‘Commentary’ Archives
Commentary: Why aren”™t city officials listening to residents?
By Janet skidmore I try to be a good citizen. I volunteer as a block club leader and as a neighborhood safety patrol member. I am a long time reserve teacher in the Minneapolis Public Schools. I have been rehabbing a beautiful 100 year old home in south Minneapolis not to flip it, but to live in it myself and restore its beauty for the sake of preservation. I provide really affordable housing for 3 women in my own home. I have a block club with an email list of over 40 people, plus I am active on Nextdoor, where I hear the opinions of many of my neighbors in the Central neighborhood of Minneapolis. I attend community meetings when I can, even the ones that are in the middle of the day, which precludes me taking a substitute teaching job that day, resulting in a day”™s loss of income. I would think that the city of Minneapolis would appreciate a resident like me and want to keep me living here. I can show you numerous emails representing [...]
Raise Your Voice: Days of May
By PETER MOLENAAR Peter Molenaar The word from Senator Jeff Hayden”™s Capital Update, May issue: “Senate Republicans are staunch in their position that programs providing giveaways for corporations and the wealthy”¦ should be continued. But every dollar spent on the wealthy”¦ is a dollar taken from students, healthcare programs, and crumbling highways.” Speaking of May, May 1 was a workers”™ holiday for almost everyone on the planet but us. However, some local events did honor the spirit. Prominently, there was the May 1st Coalition for Immigrant Workers”™ Rights, which mobilized forces to our state”™s capital, and there was the UNITE HERE union labor rally in Minneapolis. In the build-up period, the May 1st Coalition threw down a splendid fundraising banquet at the Walker United Methodist Church. When asked to speak, I made the following points: 1.) Every school child should come to appreciate the [...]
The Rand Report: Special service districts on Lake St. create inefficiences
By Rand Retterath According to an Information Brief from Research Department of the Minnesota House of Representatives “One way for a city to provide an increased level of service or infrastructure to its commercial or industrial areas is to create ”˜special service districts.”' Special service districts (SSDs) are established at the request of the persons who will pay for the increased level of service. Since the early 1980s, individual cities have been authorized to set up these districts. Since 1996, cities have had general law authority to create SSDs. “A special service district is ”˜a defined area within the city where special services are rendered and the costs of the special services are paid from revenues collected from service charges imposed within that area.”' An SSD may be established anywhere in a city but only business property (i.e., commercial, industrial, utility, or land zoned for commercial or industrial use) will [...]
