Finding a Green Way to Govern

The Diversity Audit of the City's boards and commissions that my office is conducting has gotten some great press this morning from Briana Bierschbach the Minnesota Daily . I am hoping that we will be able to survey everyone on our boards, commissions and committees this summer and can have an accurate picture of the make up of our appoint positions this fall.

The American College of Sports Medicine's American Fitness Index Report ranks Minneapolis the second fittest of the fifty largest cities in the country. The only fitter city, according to ACSM, is Washington, DC. The reasons they give for Minneapolis' fitness include the number of people biking and walking to work, the amount of parkland within the city, the number of park facilities (tennis courts, dog parks, golf courses, playgrounds, etc), and the number of farmers markets in town.

I was incredibly saddened to read yesterday that a cyclist was crushed by a truck in downtown Minneapolis, at the intersection of Park Ave and 14th St S. Today, I read that the driver of the truck will not be cited in any way for his role in the accident. From the news reports, it's fairly clear that the cyclist was proceeding through the intersection legally, in a marked bike lane, and the driver of the truck violated the rules of the road by turning left into him. Cities and countries that get more people biking and walking do not do so only through better infrastructure. They also make very clear that drivers who hit and kill cyclists and pedestrians will face severe consequences, and by doing so increase the safety of bicycling. The decision by the Minneapolis Police Department to allow this driver entirely off the hook sends the opposite message: drivers are free to hit and kill cyclists, while violating traffic laws, without fear. This is not new. My aide was struck purposef...

I want people to be aware of this and am hoping some of you can follow it closely in the weeks ahead. Covanta energy, on behalf of Hennepin County Environmental Services, has submitted an application to amend their existing conditional use permit for their downtown facility known as the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC aka "the garbage burner"). They are asking to be allowed to burn an average of 212 more tons of garbage a day at the HERC plant. The maximum allowed now is 1000 tons so this is a 21 percent increase. It could amount to over 77,000 more tons a year. This matter will now go forward to the Planning Commission for a public hearing and a decision on June 8th. The staff report should be completed by June 2. The report will also likely include a recommendation. The Planning Commission is the decision making body about this issues since it is considered an Amendment to a Conditional Use Permit. If the Planning Commission decision is appealed it will go the...

Congratulations to Second Ward recipients of the 2009 round of Climate Change Grants: Seward Neighborhood Group, which will buy down the cost of energy audits and encourage people to walk to local businesses; and Bedlam Theater, which will encourage attendees of its shows to take the Minnesota Energy Challenge and use bikes and transit to get to the show. You can find out more about these and all the other great grantees at the Minneapolis Sustainability website .