2007 NRP Policy Board election results; City-wide meetings planned to discuss Community Engagement Report
Neighborhood electors chose four representatives, all whose platforms include support for securing future funding post-2009 for the Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP), at the annual NRP Policy Board Neighborhood Representatives Election on December 12 at the Crown Roller Mill Building. Electors appointed by their neighborhoods voted in the At-Large election before reconvening by NRP “neighborhood category” to elect representatives for Revitalization, Redirection or Protection.
In the Revitalization position, Beverly Conerton was elected as the representative and Mark Hinds was elected as the alternate. Carol Pass was elected as the representative and Tom Bissen was elected as the alternate for the Redirection neighborhoods. Jeffrey Strand was re-elected as the Protection neighborhoods’ representative, with Carletta Sweet elected as the alternate. Debbie Evans was re-elected as the At-Large representative and Nicholas Kakos was elected as the alternate. The representatives and alternates will serve a one-year term during 2007. A total of 15 candidates sought seats on the Policy Board. According to the NRP and the League of Women Voters of Minneapolis, which conducted the election candidate forums and voting, over 100 people attended the NRP elections.
The topic of NRP future funding was one of the key areas of interest for electors during the question-and-answer periods. Camden News readers may recall that a Task Force established in June 2005 by the NRP Policy Board reported findings in April 2006. The NRP Future Funding Task Force identified elimination or reduction of $16.7 million in Common Project payments to the “Legacy Fund” for 2006-2009 as a single step the city may take to restore NRP funding to those levels projected in 2004.
Among the other proposals were extension of the term of the existing pre-1979 Common Project districts for another 10 years, dedication of the TIF revenues from the post-1979 districts in the Common Project to neighborhoods and NRP after 2009, contracting with the city to provide citizen and community engagement services, commitment of a portion of “new” taxes generated from the Common Project Tax Increment Districts that end in 2009 for neighborhoods and NRP, establishment of a countywide tax for neighborhood and community revitalization.
NRP Director Robert Miller and Minneapolis City Coordinator Steven Bosacker have jointly issued a call for residents to attend a series of inclusive, city-wide meetings to discuss the Community Engagement Report submitted by the city coordinator on November 9, 2006. City officials, who received pushback from neighborhoods and other stakeholders, have extended the deadline for public comments on the Community Engagement Report to February 8, 2007. Written comments on the report should be submitted to Clara Perrin, Community Engagement Coordinator, 350 South 5th St., Room 301M, Minneapolis, MN 55415. The NRP and City Coordinator will also distribute a survey about community engagement to interested stakeholders citywide.
Northside residents may discuss community engagement concerns at a public meeting on Thursday, February 1 at North Regional Library, 1315 Lowry Ave. N., from 7-8:30 p.m. (Interpreters for Spanish, Somali, Hmong, Vietnamese, Lao and Oromo languages available). For other city-wide meeting dates/locations or other info visit http://www.ci.minneapolis. mn.us/news/20061121CE_Report.asp or http://nrp.org/R2/News/ NewsArch/2006/20061116.html