Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/tag/housing-justice/page/2/)
During an early morning meeting on April 29, 20 residents and friends of the Lowry Grove manufactured home community, where Alvarez and many others live, gathered at that kitchen table as they plan and work to save their homes. Continue Reading
The complaints brought by Inquilinxs Unidxs are not just a handful of properties isolated to one bad landlord. Rather, they are a symptom of a larger problem. Continue Reading
Inquilinos Unidos por Justicia (United Renters For Justice), along with several leaders of the Lyndale Neighborhood Association (LNA), gathered outside the Q.T Properties office on Hennepin Avenue to protest the numerous fines and alleged mistreatment levied by the building owners. The associations wielded letters from tenants, and a petition demanding better conditions, demanding management to come outside and negotiate. Some were holding signs, and all were holding a sense of frustration.For the past year, there have been frequent complaints of mistreatment and deterioration of conditions at the buildings from Latino renters, along with difficulties in resigning their leases.“Every other moment they have letters saying we’re going to be fined, for their children playing in the hallway, for using the common area outside the apartment spaces, for leaving shoes or bicycles in common areas. These are things people should be able to do in their living spaces, and not have to fear for retaliation,” said Natasha Villanueva, LNAAs each speaker went up to list off their complaints, a common theme was clear: The heavy fines and shifting lease agreements seem designed to push them out. Most of the latino renters are working-class families who can’t afford to take time off work to deal with management, and the persistent fines are taking a toll.“They fined my car twice, which cost me $700. Continue Reading
Politics, dueling agendas and passionate pleas were all part of a recent meeting at the Brian Coyle community center, where more than 250 tenants from the Cedar Riverside Towers showed up to complain about living conditions there. Council member Abdi Warsame invited heads of city departments including the office of civil rights, health and safety, regulatory services and State Senator Kari Dziedzic (DFL), who represents the Cedar Riverside area, to be part of a listening session where residents of the iconic Cedar Riverside towers, complained about broken elevators, lack of parking, and a lack of respect and cultural competency on the part of Sherman Associates and the employees who manage the complex. No representative from Sherman Associates, the company who owns the towers were at the table listening alongside city employees. Nor was any representative from the Riverside Plaza Tenants Association. Organizers say it was about gathering the community and listening to the residents.”This is all about empowering the residents and hearing their concerns,” said Mohamed Mohamed of West Bank Community Coalition. His organization helped organize the listening session. Residents sometimes became emotional about issues they have been experiencing with Sherman Associates. Continue Reading
The Legislature would gain control of the Metropolitan Council’s housing purse strings, under a bill sponsored by Rep. Bob Vogel (R-Elko New Market).HF1969 would also make the Metropolitan Council’s long-range plans and goals for affordable and life-cycle housing in the seven-county Twin Cities metropolitan area subject to legislative approval.[Right: Rep. Bob Vogel]The House Job Growth and Energy Affordability Policy and Finance Committee laid the bill over Wednesday for possible inclusion in a later bill. There is no Senate companion.Kim Crockett, chief operating officer at the Center for the American Experiment, questioned whether housing falls under the Metropolitan Council’s legislative authority. She praised Vogel’s bill for “reasserting the prerogative of the Legislature in the area of housing.”Judd Schetnan, Metropolitan Council government affairs director, agreed with Crockett that housing isn’t like the sewage or transit systems his agency runs. But Vogel’s bill would make housing more of a system than it is today, he said, and he asked whose interests the bill served. “We’ve not heard from cities who have asked for these changes.”One local official backing the bill is Plymouth Mayor Kelli Slavik, who told committee members the Metropolitan Council goal for her city — 932 new units of affordable housing in the decade ending in 2030 — “doesn’t make sense. Continue Reading
Cedar-Riverside community members and Riverside Plaza tenants convened Friday at the Brian Coyle Center gymnasium to formally assert complaints about the apartment complex’s management to city officials.For two years, community members have voiced grievances ranging from broken elevators to feeling unsafe in their homes. Minneapolis officials documented the complaints for the first time on Friday and said they will begin assessing them soon.Ward 6 City Councilman Abdi Warsame facilitated the session, while representatives from city offices, including the Department of Regulatory Services, documented the issues.“The most important thing is that tenants feel like they aren’t being listened to, and they’re being taken for granted, even though they pay rent,” Warsame said.Officials listened patiently as an interpreter translated each of the residents’ grievances, many of which were met with cheers and applause from the audience.All of the complaints pointed to the apartment complex’s management company, Sherman Associates. Sherman Associates’ Director of Marketing and Communications Valerie Doleman said its representatives attended Friday’s meeting, but weren’t asked by the meeting’s facilitators to sit on the panel.Some residents said they have seen the building’s security guards smoking marijuana in hallways or stairwells.Doleman said those concerns haven’t been brought up between Sherman Associates and the Riverside Plaza Tenants’ Association in previous meetings, and they haven’t been formally reported.She said the security guards are required to wear body cameras.Warsame said it can be difficult for tenants to express their concerns to the management group because of the cultural divide that exists between residents and the building’s managers.Nine-year resident Assad Birhie said he thinks Somali-speaking security guards would make the residents feel more comfortable.Sherman Associates is requiring extra sensitivity training for all of its Riverside employees this month.Apartment employees are already required to undergo sensitivity training upon being hired as well as throughout the year, Doleman said.Executive Director of the Confederation of Somali Community in Minnesota Mohamud Noor met with Sherman Associations and other community leaders late last month to produce a list of action items for the building’s management to improve.He said he didn’t sign the agreement they were discussing because he felt the residents’ concerns of discrimination within the complex weren’t addressed appropriately.Doleman said the sensitivity training is designed to discourage discrimination.“The aim of this was not to be a negotiation between the owners,” Warsame said. “This was just to listen to the community and to understand their concerns.”In 2012, Riverside Plaza completed a $132 million project that aimed to make the complex safer and more attractive. It was funded with both public and private money.Sen. Kari Dziedzic, DFL-Minneapolis, said considering the state’s large contribution to the project, she plans to investigate how the money was spent.The director of the city’s Department of Civil Rights, Velma Korbel — who attended Friday’s meeting — said the city’s next step is to analyze the complaints. Continue Reading
Minneapolis wants compliance from landlords with high-maintenance properties.The Minneapolis City Council is considering an ordinance this spring that could charge landlords with high-maintenance properties more to keep their licenses.Property owners say if the measure passes, they may have to increase tenants’ rent. The goal of the proposed ordinance is to charge rental property owners for the amount of time and resources they use from the city. The city’s Director of Regulatory Services Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde said the proposal would give property owners an economic incentive to take better care of their properties.City Council President Barb Johnson announced the proposal last month, and the council will hold a public hearing on the ordinance in April. Minneapolis rental properties are categorized into three tiers. The first tier comprises the city’s least complained about and inspected properties –the third tier are the most.Third-tier properties account for about 5 percent of Minneapolis properties, but Johnson said they require more of the department’s resources than those in the first or second tier. Continue Reading
Roosevelt Community Center in St. Paul, MN held a video program for kids from the neighborhood in the summer of 2013.
As a mayoral candidate for Minneapolis, Jackie Cherryhomes believes she has the “trifecta” of experience that makes her a strong candidate. This trifecta includes her government experience from twelve years spent on the Minneapolis City Council, her background in community organizing, and her recent work in the business world as a consultant.Cherryhomes was invited to speak at the home of Kenwood residents Charlie and Julie Zelle, to a crowd of around 40 interested voters and supporters. She was part of a “meet the candidate” series organized by Minneapolis resident Kate Mortenson that features individual candidates speaking to voters and then answering questions. The next candidate to be featured is Betsy Hodges, who will appear on Wednesday, August 7.Cherryhomes began her speech by identifying three issues that she sees as related: health, housing and jobs, and the disparities within them. She spoke of the many positive transformations going on in Minneapolis, such as the development of the North Loop district, but said that she wants “all citizens” to have the benefits of such transformation.Housing is a central topic for Cherryhomes, based on her experience on the city council. When asked about density in Minneapolis, she spoke about the need for more low income housing in the city, and her belief that it should not be concentrated in high poverty neighborhoods. Continue Reading
This could be a story about unbridled greed. Or about making money without regard to consequences. Perhaps, it is a tale that simply exemplifies responsible real estate investing as defined by Chris Gleize of Northern Value Group. Chris figures large as a protagonist in this drama. But I will let you, the reader, draw your own conclusions. A good percentage of the information provided in this story comes from public court documents. Other information was provided by Mr. Gleize’s attorney and the homeowner who is now subject to immediate eviction. Nafeesah a strong, middle aged woman who has lived in single family four bedroom house since 1991 is the other major player in this unfolding narrative. Just down the block from from Lake Street, it has stood in its present location since 1904! Continue Reading