Minneapolis Public Schools CIO Rich Valerga steps down

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Controversial Minneapolis Public Schools’ Chief Information Officer Rich Valerga is gone, according to district sources, who say Valerga announced his exit at a hastily called staff meeting on Monday, Nov. 3.An email sent to all Minneapolis Public Schools’ employees by Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson confirms that Valerga will no longer be working for the district, saying Valerga has left to “pursue other endeavors.”Valerga joined the district as CIO in August 2013, becoming the third CIO for MPS in just three years. During his tenure, Valerga oversaw the firing, reshuffling, or dismissal of thirty-four of the department’s sixty employees, including long-time staff members such as Ben Peck and Krishna Pathak.Peck and Pathak shared their stories with the Twin Cities Daily Planet in May of 2014, as part of a series of articles about changes going on in the IT department. In late 2013 Valerga fired Peck without warning, and Pathak soon resigned as a show of support. In the interview with Pathak, he refers to Valerga as “rude, cruel, and disrespectful,” saying Valerga had a “my way or the highway” management style.Superintendent Johnson’s email to employees today said the changes Valerga ushered in have been “difficult on staff and the students in our schools.”  An IT employee who attended today’s staff meeting said that Valerga told those present that he had decided to step down because “his negative publicity was tainting the department and affecting the good work being done.”An MPS IT employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect their job, did not know what negative publicity Valerga was referring to, saying he did not give any specific examples.Both the district employee and the email from Superintendent Johnson said that IT employee Fadi Fadhil will serve as director of the IT department until an interim leader can be found. Continue Reading

PHOTOS: Thousands protest Washington football game at U of M

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Thousands of protesters gathered at TCF Stadium at the University of Minnesota on Nov. 2 to protest the Washington football team name, which they call offensive.Native leaders, artists and community members were joined by a host of politicians- including former Governor Jesse Ventura, Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges, Congressman Keith Ellison, Winona LaDuke and many more in what some are calling the largest protest over a sports team name ever.While numerous sports teams have been targeted over the years for showing images of American Indians as mascots, The Washington football team has born a particular amount of criticism in the last year due to the racial slur of the team’s name.Rhonda Reese, who walked with protesters from the American Indian Opportunities Industrialization Center (AIOIC), said she was there because “Redskins” is a racial slur. “It’s a bounty they put on the Native people for their scalps,” she said. “It’s negative and it’s derogatory.”The gathering that started at AIOIC was organized by 14 different local groups including AIM of the Twin Cities, Save the Kids, OccupyMN, Protect Our Manoomin and the Minnesota Two Spirit Society. Besides speakers, hip hop artists Mic Jordan and Tall Paul performed.“I’m a modern day warrior,” Mic Jordan rapped. Continue Reading

Follow the money: Jourdain calls out dark money in Minneapolis school board race

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What do John Kline, Tom Emmer, Mitt Romney, and Minneapolis school board candidates Iris Altamirano and Don Samuels have in common?They have all received campaign donations from Minneapolis attorney Douglas Seaton, who was one of the lead attorneys working against the recent drive to unionize home-based childcare workers in Minnesota. Altamirano is a former organizer for the Service Employees Internation Union (SEIU), which helped lead the fight to organize home childcare workers.Seaton, who has given thousands of dollars to Republican candidates and committees, according to the website opensecrets.org, also  contributed $5,000 to the 2012 Minnesota Voter ID Amendment campaign, which was defeated by voters in the 2012 election.According to recent campaign finance reports, Seaton has given $250 donations to both Samuels and Altamirano.Another donor to both Samuels and Altamirano is the Hubbard family. The Hubbards, who run Minnesota media company Hubbard Broadcasting, gave $2600 to each candidate in September 2014. Hubbard Broadcasting, the corporation, is a very politically active one: the company recently gave $200,000 to the Freedom Partners Action Fund, which is the Koch Brothers’ new super PAC.Other prominent supporters of Samuels and Altamirano include former Minnesota Republican party chair Rob Eibensteiner, who gave $1,000 to Samuels, and local attorney and MinnCAN board member Mike Ciresi, who gave $1,000 to each candidate, individually, and contributed $10,000 to the recently controversial group the Minneapolis Progressive Education Fund, which has been campaigning for Samuels and Altamirano.Benson Whitney, who is the board chair of MinnCAN and a prominent funder of Republican campaigns, also gave $1,000 to both Samuels and Altamirano.These names on Altamirano and Samuels’ campaign reports prompted fellow at-large candidate Ira Jourdain to hold a press conference on Nov. 1. Continue Reading

Warm welcome for Open Mic at The Nicollet

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Taking the stage to share a song, poem, joke or story with a room full of strangers can be quite intimidating. But there has been no shortage of willing participants at The Nicollet’s Open Mic Nights that I’ve attended. The talent has been plentiful, colorful, and as eclectic as the art adorning the café’s walls.  Open Mic kicked off in August after a series of developments, including The Nicollet obtaining a liquor license and adding nightly entertainment. Since then, the spot has established new vitality and a new identity. Continue Reading

Minneapolis midterm election study guide

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Tomorrow is Election Day — have you done your homework?Midterm elections are never as popular as presidential elections, but that doesn’t make them any less important. We want to make your decision process as easy as possible, so we’ve lined up every election this midterm year that will affect Minneapolis residents.Following are candidates for U.S. Senator, U.S. Representative, Governor and Lieutenant Governor, Minnesota State Representative, Minneapolis School Board, and Minnesota 4th Judicial District (which essentially covers Hennepin County) candidates, as they will appear on Minneapolis ballots for the Nov. 4 General Election.Also on the ballot will appear two measures for voters to consider for inclusion in the Minneapolis City Charter. The first question pertains to increasing the filing fees candidates pay to run for city offices — mayor, city council, and other city of Minneapolis offices. The current $20 fee was set in 1967 and has remained unchanged. Continue Reading

Youth activism: Washburn High School theater teaches advocacy

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Eshay Brantley didn’t know what to expect walking into the Theatre I class at Washburn High School in Minneapolis. But, having felt as though she hadn’t found her niche in school yet, she went in with an open mind.Two years later, Brantley’s a senior, and identifies as a spoken word artist and has competed in the spoken word competition Brave New Voices through Tru Art Speaks, performed at locations including Macalester College, and received an award for her role as a youth educator at the Twin Cities Social Justice Education Fair.“We save lives here every single day, just by having students get on stage and actually speak from their heart,” Brantley said.Theatre I is just one of five classes now being taught at Washburn through their Black Box Acting Program. The series, which started in 2008, provides three levels of theater classes, as well as a spoken word class and one aimed at students with developmental disabilities. The program is meant to help students further explore social justice issues, and teach them skills to help them better advocate their needs and beliefs.Brantley said she came from a family that didn’t talk about social justice issues, so the theater classes provided her with an outlet to explore social issues like marginalized communities and systematic oppression. The classes also helped her figure out her role in those issues and within her community, she said.“[It] made me think less about myself and more about the people around me and what I see is affecting the people around me,” Brantley said.Brantley’s experience with the program is not an anomaly. Continue Reading

VIDEO: “Immigration reform, there’s lots of people who are hurting.”

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Many nonprofits participated in Get out the Vote this year, and they’re sharing why voting is important to them on video.Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio (CLUES) launched their very first civic engagement program, adding voter education to their long list of community services. The program, which started earlier this year, provides educational outreach services to Minneapolis residents who may not know about the voting process, or why it’s important.“I think as CLUES, it’s our responsibility and it’s our obligation to advocate for our community members,” said Joel Martinez, who runs the new program. “Not just in direct services … but also equip leadership within our community members.”Recently, the program took to the streets around Franklin and Chicago, Martinez said, teaching community members how to vote, and even how they can get involved if they can’t vote yet. Even if some community members can’t vote for legal reasons, he said, they can still get involved and make a difference in their community.Trinidad Uribe, Jr. with CLUES is a Vietnam War veteran and wants to see meaningful immigration reform. Check out his video and see what voting means to him below.Coverage of the 2014 elections is funded in part by a grant from The Minneapolis Foundation. Continue Reading