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Civic beat // Ward 6 forum
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By Cristof Traudes
Ward 6 candidate forum highlights differences on housing, No. 2 choices
Mahamed Cali wants improved public safety, Andy Exley wants the city to plan 10, 20 years into the future, Laura Jean wants to tackle poverty head-on, Mike Tupper wants to bring jobs back to the city, and Robert Lilligren really wants to reopen Nicollet Avenue at Lake Street.
Those were the overarching sentiments of those five candidates for the 6th Ward City Council seat, who took part in a forum Sept. 16 in front of an audience of about 40 people. Candidate Bruce Lundeen was absent.
Here are some highlights from the evening:
On neighborhood revitalization: Each candidate expressed support for the Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP), which is about to undergo several significant changes. Jean and Exley both said they were concerned those changes — which bring oversight of neighborhood revitalization issues into a city department — are examples of unnecessary centralization. Cali said neighborhoods know best what’s good for them. Lilligren, who helped create some of the changes as the current Ward 6 council member, said neighborhoods will retain discretionary spending.
On the proposed 11.3 percent property tax increase: Mayor R.T. Rybak proposed an 11.3 percent property tax increase for 2010, a number none of the candidates threw their support behind. Cali said he needed to see where the money would go. Exley said council members should first consider cutting their own incomes before supporting that increase. Jean said there should be no more property tax increases. Tupper said he wouldn’t have even liked an 8 percent increase, which has been the norm over the past few years. Lilligren said he wasn’t ready to commit to a “yes” or “no” answer, but he said the 11.3 percent number likely won’t pass the council.
On reopening Nicollet at Lake: Exley called reopening the avenue at the Kmart site “the great unmet promise of Ward 6 candidates.” He said if an opportunity comes along, he’d jump on it, but “I don’t unfortunately see it happening anytime soon.” Jean said she’d go ahead and meet with stakeholders and put together a timeline. Lilligren said plans and funding sources exist and that he has stakeholders on board. “I do believe it will happen in the next term,” he said. Tupper said reopening Nicollet seemed more like an example of the city “wanting” something rather than “needing” it right now.
On affordable housing: Lilligren expressed concerns about the ward’s lopsided amount of affordable housing, saying the concentration is too high. He said he wants to try creating incentives for developers to bring affordable housing to other parts of the city. That was echoed by Exley, who said the ward has more than its fair share. Cali said that if more affordable housing were to come into the ward, the units should be bigger to better accommodate large immigrant families.
On who should be chosen as No. 2: According to ranked-choice voting supporters, one plus of Minneapolis’ new election system is that candidates have to be more supportive of each other so that if they don’t pick up first-place votes, they can still get chosen as second or third. But when asked whom they would pick as their No. 2s, most of the candidates hesitated. Only Exley immediately committed, saying it would be Jean. Others didn’t chime in until later, with Cali picking Exley and Tupper picking Jean. Jean put her support behind both Exley and Tupper. Lilligren, meanwhile, didn’t answer. He said he needed more time to get to know his opponents.
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Several candidate forums remain before election
There will be several more candidate forums before the Nov. 3 election. They are:
Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, District 6: 6:30–8 p.m. Oct. 8, Washburn Library, 5244 Lyndale Ave. S.
Board of Estimate and Taxation: 6:30–8:30 p.m. Oct. 8, Keewaydin Park and Recreation Center, 3030 E. 53rd St. Will also feature candidates for South Minneapolis’ Park Board District 5.
City Council, Ward 10: 6:30–8 p.m. Oct. 15, Walker Library, 2880 Hennepin Ave.
City Council, Ward 11: 6:30–8:30 p.m. Oct. 15, Keewaydin Park and Recreation Center, 3030 E. 53rd St. Will also feature candidates for South Minneapolis’ 12th Ward.
Park Board At Large: 6:30–8:30 p.m. Oct. 20, Kenwood Gym, 2013 Penn Ave. S. Will also feature Park Board District 4 candidate Anita Tabb.
For coverage of the forums, go to southwestjournal.com and look under the “Civic Life” tab. For expanded information about the candidates in all Southwest-affecting races, go to southwestjournal.com and click on “Election 2009: The candidates.”
Also, look for the Southwest Journal’s election guide in the Oct. 19 issue.
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Stay home sick today, get vaccinated in October
The City Council was recently updated on Minneapolis’ preparedness for dealing with the H1N1 influenza virus.
Key for everybody remains covering coughs, washing hands and staying home when sick, but health commissioner Gretchen Musicant said a vaccination is coming. An exact arrival date is not yet known, but “we have a general October kind of feeling,” Musicant said.
Once it arrives, the Centers for Disease Control’s priority guidelines are expected to be followed. First on the list are pregnant women, caregivers of children younger than 6 months and emergency medical personnel. Other priority groups include anybody from age 6 months to 24 years and 25- to 60-year-olds with preexisting medical conditions.
The vaccine will be provided at no cost to local governments; however, distribution will be handled through the same channels that handle season flu vaccines. That means the city won’t be in charge.
Musicant said people who experienced the H1N1 strain earlier this year should still consider getting the vaccine once it arrives. The same goes for people who already have gotten their seasonal flu shot, which is available now.
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