On Wednesday night, City Council unanimously adopted the
2016 budget. I am thrilled with the results.
It remains a
priority of mine to ensure that 13th Ward residents (as well as
residents all across the City) are given quality services for the property
taxes that continue to rise in many parts of southwest Minneapolis. This is
exactly why I fought last year to reduce the Mayor’s proposed levy increase
from 2.4% to 2.1%. It is so important that our neighborhoods remain diverse in
age, but too often, seniors on a fixed income are faced with the reality that
they simply can’t afford to stay in their homes. I remain engaged in
conversations with my colleagues and City staff about some longer-term
prospects that could provide relief to those folks.
However, with her
2016 budget proposal, Mayor Hodges began her work by right-sizing revenue and
spending, resulting in $750,000 in strategic, ongoing cuts. As a result of this
right-sizing, the 3.4% increase in the overall property-tax levy is approximately
1% lower than it would have otherwise been. These cuts put departments
in better alignment with money actually spent.
In terms of budget specifics, I am especially pleased with a
couple items I have been advocating for:
$87,500 to the City Attorney’s budget (an
amendment I co-authored) for an expansion of the Hot Spots Pilot. The
initiative pairs an MPD officer with a family therapist to do follow up visits
in violent crime “hot spots” where 911 calls for domestic violence are made,
but either no police report was written or no criminal case resulted. The
initiative aims to provide support and referral information for the family,
while also building trust with the police by offering an opportunity for
officers to interact with families in a positive, proactive way. The results of
the pilot (in North Minneapolis) have been very good (and measurable), and this
expansion can help to make real progress.
$75,000 to the Auditor’s office to improve capacity to assess
risks in our ever-changing technology environment. As the Chair of the Audit
Committee, I know the role this department plays in monitoring the City’s
spending and minimizing risk throughout the organization. This funding will
help provide the department with more state-of-the-art tools.
A few other items in the budget worth highlighting:
$13
million in affordable housing, including investments in the Affordable Housing
Trust Fund and $1 million to help create affordable housing options for large
families.
$1
million for the rollout of officer-worn body camera technology (“body cams”).
$330,000 for BUILD Leaders – a jobs program for men of color 18-24
employed to do mentoring work for boys of color.
Raising
the sworn complement of police officers to 862 while funding a recruit class
and ongoing community service officer classes.
$350,000
for 30 TechHire Initiative scholarships that will provide women and people of
color with job training to meet employers growing demand for a workforce
educated in technology skills.
$92,000
for enhancing the Urban Scholars program, which provides public-sector
professional internships for college students from diverse racial and ethnic
backgrounds.
$200,000
in funding for the Fire Department to implement innovative new programs to get
youth and high school students of diverse background into pipelines that
transition to jobs in the EMT and firefighter fields.
$305,000
for additional and accelerated implicit bias, procedural justice, and
crisis-intervention training for Minneapolis Police officers.
$140,000
for municipal criminal-justice reform.
$200,000
in supplemental funding for the presidential election to prevent long lines and
voter confusion, ensuring everyone is afforded the right to vote.
Funding
for 4 new construction and 6 new housing inspectors.
Ongoing
funding for the first-in-the-nation Clean Energy Partnership that will expand
its ability to execute the 2016 work plan and meet goals to decrease greenhouse
gas emissions in Minneapolis.
It’s still easy to buy local produce, as the season for winter farmers markets is in full swing! Linden Hills Farmers Market is hosting a Holiday Market every Sunday through December 20. Fulton Famers Market (in conjunction with Kingfield and Nokomis) will be hosting monthly winter markets from January to March. For more details about these, as well as several other winter markets throughout the city, see here.
Local produce is nutritious and affordable. Buying food directly at a farmers market strengthens the community between the farmer and the eater, and it supports the regional economy by allowing the local farmer to keep 80-90 cents per dollar of sales. Many of the markets accept “electronic benefits transfer” (EBT) cards as payment to give residents on federal food assistance easier access to fresh, healthy food.
Check out Homegrown Minneapolis for more ways to get healthy, local food on the table. Homegrown Minneapolis is a citywide initiative expanding our community’s ability to grow, process, distribute, eat and compost more healthy, sustainable, locally grown foods.
This morning, the City Council approved an amendment to the zoning code to better align overnight shelters with City policies. I was proud to support it, as it allows more opportunities for creating shelters throughout the city and should result in a reduced concentration of shelters in certain neighborhoods.
Current zoning code regulations
severely restrict the establishment of new overnight shelters, creating a
shortage of shelter beds and a concentration of shelter facilities in a small
area of the city. The needs of the city’s homeless population are largely being
provided accessory to existing religious institutions, which were not
originally designed to provide shelter and habitable conditions for people on
an ongoing basis.
City staff conducted extensive
peer research on best practices in our region and around the United States and engaged other City departments to explore the potential impacts of the
proposed amendment. Staff conducted two community meetings in June and July to
seek feedback on ways to improve the existing ordinances before preparing draft
language for the zoning code text amendment.
[Note: portions of this article appeared in my November newsletter. However, the link to the project webpage did not work for all recipients. The full address is listed below. I apologize for any confusion or difficulty in submitting your comments.]
The City of Minneapolis is
undertaking a rezoning study to implement the land use guidance from the Linden
Hills Small Area Plan. On December 13, 2013 the City Council adopted the Linden
Hills Small Area Plan; the next step after adoption is implementation. The
scope of the rezoning study has two major components: Implementing land use map
refinements identified in the future land use map on page 41 of the plan, and
revisiting the language of the existing Linden Hills Overlay District to be
more in line with the City’s Pedestrian Overlay District per the discussion on
page 37 and recommendations on page 39 of the plan.
The 45-day
public comment period began on the day of the Rezoning Study Open House on
November 4 and will end on December 19, 2015. Following the public comment period City staff will
consider revisions to the draft staff recommendations for the rezoning. The
City Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the final
recommendations for the rezoning on Monday, January 25, 2016. The Minneapolis
City Council will consider the recommendations for the rezoning at its February
12, 2016 meeting.
CPED attended the Linden
Hills Neighborhood Council's Board Meeting on December 1st to
discuss the rezoning study and the draft staff recommendations. At that meeting
CPED staff provided a handout that gives more detail on:
The Linden Hills
Overlay District and the Proposed Linden Hills Area Pedestrian Oriented Overlay
Distric
Implementing the
Linden Hills Small Area Plan Guidance that Guided Future Land Use of Three
Areas to Medium Density Residential
This handout is now posted
on the project webpage.
The
Minneapolis Clean Energy Partnership has adopted its first set of metrics for
its first two-year work plan.
Among other things, the Partnership is tracking citywide greenhouse gas
emissions, the number of people subscribed to clean energy (like community
solar), and the number of energy efficiency improvements made to multi-unit
buildings (through a new multifamily energy efficiency program) and Home Energy
Squad visits.
Many of these metrics will be measured at the census tract level, ensuring that
efforts made to reach low-income communities and communities of color with
energy improvements can be tracked on a long-term ongoing basis.
Minneapolis is working with community partners and the EVAC (Energy Vision
Advisory Committee) to design better ways to reach all community members,
including renters, with information about energy improvement programs. We
will continue to provide updates as the Clean Energy Partnership continues its
work.
To find out more about the Clean Energy Partnership, click here.
Staying in Touch with My Office
Are you facing an issue with the City? My office is glad to try and help! Whether this means a phone call, an email conversation, or an in-person meeting (I'm happy to meet constituents in the ward!), please reach out.
Additionally, if you want to be updated about airplane noise issues, please subscribe to my airport-specific newsletter by sending an email to my aide Emily Ziring (emily.ziring@minneapolismn.gov) with the subject line "Airplane Noise Newsletter."
Have a joyous holiday season!
Yours in service,
For reasonable accommodations or alternative formats please contact the 13th Ward office at 612-673-2213, or Ken Dahler via ken.dahler@minneapolismn.gov . People who are deaf or hard of hearing can use a relay service to call 311 agents at 612-673-3000. TTY users can call 612-673-2157 or 612-673-2626.
Para asistencia 612-673-2700 • Rau kev pab 612-673-2800 • Hadii aad Caawimaad u baahantahay 612-673-3500.