Community Voices

COMMUNITY VOICES | Project Homeless Connect

Mon, 20 May 2013 21:40:21 +0000

Rico Morales

Community Voices

There are many challenges to being homeless; the cost of transportation, locations of programs and services, and having open access to these opportunities. The Project Homeless Connect event at The Minneapolis Convention Center temporarily solved all of these 'problems' in one day for hundreds of people struggling with different aspects of mental health, dental issues, and even fixing a flat tire or a rusty chain on a bicycle.

The all day outreach involved many volunteers and as far as I am concerned, "we" can not thank these non-profits, agencies, and people enough. There were volunteers giving free legal advice, bicycle maintenance, medical care, etc. And then there was lunch!

As a former homeless person I know the burden of not having a place or 'space' to live and for living. I have seen and heard the complaints of all the 'bums' sleeping at the library, asking for spare change, and being high on something. Just the 'weight' or burden of having to walk around all day (from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m.) is tiring and when you add the complication of sleeping on basement floors, rubber/plastic mats, and snoring roommates just inches away next to you, it can be exhausting.

The truth of the matter is, homeless people are generous and share much of what they have amongst each other. "Poor people help poor people." is what one of my friends once told me and I saw that every day when I was in the shelters. These types of events are needed and very helpful for many people in various stages of their journey. Connections, it is all about connections. We heal through relationships and recovery is not a 'straight' line. With this help we can all live better and have a healthier experience. Next time, join us.

@2013 Rico Morales

COMMUNITY VOICES | Brave young woman fights for cure

Fri, 17 May 2013 01:10:11 +0000

Take Steps Twin...

Community Voices

Aria Simone Love is in a lot of ways your typical seven year old. She loves to play with her friends, she loves to color, and she loves to match outfits with her American Girl doll. Unfortunately, unlike many seven year olds, Aria has ulcerative colitis.

Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease are bowel afflictions that affect nearly one in 200 people in the United States. The diseases involve an inflammation of the lower intestine and symptoms include frequent trips to the bathroom (sometimes over 20 times a day), stomach and gut pain, and diarrhea.The diseases affect people of all shapes and sizes and do not pay attention to age, sex, or race - though it is common for people to be diagnosed when they are young adults.

Since Aria was diagnosed in August of 2011, she has been on Prednisone, Fluticasone, Sulfasalazine, Remicade, Mesalamine enemas, Hydrocortisone enemas, Asacol, and Humira shots. She also had 3 blood transfusions this past summer. When asked what it means to have ulcerative colitis, Aria says it means that she can’t eat certain foods that she likes because her colon doesn’t like them. It also means that she always has to go to the bathroom.

Aria is the 2013 Honored Hero for this year’s Twin Cities Take Steps for Crohn’s & Colitis. Take Steps is an annual day of food, fun, and music - with all money raised going to help find a cure and raise awareness for these diseases. This year’s walk is June 9th on Harriet Island from 4pm-6pm. More information can be found here: cctakesteps.org/twincities.

While many suffer in silence, the walk encourages participants to “Take Steps and Be Heard!” - and Aria agrees, saying it is important to walk “because then other kids and grown-ups who have Crohn’s or UC can get support from their school, family, and friends” just like she has.

COMMUNITY VOICES | Safe, Decent and Sanitary Housing in Minneapolis? Where?

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:07:21 +0000

Natalie Jones

Community Voices

I have lived in the city of Minneapolis for 9 years and never once have I lived in an apartment that was not filled with serious Housing Code Violations. What this says about this city, is that the housing stock is anything but safe, sanitary and decent and we obviously have no problem with this. If we did, then why was there no real changes to code enforcement after 6 people (3 adults and 3 children) were killed in a fire in 2010? The tenants who survived spoke of a persistent odor of gas, hanging wires where a smoke detector once worked and a "rat's nest of wiring" protruding from a wall and other serious issues. Fast forward to present day and problems similar to these still exist in apartments all across Minneapolis. I know because I am living in one.

The apartment that I currently live in, the steps leading to the building are crumbling and two steps are half way missing, my ceiling fan erupted in sparks that would rival a July 4th fireworks display. I contacted Emergency Maintenance and was told that they were "overbooked and could not come out and that I should contact Management and put in a work order." I did. That was a month ago and still, no one was dispatched to even take a look at it. Nearly all of my outlets have a short in them. Three weeks ago, the refrigerator was still leaking all over the kitchen floor and this was after maintenance claimed to have fixed it. Another refrigerator finally arrived last week, obviously from another unit, but thankfully not leaking. This week's issue is the bathroom. The light flickered on and off yesterday and I told my cousin that something was wrong. Yesterday, I heard the sounds of splattering. Yes, something was indeed wrong, water was gushing from the ceiling and from around the light fixture. I contacted Management and was told that Maintenance would be dispatched. A day later, I am still waiting.

I currently have three code violations and some of them have not been addressed. Not to forget that when I initially contacted 311 to report the issues, I was told that they had the same complaints on file, that I was reporting. I have no secure mailbox. It is just hanging open for anyone to take the mail. I was worried because I had checks coming and did not want someone to get their hands on them. We had to maintain a constant vigil until the checks came.

I would love to know how many landlords are living like this? How many Fire Inspectors and Regulatory Inspectors are living like this? How many city council members are living like this? Is the mayor(I contacted his office about the issues)living like this? What is being done to make landlords accountable when their buildings are in violation of code ordinances? Obviously, not a thing because I would think that when 6 people died in a building that had numerous and very obvious violations, steps would have been taken to ensure that this never happened again. So, why then am I reporting numerous and very obvious violations three years later?

COMMUNITY VOICES | Financial literacy: A matter of equity

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:05:39 +0000

Andriana Abariotes

Community Voices

When we think of equity issues in our region, employment, education, housing, and healthcare probably come to mind--but not necessarily financial literacy. Yet, some believe it is the most critical equity issue of this generation.

"Financial literacy empowerment holds the promise of bridging differences between races, cultures and classes, and even nations," writes philanthropic entrepreneur John Hope Bryant. "Teaching individuals the universal 'language of money' breaks down barriers and creates a sense of real opportunity and fairness in the mind, heart and soul of those who feel left behind, and even preyed upon in the midst of this global economic crisis."

Why does financial literacy matter so much right now, especially to those with fewer resources? Because what people don't know can hurt them. For instance, many people aren't aware that the single most important factor in developing your long-term assets is a strong credit profile. People with good credit ratings will save about $250,000 in interest and fees throughout their working lives.

While a concern for everyone, good credit is crucial to low-income families struggling to enter the economic mainstream. Without it, they don't have access to conventional financing, which makes them vulnerable to predatory lenders. They end up paying much higher interest rates for less safe loans. It's hard for them to find rental housing, insurance, and employment, and almost impossible to buy a home, start a business, or get a quality education.

In the Twin Cities, five Financial Opportunity Centers (FOCs) promote financial literacy among families with low-incomes. They're run by nonprofits serving neighborhoods including St. Paul's East Side, and Minneapolis' North and South Sides. Originally funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the centers take a novel " service-bundling" approach to help families with limited incomes access the knowledge and advice they need to achieve economic stability and asset growth. Each center offers a full range of services and provides long-term, one-on-one expert counseling.

Individuals can come in because they need help in finding a job and end up, a few years later, on track to buy their first home. In between, counselors help them develop employment skills, find educational opportunities, improve their credit ratings, open savings accounts, manage their money wisely, and even start their own business.

Sam's a great example. A few years ago, he went into Emerge Community Development on Minneapolis’ North Side to get help finding a job after being incarcerated. They helped him find an apprenticeship in a landscaping business. As he worked, he went from being homeless to having stable housing, and after a year, he started talking with an Emerge FOC coach about starting his own landscaping business. His coach helped him plan a budget and improve his credit score so he could access an Individual Development Account through the Family Assets for Independence in Minnesota (FAIM) program. He opened a bank account, and started saving for his business. Soon, he'll begin financial education and small business education classes, and his FOC coach will continue to work with him to create a business plan that will help him start and grow his own landscaping company. Quite a transformation over just a few years.

Sam's story is just one of 3,400 others--the number of Twin Cities families who have been served by Financial Opportunity Centers since they were established. As the Stanford Social Innovation Review recently observed about the success of FOCs, "Clients receiving this set of services showed more dramatic gains in employment, credit scores, net income, and net assets than those who received such help piecemeal."

Lots of us have financial advisors of one sort or another, but low-income families seldom have anyone to turn to for that kind of essential advice. It's complex for anyone to manage finances wisely these days, and even more so on a limited income. Financial Opportunity Centers help level the playing field by offering customized knowledge and guidance about the "language of money" to those who may need it the most.

COMMUNITY VOICES | Popular culture's appropriation of the Harlem Shake

Wed, 15 May 2013 03:20:16 +0000

Tanur Badgley

Community Voices

UPDATED: February of 2013 forever engrained flailing bodies, ridiculous costumes, and a deep, chopped and screwed voice commanding everyone to “do the Harlem Shake” in the minds of hundreds of millions on the internet. This new dance, “Harlem Shake”, was wildly popular on the internet last February as an internet meme. At its height four thousand videos were uploaded daily to YouTube with the top ten videos averaging 25 million total views.

Calling the dance a “meme” is very appropriate way to describe the viral nature of these videos. The word “meme” comes from the work of evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins who believes “memes propagate themselves […] leaping from brain to brain via a process within can be called imitation.” These memes, he describes, “should be regarded as living structures, not just metaphorically but technically.” The copycat videos uploaded to YouTube in February featuring Brooklyn-based producer Baauer and his track “Harlem Shake” in fact did possess a living component. Namely, these viral videos forever changed popular culture’s understanding of the “Harlem Shake.”

The fact is, the “Harlem Shake” is a Harlem cultural production that has been replaced by this new “dance”, to use the term loosely. The “Harlem Shake” videos uploaded to YouTube have almost no ties to the original dance other than a name. A simple YouTube, Google, Facebook, or Twitter search requires a lot of digging before anything related to the original “Harlem Shake” pops up.

The original “Harlem Shake” was invented in Harlem in 1981 by a man named Albert Boyce who featured the dance during breaks of street basketball games at the famous Rucker Park in Harlem. The dance was adopted by local Harlem hip hop dance groups and eventually became referred to as the “Harlem Shake”. The dance is characterized by a wild and spontaneous shimmying of the body in a fluid and rhythmic fashion made even more athletic by sudden freezes and startups. Harlem has a sense of pride over their “Harlem Shake” which they see as an art form unique to their culture The dance first received national attention in mainstream hip-hop when G Dep and P Diddy released the music video for “Let’s Get It” in 2001.

While the new Harlem Shake barely resembles this coveted Harlem cultural artifact, that is not to say that “Harlem Shake” videos of 2013 weren’t without a certain style.

Each of the new videos are about 30 seconds in length. The videos begin with one person dancing on his/her own to the sound of Baauer’s track. This person is surrounded by what appear to be oblivious bystanders. Halfway through the videos the sound of a deep bass voice sampled from Little Plastic’s “Miller Time” says, “now do the Harlem Shake.” After this the beats drops and each video then cuts to the group of previously unaware people all thrusting, humping, and flailing their bodies. Each person in the videos almost always wears an absurd costume and usually this costume results in the identity of the person dancing throughout the video remaining unknown.

My school, Macalester College, was not immune to the internet craze. On February 14^th senior Kyle Rosenberg shot and uploaded “Macalester Harlem Shake” to YouTube. The video has been viewed over 17,000 times. It features a person (the person’s identity isn’t even known to the creator or the handful of participants I spoke with) wearing the costume of the school mascot, Mac the Scot, dancing alone in front of the Campus Center. Unaware students pass by glancing at the person as he/she hip thrusts alone. After the voice comes in and the beat drops a mob of students appear going crazy. Almost all are in costumes with the notable ones being SpongeBob and red onesies.

The creator, Rosenberg, like many other college students around the nation, was first introduced to the “Harlem Shake” as a meme. He decided to create the video to fit with the internet craze. “I thought it would be fun [because] a lot of people at Macalester appreciate the quirkiness of the internet,” recalls Rosenberg.

Senior Macalester Student Alec Shub was featured with what he calls his red “union suit” – a full body red, shiny costume. He was one of these people who came across the meme on the internet and loved an opportunity to be involved in one. “I participated because I love the idea of dancing to crazy music in crazy clothes, surrounded by crazy people doing crazy things,” says Shub.

Fellow senior Inti Chomsky, on the other hand, was entirely unaware of the “Harlem Shake” in any capacity. He decided to join in with a few friends who were gathered in front of the Campus Center to film the video. “I knew absolutely nothing,” admits Chomsky. “I assume it is a dance created in Harlem, but I actually don't know anything about the history,”

Just before the video was shot, Chomsky learned the dance. “My friends just said to go crazy so I shook my head and jumped around mosh pit style,” remembers Chomsky.

Interpretations of the “Harlem Shake” such as these by Macalester students are now the norm in this internet age. The result is that a well-respected artistic cultural product of Harlem has nearly all but disappeared from popular culture. The name and dance have instead been changed through appropriation to be in the style of the meme. The original “Harlem Shake” erodes as new versions such as the one at Macalester appropriate and misrepresent it.

It is not surprising that Harlem sees the “Harlem Shake” of 2013 as problematic to say the least. Just days after the viral phase of the video producing took place, documentary filmmaker Chris McGuire went to the streets of Harlem asking residents what they thought of the video. The Harlemites responded with passionate negative responses such as “it looks like it’s making fun of the Harlem Shake” and “It’s an art form, an actual art form, that doesn’t have the respect that it deserves.” Another resident predicted that the meme would become a “vehicle [for someone] to take off on and make money on.” It was this documentary which inspired various discussions online around the problems of the new meme as an appropriation of the original Harlem Shake.

Cultural Studies and hip-hop scholar Anthony Nocella Ph.D, believes, “appropriation is the stealing of a cultural item from a community for power in the form of cultural capital”. The Hamline University professor recently held a forum for people to discuss issues of white appropriation of black culture that arose because of the Harlem Shake. “The problem [with appropriation] is promoting a monolithic history that praises white dominate cultures, events, and traditions while willfully ignoring and suppressing people of colors’ cultures, events, and traditions,” informs Nocella.

The issue is taken to a new level when the Harlem Shake becomes commodified. Rosenberg was the first to inform me that the meme was quite commercialized. The way YouTube works is that the original producer of material can either choose to block the videos which borrow Baauer’s copyrighted work or agree to a share of ad revenue. Because Baauer allowed and even encouraged Harlem Shake videos he and his label Mad Decent make money every time a video uses his song.

The original dance unfortunately has not been granted this same protection. This bastardized version of the dance can borrow any elements it wishes from the original it wishes without any acknowledgement of Harlem’s prided cultural dance. Even the original creators of the meme on YouTube can profit substantially and there is no economic incentive for anyone to give credit to the original dance. People have forgotten the original Harlem dance ever existed despite the fact that its very existence as a black cultural product of Harlem laid the foundation for the dance of 2013.

For a community such as Harlem this is nothing where there is a rich history of white appropriation of Harlem cultural productions. One such example is Jazz, where all white jazz clubs popularized this long-time Harlem cultural product denying the rights of many blacks to attend performances or represent the culture in the literary canon. It is for reasons such as this that the cultural history of the “Harlem Shake” must be understood in context of a long line of African-American and Harlem cultural artifacts which have been borrowed, represented, and commodified by cultures outside of and ignorant to the culture which created the original.

Hundreds of thousands of YouTube videos of the “Harlem Shake” now constitute nearly the entirety of search results as the original has been borrowed for consumption by audiences mostly unaware of the original Harlem cultural production. The dance is yet another Harlem cultural artifact like Jazz that has been borrowed, repackaged, and sold back to Harlem and the rest of the world by a largely white mass of flailing bodies oblivious to the history of the dance.

Perhaps comments such as the top two on the Macalester YouTube video can provide hope for the cultural integrity of the “Harlem Shake”:

“1. where are the black people or the diversity? Does Macalester still do that kinda thing? .. Black people diversity and stuff?

2. There's more diversity in my M&M's bag than this video clip.”

Perhaps, as the viral nature of these videos dies out the, “Harlem Shake” can be afforded the credit it is due in the small space that remains. At the very least, hopefully we can become more informed citizens in tune to the diverse and complicated histories behind cultural productions.

While the new Harlem Shake barely resembles this coveted Harlem cultural artifact, that is not to say that “Harlem Shake” videos of 2013 weren’t without a certain style.

Just before the video was shot, Chomsky learned the dance. “My friends just said to go crazy so I shook my head and jumped around mosh pit style,” remembers Chomsky.

Perhaps comments such as the top two on the Macalester YouTube video can provide hope for the cultural integrity of the “Harlem Shake”:

“1. where are the black people or the diversity? Does Macalester still do that kinda thing? .. Black people diversity and stuff?

2. There's more diversity in my M&M's bag than this video clip.”

NEIGHBORHOOD NOTES | Doodle Bird Design + Gifts opens in Ericsson neighborhood

Tue, 14 May 2013 21:29:56 +0000

Tesha

Neighborhood Notes

A new gift shop has moved to the 42nd St./28th Ave. intersection.

Doodle Bird Design + Gifts held a sneak peak last weekend. It will be open Wednesday to Saturday, May 15-18, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It is located at 2803 E 42nd St., Minneapolis, MN. Call (612) 345-7961. Check it out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/doodlebirddesign.

Billed as Minneapolis's newest little store that is big on MN talent, folks are encouraged to stop by and check out locally made art and gifts.

IN OTHER BUSINESS NEWS:
• The non-profit courgeous heaRTS has opened at the Cedar/42nd St. intersection. The mission of courageous heARTS is to co-create experiences with young people by offering them a safe space, built with the intention to heal and empower- Through expressive arts, community building, and leadership development. More at http://www.courageous-hearts.org/.

• Mighty Swell at 3109 E. 42nd Street has closed. The last sale was held March 2 and 3. While the storefront has closed, the Facebook page announces: “Big things are planned for the future of Mighty Swell, so stay tuned!”

• Around the corner in the same building, Vintage Barber has also closed.

A new gift shop has moved to the 42nd St./28th Ave. intersection.

Doodle Bird Design + Gifts held a sneak peak last weekend. It will be open Wednesday to Saturday, May 15-18, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It is located at 2803 E 42nd St., Minneapolis, MN. Call (612) 345-7961. Check it out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/doodlebirddesign.

Billed as Minneapolis's newest little store that is big on MN talent, folks are encouraged to stop by and check out locally made art and gifts.

IN OTHER BUSINESS NEWS:
• The non-profit courgeous heaRTS has opened at the Cedar/42nd St. intersection. The mission of courageous heARTS is to co-create experiences with young people by offering them a safe space, built with the intention to heal and empower- Through expressive arts, community building, and leadership development. More at http://www.courageous-hearts.org/.

• Mighty Swell at 3109 E. 42nd Street has closed. The last sale was held March 2 and 3. While the storefront has closed, the Facebook page announces: “Big things are planned for the future of Mighty Swell, so stay tuned!”

• Around the corner in the same building, Vintage Barber has also closed.

NEIGHBORHOOD NOTES | Ginkgo for Everyone

Tue, 14 May 2013 21:11:16 +0000

Harry Kent

For twenty years, Kathy Sundberg has been the owner of one of the most interesting storefronts in St. Paul, let alone the Twin Cities. There’s not one particular reason why Ginkgo Coffeehouse is so interesting and maybe that’s its standout quality. I went there for the first time just this past week and it is clear that Ginkgo offers something for everyone. One would typically notice the coffee menu and Ginkgo does have a large board filled with delicious coffee specialties and a full food menu with handmade breakfast, lunch and dinner specialties. The prices are very manageable with different coffees ranging from $2 - $5 and sandwiches and soups similarly priced meaning that $10 will get you a long way.

The interior of the coffeehouse is decorated with a variety of seating. Need a private table to focus on work? Booths in the back or a table on the stage allow for space. Need a bigger space for sharing plans with someone? There are plenty for more than just a laptop. Want to just sip away and mingle? Ginkgo’s cozy atmosphere and friendly customers allow for just that. Where many coffee shops seem to cater towards personal retreats via public space, Kathy told me Ginkgo Coffeehouse aims to provide an inclusive experience and a space for everyone. And that is definitely true as folks were there for all sorts of reason, whether studying for final exams, taking some time to read for pleasure, or just to relax and enjoy some coffee.

Funny enough, while Kathy has been tending the space for such a long time, she originally had no business with the coffee business. In fact, Kathy not only had no experience with owning a food business, she didn’t even like coffee that much. But, after getting her master’s in chemical engineering and living in Boston for a bit, she felt she was missing something in her life. An opportunity presented itself through hospitality and Kathy was on her way. “With the music, hospitality and community aspects of the business, I wouldn’t want to do anything else.”

Twenty-three years ago she moved into the Hamline-Midway neighborhood and three years after, she would move into the former Half-Priced bookstore. Immediately, she focused on two areas, providing delicious Minnesota-roasted coffee and, interestingly enough, a music venue. Since its opening, Ginkgo Coffeehouse has been a destination for local and national acts, particularly in folk, bluegrass, singer-songwriter, Celtic, blues and more. Kathy’s inspiration came from a meeting at the North American Folk Alliance of Dance and Music conference, where she realized the opportunity to connect her newfound business venture with a lifelong interest.

In between preparing delicious refreshments and providing excellent music, Ginkgo has become a very important part of the Hamline-Midway community. Kathy elaborated on this by trying to list them all, “Book clubs, block clubs, Heartwood Festival folks, Hamline History Corps and many other formal and informal groups”. Along with providing an easy meeting space for folks, Ginkgo is also known for donating goods and money to many community events and organizations. They also display rotating art from local artists and even offer a little something extra from patrons with novelty trinkets including gag gifts to cool decorations.

“Originally I started with coffee and tea retail items, like pots and mugs, but those weren’t very popular. But, shortly after I went to these items and greeting cards and people just loved them! We were one of the only coffee places that sell them, so that made it really special.” Kathy also has a claim to fame as being the longest-running single-owner operated coffee store in the Twin Cities, showing Kathy’s durability in changing times. “When I started out there were about a dozen, then there were twenty, but, now, I’m the only one from that original group of owneres.” The durability is clear from the different ways that Ginkgo caters to the community while offering a little something for everybody.

We asked customers what they thought about Ginkgo and you can find out what they said in the audio interview below.

Neighborhood Notes

Ginkgo Coffeehouse

MN VIDEOS | Summit Hill Neighborhoods construct mandala-shaped community garden

Tue, 14 May 2013 18:46:22 +0000

jakre

MN Videos

Between fifty and sixty community volunteers showed up on a cloudy Saturday morning to construct a mandala-shaped community garden in St. Paul's Summit Hill Neighborhood. The garden is located on park land and the goal of the garden's founders is to "empower people through organic gardening to inspire greater self-sufficiency, sustainability, and environmental responsibility."

The garden project was started by the Summit Hill Association's Environment Committee, which has been developing plans for a community garden for several years.

Here's a look at the Community Garden Installation event on Saturday, May 4.

The garden project was started by the Summit Hill Association's Environment Committee, which has been developing plans for a community garden for several years.

Here's a look at the Community Garden Installation event on Saturday, May 4.

COMMUNITY VOICES | The Carving Out of Minnesota's Future

Tue, 14 May 2013 02:56:04 +0000

Community Voices

The Minnesota omnibus energy bill HF 956 / Companion SF 901 has passed the Minnesota House and Senate and is currently in conference committee. The bills would establish a solar energy requirement, 4% in the House version and 1% in the Senate, to be met by the year 2025. This is a watered down version of a 10% requirement that was backed by a coalition of industrial and environmental groups calling itself the "Clean Energy and Jobs" campaign.

Early on in the legislative process, public municipalities and rural cooperative energy utilities were exempted from the solar mandate. Then the Iron Range delegation stepped into the picture, adding language to both the House and Senate bills that exempts the taconite and timber industries from any rate increase attributed to a solar mandate.

Senate language exempts a mineral extraction or mineral processing facility or a paper mill that meets the definition of a "large customer facility." House language states the exemptions as an iron mining extraction and processing facility, including a scram mining facility ... or a paper mill, wood products manufacturer, sawmill, or oriented strand board manufacturer.

By carving out an exemption for the global mining industry, these bills exempt one of the largest energy users in the state. There are six operating taconite plants on the Iron Range, served by Allete's Minnesota Power. Allete estimates that new mining projects, including the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine and Essar Steel Ltd's proposed electric arc steel facility, would require up to 400 megawatts of new electric service. Mining company exemption from the solar standard is a subsidy to the mining industry. The industries who are depleting our resources, degrading our environment, and using the most energy should be held to a higher standard, not a lower one.

As quoted in Jonathan Avise's article" House green lights new solar energy standard," Twin Cities Daily Planet, May 8, 2013, not every legislator is in favor of the bill. "Aimed squarely at aiding the economic engines of the state’s northeastern Iron Range, the amendments drew the ire of Republicans who accused the DFL of handing a “carve-out” to that region to win votes. Rep. Michael Beard (R-Shakopee) ...said the amendment unfairly singled-out one area of the state for lower energy rates. Garofalo said it laid bare that the new standards were bad for the state as a whole."

According to an article in the Star Tribune, "Battle over Minnesota solar mandate shifts to the Senate," May 8, 2013, Republican legislators said the customer-funded subsidies will shift the costs of solar to customers who can’t afford to install rooftop solar arrays. “You are taking money from poor people and giving it to rich people,” said Rep. Pat Garofalo, R-Farmington.

While seeking to benefit manufacturers Silicon Energy in Mt. Iron and TenKsolar in Bloomington, the bill neglects to notice the overall footprint of solar panels. The technology itself is based upon metal mining that requires huge amounts of energy. Since solar cells depend on rare metals in their production, the cells should be used sparingly and in applications that are most durable. Solar technology does not come carbon-free and should be part of an integrated strategy that includes using less power.

The energy bills exempt approximately one third of energy users. Minnesota Power experts estimate that a 4 percent solar mandate would have raised electric bills for taconite plants 10 to 15 percent. (Duluth News Tribune, "Minnesota pushes solar power; mines, mills off the hook," May 13, 2013). How much will energy costs increase for the remaining two-thirds of us who are not exempted?

Call your legislators in opposition to carve-outs in the Minnesota energy bill, and ask them to take a broader look at ways that Minnesota can reduce energy consumption and carve out more sustainable life styles. Contact Governor Dayton at 651-201-3400 or 800-657-3717 or at the webform http://mn.gov/governor/contact-us/form/. It's unfair that some Minnesota ratepayers will pay the costs of a solar energy mandate, while others are exempt.

COMMUNITY VOICES | 2013 Minneapolis Urban Farmers Collaborative candidate questionnaire: Kendal Killian, Ward 10

Kendal Killian — Mon, 13 May 2013 23:15:25 +0000

Community Voices

The Minneapolis Urban Farmer's Collaborative has invited candidates for Minneapolis City Council, Parks & Recreation Board, and Mayor to complete a candidate questionnaire to determine where the candidates stand on current policy issues relevant to urban agriculture, including food production on public park lands, on-site vegetable sales for urban producers, and ownership of chickens for small-scale commercial purposes. Completed candidate questionnaires are being posted on the Minneapolis Issues Forum at www.e-democracy.org for public viewing as they become available.
Below, read the response from Kendal Killian, candidate for the Minneapolis City Council Ward 10 seat.

Urban agriculture city code amendments passed Minneapolis city council in spring of 2012 and laid the groundwork for urban farms to take root. In the year since these new rules have been in place many small businesses have endeavored to grow, sell, prepare, and compost hundreds of thousands of pounds of Minneapolis produced fruits and vegetables. This spring, the urban farmers and residents that rely on their food would like to enhance the growing environment for urban farms in Minneapolis. The following initiatives and rule changes would nourish and enrich this growing movement.

Do you as a candidate for -Mayor, City Hall- support the following initiatives and rule changes in order to promote urban farming in Minneapolis?

The current MPLS chicken ordinance only allows chickens in residential back yards. Many urban residents would like to purchase eggs and chicken from urban farms, and urban farmers could use the proceeds from chicken farming to support their urban farms in the winter months. Do you as a candidate support allowing chickens as livestock at urban farms?

Kendal: Yes

Urban farm sites often don’t have water spigots and in most cases urban farmers purchase water from neighbors to water their plots. Will you as a candidate work to build affordable access to city water hydrants and support city cost assistance for water for urban farmers and community gardens?

Kendal: As someone with a community garden plot myself, I understand the importance of a water source in the process. I will absolutely work with farmers to find a water source that fits their needs. That said; I need to learn more about the costs associated with this before I fully commit.

Urban land is priced too high for urban farming to be financially sustainable. Most urban farms are leasing land without any guarantee that they’ll be able to continue leasing year to year. Urban farm sites need years of fertility building before they become highly productive. Do you as a candidate support creating a city pilot program for leasing public lands for urban farming?

Kendal: Yes. In fact, I brought a similar idea (allowing community gardens in parks) to Park Commissioner Brad Bourn in 2009. He campaigned on the idea and won. I am proud to have earned Brad’s support for my campaign.

Urban farmers and family owned businesses rely on their work vehicles to run their local businesses. It is currently illegal by city code to park work vehicles on the street in Minneapolis, resulting in hundreds of family owned businesses being fined for parking in front of their homes. Will you as a candidate support small businesses by removing barriers to on street and off street parking of contractor work vehicles and trailers?

Kendal: Absolutely, I support removing barriers to on street and off street parking for work vehicles. We need a full-scale review of our ordinances as they relate to commercial vehicles parked on the street. I want to make this issue a priority.

Urban gardeners and farmers who wish to sell produce to neighbors now have to apply for a costly permit to sell vegetables. This permit only allows for 15 days of on-site sales per year, and when seeking a permit, farmers must pre-schedule their sales days. Since weather, climate, and variations in growing seasons affect production of vegetables it is almost impossible to predict when will be the best days to sell vegetables. Additionally if one farmer runs multiple sites, that farmer must apply for multiple permits to have sales from each site. These restrictions mean that valuable produce is going to waste even while there is a high demand for purchasing it within the neighborhoods. Will you as a candidate support the local food system by easing the permitting process for on-site vegetable sales, by reducing permit fees, increasing the amount of days farmers can sell, and allowing produce sales from multiple farm sites?

Kendal: Yes. I will work to ease the permitting process, reduce fees, increase market days and allow produce to be sold at multiple farms sites.

I was the only candidate at the recent environmental issues forum to directly express my disappointment in Council Member Tuthill for her failure to support the needs of farmers in terms of market garden days. Her lack of support on this issue is part of what motivated me to run for this seat.

Broad vision question:

As a candidate for public office, what would you like the food economy of Minneapolis to look like in 2017?

Kendal: Equity is the number one issue I am campaigning on. In some ways we have two cities in Minneapolis operating parallel to one another; one city where most people are doing quite well and another where a lot of people are really struggling. We must close these equity gaps or we will not be reaching our full potential as a city.

Food, nutrition and the general wellbeing of everyone in our city should be a priority. Everyone in our city should have access to healthy food options. That should be our ultimate goal. In Ward 10 specifically, I will work to bring a farmers market back to our area by 2017.

The Minneapolis Urban Farmer's Collaborative has invited candidates for Minneapolis City Council, Parks & Recreation Board, and Mayor to complete a candidate questionnaire to determine where the candidates stand on current policy issues relevant to urban agriculture, including food production on public park lands, on-site vegetable sales for urban producers, and ownership of chickens for small-scale commercial purposes. Completed candidate questionnaires are being posted on the Minneapolis Issues Forum at www.e-democracy.org for public viewing as they become available.
Below, read the response from Kendal Killian, candidate for the Minneapolis City Council Ward 10 seat.

Do you as a candidate for -Mayor, City Hall- support the following initiatives and rule changes in order to promote urban farming in Minneapolis?

Kendal: Yes

Kendal: Yes. I will work to ease the permitting process, reduce fees, increase market days and allow produce to be sold at multiple farms sites.

Broad vision question:

As a candidate for public office, what would you like the food economy of Minneapolis to look like in 2017?