Finding a Green Way to Govern

For the past few years, Second Ward small business True Thai has been embroiled in a strange, byzantine conflict with the Met Council (and the City, which unfortunately acts as the Met Council's 'enforcer' in this case) over the issue of Sewer Access Charges, or SAC. They recently won a major victory, with the help of diligent City staff, Seward Redesign, and my office. If you're not familiar with SAC, count yourself lucky. The short version is that the Met Council charges new developments a fee based on the expected maximum daily output into the sanitary sewer system. There are SAC "units," which are now worth $2,000, and equal one residence or eight seats in a sit-down restaurant. I have numerous problems with SAC: these fairly massive fees on new development typically leave the core cities, where we want development and density to occur, to fund new sewers in far-flung exurbs. Basically, new density in Minneapolis is forced to fund sprawl. And because the f...

As we celebrate being named Bicycling Magazine's best biking city in the world, we need to keep in mind that our streets are not always safe for cyclists, sometimes with tragic consequences. Tomorrow is one year from the day that Dennis Dumm was struck by a large truck and killed while riding in the Park Avenue bike lane. As you can read here , Dennis' friends have put together a memorial ride for tomorrow. I plan to be there, and I hope many other cyclists, whether we knew Dennis or not, will join the ride. Here are the details: Gather at Park Ave and the Midtown Greenway at 7:30am for a slow and silent ride to the intersection of Park Ave and 14th Street for moment of reflection at 7:40. Bring flowers to leave at the memorial if you can. You can find more information about Dennis and the crash a year ago here .

Construction is beginning on elements of the Central Corridor LRT line in Minneapolis. In September, the project will begin prep work to retrofit the Washington Avenue bridge to accommodate light-rail trains by reconstructing the bridge piers. They are also beginning work on the “advance traffic improvements” to the area around the campus. These improvements include new traffic signals and turn lanes in and around the University East Bank Campus. In December, they will start work to tie in the Central Corridor line from the Hiawatha LRT line just west of the Cedar-Riverside Station to Pleasant Street on the East Bank. The bulk of the work in Minneapolis will start in spring 2011. If you would like to receive weekly construction updates from the Central Corridor project, go here .

Thanks to the good work of City staff and my colleagues on the Council, the City has won two major victories for Minneapolis taxpayers this week on pensions. The first came with the signing of the state budget. The Legislature and Governor have granted the City’s request to fold the Minneapolis Employees Retirement Fund (or MERF) into a larger state pension fund. This means that beneficiaries/pensioners of now have assurance their benefits will continue and the fund will not fail. This is a very big deal for Minneapolis, the result of years of work. Deserving of special credit: our Intergovernmental Relations (or IGR) staff, the chairs of the IGR committee (Betsy Hodges from 2006-2009 and Elizabeth Glidden since), Senator Don Betzold and Rep Mary Murphy, and our Finance Department staff Pat Born and Heather Johnston. The second came just days later. In a major victory for Minneapolis taxpayers, Judge Janet Poston ruled in favor of the City of Minneapolis’ position that two closed pens...

This morning, I was the only Council Member to vote against a resolution indicating the City's interest in hosting the 2012 Democratic National Convention. I wanted to explain some of my reasoning. I have nothing against the DNC. Though I am not a member of that party, I wish them all the best. However, I want to challenge the conventional thinking that major party conventions are a net positive for our city. I have not seen any evidence that the positive impacts of hosting these conventions outweigh the negative impacts and stresses that accompany them. More importantly, I am deeply uncomfortable with the way that security is handled at major party conventions. During the RNC in 2008, Minneapolis was forced (in order to host the convention) to give up local control of our police force and subordinate them to a security plan that we could not see or impact in any way. I voted against giving this power away as well, and was one of only two Council Members to do so. The convention se...

The City is looking for more people to serve on our new and improved Pedestrian Advisory Committee The Pedestrian Advisory Committee has existed since 2006 and is has recently been expanded to include more community members. The committee exists to advise City leadership on policies, programs and actions improving pedestrian safety, mobility, accessibility and comfort; promote walking for transportation, recreation and health; and strengthen the connection between the pedestrian environment and public transportation. Term lengths are two years. Members who reside or own a business in the city and who have an interest in promoting walking and improving the pedestrian environment in Minneapolis are encouraged to apply. For more information about this committee or to apply to serve, visit www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/boards-and-commissions/open/index.asp . Applications may be submitted at any time and will be kept on file for 12 months. For appointments in the summer of 2010, priority will be...

Campus Beyond Coal is a national effort of the Sierra Club's that is working to stop the burning of coal at campuses through out the country. A twin cities group started this year and is building support and momentum in and around the Minneapolis and St. Paul campuses. They are working to convince the U of M administration to set a timeline for when they will stop burning coal. Since Xcell converted its Minneapolis plant to natural gas, this is the only facility burning coal in the city. Last week I presented a resolution in support of this effort. The resolution passed unanimously at the Regulatory, Energy and Environment committee meeting. I give credit to Missy Gettel from the Minnesota Student Association and the Campus Beyond Coal group at the University for bringing this issue to the forefront. Several neighborhood associations near campus, including the Southeast Como Improvement Association and the Seward Neighborhood Group, have also weighed in calling for the an end to co...

As you can read here , Mayor Rybak has urged all Minneapolis departments not to travel to the state of Arizona. I strongly support this request, have thanked the Mayor for making it, and would support an outright ban on publicly-financed travel to Arizona as long as the terrible, racist immigration law that recently passed remains in place. I am proud that Minneapolis is among the ranks of cities that do not allow our employees to inquire about any person's immigration status. This policy ensures that all Minneapolitans can feel secure when reporting crimes, requesting emergency assistance, or simply sharing concerns. As our police chief has testified before the Legislature, we're a safer city due to this policy. And I would submit that we are a better one. Our nation clearly needs to come to a sustainable and fair consensus on the question of immigration. Until that happens, states and local governments should be in the business of serving everyone , regardless of race, ethni...