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...