‘Commentary’ Archives
Common Sense for the Common Good
Commentary on EPNI Urban Farm By HARVEY WINJE Before Covid-19, many cities across the U.S.”“including Mpls.”“were responding to climate change and racial discrimination by changing guidelines, revenue recipients, zoning, and goals. Housing, food, and jobs near public transportation””walking paths, bike trails, bus, and light rai””were common goals for the common good that was common sense. During Covid-19, increased awareness of inequities of healthcare, housing, food, and jobs demands more common sense for the common good of everyone. Nonetheless, the Mpls. City Council and Staff are continuing to flaunt their power against our neighbors”™ Urban Farm, Affordable Housing, and Jobs Center Initiative in the highly diverse and low-income East Phillips area near public transportation. The City is going up against laws, and against their own environmental Green Zone Guidelines as they continue to seize control of the seven acres of land and a [...]
City Denies Neighborhood Initiative, Disregards Laws and Guidelines, and Threatens Housing
By FORMER STATE REPRESENTATIVE KAREN CLARK and STATE SENATOR PATRICIA TORRES RAY Neighbors demonstrate their work and support of the EPNI Initiative recently at the corner of 28th Street and Longfellow Ave.PHOTO ELIZABETH CAMPBELL East Phillips Neighborhood, the lowest-income neighborhood in Minneapolis, where the majority of residents are indigenous and people of color, ironically designated by the city of Minneapolis as a “Green Opportunity Zone” ”” was declared a federal “residential arsenic superfund site” in 2000. Industrial arsenic pesticide contamination was found in more than 500 homes in the area. To compound the situation, the city threatened to use “eminent domain” to take control of a large, prime development site, known as the “Roof Depot,” with the intention of turning it into a storage yard ”” a place to relocate the entire Department of Public Works Water Yards. The site will be used to store [...]
Peace More Than Ever!
Adapting with Truth and Love By PATRICK CABELLO HANSEL This is the most important election of your lifetime. I”™m sure you”™ve heard that before, and will hear it again. Nonetheless, 2020 presents a stark choice to us: not only electing a President and Congress, but faced with an even more important decision. Will we continue to be led by fear and division that plague us, or will we find the courage to speak truth in power and in love.
