Finding a Green Way to Govern

Due to the historic snow storm last weekend - the fifth largest in Minneapolis history - the City has put winter parking restrictions into effect. The restrictions, also known as the "one side ban," went into effect this morning at 8am. The reason for these restrictions is that streets narrowed by snow and with parking on both sides can become difficult or even impassable for emergency vehicles. That's why Police Chief Tim Dolan and Public Works Director Steve Kotke – in consultation with Fire Chief Alex Jackson - made the decision to put the restrictions into effect. To avoid being ticketed and towed, do not park on the even side of non-Snow Emergency routes, except where specifically instructed by signage. Parking is allowed on both sides of Snow Emergency routes and parkways, and the odd side of non-Snow Emergency-routes, unless otherwise posted. Please also keep in mind that it is possible that Snow Emergencies can be declared while Winter Parking Restrictions are in ...

For the first time as Council Member, I voted against a budget. I do not take this vote lightly. In all past budgets, there have been things I would have liked to change and fights that I have lost. These issues have not been important enough for me to vote against the final budget. This year’s assault by the Mayor and Council majority on the already-allocated Neighborhood Revitalization Program Phase II funding is fundamentally different. I could not in good conscience vote for a budget that reneges on the commitments the Council has made over the years to neighborhoods. One we unanimously reaffirmed this June when we voted to allocate the full NRP Pahse II funding to our partners in neighborhoods. I am saddened that neighborhood organizations will no longer be able to rely on the commitments – or even the formal actions – of the Council majority. I am disappointed in my colleagues’ decision that will, in my strongly-held opinion, fundamentally damage both the capacity of neighborhood...

This week the Zoning and Planning Committee unanimously approved the application for an interim use permit for an overnight shelter located at 810 7th St. S. The shelter will be operated by First Covenant Church in cooperation with the Salvation Army and will provide 50 addition mats for single adults each night until April of 2011. While I wholeheartedly supported this action, I did so with regret. Clearly this is a situation we wanted to avoid. At the committee we learned that on a recent Monday night, the 364 sleeping spaces at one of our largest facilities were all full, but an additional 103 adults showed up looking for a place to spend the night. Even though there were no mats avaiable on the floor, they were not turned away, but had to squeeze into hallways, corners and corridors. If the full Council approves this next Firday, it will be the first new overnight shelter the Council has approved since the late 1990s and shows the serious level of economic suffering that the p...

Three Second Ward residents are joining Minneapolis advisory commissions this month: Bill O'Connor and Jonna Kosalko are joining the Minneapolis Arts Commission and Ginny Lackovic is joining the Heritage Preservation Commission. Thanks to you all for your willingness to volunteer your time to make Minneapolis a better place, and welcome!

This morning, the Transportation and Public Works (TPW) committee approved a layout for the Riverside Avenue reconstruction project. This layout has changed significantly for the better in the month or so since it last came before the committee (compare the old version to the new version ). Among the positive changes: - The bicycle lane going towards downtown now extends all the way to Cedar Avenue, rather than dropping a half-block early. This is possible because the through lane (which goes onto 4th St and has very low volumes) has been combined with the left turn lane onto southbound Cedar. I am confident that this change will work fine for automobiles, as the layout keeps a dedicated right-turn lane onto Cedar northbound - the heaviest movement in this intersection. It will work much better for bicyclists, giving them a safe, dedicated lane all the way through Cedar, connecting to 4th St (and, from there, to the Hiawatha LRT trail). And, as a side benefit, it will work better for...

The intersection of Minneapolis Avenue S and 33rd Ave S is the only uncontrolled intersection in Seward, the only one in Ward 2, and one of the last 10 or so uncontrolled intersections in the whole city . It's a skewed four-way (because Minneapolis is at an angle to the grid) with one one-way leg. We've heard from at least one resident about this intersection over the years. It's confusing, and that confusion could contribute to accidents. Public Works has been putting stop signs up at uncontrolled intersections in Minneapolis since 2004. 33rd and Minneapolis is one of the last . They will be making a recommendation to me about how to signalize this intersection within the next two months. I look forward to working with Seward to come up with a solution that works for everyone.

This week, the Mayor's Office and City Hall is bidding farewell to a Second Ward resident: Cara Letofsky . Cara has been highly valued by me and my colleagues and she, and her good work here, will be greatly missed. Cara has worked in the Mayor's Office as a Policy Aide whose portfolio included, according to the Mayor's website: "Sustainability and environment, planning and urban design, housing and homelessness, neighborhood community development and relations, jobs and workforce development, financial literacy, 2010 census." I have to admit that it was a little bit strange when Cara and I both started our new jobs in January of 2006. We'd just come off of a close-fought campaign against each other for the Second Ward Council seat, a race I won by only a hundred and fifty-one votes. Mayor Rybak had noticed Cara's organizing skill, and he offered her a position in his second administration. In those first few months, it was sometimes difficult to make the ...

The 2011 budget and financial challenges facing our City are the most difficult I have experienced since taking office. By now, all property owners in Minneapolis should have received their notice for proposed property taxes for 2011. Many, if not all, have seen increases over 2010. These property taxes include taxes levied by Hennepin County, Minneapolis Public Schools, the City of Minneapolis and special taxing districts, such as Metro Transit and watershed districts. Understandably, I am most concerned with the City of Minneapolis’ portion. The second of three public hearings on the tax levy and budget was held in November and we heard many concerns about the proposed levy and budget. The biggest concerns related to a cut in funding for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund (from $10 million to 8) and the dramatic increase in property taxes. The typical increase, based on the comments, calls and emails I have received, is between 15 – 18%. Several factors play roles in this, incl...

I submitted the following comments on the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s Metro area Solid Waste Plan . ===== I commend the Pollution Control Agency for undertaking the Metropolitan Solid Waste Management Policy Plan, and thank you for the opportunity to comment. There are many portions of the plan that will be significant steps in the right direction. However, there are also some ways in which the plan’s goals are not aggressive enough, and could lead to some unfortunate missed opportunities. The positive aspects of the plan are almost too numerous to mention. The dual focus on reducing, recycling, and composting and limiting the total waste going to landfills is the right fundamental approach. I commend the MPCA for instituting a ‘floor’ for recycling, composting, and reduction. Many of the strategies laid out in the plan are tremendous ideas. Worth special mention are Extended Producer Responsibility/Product Stewardship; Improving Volume-based Pricing; Mandatory Opportunit...

Second Ward business Dero Bike Racks is having a big month. In early November, they won a 2010 Commuter Choice Award . They received this honor for developing Dero ZAP, a solar powered, wireless, web-based application that allows organizations to reward employees who commute by bicycle. The program was launched within Dero itself, and they now provide a cash incentive of $3 per day to each employee who uses alternative commuting options. Then they moved from their longtime home in the Seward neighborhood to the Southeast Minneapolis Industrial area. One of the reasons they cite for the move is the intercampus transitway trail, which will serve their many employees who bike to work. Congratulations, Dero, and welcome to southeast!

The long awaited “disparities” study to help us understand how women-owned and minority-owned businesses compete for contracts offered by the City and in the private sector is now complete. The Disparity Study looked at the City’s procurement process, the locations and ownership of companies that do business with the city and at the overall marketplace and experiences of women-owned and minority-owned businesses that seek contracts in both the public and private sector. It has confirmed that we continue to have a significant problem with racial and gender discrimination on all levels of the hiring contracting and procurement ladder in the region. Institutional racism and sexism appear to continue to pose serious obstacles in access to contracts in our marketplace. The study also made a number of recommendations to remedy the situation, including the enhancement of current City efforts to fight discrimination and the addition of new initiatives. These initiatives involve both race- and ...

One bright point of an otherwise difficult election was the overwhelming support by the people of Minneapolis for a better way of changing ward boundaries after this year’s census. By the substantial majority of 55% , the voters of Minneapolis rejected the old, overtly politicized process – in which our ward boundaries were drawn by a Redistricting Commission comprised of representatives of the Republican and Independence Parties, which hold no elected offices in Minneapolis at any level – in favor of allowing the Charter Commission to redraw the maps. There is work to do to ensure that the Charter Commission will include diverse voices and viewpoints (geographic, ethnic, and political) when doing their work, and to ensure that the process they use is open, transparent, and inclusive. But I am convinced that this is a major step in the right direction, and I am proud to have started the process a year ago with Council Members Glidden and Benson.

This morning, the Council also authorized Public Works staff to request a variance from the Municipal State Aid standards to go down to an 8 foot parking lane on Riverside Avenue. The typical MSA parking lane width is 10 feet. The width we save will be reallocated to bike lanes, sidewalks and boulevards. The layout approval and the authorization to seek easements (also for wider sidewalks) from nearby property owners were delayed for two weeks in order to give Public Works staff and me a chance to meet with the major institutions along the avenue - Augsburg, Fairview and the U of M - about some concerns that they've communicated very recently. Many of these concerns are things like access during construction, the depth of sidewalks, and other issues not related to the layout, and I want to make clear that we can deal with these concerns later in the process. Some of them are layout related, and I want a chance to make sure that the layout works as well as possible for all users. Th...

This morning, the Council voted to grant up to $80 million in tax exempt multifamily housing entitlement revenue bonds and $1.9 million in from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund to the Riverside Plaza renovation project. This project is a very, very big deal, and has been one of the most important issues on the West Bank for most of this year. It has generated more discussion, controversy, and interest than anything I've seen in a long time. At its most basic, this is an affordable housing issue. There are more than four thousand people who rely on the affordable housing provided by Riverside Plaza. Unfortunately, the quality of that housing has been decreasing over time, and its long-term viability was threatened. This project stabilizes and improves the housing for all of these low-income residents. That's a very good thing. The renovation will also employ a significant number of people (200) in an economy that has left many people desperate for work. It will significantly re...

The City gave away more than 250 radon test kits to Minneapolis residents on October 29th. We're now offering the same kits for sale for $9 at Minneapolis Development Review, 250 S Fourth St., Room 300. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S. and the first cause among nonsmokers. More than 21,000 deaths are attributed to radon each year in the U.S. The Minnesota Department of Health estimates that one in three existing Minnesota homes has radon levels that pose a large health risk over many years of exposure. Radon exposure is preventable, and radon problems in homes can be fixed. The first step is to test for radon at home. Radon is an invisible, odorless, radioactive gas that can only be found by testing. I'm glad to see the City taking this major public health threat seriously. Minneapolis residents face an elevated risk of preventable disease and death, and the City needs to do more to publicize the threat, give homeowners the information and tools the...

Seems I was right . The Minnesota judicial system has, in its wisdom, refused to grant the restraining order sought by the Tea Party/Minnesota Majority/Minnesota Voter's Alliance that would have prevented elections officials from doing a vital part of their jobs: preventing campaigning in polling places. However, that doesn't seem to be stopping these folks. As you can read here , they've sent out this advice to their followers: “For now, we are recommending that you proceed with wearing your Election Integrity buttons or Tea Party apparel to the polls, knowing you are within your rights, but don’t allow yourself to be disenfranchised. If you are challenged by an election judge because of what you are wearing, you’ll have a decision to make. You can simply remove or cover the challenged item and you’ll be allowed to vote, or you can refuse and demand your right to vote and the election judge will allow you to vote, while also recording your name and you could be charged w...

As you can see here , a group of conservative political activists is suing the State and Hennepin and Ramsey Counties. Why? Because they believe that they have the right to engage in political campaigning and voter intimidation at polling places. They believe this despite the long, positive history of bans on overt political speech and campaigning in polling places in Minnesota. They are making the laughable claim that "the Tea Party and Minnesota Majority are not political groups." Do they actually believe that? Do they really expect anyone else to believe that? Despite the fact that there are numerous Republican candidates for office overtly running as "Tea Party" endorsees, and that there is a Tea Party Caucus of the Republican Party at the national level, and that there are several groups with "Tea Party" in their names funnelling corporate dollars into ads on behalf of Republican candidates? Even a cursory look at the Minnesota Majority website shows...

As anyone who has ridden the Hiawatha Trail lately has likely noticed, Met Transit is building a new maintenance facility to the east of the trail, between 24th and 26th streets. As part of this project, they need to do some work on a water main that will necessitate closing the section of the trail from 24th to 26th. They will begin that closure next Monday, 10.25.10 , and it will continue for up to three weeks. Met Transit has worked with our office on the following detour:Southbound cyclists on Hiawatha take a left on 24th Street, then a right onto the new bike lanes on Minnehaha and continue south to the Greenway. Northbound cyclists who are coming across the Sabo bridge from the west continue to Minnehaha and take a left and cyclists coming from the east take a right on Minnehaha. From Minnehaha, take a left on 24th and then a right on the trail. Please help spread the word.

This morning, the Council voted to formalize the Minneapolis Bicycle Advisory Committee (or BAC). This vote was the culmination of a process that I have led for over a year, with the participation of many current members of the BAC, and I'm thrilled to see all of our work finally come to fruition. I've been actively involved with the BAC since Cam took office in 2006. I have a deep interest in bicycling, both personally and from a policy perspective, and the BAC has been one of the key players in making Minneapolis a more bike-friendly city. But early on, I started to notice differences between the BAC and other boards and commissions that advise the City, for instance the Environmental Advisory Committee or the Public Health Advisory Committee. Meetings were chaired and agendas set not by the membership, but by Public Works staff. There did not seem to be a formal membership, but a shifting cast of bicycle advocates and staff who tended to come to meetings. Anyone at a give...

The Administrative Law Judge, Beverly Jones Heydinger, has formally recommended to the Public Utilities Commission that the Xcel Hiawatha Powerline, proposed to be above ground along the Midtown Greenway, be buried under E. 28th Street. I am very supportive of this recommendation, although I continue to question the need for the powerline itself and would prefer to see an investment in conservation, alternative energy sources and upgrading the existing lines. The judge also recommended that the substations be at Xcel preferred locations. The one nearest Ward 2 would be east of Hiawatha Avenue adjacent to the greenway where there is current green space. The PUC will now accept comments disagreeing with Heydinger’s recommendations. They will wait to make a decision, however, until after the required Certificate of Need process has been completed. Because Xcel has not applied for the certificate of need it looks like the earliest the PUC could act is November, 2011.

Yesterday I saw it with my own eyes. Finally, after years of work and having to revamp and restucture a 2 million dollar state grant, solar panels are now actually up on the Convention Center. A press conference held yesterday yeilded some media coverage here or here if you want to see a picture as well. The installation will be the Upper Midwest’s largest solar photovoltaic system. The solar array, which has 403 of its 2,613 panels installed, will connect directly to the convention center’s internal electrical system and produce 750,000 kWh of renewable energy per year when completed. The system, being built by a local development team led by Best Power International and Westwood Professional Services, will produce the equivalent of powering 85 homes annually, while offsetting 539 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions (the amount given off by 60,587 gallons of gasoline). In a unique and somewhat complex agreement, the photovoltaic systems will be owned by Best Power, which will le...

I've received some information about Minneapolis' contribution to the flood relief efforts in outstate Minnesota from our Emergency Preparedness Director Rocco Forte. On Wednesday, September 22 a widespread heavy rain event overnight caused flooding in the southern third of Minnesota that impacted many counties. In response to the flooding, the State Emergency Operations Center requested assistance from City of Minneapolis Emergency Preparedness and Regulatory Services as part of the initial response and subsequent recovery efforts. On Friday evening, a member of the City of Minneapolis Emergency Preparedness team was deployed as part of the state-wide Incident Management Team to assist Fairbault with EOC and emergency management support. On Saturday, five City of Minneapolis building inspectors were sent to assist the City of Owatonna and Steele County Building Officials in conducting initial and follow-up inspections to residential, commercial and other structures as water le...

Fall Bike Walk Week Bike Walk Week is going year-round. This summer’s Bike Walk Week in June was a great success – with more than 7,000 participating. This fall – October 2nd to 10th – these selected events will take place: Share the Ride Day, featuring Nice Ride, HOURCAR, and Metro Transit rideshare Bike Walk to School Day in conjunction with Safe Routes to School Bike-n-Ride for free on Metro Transit Bike Walk to Worship Visit http://www.bikewalkweek.org/ for a full list of the week’s activities and to register to participate.

I stand with the peace and justice activists whose homes were raided last week by the FBI, and who will be required to testify in court about their travels to parts of the world that continue to be wracked by violence and injustice. At least one of the victims of these raids is a Second Ward constituent, and I consider them all important allies in the ongoing struggle for a world in which violence is never seen as a political tool, and in which the rights and dignity of all people are respected. These raids send an overtly political message likely to discourage people from publicly questioning and criticizing their government, and to deter them from organizing, communicating about and openly opposing policies that they believe are unjust. These kinds of govenment actions that chill the free speech of peace activists and the rights of all of us to freely associate are contradictory to the founding princples of the United States and have the potential to profoundly harm our democracy....

One of the projects of Homegrown Minneapolis, a series of four home-canning classes in different parts of the city, is being noticed by the local media. Like much of Homegrown's work, this project is a collaboration between our Department of Health and Family Support (using funds from the Statewide Health Improvement Program) and experts on food systems. These classes are exciting, because they help teach people how to preserve produce from the region - backyards, farmers markets, CSA's, etc - so that they can eat locally even during our long, cold winters. It's good to see this get the buzz it deserves.

Hymie's Vintage Records, which has recently moved to the Second Ward, has been named one of the 25 best record stores in the nation by Rolling Stone magazine. Congratulations, Hymie's!

The ordinance I put forward to help businesses with existing parking lots allow visitors to the U stadium park in their lots has passed the Council unanimously. Here's a little history. Back in 2006, the Council put a Pedestrian Oriented (PO) Overlay District on the University corridor, in advance of the Central Corridor LRT project. The idea is that we want to have more active uses on the street, and fewer auto-oriented uses, when this major transit project comes through. In 2009, the U stadium opened. Businesses, such as restaurants, that have existing parking lots attempted to rent out spaces in their lots to U stadium visitors. However, because the PO district disallows new auto-oriented uses, they were unable to get commercial parking licenses. They strongly advocated for this to change, and some of their arguments were compelling. For example, they made a good case that, far from helping their businesses, the opening of the stadium had actually harmed them, by convincing reg...

The Mayor has presented his 2011 budget proposal to the City Council. The proposed budget increases expenses for all City funds to $1.36 billion, an $81 million dollar increase from 2010. The General Fund, which includes funding for the operations of most City departments, increases from $371.6 to $393.6 million. The budget includes an increase of 6.5% to the total property tax levy. This will bring in $17.4 million more to cover City expenses, including a $17.7 million jump in pension obligations. In his budget address, the mayor indicated that without these pension costs he would have proposed to lower property taxes by 0.1% . There will be $15 million in revenue coming from a recertification of a tax increment district dedicated to neighborhood revitalization purposes and paying off the Target Center debt. The Mayor's budget calls for over 80 positions to be eliminated. Many of these will likely be accomplished through attrition and not filling current vacant positions, but the...

The Minneapolis Public Schools and the Youth Coordinating Board have joined forces to help address the dropout crisis in Minneapolis. We Want You Back is a grassroots effort to identify, connect with and invite un-enrolled young people to re-enroll. The programs ambitious first year goal is to attract back 200 youth. Saturday, September 11 is our citywide door-knocking event and volunteers are still needed. Visit http://www.wewantyoubackmpls.org/ to learn more, sign up and join me and teams of community and school district volunteers as we fan out across the city to connect young people with resources, support and information. Minneapolis Public Schools staff will re-enroll students on the spot. For more contact Jo Haberman, Youth Coordinating Board, 673-2720 or wwyb@ycb.org .

The Minneapolis Elections Department has won the prestigious Guardian Award from the National Association of Election Officials , for its work to implement Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) in the municipal election in 2009. This award recognizes work that exemplifies the association’s code of ethics, principles, and standards for the elections profession. In presenting the award, the National Association of Election Officials noted that “the enormity of the task and the level of detail it encompassed were mindboggling as they developed processes and successfully hand-counted an RCV election. This is an example of our profession at its best.” Congratulations to all of our Elections staff, and especially to interim Elections Director Ginny Gelms.

A Draft Bicycle Master Plan was presented to a Council committee this week and is headed to the full Council after one more round of gathering community input. The plan has been in the works for over a year and will become the first comprehensive Bicycle Master Plan for Minneapolis. According to the staff report “The purpose of the Bicycle Master Plan is to establish goals, objectives, and benchmarks that improve safety and mobility for bicyclists and increase the number of trips taken by bicycle. The Bicycle Master Plan discusses bicycle policy, evaluates existing conditions, conducts a needs analysis, creates a list of prioritized projects and initiatives, and suggests funding strategies to be implemented to complete the plan." You can see the plan at: http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/bicycles/bicycle-plans.asp Five public meetings have been scheduled to allow for public input and to answer questions as follows: - Monday, August 30th, Edison High School Auditorium, 700 22nd Aven...

The City’s Business Information Services department is recommending a renegotiation of the City’s contract for information/technology services with Unisys Corporation. The contract is set to expire in January 2013 and costs roughly $11 million a year. Under the proposed terms it would be extended for four years (through 2016) in exchange for some changes in service and a $280,000 savings in 2010 (and additional savings in future years) for total cost to the City of over $45 million. I have had concerns about this contract for some time and do not think we should move forward with this extension without conducting an analysis of alternatives, including potentially going out for open bids on this contract, exploring moving some or all of this work back in-house, and investigating whether open-source software can better meet the City’s needs. I was able to get my colleagues to agree to a two-week delay on this action, and I hope this will lead us to do more due diligence work before ext...

In light of persistent gun violence in the City I am taking a serious look at improving the laws/regulations that ban or regulate ammunition and firearms in Minneapolis. Twenty two people have been killed with a hand gun so far this year. This fact, together with a recent article in the Star Tribune, “7 Shootings in 7 Hours”, that came just after the Supreme Court decision ruling the Chicago handgun ban unconstitutional, offers a chance to raise this issue again. We call this out in the Youth Violence Prevention Plan that I have been working so hard on since 2006, “Support sensible illegal gun laws and work to change community values around the acceptance of guns. This includes seeking stronger penalties for people who sell and distribute illegal guns, and profit from the sale and distribution of illegal guns to young people.” Chicago has already responded to the court decision with its own new ordinance. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38061266/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/?gt1=43001 Among...

Public Works staff made an exciting presentation to the Transportation and Public Works committee this morning about the Hennepin and First two-way conversions and bike facilities. They've got a tremendous amount of data on the successes of the conversion. Traffic volumes are up. Bicycle volumes on Hennepin, First and the Nicollet Mall are up. Crashes are down. Crashes involving bicycles are down to literally zero . The facilities are working. But staff have heard complaints from various stakeholders since the change. Cyclists have complained that the shared bike/bus/right turn lanes on Hennepin are badly marked, and that the cycle track-style facility on First is too narrow, without enough of a buffer from parked cars. Area businesses have complained about the ban on parking during the 4-6pm peak and the difficulty that their customers have had understanding the new parking rules (cars can only park to the left of the bike lane, which is unusual). Public Works staff took these co...

There is a great article on Minnesota Public Radio today talking about the success and proliferation of mini farmers markets in Minneapolis. It talks at great length about the change in the licensing process that I helped enact back in 2007. It's great to see a small change that my office helped make possible, working with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy and the Department of Health and Family Support, paying these real dividends in the lives of Minneapolis residents.

The City's Director of Economic Development, Cathy Polasky, has shared some interesting information with Council Members. "The City of Minneapolis has fared better than most areas of the country during the recession. We’ve been cited by Forbes and others as being in a good position to emerge from the recession. In May, 500 more people were employed in Minneapolis than in April, and 3,700 more were employed than a year prior. This compares to a one-year loss of 866,000 jobs nationally. The Minneapolis unemployment number for May was 6.0%, down from 7.6% a year prior. "We think that the City, through its policies and programs, played an important role in helping residents obtain jobs and in attracting and retaining jobs through our business support tool box." This is good news, and shows that our economic development and job training strategies are paying off. The one caution I want to raise is that while these numbers look great, there are continuing disparities bet...

There's an interesting article at the National Review about transit ridership in the 00's. They note something very important, which hasn't gotten enough notice: between 2000 and 2008, transit ridership went up nationwide for the first time in 40 years. They go on to note that more than half of this increase is due to people taking buses. The bad news for most cities is that the recession, along with decisions to cut service and increases in rider fees, contributed to a decrease in ridership of four percent nationwide between '09 and this year. But one metro area stood out. From the article: "of the largest systems, only Minneapolis’ Metro Transit saw any increase (0.2 percent)." Way to go Metro Transit! (Though it should be noted that this increase was despite a fare hike and some reductions to service.) It just goes to strengthen my view that people in the Twin Cities metro are looking for more alternatives to single occupancy automobiles.

On July 6th, after the 3-day weekend for the Fourth of July, I encountered something surprising on my bike ride into work: the Hiawatha LRT Trail had been closed under I-94. This was odd, because I had heard nothing about such a closure, despite the fact that the trail is in Ward 2 in that location, and the fact that I track bicycle-related issues fairly closely. My surprise turned to shock when I attempted to use the marked detour, which directed me to travel the wrong way down a one way street - Cedar Avenue, south of Minnehaha - and take a left at the extremely complicated intersection of Cedar, Minnehaha, and the ramps for I-94. At that location, cars are typically going much faster than the posted 30mph, navigating a curve in the road, and many are turning onto the freeway. It's not a good place to be a cyclist making a left. When I got into work, I learned who was responsible: the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT). They had closed the trail over the weekend in or...

The Heritage Preservation Commission (HPC) has voted to not designate Prospect Park as a local historic district, in keeping with both the community's stated preference and City staff's recommendation. I expect that this action will be upheld by the Council. I look forward to working with Prospect Park residents, the University, our staff and others on a potential Conservation District ordinance.

During the month of July, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is conducting a public participation survey asking the public how you would prefer they engage you when they make changes in the parks. This is your chance to weigh in. They are holding meetings but would be just as happy to hear from you online. If you do take the survey please make sure to include your zip code.

As I've noted before, construction has begun on the Central Corridor LRT. The project office is continuing to try to make sure that people in the area - residents, small businesses and others - know what is happening with the project. These steps include a website and a 24-hour construction hotline at 651-602-1404 . They're continuing to send out weekly emailed construction updates that you can sign up to receive here . They are setting up regular public construction meetings for businesses and the public to get updates and a look ahead from project staff and utilities. They've also put together a contractor incentive program to encourage responsiveness, create a partnership between contractors and the community and promote cooperation.

As a member of the Youth Coordinating Board , I am excited about a new joint effort the YCB is embarking on this fall with Minneapolis Public Schools called We Want You Back . The goal is to enroll youth who have dropped out of school and get them on the path to graduation. The program’s goal is to attract back 200 youth and put them on a path where they can be successful. Up to 1,900 young people dropped out of school between 2008 and 2010. The campaign is looking for volunteers to help reach young people who did not finish school this summer at various events and on Saturday, September 11 to join hundreds of people walking together, dropping information fliers, and talking to neighbors around the city. If you can, please help.