Council Member Cam Gordons

Report to Seward Neighborhood 6-16-10

Minneapolis Cams next Seward Office Hours:

City of Lakes Tuesday, June 22, 9:30-11:00am
Birchwood Caf, 3311 E 25th St
Cam Gordon
City Council Member
Second Ward
Items:
1) Guiding Priorities for 2010
350 South 5th Street - Room 301M 2) Commercial Recycling
Minneapolis MN 55415 3) NiceRide Now Open
Office 612-673-2202 4) StreetWerks Opportunity
Fax 612-673-3250 5) Riverside Ave Reconstruction
Cell 612-296-0579 6) True Thai
7) Grants to Seward
Email:
cam.gordon@ci.minneapolis.mn.us 8) Hub of Heaven Garden
9) Minneapolis is #1 Cycling City
www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/council/ward2/ 10) Neighborhood Engagement Meeting
http://secondward.blogspot.com/ 11) Pension Victory
12) TOD Grants to Seward
13) Recycling Pilot Project
14) Permeable Paving
15) Openings on City Boards and Commissions

1) Every year I set priorities to help guide my work. My priorities for 2010 are to:
Make Minneapolis an international leader in environmental sustainability
and fighting climate change while creating green jobs and cleaning up
our soil, water and air.
Close the racial disparities in poverty and employment by raising the
income and employment levels of poor people in Minneapolis.
Make Minneapolis a great place to raise children and a city that supports
young families, prevents youth violence, promotes early childhood
development, and provides abundant and meaningful educational,
cultural, career and employment opportunities for youth.
Realize the hope and promise of a strengthened and more permanent
If you need this material in an
alternative format please call
community involvement system in Minneapolis that empowers and
Ahmed Muhumud at 612-673-2162 builds the capacity of neighborhoods and neighborhood organizations,
or email enfranchises everyone and establishes an effective model of how city
Ahmed.Muhumud@ci.minneapolis. government and communities can use shared democracy in decisions
mn.us
making.
Deaf and hard-of-hearing persons Find and implement ways to better value and support small businesses
may call 311 or 612-673-3000. TTY in Minneapolis.
users may call 612-673-2157 or Improve the cooperation between the work of the City Council and City
612-673-2626.
staff and the County, School, and Park Board.
Attention: If you want help
translating this information in 2) I am working on strengthening Minneapolis recycling regulations to increase
language other than Hmong, recycling at business and commercial properties and reduce the amount of
Spanish or Somali, call 311
recyclable material going into the garbage burner and into landfills. I have
Hmong - Ceeb toom. Yog koj xav already strengthened the Citys multifamily dwelling recycling ordinance, and
tau kev pab txhais cov xov no rau plan to use that as a model for a similar commercial recycling ordnance that
koj dawb, hu 612-673-2800; would require recycling services to be provided at all commercial properties. I
Spanish - Atencin. Si desea recibir
have prepared a survey in conjunction with the greater Minneapolis area
asistencia gratuita para traducir Chamber of Commerce, and they will be putting it before their members this
esta informacin, llama 612-673- summer. I would appreciate it if members of the Seward business community
2700; would also participate.
Somali - Ogow. Haddii aad
dooneyso in lagaa kaalmeeyo 3) The NiceRide bicycle sharing system is now up and running, with kiosks at
tarjamadda macluumaadkani oo several locations in and around Seward, including the Birchwood Caf,
lacag la aan wac 612-673-3500. st
Seward Coop, and the intersection of Franklin and 21 Ave. Im excited to see
this move forward, and I encourage Seward businesses to take advantage of
it. For more information, go to http://www.niceridemn.org.
4) The Citys StreetWerks summer youth employment program has offered cleanup crews to the commercial
corridors in the city. I am interested to know what services the Seward business community would like
StreetWerks to perform on Franklin. Please communicate with my office about any regular (weekly or
monthly) cleanup needs, as well as any special time-sensitive requests.

5) I invite you to join me at the first public meeting on the reconstruction of Riverside Avenue, which will be held
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next Tuesday, June 22 , from 6:30-8:30 at Augsburg Colleges Oren Gateway Center in room 114. It will be
a good opportunity to learn about this major project, which will start next year.

6) The City has approved $22,000 in Great Streets grants to Seward Redesign to develop a tenant recruitment
packet, recruit businesses, direct work with property owners along Franklin Ave. The purpose of the Great
Streets program is to strengthen neighborhood businesses throughout the city. The Program supports a
range of activities that help provide important goods and services for residents, and retain significant number
of jobs located in neighborhood business districts.

7) The Met Council has decided to rescind the $6,000 Sewer Access Charge they had been demanding from True
Thai restaurant in Seward, for 20 outdoor seats that were in use for three months. This is a very big deal for this
small business, and is the result of the diligent work of City staff, Seward Redesign, and my office.

8) The Community Planning and Economic Development staffs proposal to sell the Hub of Heaven garden to
Seward Neighborhood Group has run into opposition from Council Members. I am working with staff and SNG to
find an alternate solution that will preserve this great community garden for the long term.

9) According to Bicycling Magazine, Minneapolis is the nations best city for bicyclists. They specifically called out
the hardiness of those cyclists who bike through the winter, our 120 miles of on- and off-street bicycle facilities
and other cycling-friendly facilities. You can read the article here: http://www.bicycling.com/topbikefriendlycities/
slide2.html. Im proud that weve come so far, but we can and should do even better.
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10) Please join me, Marcea Mariani (8 District Neighborhood and Community Engagement Commissioner) and other
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community leaders, for a roundtable discussion on Thursday, June 24 79pm at Matthews Park, 2318 29 Ave
S, about the state of neighborhood organizations in Minneapolis today. We will look at how changes in
neighborhood funding will impact neighborhood work, explore strategies for influencing the development of new
policies, and ways to improve and strengthen these critically important organizations through the new
Neighborhood Relations Department and Engagement Commission (NCEC).

11) The legislature has granted the Citys request to fold the Minneapolis Employees Retirement Fund into a larger
state pension fund. Additionally, the courts have ruled in favor of the City of Minneapolis position that two closed
pension funds, the Minneapolis Police Relief Association (MPRA) and the Minneapolis Firefighters Relief
Association (MFRA), must repay over $52 million in overpayments of benefits. These decisions will ease a
significant financial pressure on the Citys budget, and represents the Citys commitment both to pensioners and
to taxpayers. It should be noted that this decision can be appealed.

12) The City has applied for several Transit Oriented Development grants from the Met Council for projects in Ward 2,
including $168,000 for pedestrian and street lighting near the Franklin Ave LRT Station.

13) Thanks in large part to new Seward Neighborhood Group Environment Committee Co-Chair Mike Trdan, the City
has applied for County funds to start two exciting solid waste pilot projects in Seward. One part of the
neighborhood will participate in a curbside organic collection pilot, and another part of the neighborhood will try
out a dual-stream recycling program. Dual-stream programs are easier for residents to participate in, which has
been shown in some communities to increase the total amount of material being recycled rather than landfilled or
incinerated.

14) I have introduced an amendment to the Zoning code that will allow residents to use more types of permeable
paving for driveways and parking areas. Staff are beginning the process of bringing this through the Citys
approval processes, including meeting with our Environmental Advisory Committee and the Planning
Commission. I look forward to communicating more specifics on this environmental initiative in the months
ahead.

15) There are openings on the Latino Advisory Committee, Pedestrian Advisory Committee, Public Health Advisory
Committee (PHAC) and the Senior Citizens Advisory Committee. To apply, call (612) 673-3358 or email
cityclerk@ci.minneapolis.mn.us.