Finding a Green Way to Govern

Yet again in the United States, a single man has massacred innocent strangers in a public place.  This time, twenty young children and six adults were killed. This event has shocked our nation, but it is tragically unsurprising.   We have grown accustomed, in this country, to hearing about horrific mass killings.  We even have a naming convention, in which the community's name becomes forever associated with the horror: Aurora, Tucson, Fort Hood, Wisconsin Sikh Temple, Virginia Tech.  Sandy Hook simply joins that painful list. We have grown even more accustomed to the daily toll of lives lost to gunfire in our communities.  It is not common for so many children to die to a single gun in the hands of a single man, but children all over this country are killed by guns almost  every day .  Just a little less than weeks before Sandy Hook, I stood with grieving family members and shocked neighbors for a vigil for just one beautiful child killed by a...

On December 26, 1862 the mass execution of 38 Dakota, the largest in the history of the United States, occurred in Mankato, Minnesota. It was part of the genocide of the Dakota people in Minnesota and the United States. This morning, December 14, 2012,  City Council unanimously passed a resolution, signed by the Mayor, that will help us move one small step closer to addressing the grave injustices done to the Dakota people in Minneapolis and Minnesota over the years. It calls for a year of remembering, honoring and truth-telling to help us understand and rectify the wrongs that were perpetrated during, and since, 1862 on the Dakota People and designates“The Year of the Dakota: Remembering, Honoring, and Truth-Telling,” from December 26, 2012 to December 26, 2013. Here is the text. ====================== RESOLUTION  of the CITY OF MINNEAPOLIS By Lilligren, Gordon, Reich, Hofstede, Johnson, Samuels, Goodman, Glidden, Schiff...

Addressing climate change may be one of the most important things we can be working on next year. I am very excited about the new Climate Action Plan the city is currently drafting that will measure the impact of current City efforts and develop new initiatives that will focus on transportation, buildings and waste. The draft goals and strategies are available for public comment and we are asking people to take a short survey on them to provide feedback. The survey  will be available through December 14th. Please consider taking the survey and feel free to drop me a note letting me know what you think about the goals and strategies so far. Help make this a strong, aggressive plan. You can find more information on the Climate Action Plan  here .

This morning, the Council unanimously passed a resolution  calling on the federal government to shifting its funding priorities from military operations to meeting the needs of local communities.  This resolution was sponsored by the Minnesota Arms Spending Alternatives Project , (MN ASAP), an organization headed by Second Ward resident, peace activist and author Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer. Saint Paul had already passed a similar resolution, and the campaign will be asking for Duluth and other Minnesota cities to follow suit.  There is also a robust and growing list of endorsers  that includes churches, nonprofits, and individuals. The resolution we passed this morning is entirely in keeping with House Resolution 733 , authored by Fifth District Congressman Keith Ellison, which calls for a solution to the fiscal crisis our country faces that cuts the military budget but leaves essential spending for our communities unscathed. For much of the past decade, we have bee...

This is an exciting day for Minneapolis Open Streets events.  This morning, the Council unanimously approved accepting a $50,000  " Play Streets " grant from the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) to do four Open Streets events next year (one per quadrant of the city), and a resolution to formally cosponsor those events and commit to covering up to $50,000 in public costs.  Minneapolis is one of only 10 cities around the country to receive this grant. Open Streets events temporarily close major commercial corridors to cars for a few hours on a Saturday or Sunday, and open the street up to walking, bicycling, and other forms of physical activity and enjoyment.   The Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition has sponsored three Open Streets events in Minneapolis so far: on Lyndale Ave S in June of 2011 and 2012, and on Lowry Ave N in September of 2012.  Many other cities both in the US and around the world hold Open Streets-style events, calling them Cic...

As you can read here , a Second Ward two-year-old nam ed  Neejnco Xiong  was accidentally shot to death yesterday by his four-year-old brother. I cannot begin to express how tragic this is and how devasting it must be the child's family.  My thoughts and prayers go out to them all. Let's commit ourselves to make sure this kind of tragedy is not repeated again. It seems that this child's father brought a handgun into his home for "personal protection."  It sounds like the gun was stored loaded and unlocked, which Minneapolis Police were right to point out is against state law . There is a vigil for Neenjco this Saturday , December 8th , at 3:00 pm on the 1900 block of South 7th Street. There is some question as to whether the gun owner was told in his gun safety training that he could store the weapon in this loaded and unlocked state.  Protect Minnesota is calling for  an investigation by Public Safety Commissioner Ramona Dohman int...

On November 19, a Saint Catherine's University student sexually assault in Riverside Park on the West Bank.  A suspect description was obtained and a composite sketch was developed and distributed to the media. This past Tuesday, a man named Louis Richard Oliver was arrested near Region's Hospital in St. Paul, after having been reported "approaching females" near their parking lot.  He matched the sketch from the victim's description, and was interviewed by Minneapolis police.  He has been charged with the sexual assault on the 19th. This is good news for the Riverside Park area, and I hope it will bring some closure to the victim.

This morning, the Council unanimously approved the Mayor's appointment of Janee Harteau to head the Minneapolis Police Department.  I strongly supported her appointment, and congratulate her on this new chapter in her career. I was struck, during the public hearing earlier this week at the Council's Public Safety committee, by the number of West Bank residents and business owners who were so thankful for Janee's service as first a Sector Lieutenant and then Inspector of the First Precinct that they came down to speak on her behalf: Todd Smith, owner of Nomad World Pub and President of the West Bank Business Association Russom Solomon, owner of the Red Sea Bar and Restaurant and head of the West Bank Safety Committee Lynn Johnson, Riverside Park resident  Rosemary Knutson, Riverside Park resident and past president of the West Bank Community Coalition New Chief Harteau's passion and competence have made a lasting impression on folks from the West Bank, and I k...

The Minneapolis Food Council is holding an Open House tonight ,  December 5 , from 5:30-9pm at East Phillips Park Cultural and Community Center, 2307 17 th Ave S.   Participants will hear an update on Minneapolis’ progress with urban agriculture initiatives, hear from two urban farmers and weigh in on possible future policies and programs.  The open house will include an information fair with organizations that support urban agriculture; lessons on composting, gardening and beekeeping; and a discussion on the future work of the Homegrown Minneapolis Food Council. Sisters Camelot will serve a light dinner from 6-7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, and there's still time to  RSVP .