Finding a Green Way to Govern

The Minneapolis Department of Health and Family Support has completed its summer edition of Healthy City; Thriving Families . This is the department’s quarterly publication and this issue has articles on the Youth Violence Prevention grants I worked so hard to get as well as public health emergency plans ; a decline in sexually transmitted diseases in Minneapolis and more. It also includes new department goals and a call for the development of an Urban Health Agenda for Minneapolis. These goals could prove to be powerful in guiding future work and resources. They include: • Improve infant and child health • Promote youth development and prevent violence • Improve teen and young adult sexual health • Increase physical activity and healthy nutrition • Assure health care safety net for underserved populations • Assure preparedness for public health emergencies, today and into the future

The Civilian Review Authority work group decided on some recommendations today: 1) Forming a Police Accountability Coordinating Committee (PACC), comprised of the MPD/CRA Liaison, the Director of Civil Rights, the CRA Manager, the Chair of the HE&E committee, the Internal Affairs Unit Commander, the Chair of the PS&RS committee, the CRA Board Chair, the Mayor and the Police Chief, or any of the above's designee. The group will meet monthly to address "police accountability issues and concerns among the CRA, Civil Rights, and MPD, by promoting communication and greater understanding among the entities dedicated to public safety and police accountability." Topics discussed include, but aren't limited to: a. Administrative issues concerning CRA, IAU, Civil Rights b. MPD policy recommendations c. Disciplinary decisions d. Community outreach e. Emerging trends: patterns of complaints f. Other matters deemed appropriate 2) Establishing two different processes - ...

I want to post two additional links relating to civic engagement in general and to future funding for NRP in particular. This is the latest issue of the NRP Link , the Mpls. NRP Newsletter. On the first page it does a nice job of summarizing the work of the NRP Future Funding Task Force and outlining some of the options for the future funding of NRP. The full report can be read here . These recommendations make an excellent starting place for finding ways to fund NRP in the future. They have been forwarded to all the jurisdictions involved in NRP: City of Minneapolis , Hennepin County , Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board , Minneapolis Library Board , Minnesota State Legislature and Minneapolis School Board , for comment. If we are to secure future funding for NRP it will take a great deal of grassroots support and effort. Please take the time to look these over and share your thoughts and ideas with me, other elected officials, community members and neighbors.

My office has organized a meeting of City staff members from a number of departments (Housing Inspections, Environmental Services and the Attorney's office) and Paula Maccabee from the Environmental Justice Advocates of Minnesota to talk about arsenic . Here's the scoop: decades ago, a pesticide company called CMC Heartland contaminated a large area of south Minneapolis with wind-blown arsenic. From Environmental Protection Agency wind dispersion models , the affected neighborhoods include Midtown Phillips , East Phillips , Ventura Village , Powderhorn Park , Corcoran , Longfellow , Seward and Cedar Riverside . Since 2004, the EPA has been testing soil at residential properties within what they term the "South Minneapolis Neighborhood Soil Contamination Site." As of mid-June of this year, the EPA has tested about 3,100 properties. The EPA will clean up yards with soil contamination above 95 parts per million (ppm), the level they've judged to be "acute,...

There were some definite sparks at the 6-29-06 CRA work group meeting. My esteemed colleague and fellow work group member Betsy Hodges introduced an ordinance amendment for the work group's review. Here's the text: "172.130 Disciplinary Decision. (a) Upon conclusion of the hearing and request for reconsideration process, the review authority shall forward the investigatory file, the findings of fact and the panel determination to the chief of police, who shall make a disciplinary decision based upon this information. A disciplinary decision is the issuance of a verbal warning, written warning, suspension, or termination. The chief's disciplinary decision shall be based on the adjuicated facts as determined by the CRA Board, and shall not include a de novo review of the facts by the MPD's Internal Affairs Unit or any other police officer, unit, or division. Under this ordinance, a sustained CRA complaint shall be deemed just cause for disciplinary action by the ch...

If you apply to close your street for National Night Out by July 18 (next Tuesday), the street closing will be free. After July 18 the fee is $100, and after July 27 the City won't accept applications, so be sure to register your NNO party now! To register, go here: http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/contact/email-form-nno.asp Have fun at your gatherings, and maybe I'll see you there.

As part of my ongoing series of roundtable discussions on issues important to the Second Ward, I will be hosting a forum on community engagement. It will be held on Tuesday, July 25th from 7-9pm at Brackett Park , 2728 39th Ave S. In the months ahead the City Council will consider ways to improve citizen participation. At the same time, many neighborhood organizations are struggling to survive and the future of the Neighborhood Revitalization Program is in question. We will be discussing these and other important questions: · How can we involve more people in City decisions? · How can the City better support neighborhood organizations in their important work? · How will citizen participation efforts and neighborhood groups be funded in the future? · How can neighborhoods better support the work of City Hall? · How can we all be more inclusive of those who too often go underrepresented in our meetings? Here are some links to check out from the City and outside groups, with some good ide...