Finding a Green Way to Govern

The commercial recycling ordinance that passed committee last week passed the full Council unanimously this morning.  I view this as a significant victory, and a step toward a greener, less wasteful city.  For the first time, all buildings in Minneapolis - every residence, and every business - will be required by law to have recycling service.  This sends the message to all Minneapolis communities that recycling is simply the way that we deal with waste. It also makes clear to me that there is broad consensus around greening our homes and businesses.  It's not often that groups as diverse as the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce on the one hand and the Minnesota Public Interest Research Group and Sierra Club on the other agree on a policy change, but they agreed that it's time for all businesses in Minneapolis to have recycling service.  This gives me great hope and energy for moving forward other sustainability initiatives. Specifically, I am interested in ...

Today, the Council voted not to explore contracting with Hennepin County for elections services.  The vote followed a report provided by a consultant, hired in May to study consolidation of all or a part of the City’s elections responsibilities with Hennepin County .  The consultant, Connie Schmidt, was also asked to look at process improvements, potential cost savings, and other operational enhancements.  Ms. Schmidt identified little to no cost savings with consolidation and did not recommend a merger.   In her report , she carefully outlined the different election functions the City and County do and suggested several ways for the city to save costs including eliminating 12 to 14 precincts.   Schmidt commended the election division for its work on the Senate recount of 2008, the implementation of Rank Choice Voting in 2009; and the gubernatorial recount of 2010.   The report identifies an immediate need to purchase RCV-capable voting equ...

The commercial recycling ordinance I have been working on for over a year has passed the Regulatory, Energy and Environment committee unanimously.  A number of folks - Ross Abbey, chair of the Citizen's Environmental Advisory Committee, Adam Leusse, the constituent who first brought this issue to my attention, Magda from the Minnesota Public Interest Research Group and Leo Sanders, the operations manager for the Seward Co-op - came to testify in favor of it.  No one spoke against it. I think this sets the ordinance up well for the full Council meeting on June 17th.  Once it becomes law, I will work with our Solid Waste and Recycling, Sustainability, and Regulatory Services staff to put together an implementation plan.  Before we start enforcing this ordinance, I want the City to do some good outreach to businesses and offer technical assistance to the small number who are not currently recycling. In some ways, this is a pretty small step towards making this ...