Finding a Green Way to Govern

The name of the bicyclist killed last week has been released: Audrey Hull , a 25-year-old University of Minnesota student. In related news, the hit-and-run driver who killed pedestrian Ben Van Handel has been arrested , and another pedestrian has been hit , this time on the West Bank. Since these disturbing and tragic incidents, the City and various news outlets have asked all road users to be more cautious and better share the road.  While I echo those sentiments, I believe that we shouldn't shy away from more directly addressing drivers.  If you drive on Minneapolis streets, please be aware of bicyclists and pedestrians.  When turning, look for bicyclists and pedestrians in crosswalks.  When turning in locations where there is a bike lane, do not simply turn across the bike lane.  Merge into it just before the intersection, and turn from there - that is the safe and legal way to turn where a bike lane is present. Those of us who choose to drive have th...

Please join me at Campus Pizza this Thursday , April 28 th at noon, for Dining Out for Life , an annual fundraiser for the Aliveness Project, a local nonprofit organization that provides on-site meals, food shelf & other supportive services for individuals living with HIV/AIDS and their families. Thanks to other participating Second Ward restaurants: the Birchwood Café , ChinDian Café , the Cupcake , Himalayan Restaurant , Pizza Luce in Seward , the Craftsman Restaurant , and the Weinery .  

A bicyclist was hit and killed in Dinkytown at the intersection of 15th Ave SE and 4th St SE this morning.  It appears that a semi truck was involved.  I have asked the Police Department for more information. It's clear that there is an emerging pattern of fatalities involving bicyclists and large trucks.  Of the last six bicyclist fatalities in Minneapolis, four involved commercial trucks: at the intersections of 5th St S and Nicollet , 1st AveN and 5th St S , Park Ave S near 14th St S , and now this.

Last year, I was part of a minority of Council Members (joining me were CMs Johnson, Tuthill, Goodman and Hofstede) who voted against extending the City's information technology contract with Unisys corporation without going out for bids. This decision committed the City to spend $34 million over three years, and locked us in with Unisys until 2013. Those who were in favor of the extension argued that by not extending the contract, we would lose $280,000 in savings in 2010 and $1.6 million over the course of the contract period. These savings had been negotiated by City staff, and were from things like reducing the frequency of 'refreshing' our computers. You can find more details here . One of the counterarguments I and others used was that over the history of this contract, we have seen multiple changes come through as the City asks for increased services. As each of these changes has increased the cost of this contract, we fully expected the much-touted savi...

As I predicted , demographic shifts over the last decade have left the Second Ward much more populous than the average ward. According to the 2010 Census, 33,457 call Ward Two home, more than 4,000 more than the average ward. The only ward with more people in it is Seven . As you can see here (on page 18), every single Second Ward neighborhood added people over the past 10 years. This is due to two main factors. The first is the increase in housing units in the Second Ward over the last ten years. More than 800 new dwelling units were built in the '00s, mostly in the areas around the U of M's east bank campus. A short, non-comprehensive list includes Yudof Hall, what was Melrose and is now the District, Jefferson Commons, U Flats, M Flats, Sydney Hall (the Dinkydome redevelopment), Van Cleve Commons, the redevelopment of former warehouses on 8th St SE into housing units and more. Some of these buildings (the District is a good example of this trend) include many units with ...

It has been good to see the recent attention paid to the racial disparities in employment that continue to plague the Twin Cities.   The problem is real, especially in Minneapolis. In 2009, according data from the U.S. census bureau, 8.2% percent of white Minnesotans lived in poverty. For nonwhites, the percentage was 26.2%. In the 7-county metro area, these rates were 5.6% vs. 23.1%. But in Minneapolis, 12.4 % of whites lived in poverty compared to a staggering 37.5% of nonwhites. In that same year the unemployment rate was about 7% for whites and over 16% for nonwhites in Minneapolis. These disparities are probably worse now.   There are racial disparities in most measurable outcomes of success, including education, health, and wealth. But disparities in employment must be a key focus, and the City of Minneapolis is already trying to do something about it.   In 2008, we established an Equity in Employment Task Force of government officials, social service provider...

Minnesota Public Radio has a write-up on the Urban Agriculture Policy Plan passing the Zoning and Planning committee yesterday.

The Urban Ag plan passed the Zoning and Planning committee unanimously this morning. There were several amendments, but I believe that the plan has made it through this step of the process in great shape, with the core and most essential recommendations intact. If you’d like to watch this morning’s Zoning and Planning meeting, a recording of it will be posted here . A revised plan, reflecting the edits made, will be posted soon on the project website . The most important piece we talked about this morning had to do with market gardens. These are small-scale, low-intensity commercial gardens that will be very similar to the community gardens we already allow. I was concerned that my colleagues might try to change the plan to prohibit these in certain zoning districts, or require that market gardeners get Conditional Use Permits (a process that costs at least $550 to even begin, erecting a formidable barrier to new market gardens). So I worked with my colleagues to come up with an amend...