Minnesota rolls out online voter registration

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When my husband moved to Minnesota from Maine 17 years ago, he was met at the curb by our friend Tim, who handed him a voter registration card. As most Minnesotans know, voters have had the choice of filling out a registration card in advance or taking advantage of same-day registration at the polls. But late last week, it became even easier to register to vote, said Deputy Secretary of State Beth Fraser, when Minnesota became the 15th state to allow online voter registration, launching an online tool at mnvotes.org. The tool also allows absentee ballot requests from Minnesotans who are living outside the U.S. or in the military. It’s available at mnvotes.org.“We have been watching other states, hearing rave reviews from both political parties,” Fraser said. Continue Reading

Candidates and karaoke: City council candidates face off in North Minneapolis

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Four North Minneapolis candidates faced off in a public forum followed by karaoke at the Capri Theater on Saturday, September 7. About 90 audience members heard candidates respond to wide-ranging questions on everything from police-community relations to homelessness to the HERC garbage incinerator to youth policy. Economic empowerment was an overarching theme that the candidates often returned to in the forum, which was sponsored by Neighborhoods Organizing for Change (NOC) and moderated by community leader Sina Black. With no DFL endorsement for the seat and incumbent Don Samuels running for mayor, the candidates are running hard and are eager to differentiate themselves from their opponents. Other than Severson’s repeated and rather pointed observation that he has lived in the 5th Ward his entire life, the candidates stuck to the issues and did not criticize each other. (Buckner is also a lifelong resident of the ward; Alexander moved to the ward after completing law school; Yang was born in a refugee camp in Thailand.)The candidates include:Ian Alexander, a family law attorney who lost his previous home in the north side tornado. Alexander ran unsuccessfully for the legislature last year, and came within a percentage point of gaining the DFL endorsement at the May convention. Continue Reading

COMMUNITY VOICES | Tim Springer: A Life on Purpose

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Tim Springer, a Minneapolis community leader from East Phillips, Powderhorn, and Central for the past 23 years, is running for Minneapolis City Council in Ward 9.  He is known for his leadership of the Midtown Greenway Coalition, where he played a major role in making the Greenway Minnesota’s busiest bikeway and a platform for urban revitalized and community connection. Tim’s accomplishments have not happened by accident.  He has led a life pursuing his values.  His perspectives and experience extend beyond the Greenway.  As Ninth Ward resident Janis Lane-Ewart says, “Tim has the rare combination of impassioned advocacy for challenging ideals like equality and sustainability, while at the same time bringing people together and actually getting something done.”Most of you know Tim as the Executive Director of the Midtown Greenway Coalition, but some of you may not know that he co-founded the Coalition, starting as a volunteer in 1992.  As Executive Director since 1995, he led the Coalition to advocate for creation of the Greenway, now a national model for greenway and urban renewal. During his tenure, Tim tirelessly advocated for safe neighborhoods, friendly trail design and implementation, attractive land use and green space planning, neighborhood art, community partnerships, and neighborhood involvement. The Greenway helped Minneapolis to be named the number-one bicycling city in the nation by Bicycling Magazine in 2010.  Tim has worked with all levels of government including neighborhoods, and city, county, state, and federal officials. Continue Reading

NEIGHBORHOOD NOTES | Ward 12 candidate forum set for April 11

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Get to know the candidates running for the Ward 12 Minneapolis Council Member position.The Standish-Ericsson Neighborhood Association (SENA), the Nokomis East Neighborhood Association (NENA), and the League of Women Voters, will host a candidates’ forum on Thursday, April 11 from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Roosevelt High School Media Center (4029 28th Ave. S.). All candidates running for Ward 12 council member have been invited to participate, including incumbent Sandra Colvin Roy (DFL) and Andrew Johnson (DFL). The public is invited to attend and submit questions for the candidates. Contact the SENA office (612-721-1601) for more information.Following changes made to the ward boundaries, Standish and Ericsson neighborhoods now fall entirely within ward 12.On the ballot this year will be mayor, board of estimate and taxation, park and recreation board, and city council.RANKED CHOICE VOTINGThe 2013 Minneapolis municipal elections will be conducted using the voting system called Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). Continue Reading

OPINION | Is the presidential election over?

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Silly me. I guess I must have missed it? Maybe, like Rip Van Winkle, who slept through the American Revolution, perhaps I didn’t notice that there really was an election; and apparently Obama won.  Why would I come to this conclusion? Because here in March of 2013, it seems to me that presidential politics are still in full swing.Just the other day, House Speaker Boehner stated that Obama was not interested in avoiding sequester, and was just “campaigning”. Campaigning? Continue Reading

What did Kenyan Minnesotans think of the election in Kenya?

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Kenya’s presidential election has garnered much international media attention in the past few weeks, and Kenyans in the diaspora have been an integral part of the conversation. Whether through the Twitter hashtag “#KenyaDecides,” or through Facebook and Youtube, Kenyans worldwide have ensured their voices are heard, including Minnesota’s considerable Kenyan community. Three Kenyan diasporans living in Minnesota shared their views on video with the Twin Cities Daily Planet to briefly discuss their thoughts on the Kenyan election. They are:Julia Nekessa Opoti is a Twin Cities resident and journalist.Charlene Bogonko is a University of Minnesota student and Twin Cities resident.Bundi Ikaio is an international student at the University of Minnesota from Kenya.Our respondents each have different backgrounds, different relationships to Kenya, and various views on the election and international media coverage of the country’s election process.Uhuru Kenyatta, who is currently facing charges by the International Criminal Court, won the election by a narrow margin, according to the official announcement. The 2013 election is significant because it is the first presidential election since the 2007 vote. Continue Reading

FREE SPEECH ZONE | What we REALLY should learn from this election

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Commenting on the recent election in well regarded post mortems, various pundits have cogently described what the ramifications of Barack Obama’s reelection will mean to the country. Most seem astute – but missing from these analyses was probably the most important consequence we could and should learn from this election. That would be a careful look at the election process itself in America today. And, it isn’t pretty.Free Speech ZoneThe Free Speech Zone offers a space for contributions from readers, without editing by the TC Daily Planet. This is an open forum for articles that otherwise might not find a place for publication, including news articles, opinion columns, announcements and even a few press releases. Continue Reading

A mandate or a rejection? Lessons from the 2012 elections

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For a year that was not supposed to be theirs, the Democrats appeared to do well across the country and in Minnesota. But while the Democrats may conclude that it was a mandate for them, it is possible that their success was more a rejection of the Republicans. The election returns thus provide important lessons for both of the parties both across the country and in Minnesota. Continue Reading