northeast Park > neighborhoods all gained in population. > > Sheridan and Windom Park each lost a small (less than > 100) number of residents. The only neighborhoods that > lost considerable numbers in Northeast were the Waite > Park and Audubon Park neighborhoods (about 1000 people > combined). These losses were more than made up for by > the gains in the other northeast and southeast > neighborhoods (southeast neighborhoods all gained). > > Which sort of brings up a question that's been > puzzling me. How could these two neighborhoods lose so > many people? Both are largely middle class > neighborhoods without a great deal of apartment > buildings. Neither had any developments tear down > existing properties and neither has any boarded up or > condemned buildings. And I don't think there are many > vacant houses either. What's up? > >Loki Anderson >Marshall Terrace >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > = > "Let me tell you how it will be > There's one for you, nineteen for me > 'Cause I'm the Taxman..." >-George Harrison > > __ > Do You Yahoo!? > Check out Yahoo! Shopping and Yahoo! Auctions for all of > your unique holiday gifts! Buy at http://shopping.yahoo.com > or bid at http://auctions.yahoo.com > ___ > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: > http://e-democracy.org/mpls ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Minneapolis Legislative Redistricting
I looked at the DFL plan for new legislative district boundaries. Some things struck me as unusual. In the north, northeast and southeast, some districts have taken in new territory. However, these new territories are all in Minneapolis, None of these districts take in any suburban areas. All remain relatively stable, and carry the same district numbers On the south side, many districts are radically transformed. Some districts are virtually unrecognizable One district is stretched to take in two incumbent legislators. And several southside districts either take up or add substantial swaths of suburban tracts to their territories. I then looked at the demographic changes of Minneapolis neighborhoods between 1990 and 2000 Minneapolis holds a smaller proportion of the state population now than it did in 1990. There are neighborhoods in south, north and northeast Minneapolis that have lost population In particular, neighborhoods in the bungalow belts in south, north, and northeast Minneapolis have had relatively stagnant or declining populations over the last ten years. Northeast and the outer fringes of south Minneapolis have suffered the worst declines. I am not a demographer, and I am not a politician. Is the DFL redistricting proposal the only and inevitable outcome of the demographic shifts? Or could the pain of redistricting have been distributed more evenly throughout the city? You be the judge. Find locations and boundaries of Minneapolis neighborhoods at: http://freenet.msp.mn.us/nhoods/mpls/maps/mnbhdmap.html Compare demographic trends of Minneapolis neighborhoods between 1990 and 2000 at: http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/citywork/planning/Census2000/1990-to-2000-Population-Change-by-Neighborhood.asp See the district maps for the 1990's Minnesota state legislature at: http://lije.commissions.leg.state.mn.us/scripts/esrimap.dll?name=tutorial5&Cmd=ZoomIn&cityfeature=--&Left=410612.450440233&Bottom=4894538.19228836&Right=553727.85813634&Top=5058569.36780749&click.x=207&click.y=224 And compare the proposed redistricting boundaries at: http://maps.commissions.leg.state.mn.us/website/l0006-0/viewer.htm Jay Clark Cooper P.S. for email luddites: the linkages are actually pretty easy to do. David Brauer, the Johnny Appleseed of linkages, told me how to do it. ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Rental Property Licensing
The best way to preserve affordable rental property is not to wait until a building is boarded and condemned and then try to resuscitate it. By this time many buildings are beyond hope. The best way to preserve affordable rental property is to make sure that, year-by-year, proper maintenance is done to the building so houses don't become so degraded that the only economic solution is to raze, Minneapolis has a powerful but under-utilized tool to help ensure proper maintenance of rental property: rental property licensing (RPL) THE PROBLEM A leading cause of deteriorating housing is sponge landlords. When housing values drop below a certain level in a neighborhood, sponge landlords find it financially profitable to buy a property, wring every penny they can in rent out of it they can, put the absolute minimum amount of money into it to keep it in circulation, and when the necessary repair costs get too high, throw the property away. It used to be that when an inspector wrote an order on a house, some landlords could choose simply to pay the fines, rather than do the repairs. With Rental Property Licensing, the sponge landlord can really get hurt financially if he doesn't do the repairs: he can lose his license, which means losing the income of his property, which could easily be more than a thousand dollars a unit. Suddenly it is strongly in his economic self-interest to do the repairs. GETTING RPL PASSED The Jordan Area Community Council led the campaign to get RPL passed. It's Dirty Thirty Campaign to get problem absentee landord properties picked by blocks cleaned up worked on two types of problem properties: Properties with relatively moderate needs, such as a new coat of paint. And properties which had deteriorated so severely that they were already condemed and boarded. Most of these eventually came down. D30 did not work well on a third class of properties: those with significant and severe maintenance problems but which were still salvageable. Often, the landlord paid the fine rather than do the maintenance Our conclusion: the city did not have the teeth to force landlords to maintain their property. JACC researched what other cities did to get their landlords to maintain their properties. The research found that Duluth had something called rental property licensing. A rusty Ford Esort packed with neighborhood volunteers wheezed its way north to Duluth The impact of RPL was visible and striking. in Duluth, larger apartment buildings were covered, but duplexes were not. As we drove around, many of the duplexes looked worn and dilapidated, while the larger buildings, at least on the outside, looked in good shape. Further research showed that councilmember Tony Scallon had several years earlier tried unsuccessfully to get a RPL ordinance passed in Minneapolis. He agreed to resubmit RPL Jordan volunteers fanned out to other neighborhoods around the city, armed with stacks of postcards saying "I want Rental Property Licensing" to send to councilmembers. We had both neighborhood organizations and block club calling in for the cards, and couldn't print them fast enough. Hit with a blizzard of orange postcards, the Minneapolis city council passed RPL. MAKING RPL WORK EFFECTIVELY JACC never had the chance to make good use of RPL.. Shortly after the ordinance was passed, Jordan was one of the first six eggs pulled out of the NRP basket, and we were off to the races. But RPL is still on the books, waiting to be used effectively. Block clubs and neighborhood organizations hold the key to making good use of RPL. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. You need to tell your elected officials and your inspector "the building at Morgan has x, y, and z code violations, and if necessary we want you to use RPL to get the landlord to do proper maintenance". And track what happens. And getting that regular maintenance is the key to preserving affordable housing. Jay Clark Cooper ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] housing demolition moratorium
I will bet that someone living next to a house that has been boarded for 20 months, has addicts breaking into it to shoot up, which has become the Hyatt Regency for rats and cockroaches, whose yard looks like the Amazon, and for which there are no tangible prospects for a rehabber to come in and fix the building, will find a downside to the idea of the city government putting a moratorium on demolition, especially since the city will probably spend years studying the matter before it is ready, if ever, to get in there and fix the house. And all the time the house is deteriorating more and more, and becoming less and less salvageable, and more and more of a danger to the neighbors. Jay Clark Cooper Betts Zerby wrote: > David's idea of a moratorium on housing demolition strikes me as a > good idea and I'd be inclined to favor it. Are there any downsides > to it that other list members think merit attention before adopting > it? > Paul Zerby > > = > Elizabeth J. Zerby > Minneapolis MN > > __ > Do You Yahoo!? > Find the one for you at Yahoo! Personals > http://personals.yahoo.com > ___ > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: > http://e-democracy.org/mpls ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Jordan Housing Demolition
I was director of the Jordan Area Community Council between 1988 and 1993. I can tell you that the drive for taking down boarded houses came not from city hall but from the blocks in Jordan. The big long term cause of loss of housing in Jordan was because of lack of maintenance. Lack of maintenance was a more common problem on rental property because people could make money by buying houses on the cheap, milking all the rent they could out of it, and then simply walk away when the maintenance costs got too high. This caused boarded houses to spring up in Jordan like mushrooms. A lot of boarded houses came down in Jordan because neighbors wanted them down. And people were willing to use condemnation as a tactic of last resort in getting rid of drug dealers. Here's why: Scenario 1. Let's say you live on a block in Jordan, and you have a boarded house as a neighbor. That boarded house is doing a lot of damage to your block. It's an eyesore It hurts the value of your house. Maybe it is unsecure and vagrants or teenagers are hanging around inside. You are worried that someone could set it on fire, and that the fire could threaten your house You have the chance to get the property torn down within a short period of time. Or you can hope that someone with very deep pockets will come by and rehab it and bring it up to code. But there are no immediate prospects. You go with the sure bet and get the house torn down. Scenario two. YOu live on a block in Jordan, and you have a drug house next to you. The street is a parking lot. Maybe you have had a run-in with the people there. You are scared to let your kids outside. And this house has been a revolving door of drug dealers and problem tenants for the past 5 years. Police did a raid, but the drugs got flushed down the toilet and the police could not bring any serious charges You are offered an alternative way of getting rid of the drug dealers: condemn the house. You feel guilty about the children getting thrown out along with Mom and Pop Pusher, but if the alternative is continued drug dealing, you choose to condemn the house. While I worked at Jordan, we did a Dirty Thirty campaign to target absentee landlord properties. Half the properties chosen at block meetings were already boarded. Many ended up coming down. And the neighborhood often threw impromptu block parties when the bulldozers came in. We also ran a Block Out Drugs campaign that knocked out 50 drug houses in 18 months. Hundreds of families helped, and sometimes when nothing else worked condemnation was used as a tool. And people were so happy with the results that we had a parade every year with hundreds of participants that went past the drug houses we had closed down. So at least in Jordan, don't blame Cramer, Cherryhomes, Yanisch, or anybody else from downtown. Boarded houses came down because that was what the neighbors wanted. Jay Clark Cooper ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Community-Oriented Policing Training
Training on COMMUNITY-ORIENTED POLICING Community-oriented policing has been hailed as a new approach to crime-fighting that builds partnerships between the community and the police and aims to proactively solve problems before they occur. This training includes: Comparing community-oriented policing to traditional police practices Explaining the principles of community-oriented policing Sharing community-oriented police success stories in Minneapolis and St. Paul. You will also get the chance to present your own crime situation and discuss how community oriented policing can help. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 7:OO P.M. MATTHEWS PARK 2404 28TH Ave. S. MINNEAPOLIS Directions from eastbound I-94. Exit at Riverside Ave. At the third light, take a soft right onto Minnehaha Ave. At the next light, take a soft right onto 29th Ave. Go down one block. Directions from westbound I-94. Exit at Riverside Ave. Turn left onto Riverside Ave. Two lights down, take a soft right onto 29th Ave. Go down one block. If you have any questions about the training, please call Jay Clark at 612-625-2513. THESE TRAININGS ARE FREE OF CHARGE MINNEAPOLIS TRAINING PROGRAM FOR NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZERS 330 Humphrey Center, 301 19th Ave. S., Minneapolis, Mn. , 55455 Phone: 612-625-2513 Fax: 612-626-0273 E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] Jay Clark Cooper ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Strib endorsements
What if the Star Tribune didn't do any endorsements at all? What if, instead, the Star Tribune assigned two different writers to write up, say, a 500 word piece making the the best case for each of the two candidates in a given contest? I think this would be more thought-provoking and informative than simply reading the Star Tribune endorsements. I know that there are firewalls and iron curtains and all that between the management and editorial writers and reporters. But when the Star Tribune takes heavy stands on candidates (or issues like the stadium), many people cannot help but wonder if these opinions could influence in some way how the story is being covered. You don't see Don Shelby endorsing council candidates or anybody else. Maybe the Star Tribune should also get out of the endorsement business. Jay Clark Cooper ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Conference on Twin City Neighborhood Organizations (cleaned up)
The Center for Urban and Regional Affairs at the University of Minnesota is sponsoring a conference on THE ROLE AND FUTURE OF NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATIONS IN THE TWIN CITIES Tuesday, October 30, 1:30 - 8:00 P.M. Humphrey Center, 215 Wilkins Room University of Minnesota, West Bank 301 19th Ave. S., Minneapolis Neighborhood organizations are facing unprecendented challenges. Neighborhood conditions in housing, crime, business prospects and demographics are all changing radically. The relationship with government is uncertain. Raising funds is becoming more difficult. This conference will provide key information and discussion on the neighborhood environment, the changing role of neighborhood organizations, and how neighborhood organizations can adapt and thrive in these challenging times. These topics will be covered at the conference: Introduction 1:30 *Neighborhood Organizations Making a Difference in the Twin Cities Comparing Minneapolis and St. Paul 2:10 *Neighborhoods *Neighborhood organizations *Government at neighborhood level Changing Neighborhoods and the Changing Role 3:45 of Neighborhood Organizations *Demographics *Housing *Business and jobs *Crime *Neighborhood organizations meeting these changing needs Dinner and Fun (dinner provided) 5:30 *Neighborhood Feud *Neighborhood T-shirt design contest Neighborhood Organizations Controlling their own destiny 6:30 *What does a strong neighborhood organization do? *Barriers to neighborhood organizations controlling their own destiny *Building strength from within The conference is free. The room seats 50, so please register by calling 612-625-1551 For more information, contact Kris Nelson, 612-625-1020, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Jay Clark, 612-625-2513, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Jay Clark Cooper (sorry for the messy copy the first time) ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Conference on Twin City Neighborhood Organizations
The Center for Urban and Regional Affairs at the University of Minnesota is sponsoring a conference on THE ROLE AND FUTURE OF NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATIONS IN THE TWIN CITIES Tuesday, October 30, 1:30 - 8:00 P.M. Humphrey Center, 215 Wilkins Room University of Minnesota, West Bank 301 19th Ave. S., Minneapolis Neighborhood organizations are facing unprecendented challenges. Neighborhood conditions in housing, crime, business prospects and demographics are all changing radically. The relationship with government is uncertain. Raising funds is becoming more difficult. This conference will provide key information and discussion on the neighborhood environment, the changing role of neighborhood organizations, and how neighborhood organizations can adapt and thrive in these challenging times. These topics will be covered at the conference: Introduction 1:30 *Neighborhood Organizations Making a Difference in the Twin Cities Comparing Minneapolis and St. Paul 2:10 *Neighborhoods *Neighborhood organizations *Government at neighborhood level Changing Neighborhoods and the Changing Role 3:45 of Neighborhood Organizations *Demographics *Housing *Business and jobs *Crime *Neighborhood organizations meeting these changing needs Dinner and Fun (dinner provided) 5:30 *Neighborhood Feud *Neighborhood T-shirt design contest Neighborhood Organizations Controlling their own destiny 6:30 *What does a strong neighborhood organization do? *Barriers to neighborhood organizations controlling their own destiny *Building strength from within The conference is free. The room seats 50, so please register by calling 612-625-1551 For more information, contact: Kris Nelson, 612-625-1020, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Jay Clark, 612-625-2513, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Jay Clark Cooper David Brauer wrote: > > Terrell wrote: > > > Walking from lunch at home back to the office a few minutes ago, I > > noticed the headline of one of the free weeklies mentioning a downtown > > grocery store. A quality grocery store downtown is not a new topic. > > > > Not far into the article, guess what? The store needs a city subsidy > > of $8-12 million. Why is it that everytime someone suggests building > > downtown, they want us taxpayers to chip in? > > Just real quickly: I wrote this piece in Skyway News. I'm glad Terrell > noticed it. I just want to add a little context for those who haven't seen > it yet (and check out www.skywaynews.net if you haven't, it may not be > posted yet but will be soon). > > The MCDA and Opus (the developer Lunds is working with) are chewing through > various scenarios. No deals have been cut and no final numbers arranged, > although we're headed there (the story's point was that details are coming > together). > > The $8-12 million, at this point, is a rough estimate for one site. There > are two others now actively being considered. The numbers could certainly > change. Steve Cramer of the MCDA gave me the agency's best current guess > based on a site on the east side of 11th to 12th St. S. and Hennepin. One > reason the number is so high is that there's already a lot of development on > that block (Hendlin Communications, Harmon Glass), making it more costly to > buy out and producing less TIF. The agency is also looking at 2 parking lots > on either side of Hennepin between 10th and 11th. One reason those sites are > considered is that the subsidy needed to put them there might be less than > at the 11th-12 site. > > The housing estimate was Steve's estimate of how much affordable housing > money might be available, and my math (dividing the 30 affordable units > proposed in the lastest version of the plan, which again is not final, by > the $4 million). I have heard from other affordable housing advocates over > the years that this level of subsidy is not uncommon, but I did not have a > chance to verify this for my story. > > Side note: if $4 million buys 30 rental units, that means RT's plan to spend > $16 million of up-front NRP money would produce 120 units? That does seem > low. > > Again, my story is kind of a "progress report." I'm glad it's generating > discussion, but I don't want people to think anything is a "done deal." > > Also, the TIF going to the development is "project-specific," unlike the > Target TIF that roped in tax revenue from other, unrelated development. That > means that if all the new taxes get loaned to the project, no current taxes > are spent, bu
Re: [Mpls] Camp Coldwater and MnDOT
Remember: our rules allow pointed disagreement, but require respectful discussion. -- I am confused. When private industry employees make a multi-million dollar error, they get fired. But when MNDOT employees make a multi-million dollar error, instead of being fired, they get to demand special legislative action to cover their butts. Why the difference? Jay Clark Cooper ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] DFL Machine in Minneapolis?
we don't have a precinct captain system, we don't have a DFL political machine here in Minneapolis or Minnesota. But in a couple of areas I get a feeling close to machine politics. One is our caucus system. Here, there is no machine controlling huge blocs of votes. But the pool of participants is so small, and so self-selecting, that I get the feeling that a group of people dependent on each other for jobs and favors could effectively grab control of the selection process. The other is the occasional story we hear, unsubstantiated as far as I know, of this or that politician making it tough for some opponent by, say, sicking the inspections dept on him. Brian Herron's corruption, while not strictly machine politics (no votes involved) certainly helped me feel right at home. Except that many Chicagoans, far from being horrified, would have seen it as a sign that Brian had at last become a seasoned, experienced politician. Finally, I want to share with you the voter education advertisement I always wanted to do for Chicago. It opens with a panoramic shot of Graceland Cemetery in Chicago. As the camera pans across row after row of tombstones, a deep voice admonishes, "THEY STILL VOTE, WHY CAN'T YOU!" P.S. I never had a job from the machine. I did it because I liked to do it. Jay Clark Cooper Schapiro wrote: > > Matthea Little Smith wrote: > > < DFL machine isI have yet to see any "machine" that could get a > candidate into office without getting the support of the voters, by > plain old-fashioned door knocking.>> > > Well, here's one view from the bottom on the ballot... > > DFL/Labor was responsible for printing and distributing upwards of a > quarter million sample ballots that promoted three DFL-endorsed school > board candidates. Of course, any of the other candidates could do that > for, say, $100,000. > > All three DFL candidates strike me as good folks, but I don't think they > finished 1-2-3 because voters "embraced their message." (Heck, I don't > know their messages and I have been paying attention.) > > I am running in part because I believe the DFL endorsement process does > not serve schools well, even if it manages to produce some > fair-to-excellent endorsees for most elections. > > If the electorate's major criterion for selecting school board members > is DFL approval, so be it. But from my vantage point, the DFL does walk, > talk and quack like a machine. > > Dennis Schapiro > Candidate for School Board > www.denny4schools.com > > Linden Hills > ___ > Minneapolis Issues Forum - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: > http://e-democracy.org/mpls ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Minneapolis and Hartford Comparisons
I grew up in West Hartford, Ct. I left the state in 1980 I am not going to spend hours scouring statistics. But I have a few observations. Hartford was a troubled city long before 1983 Some bigger forces than non-profit policy have had a major impact on Hartford. Hartford, Connecticut, and New England in general have taken a pounding in their core industries since 1983. In the Hartford area, the two most important industries are defense and insurance. Following the end of the cold war, defense has been in continuous downsizing mode. The insurance companies made bad investments in real estate, and lost a bundle. The results have been a general erosion of the economy compared, say, with the Twin Cities. For instance, my sister and my mother lost their jobs when Connecticut Mutual went under/was bought out, and another sister living in New Hampshire almost lost her house. All results of the same sick business environment. I do not think the Hartford ACLU had much to do with that. If we have a downturn in the economy here the way it happened in Hartford, we too can expect an increase in boarded buildings, etc. The city of Hartford is small in relation to the metropolitan area. It has about 130,000 people in a metropolitan area pushing 1 million. Minneapolis and St. Paul have a population of about 650,000 in a metropolitan area pushing 2 million. Many areas that would usually be part of the core city in Hartford are separate towns. West Hartford was part of Hartford, but broke away in 1854. If Northeast, the lake area, and everything north of Lowry and south of Lake were cut away from Minneapolis, it would have more troubled overall statistics, but nothing would have changed. A big difference I notice between Hartford and the Twin Cities is that in Hartford, the vast majority of the institutional leadership lived in the suburbs. In Minneapolis and St. Paul, much of the institutional leadership lives right here in the cities. I think that in Hartford much of the metro population sees Hartford basically as a hopeless basket case. Here, recent legislation notwithstanding, I think that most metro residents basically see the Twin Cities as vibrant and alive and critical for the health of the whole area. Jay Clark Cooper Here's a history quiz question. I knew an organizer named Maggie McLetchie, who thought she was better than me because she was from Massachusetts and I was from Connecticut. But I put her in her place. I pointed out that for all Massachusetts' history, Connecticut has contributed someone to American history who is at least as famous as anybody from Massachusetts. At least as famous as Paul Revere. At least as famous as John Adams. At least as famous as John Kennedy. Do you know who this famous Connecticut native is who made such a unique contribution to American history? Why of course he is Benedict Arnold. Who, by the way, not only betrayed America, but also burned his home town of New London Ct. to the ground. ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Pedestrians
The current qrazy-quilt of pedestrian crosswalks, signs, and blinking lights at best have marginal effect on pedestrian safety, and in some cases may actually make crossing the street more prone to mishap than before Two examples: 1) when I go jogging, I regularly use the pedestrian crosswalk at 32nd St. and East River Road. In the past year, only two cars have stopped for me. Every other car has blown through the crosswalk, not aware or or not caring about my presence. 2) I was driving on 28th Ave. near Lake Hiawatha one morning when I saw a pedestrian at the pedestrian crossing. I stopped for the pedestrian. Then I heard a screaching of brakes, and a Volkswagen swerving around my right and blowing through the crosswalk. Fortunately, the pedestrian did not venture onto the crosswalk. Now, even when I see a pedestrian at a crosswalk, I hesitate to stop if I have a car behind me, for fear that the car will hit me if I stop. At least 95% of all drivers ignore the pedestrian crosswalk signs, including those that blink on and off all the time. I think that with the continuing blinking lights, drivers become numbed to their presence. At night, they may actually draw drivers eyes away from any pedestrians in the crosswalk. If pedestrians are more bold in crossing the road in the expectation that drivers will stop for the signs, the risk of accident could actually be higher than if the sign was not there at all. I have a suggestion for safer pedestrian crosswalks. In London, I saw pedestrian crosswalks that had two big yellow globes on two poles, one on either end of the cross walk. When a pedestrian wants to cross the road, she pushes the walk button, and then, and only then, the two globes flash on and off. The drivers are acclimated to expect a pedestrian in the crosswalk whenever the globes blink on and off, and automatically stop. I think this system would be much more effective than the motley collection of signs and continuously blinking lights we have out there now. Writing only three blocks from the Jesse Ventura ancestral palacial estate, located at the southwest corner of 46th Ave. and 32nd st. in Cooper, Jay Clark P.S. I have never been hit by a car in one of these crosswalks. However, I have been hit by a bike that was going 20 mph. and had just blown through both a pedestrian crosswalk sign and a stop sign. . ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Mpls reps' proposed law affecting Mpls neighborhood organizations
I think the revisions proposed by Representative Wagenius and others will be a help both to neighborhood groups and residents. Listed below are some of the problems caused by the current non-profit membership statute, some specifics of the current statute, and how the proposed revisions will help both neighborhood organizations and people living in neighborhoods. PROBLEMS CAUSED BY CURRENT STATUTE 1) It is much harder to vote for president of your neighborhood organization than for president of the United States 2) the vast majority - probably over 90% - of Minneapolis neighborhood organizations are conducting their annual elections out of compliance with state law. The same is true for St. Paul. At the rate we are going, it will be 2091 before all Minneapolis groups are in compliance with state law. 3) Many neighborhood groups are spending hours and hours of volunteer time, and/or shelling out big bucks for legal help, attempting to bring their bylaws into compliance with state law. Despite these efforts, many groups are still out of compliance 4) for those neighborhood groups that are in compliance, most of the residents, if they came to the annual meeting, would be ineligible to vote. Of the neighborhoods I know, 95 to 99 percent of the residents are ineligible to vote. 5) Although, as far as I know, there have been no lawsuits filed charging neighborhood groups with illegal elections, a handful of neighborhood groups have had factions threaten to go to court ot overturn election results using the non-profit membership statutes . this number will likely grow. These are serious problems for Minneapolis neighborhood groups. The problems are not the size of a gnat. CURRENT STATUTE I am not a lawyer, and it seems that every lawyer who reads the current statutes has a different interpretation. But here are some of the points in the current statutes that particularly effect neighborhood groups. In a non-profit corporation, you must be a member to have voting rights. a person cannot be a member without the person's expressed or implied consent. What implied means, is open to interpretation. Some neighborhood groups have people sign forms saying they want to be members. In any case, you cannot simply say that all the people in your neighborhood are members and have voting rights. The non-profit, after fixing a date for a meeting, must prepare a list of voting members. When a date is fixed, only voting members on that date are entitled to notice of and permitted to vote at the meeting. The list must be available for inspection by any voting member within two days of announcing a meeting, and continuing through the meeting. Notice must be given at least five days before the date of the meeting. What this means is that you cannot simply walk into your neighborhood organization's annual meeting and announce that you want to vote. If you are not on the membership list, you cannot vote. PROPOSED STATUTE REVISIONS The revisions are intended to deal with many of the worst problems caused for neighborhood groups by the current statute. Gone are the expressed and implied members, the membership lists, and inspection of membership lists. Basically, anybody who can show that they live in the neighborhood cannot be denied the right to vote. If this bill passes, it will be as easy to vote for president of the your neighborhood organization as it is to vote for president of the United States It will be far easier for neighborhood groups to be in compliance with state laws And the vast majority of neighborhood residents will have the right to vote, instead of being excluded from voting. The statutes creating these problems are complex, and the proposed changes are also complex. I am sure that anybody who reads the bill will find something they are not in 100% complete agreement with. So do I. But the real question is whether the neighborhood organizations and the people living in neighborhoods are better off with the proposed changes, and I think this proposal is an improvement over the current law a hundred times over. And remember - the current statutes have been on the books for over a decade, and until now nobody has tried to fix these problems. If someone has a better mousetrap by all means go for it, but let's not wait. Let's get these proposals on the books. Writing in Cooper Jay Clark [EMAIL PROTECTED] 612-625-2513 . ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Police Residency
I am in favor of requiring people joining the Minneapolis police force to live in the city. When I organized in the Jordan neighborhood, I would hear people complain regularly how, when they reported a crime, a police officer would tell them what do they expect, they live in north Minneapolis, or why don't they move out to the suburbs. . I used to live in Chicago, which has a residency requirement for police officers and fire fighters. I organized on the northwest side, in a predominantly Italian neighborhood. It was also one of the neighborhoods with a disproportionate number of police officers. About 1 out of 10 houses had either a police officer or fire fighter. I worked with about 400 of these homes total out of a population of about 10,000. I never once heard a Chicago police officer badmouth the city of Chicago, either on or off the job. I also never heard of a police officer or family in my neighborhood be the target of revenge for a criminal the officer had offended. Chicago avoided this problem by always assigning the police officer to a district other than where he\she lived. I am sure that there were some police officers that would have preferred to have lived in the burbs. But I never heard police officers cursing out the neighborhood they lived in. those who detested the idea of living in chicago probably stayed out of the Chicago police force, and I for one think it was an effective screen for keeping out some bad apples. Only very rarely did police officers get asked by neighbors to perform their job off-duty. Police officers would sometimes get asked questions by their neighbors. residents did feel more safe for having the off-duty officers in the neighborhood, and felt it helped strengthen house values. For those police officers who don't like residency requirements - teach your fellow police officers to stop badmouthing the city and the people you get your paycheck from. If you can. This is where the support for residency requirements comes from. I believe that much of this public disdain shown by some police officers towards the city they work in is because so many escape out to the likes of Maple Grove when they are finished getting their pay checks. I am sure that not every police officer shows this disdain, and many officers living in the suburbs have never murmered a disrespectful word about Minneapolis. However, these stories are endemic in north Minneapolis, and helps drive a wedge between the police and the people they are supposed to serve I once asked someone working in the police department what could be done to reduce the comments like "why don't you move out to the suburbs." She told me that this was an urban myth, and doesn't happen. I hope the rest of the police department takes this more seriously. Writing one block from George Janos' first alma mater, Cooper elementary school, Jay Clark [EMAIL PROTECTED] 612-625-2513 ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
