Finding a Green Way to Govern

One of the issues I have been working on since being elected is promoting a more diverse police force, that better reflects the residents of Minneapolis. To help do that I have been tracking the make up of each new group of officers we recruit, train and hire and I will admit that some years have been very disappointing. This year, however, the news is pretty good. Here are the highlights of a report I recently got from Deputy Chief Gerlicher: There are currently 891 sworn officers within the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD). Of those 165 are considered "minority" or people of color. This is the highest overall diversity level in the Police Department's history with 18.59% people of color. We are at our highest levels ever for Hispanic (41), Black(67) and Asian (31) officers. Our highest level of Native American officers was 34 in 1994, currently there are 26. New hires have helped. Fifty-two police officers were hired in 2008, with 23% people of color and 25% women. T...

On December 22 the City released our c rime statistics for 2008. It looks like we are headed in the right direction with a second straight year of double-digit reductions in crime. It is especially good to see reductions in our most violent crimes and in juvenile crime. Violent crime in Minneapolis is down 13 percent citywide so far in 2008 when compared to 2007 and down 24 percent compared to 2006. Homicides are down 22 percent from last year and down 39 percent from 2006. Robberies decreased 18 percent, aggravated assaults are down 8 percent, and juvenile crime dropped 17 percent in 2008. As we look at crime statistics it is important to note that this data is only as good as our system of reporting and entering crimes into our system. I am sure we have all heard concerns in the past about under-reporting of crimes. I know for a fact of crimes in Ward 2 that have been reported to me but that have not resulted in police reports. Just as we need to encourage our officers to follow up...

Shortly after we approved our 2009 City budget we learned that the Governor was "unalloting" 13.1 million of the 41 million dollar payment we were anticipating in December. In addition to the loss of Local Government State Aid we are also being challenged by Minneapolis’ closed pension obligations. Because of commitments made decades ago, the City must cover the pensions for some retired public employees. Because there are no new retirees who are entering into these pension programs they are called closed funds. For these closed funds, losses due to stock market drops in the 2008 calendar year are expected to exceed $38 million over the next 5 years. Unless the state is willing to reform its pension laws and merge these few older pensions into the larger state pension plan, the City must cover this loss. The unexpected pension obligations together with the state aid cuts expected next year, mean that we will likely need to make significant changes to our budget in 2009. Fortu...

Last week, the Council passed the 2009 Minneapolis budget. But most of the discussion in the meeting focused on a funding question for 2010: how much money will the City devote to neighborhood groups? At issue was the expected $24 million per year from the Tax Increment or Transformation districts whose existence the legislature approved to allow us (if we chose to do so) to use a portion of the property taxes on a number of properties for neighborhood revitalization activities and Target Center debt relief. This actually grew out of a resolution initiated by CM Scott Benson last March and represented a significant compromise that was able to unite all 13 Council Members, some who were desperately seeking ways to reduce Target Center debt; others, like myself, who were searching for a future funding mechanism for a next phase of NRP; and some who wanted to retain some funding for City-wide discretionary development spending. Although I was scrambling hardest to find a source for NRP p...

Last Friday, the Council voted in favor of the new noise ordinance I sponsored. I believe this is an important step towards better regulation of noise from commercial uses - especially bars - that impacts residences. Working on a new noise ordinance was not something expected to be spending time on when I ran for office three years ago. But, for a number of reasons, noise and how we regulate it is something that many of my constituents car about, (especially those living on 7 corners and in areas where entertainment areas are close to residential properties) and it is something that I decided to tackle earlier this year. One reason it became important to do something was because, several years ago, a downtown bar sued the City and won, convincing the courts that our old noise ordinance was unconstitutionally vague. Since then, we've only been able to use the State code to enforce, and in doing so we have discovered some significant gaps. For instance, if someone lives in a build...

I have been concerned about Campaign Finance Reform for many years. I raised it as an issue in the 2005 campaign. I have a number of concerns about how money is raised for City elections and I see several ways in which the process could be inproved. Some of my most pressing concerns have to do with how little reporting is required today. Let me just share a few details. No information about any individual contribution must be reported unless the contribution is over $100, or a person gives over $100 in a year. The legal limit allowed during non-election years is $100. That means no contributor information must be reported during the 3 nonelection years. Over three years, therefore, one person (or Political Action Committee) can give $300 that goes unreported. A couple can give $600. This campaign finance information is not made avaiable to the public. I am convinced that we are all better off if we have better access to information and know who is funding campaigns. With this in mind, ...

There will be a public meeting on December 4, at 7 pm at Matthews Center (2701 East 24th St) for Xcel Energy and concerned Seward residents about power poles treated with pentachlorophenol. To learn more, please see the press release from the neighborhood below: *** SEWARD NEIGHBORS CONCERNED ABOUT NEW PESTICIDE-TREATED UTILITY POLES INSTALLED IN MINNEAPOLIS RESIDENTIAL AREAS Residents of the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis have raised concerns about the offensive odor and potential health risks of new power poles being installed by Xcel Energy throughout the city of Minneapolis, and specifically in the Seward neighborhood. The new power poles are treated with a chemical mix of fuel oil plus pentachlorophenol pesticide and its by-products, including dioxin, one of the most toxic chemicals known to science. These poles are replacing older, damaged poles in residential areas. Hundreds of these poles have already been installed. Up to 600 more are slated for installation in Minneapolis...

A very disturbing and false rumor has been circulated recently that inaccurately indicated that our Elections Director, Cindy Reichert, was improperly carting around 32 absentee ballots "in the trunk of her car for days." You can read and see for yourself here and here that this story is not only false, but more or less invented by someone, apparently, from the Coleman campaign team. I do not know if this was the intent of the Coleman campaign and other prominent Republicans (including Governor Tim Pawlenty), but this oft-repeated falsehood serves to undermine public confidence in the recount process, and by extension the democratic process itself. More importantly, this rumor impugns the integrity of a City employee with whom I have been honored and privileged to work for the past three years. My staff and I have had the opportunity to serve with Ms. Reichert on a number of issues, mostly regarding Ranked Choice Voting. She ran the automatic recount on a judicial primary r...

Yesterday, the Minneapolis Bicycle Advisory Committee formally supported Representative Phyllis Kahn's bill 4245 , which would require bicyclists to stop at stop signs only when there is right-of-way that they must yield to other road users (including cars, pedestrians and other bicyclists). It would also enable cyclists to proceed through red lights, after stopping, again only if there are no other road users with right-of-way. The Committee made some great suggestions to Rep. Kahn, including looking into an age limit on exercising this privilege, for many of the same reasons that we don't give driver's licenses to people under a certain age. They also recommended that she ensure that the language in the bill matches the existing traffic statutes. The fact that the City group empowered to represent the bicycle community has formally supported this bill will help Cam's efforts to get it listed as a support item on the City's legislative agenda.

2008 marks the 90th anniversary of the 1918 Armistice. To honor this historic event I invite to join me at a special event. Partners in Peace Celebrating the 90th Anniversary of Armistice Day 7 PM, Tuesday, November 11, 2008 Brit’s Pub 1110 Nicollet Avenue Minneapolis, Minnesota 55403 Please click here for more details, and to RSVP. Veterans, family, friends and interested parties are invited. We’ll be in Brit’s Pub’s Long Room, adjacent to their main bar on Nicollet Mall across from Peavy Plaza. There will be drink specials and a complimentary buffet, as well as a few speeches and period music. This is an informal event though, so there will be plenty of time to chat and socialize. We will pay special tribute to our allies in Peace and to some of America’s forgotten veterans, the mariners of the United States Merchant Marine. Merchant mariners were first to volunteer for service after the peace in Europe was shattered in 1939. They were the first to be lost at sea in WWII, first to b...

Please join me in voting YES on the ABC referendum on November 4th. The referendum will appear on your ballot as the following question : " SCHOOL DISTRICT BALLOT QUESTION 2 – ESTABLISHMENT OF ELECTION DISTRICTS FOR SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 1. Shall the Board of Special School District No. 1, Minneapolis Public Schools consist of six members elected by district and three members elected at-large for a total of nine members? Board of education members elected on or prior to November 4, 2008 shall complete their terms. The six districts shall be of equal population and shall initially coincide with the six park board districts for the Minneapolis Park Board. Three districts shall be given even numbers and three districts shall be given odd numbers." I believe that this amendment will improve the School Board's representation of the people of Minneapolis. It will ensure that every part of the city has a representative, which the current at-large election cannot do. Equa...

Last month, the Council voted to establish a new Department of Neighborhood and Community Relations and a new Neighborhood and Community Engagement Commission. These lay the foundation for what will likely be a similar, but significantly different, neighborhood revitalization program and a potentially much more effective City community engagement system in the future. The Neighborhood and Community Relations Department will function under the supervision of the City Coordinator and is intended to both serve residents directly and support all other City departments in their work to engage the community. It will be charged with strengthening our City’s quality of life through vigorous community participation, promoting resident involvement in neighborhood and community organizations, and supporting clearly defined links between the City, City services and neighborhood and community organizations. The Neighborhood and Community Engagement Commission will provide overall direction to a nex...

A public meeting will be held next Wednesday, October 8 , 5-6pm at the Central Library to discuss the upcoming conversion of Hennepin Ave and 1st Ave N from one-way to two-way. This discussion will focus primarily on options for retaining the bike lane and options for providing for left turns. I'm very interested in increasing the safety of this corridor (one of the most-used bike corridors in the state). I am very resistant to placing the bike lanes in the middle of the road on Hennepin, one of the options being explored. I'll would like to see some of the of treatments that the Council directed staff to explore when we passed the Downtown Transportation Action Plan, including traffic lights with bike signalization. There is an abundance of great ideas we can look at, including the Copenhagen Model (for more also look here ). Some we should also explore inlcude "bike boxes," painted bike-only spaces near crosswalks that help cyclists safely make turns, and bus unlo...

The joint Mpls/Hennepin Lead Poisoning Prevention Work Group, on which I serve with CM Glidden, has won the 2008 Community Health Service Award . The Work Group exists to establish and monitor plans, align efforts and build capacity for eliminating lead poisoning. We've collaborated to help reduce childhood lead poisoning in Hennepin County by over 50% since the group’s inception in 2002. In 2001, 6% of children under six who were screened had elevated blood lead levels, while in 2006 this figure had fallen to 2%. During the same period, we screened significantly more kids: 5,487 more in 2006 than in 2001. It's a good group, and it's great to see this welcome recognition of its work.

The low-heat/no heat ordinance I worked on with CM Remington has taken effect. Starting October 1, landlords in Minneapolis are required to keep interior temperatures at 68 degrees or above. If you’re a renter, and your unit is cooler than 68 degrees, you can call 311 and make a complaint to housing inspections. Of course, if you are comfortable and prefer a lower temperature that is fine. What we learned, however, when we studied the issue, is that for some older people, infants and people who are ill, temperatures below 68 can have serious and detrimental consequences to their health. My office spearheaded the effort to get this new ordinance passed, replacing the old, complicated external-temperature formula that was so difficult for our staff to effectively enforce. Now it's simple: landlords must provide at least 68 degrees between October 1 and May 1. In the transition periods in late fall and early spring (defined in the code as September 15 through October 1 and May 1 ...

According to newly-released census information, Minneapolis is closing in on Portland in terms of bicycle mode share. Between '06 and '07, we moved from 2.5% to 3.8% bike commuter mode share (from 4,840 to 7,200 riders/day), a bigger increase in ridership than any other city. Portland, on the other hand, went from 4.2% to 3.9%. You read that right: we're within .1% of being the number one large city in the country for bicycling. But we're not going to rest on our laurels. There are a host of other, smaller cities with bicycle mode shares that make ours look pale in comparison, for instance Boulder, CO (8.9%), Eugene, OR (8.5%), Chico, CA (7.4%), Berkeley, CA (7.0%), and Cambridge, MA (6.0%). With our ongoing investments in both bike infrastructure and education - bike ambassadors, miles and miles of new lanes, next year's construction of the U of M trail, the Mayor's proposal to light up the Hiawatha LRT trail and dedicate $100,000 per year to bike infrastruct...

As you can read here , Minneapolis Police have arrested a suspect in the shooting death of Ahmednur Ali on September 30, outside of the Brian Coyle Center. I'm heartened to see this quick response. There are other important steps being taken to improve safety on the West Bank. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7 The Westban Community Coalition Safety Committee with host a Community Safety discussion at 7:00 at the Brian Coyle Center and the safety walk around the neighborhood immediately follows. From 7:30-9 everyone is invited to stop by the intersection of Cedar Avenue & 5th Street to participate in a collaboration with neighborhood art on wheels , to literally project a more positive image of the West Bank. We're also moving closer to an investment by Sherman Associates, owner and operator of Riverside Plaza, in more beat officers for the West Bank. City staff is working to put a request for Council action accepting Sherman's contribution of $20,000 on the Ways and Means agenda for n...

The City is revising its on-premise sign standards. The intended outcome is to amend the City’s zoning ordinance to ensure that these standards allow for effective signage appropriate for each zoning district, promote high-quality signage, minimize sign clutter and minimize adverse effects on nearby properties. Staff is holding an open house Thursday, October 30th 4:30-6:30pm at the Public Service Center, 250 South 4th Street, in room 300. There you can review the revised policy framework, ask questions, and comment on draft changes affecting the sign chapter of the zoning code. City Planning Commission and City Council Review and adoption of ordinance revisions are expected later this year.

This morning, the Zoning and Planning committee unanimously approved keeping in place the University District moratorium on demolition and new construction of 1-4 unit residential properties. This action, which the committee took despite hearing some complaints from area developers, will give our staff, District residents and the University District Parternship Alliance some breathing space to work on a U District zoning and land use study. Many thanks to everyone who sent in letters and came down to listen and speak this morning to support this interim moratorium. I think that my colleagues on the committee all gained a better understanding of the concerns involved and this will help when we return with plans for how we will address these. We also were able to hear some of the concerns builders and developers had with the proposal and some other issues in the area. This too will be helpful. I was also impressed with the quality report and support and understanding about neighborhood ...

The bicycle community will come together to honor the memory of cyclists who've been killed in recent accidents in the Twin Cities metro, this Saturday, October 4 . The group will meet at 10:30am at the corner of Summit and Snelling Avenues in St. Paul. Go here for more details. The ride will visit sites of three of the most recent crashes, where " ghost bikes " have been placed as memorials to the victims, Jimmy Niser, Nik Morton, and Virginia Heuer. Riders are asked to wear a black shirt with orange ribbon either on their arms or handlebars, and expected to be orderly and respectful of traffic. This is not a Critical Mass ride, and cyclists who disrupt traffic or ride recklessly will be asked to leave. In the afternoon, organizers have put together another ride to Blaine, to place a ghost bike for Dale Aanenson.

I know, it sounds sort of like a psychopath with one eye, but really it's the coolest bicycle route finder I've ever seen: cyclopath.org . In some ways, it works just like the route finders on mapquest and google, with one major difference - it's for cyclists. If you've ever tried to use one of those programs to find bike routes, you know how frustrating it can be. They aren't aware of off-street trails or bike lanes. They direct you to get on freeways. With cyclopath, you enter a starting and ending point, and you get a bike route. To test this out, I entered my morning commute - Brackett Park to City Hall . Sure enough, cyclopath directed me to take the route I use: the Greenway to the LRT Trail into downtown. This may not sound like much, but no other mapping program I've ever used has been able to do it. Even more excitingly for less-experienced cyclists, you can tailor the route to your comfort level by indicating whether bike-friendliness or speed are mo...

It looks like a 2009 implementation of Ranked Choice Voting (aka IRV) in City elections is more likely than ever. While we did not find machines to do the job, staff is recommending that we use a hand count. I am very supportive of this idea. Below for your information is the text from a memo we received this morning. I think this is great news. It is my understanding that the only way this could be delayed now is if the City Council actually voted to delay it, despite our staff saying it is possible. I can't imagine how we could justify doing that. So, I am celebrating a little today and I invite you to do the same. ========================== M E M O R A N D U M To: City Council Members From: Cindy Reichert , Elections Director Subject: Responses to Voting Equipment RFP Date: September 30, 2008 On August 1st the City of Minneapolis received responses to a Request for Proposal for services and equipment needed to conduct municipal elections using the method of Ranked Choice ...

Minneapolis has been named one of the most sustainable cities in the United States by SustainLane.com, an online people-powered guide to sustainable living. Minneapolis ranked number seven, moving up from the tenth spot in 2005, among the 50 most populous cities in the nation. SustainLane’s rankings are based on 16 different indicators that cover many sustainable practice areas, including local food availability, tap water quality, air quality, metro transit ridership, energy and climate change, and green building practices; the indicators show where cities are excelling or struggling. The rankings also take into consideration the chance of natural disasters and the preparation that cities have made to handle those catastrophes. Minneapolis ranked high among other cities in many indicators, such as the availability of local food and agriculture (#1), city innovation (#6) and green economy (#7). The city was referred to as a “Midwestern jewel of a city” and was also recognized for the c...

Natural gas utility CenterPoint Energy will be holding two meetings in the Second Ward to give residents information about natural gas bill payment assistance: October 1, 5-8pm at Matthews Park . October 14, 5-8pm at Van Cleve Park . Community Action will help folks complete their applications, and CenterPoint Energy will meet to discuss payment plan options. If you attend, please bring your most recent CenterPoint Energy bill and household income verification, which are both required to complete energy assistance applications. If you can't attend one of these meetings and need help, call 612-372-4680 or go here .

Today, the Health Energy and Environment committee moved forward an exciting new Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Policy , which creates some great new standards for goods and services purchased by the City. For instance, all of our paper products will contain the highest post consumer content practicable. As importantly, the Purchasing Department has been empowered to automatically substitute more environmentally friendly products. I attempted to strengthen this action in two small but important ways. First, because it's not practical to include every single thing the City buys or may ever buy in a policy like this, I moved to add text that would cover goods and services not enumerated in the policy. The text stated that the City will use the precautionary principle and err on the side of protecting human health and the environment when making decisions about products not listed in the policy. Second, I moved to require the new "Sustainable Purchasing Committee" c...

On Monday, at approximately 5:09pm, Ahmed Nur Ahmed Ali was shot outside of the Brian Coyle Center on the West Bank. The 20-year-old Augsburg College student had just finished his first day as an intern for the Center. This is the third homicide this year in the neighborhood. West Bank residents and business owners have been taking increasing steps to prevent the rising tide of youth violence, including a twice-weekly safety walk. The City has partnered with organizations in the area to help improve the physical condition of commercial spaces, increase beat patrols and coordination between area security officers. I have heard that the Brian Coyle Center is proposing to install security cameras outside, hire a security officer or police liaison from 5-10pm nightly, work to increase police presence in Currie Park and surrounding streets and hire two Somali outreach workers focused on connecting with Somali young adults. These ideas and more were discussed on Thursday, September 24th a...

The Community Crime Prevention division of the Minneapolis Police Department is hosting a personal safety workshop on Thursday, October 16, 7-9pm at Washburn High Auditorium, 201 W 49th St. The workshop will be led by Mary Brandl, a self defense expert. If you have questions, please call Crime Prevention Specialist Amy Lavender at 612-673-5407 or amy.lavender(at)ci.minneapolis.mn.us.

City Planning staff has been working for some time on text amendments for the zoning code, dealing with off-street parking requirements . They've done extensive research into best practices in other cities and come up with a general direction for the revision. It calls for more flexible and context-sensitive minimum parking requirements, more widespread use of bicycle parking requirements, and the first-ever set of limits on the amount of automobile parking that can be provided. (It's important to note that the ongoing University District study will also potentially create unique parking rules for the U District neighborhoods, which would trump this citywide change.) Planning staff have scheduled opportunities for community input: Focus group with business associations, Wednesday, October 1, 10–11am, Northeast Library meeting room, 2200 Central Ave NE. Neighborhood-focused open house, Thursday, October 16, 6:30–8:30pm, Martin Luther King Recreation Center multi-purpose room, 40...

In light of the recent concerns that have been raised about police actions during the RNC, I thought it might be useful for people to know options that have to I file a complaint against a Minneapolis police officer? As a council member I can use the number, nature and status of complaints to help me guide discussion and policy decisions. To date there have been no formal external complaints made related to RNC activity. To file a complaint you have 3 options within the City. If you have a lawyer please consult with them before proceeding with any of these. The Police Internal Affairs Unit, the Mpls . Civilian Police Review Authority and the Mpls . Dept. of Civil Rights provide citizens with avenues to bring complaints of misconduct and inappropriate behavior against Police. A complaint can be initiated by contacting the Minneapolis Civilian Police Review Authority ( CRA ) office and speaking to an investigator. An official complaint does not exist until an investigator drafts...

As you can read here, the Mayor and Council President Johnson have asked for an "After Action Review" and report to Council by the Minneapolis Police Department. This is in addition to the Heffelfinger/Luger investigation, which will focus on police actions in St. Paul. Though I continue to think that one comprehensive, multi-jurisdictional investigation into the actions of all law enforcement agencies involved in RNC events (including federal, state, county and local agencies) would be most useful, I will support any meaningful Minneapolis-specific investigation and/or report. To make the Mayor's requested report as meaningful as possible, I attempted to pass the following staff direction at today's Public Safety and Regulatory Services committee: Staff Direction By Gordon MPD staff will conduct an After Action Review and produce a report on the RNC, to be completed by the end of October 2008 and provided to the Mayor and Public Safety and Regulatory Services Committ...

I had an interesting opportunity today to participate in a state recount, stemming from the fact that the margin between the second and third place candidates in a judicial race was within .05% of the total votes cast. State statute calls for a mandatory recount of votes for the two candidates. Minneapolis Elections jumped into action, making their Elections Warehouse and Training Center the counting center for the more than 40,000 ballots cast in the cities of Minneapolis, Richfield and St. Louis Park. Our Elections Director, Cindy Reichert, put out a call for help to Council staff, and I took her up on the opportunity to see the inner workings of democracy in action. The Counting Center was already filling with staff from the three cities elections departments and clerks' offices, folks from the Secretary of State's office and others when I arrived at 8:30. I was impressed at the quick but thorough training we received, and at the efficiency of the recount when it started ...

Recently, the City unveiled a new Green Building web page . This page is accessed from the Minneapolis Development Review homepage , and contains information and links to encourage our customers to use more environmentally sustainable building practices, such as renewable energy, reused and recycled materials, energy efficiency and stormwater management. This is a key component of the City's Green Building Initiative, and I commend Development Review for completing this great website - and for sharing the same information with people at the MDR counter day after day.

A new study provides yet more evidence that Bisphenol-A (or BPA), one of the chemicals that the Council, at my urging, supported phasing out in children's products, does indeed put people at greater risk for serious illness. Perhaps this will be enough to convince Governor Pawlenty that these chemicals shouldn't be in pacifiers? I will work to keep support for a BPA phaseout on the City's Legislative Agenda for 2009.

Back February 2008, when I learned that the new 35W bridge construction would cut off a pedestrian and bike connection, and after it was clear that this cost would not be covered by the state or feds, I successfully pushed for the Council to set aside up to $1.2 million in municipal state aid funds for a bike and pedestrian tunnel as part of the rebuilding the Interstate 35W Bridge. As the new bridge is set to reopen, I recently learned that City staff worked with MnDOT and Flatiron-Masson Joint Venture staff to design the tunnel in very efficient, safe, and cost effective manner. The final agreement between MnDOT and the City estimates the tunnel will cost about $841,500, which is less than the City’s preliminary estimate of $900,000 and is well below the $1.2 million appropriated. The tunnel will remain closed, however, as the City secures funding to build the remaining portions of the bike and pedestrian trail between Bridge 9 (east side) to 13thAve/2nd St (west side) which will d...

As you can read here , the Environmental Protection Agency has decided on their cleanup level for the South Minneapolis Arsenic Contamination site. They plan to remove soil from yards that have an arsenic level of 25 parts per million (ppm) or above to a depth of one foot, and removal of all deeper soil in yards that contain 95ppm or more. This amounts to 488 yards, including the 77 yards that were already slated for cleanup due to contamination above 95ppm. The cleanup standard EPA has chosen is somewhat disappointing to me. I joined Environmental Justice Advocates of Minnesota (EJAM) and others in calling for a lower cleanup standard. The literature on arsenic suggests that contamination in the range of 10ppm can be dangerous, especially for children, and the baseline arsenic content in Minneapolis soil is certainly no greater than 17. Still, it is good that this cleanup will be proceeding. EPA believes the work will take about four years. At the time that it is completed, I would su...

As you may have noticed, for the last year the Second Ward blog has been graced by a neat little tracker gizmo: the ClustrMap over there in the upper right corner. It places little red dots all over a world map, showing the locations of the more than fifteen thousand page views we've received since last September. It's been fascinating to watch the dots appear, especially in places far from Minneapolis. To keep the map from becoming, as the ClustrMap folks put it, a "giant red smear," they have archived the past year's map here , and will soon replace it with a blank slate that we can watch fill up with dots again. Wherever you're from, Minneapolis or Australia, thanks for reading - and please feel free to comment.

There continues to be progress being made towards a neighborhood revitalization program in the future. Several important steps have been taken in the passed several weeks and I think there is room for hope and concern. As things progress we will get a better indication of what the future will look like and it will important for to identify areas where there is the potential for making improvements. The NRP Framework for the Future work group has given its final report and, while many are worried and concerned about the future, I think it is important to note that we’ ve made real progress towards ensuring a healthier future of our neighborhood organizations and a continued neighborhood revitalization program. When I took office a future NRP program was a big priority for me. The fact that the funding for the current program will end in 2009 offered both concern and opportunity. The concern was that there would no longer be a The most significant recommendations in the report incl...

I continue to be disturbed by the emerging pattern of law enforcement intimidation of journalists covering the Republican National Convention, including the arrests of Amy Goodman , Nicole Salazar and Sharif Abdel Kouddous of the Democracy Now! news show, the photographer from the New York Post, other journalists and the confiscation of equipment from the Glass Bead Collective last week. As someone who worked very hard throughout this year to see journalists, observers, protesters and law abiding by-standers as well protected as the delegates here to participate in RNC, many of the reports I have been reading and hearing about , as well as the images I have been seeing , are discouraging . The incidents involving the targeting and harassment of observers and reporters shows a particularly troubling trend that is not consistent with my hopes of showing the world how our Cities value nonviolence, respect civic debate, and are committed to preserving free speech. I believe tha...