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Registration is now open for the 4th annual Community
Connections Conference being held on Saturday, April 2nd from
8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Click here to REGISTER now!
The conference theme - Big Ideas: Your Minneapolis –
invites you to join neighbors, community members, non-profit organizations,
business leaders, and members of Minneapolis’ design community, developers and
City and elected officials to think BIG about the future of Minneapolis.
The conference features three tracks:
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Your
City: The Community
Connections Conference will be the kick-off for Minneapolis 2040, a three-year
planning process for the City’s Comprehensive Plan. Minneapolis 2040 will be
the City’s twenty-year vision to direct the logical and coordinated physical
development of the city into the future. Learn about the Comprehensive Plan
process and participate in discussions on the big ideas for the direction of
the city on such topics as growth, equity, resiliency, economic competiveness,
and civic technology.
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Your
Neighborhood: The current neighborhood
structure of the Community Participation Program is set to end in the year
2020. This is an opportunity for neighborhood organization staff, board members
and residents to help plan a vision for the future of neighborhoods and their
role in community beyond the year 2020.
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Your
Voice: Community engagement plays a
crucial role in shaping City policy. This track will focus on how residents can
engage with City leaders, learn how to serve on City boards and commissions and
engage our cultural communities.
The conference is FREE and
lunch will be provided. Have a BIG IDEA you can’t wait to share? Share
it now by tweeting #MplsBigIdeas. Visit the conference webpage for more information.
 The One Minneapolis Fund is designed to support diverse
leadership development and community engagement in the City of Minneapolis. A
total of $182,000 is available in funding for the 2016 grant cycle.
Proposals are requested to do this work in one of two ways:
Group A Funding - Community or Cultural organizations should submit proposals
for projects that develop leaders and engage communities and result in increased
involvement in City leadership structures by diverse people. For the purpose of
this RFP, “City leadership structures” refers to City of Minneapolis boards,
commissions, neighborhood organizations, and other similar advisory or civic
engagement groups. Group A proposals may request a maximum of $15,000.
Group B Funding - Community or Cultural organizations should submit proposals
for projects that develop leaders and engage communities in specific targeted
audiences. These leaders and communities will demonstrate their leadership and
engagement by defining a specific community issue, and ways to address them
through their program.
Preferred (but not limited to) target audiences:
- Youth (ages 12-24)
- Renters
- People experiencing homelessness
- African-Americans
- American Indians
- Group B proposals may request a maximum of
$25,000.
The name “One Minneapolis” is used for the fund as a challenge to
create an inclusive community in which all people are valued, all communities
are engaged, and leadership mirrors the great diversity of our city. The One
Minneapolis Fund is facilitated by the Minneapolis Neighborhood and Community
Engagement Commission (NCEC) and is funded by the General Fund of the City of
Minneapolis budget.
Proposals are due by
April 11th. For more information and to download the full RFP,
please visit the One
Minneapolis Fund webpage.
NCR is preparing draft
revisions to the Community
Participation Program (CPP) Guidelines for the 2017-2019 funding cycle. Residents
are invited to an informational meeting to review the proposed Guidelines and
provide early input. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 29, 6:30-8:00 p.m. at the Crown
Roller Mill – 105 5th Ave. S.
Attend
the Northside Housing Fair on March 12
 The Northside Housing Fair is your one-stop shop for all
things housing related, whether you’re a renter, a homeowner, or anything in
between. The event is free, and will be held on Saturday, March 12, 10 a.m. – 3
p.m. at Lucy Craft Laney Elementary School – 3333 Penn Ave. N.
There'll be housing resources from contractors to
financing opportunities, housing organizations to renter resources, neighborhood
organizations, community groups and everything in between. Visit tons of
vendors, participate in 20-minute mini-workshops, and find answers to your
housing related questions all in one place.
If you can’t make it to the Northside Housing Fair, then
mark your calendar for the South Minneapolis Housing Fair on April 16 at the Minneapolis
Sports Center / Midtown YWCA.
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Once again, the City of Minneapolis is offering more than 1,200 three- to eight-foot trees for only $25 each. Several varieties and sizes of trees are available, including fruit trees. Ordering begins Monday, March 7 in City Council Wards 3, 4, 5, 6, and 10 and Monday, March 21 for the entire city. Trees may be picked up on May 21, 22, or 23 at the Minneapolis Impound Lot.
Get a jump-start on gardening by ordering a $59 compost bin or a $74 rain barrel for your home. (These regularly cost $105 and $139.) By using a compost bin, you can keep more than a quarter of your household waste out of the garbage while making valuable compost for your garden. Compost bins and rain barrels will be available for pick up Saturday, April 30.
The City of
Minneapolis is looking for interested stakeholders to be a part of the City
of Minneapolis Green Zones Workgroup. Green Zones are a placed-based
strategy that is grounded in community planning processes and community led
solutions to transform neighborhoods overburdened by pollution and other social
and economic stressors into healthy thriving neighborhoods. The goal of
Green Zones is to prioritize these neighborhoods to reduce pollution and to
develop new planning strategies that are both equitable and sustainable. Applications are due by
Sunday, March 13.
 The Corcoran
Neighborhood Organization is seeking a full-time community organizer. The
community organizer will develop relationships and
leadership, and help resident-leaders organize and engage with the CNO Board
and outside decision makers to support their objectives. This position requires strong
verbal and written Spanish language skills. This position is open until filled.
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 The Nokomis East
Neighborhood Association is hiring a part-time bilingual community organizer.
This position will lead the organization’s outreach and engagements
initiatives, including work with cultural communities, renters and grassroots
leadership. Complete applications are due by 5 p.m. on Friday, March 25.
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The Shingle Creek Neighborhood Association is seeking a part
time independent contractor bookkeeper. The bookkeeper will support
the SCNA board by helping the Treasurer, completing and submitting draw requests,
drafting monthly/annual reports, and submitting all necessary tax filings. This is a one year contract. A cover letter
including a resume and rates is due by Friday, March 18. |
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The Southeast Como Improvement Association
(SECIA), is seeking proposals to provide bookkeeping / accounting
services to cover fiscal year starting April 1, 2016 and help with closing
fiscal year ending March 30, 2016. The contract will be for a one year period
with the option to extend for an additional two years. All services will
require close collaboration with SECIA staff and the board’s Executive
Committee. Proposals must be received by 5 p.m. on Monday, March 28. |
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The Elections office has a number of temporary
full-time positions
available for the upcoming primary elections. Fluency in Hmong, Somali, and
Spanish is highly desirable.
Launched a year ago, the
financial transparency platform powered by OpenGov.com
gives residents and City officials unprecedented access to the City’s finances.
The powerful visualization software transforms volumes of raw financial data
into actionable insight and information, enabling better analysis and
understanding of the City’s budget.
Minneapolis residents and staff
can explore long-term budget trends and quickly drill down into specific
financial detail in an intuitive, user-friendly format. Residents can easily
answer questions such as, “what did the City spend on capital improvement
projects?” or “How has City spending on police changed over the past seven
years?” and download or share the data on social media.
Visitors to the Minneapolis platform can access the City’s
recently approved 2016 budget, compare it to previous years dating to 2008 and instantly view revenues and expenses by fund, department
and expense type on interactive graphs.
The current year's report provides insight into spending and revenues
year-to-date.
Applications are now being accepted for
a number of open boards and commissions positions that the City Council and
mayor will appoint this spring. Board and commission members in the City of
Minneapolis provide valuable insights, help shape key policy decisions and
provide community-based input into administration of services. The City is
seeking applicants with a diversity of backgrounds and experiences to
strengthen the work of the City.
Applications
will be reviewed beginning April 29. However, the positions are open
until filled. There are 55 open positions on the following 9 City boards and
commissions:
Visit
the City’s website for a list of appointment opportunities,
position descriptions and the applications.
 District 5
Representative
Term: 1st two-year term
Ward: 7
Neighborhood: Bryn Mawr
Sub-Committees: City Department Engagement Task Force, Neighborhoods 2020 and Community Connections
Conference.
Nick has
lived in Minneapolis since 2008. As a Minneapolitan he has lived in a variety
of neighborhoods including: Marcy Holmes, North Loop, Elliot Park and Downtown
East. He has served as the DMNA Board Chair for the past year. Nick’s volunteer
and professional career have included positions in both the for-profit and non-profit
sectors. Over the past seven years he has worked in the areas of nonprofit
consulting and management with an emphasis on nonprofit board of director’s
development and strategic planning. In his most recent professional positions Nick
has served as the Executive Director for the second largest home remodeling
trade association in the United States (NARI of MN), written grant proposals
and funding requests while also implementing community outreach strategic plans
targeting public, private and nonprofit organizations. Nick has a passion for
Minneapolis and intends to continue to focus his energy as a DMNA Board Member
on making Downtown Minneapolis a vibrant, safe and livable destination for
residents and visitors.
Nick also
serves on the board of directors for two other nonprofit organizations: Dress
for Success, Twin Cities and Restorative Justice Community Action, Inc.
Nick was elected to the DMNA Board in October 2012.
How
long have you been active in your community and what made you get involved in
community work?
I've
been active in the Minneapolis community since I arrived at my first Marcy
Holmes neighborhood association meeting in 2008. From my first meeting I was
hooked and I knew I wanted to continue to be a part of my neighborhood at the
time. I wanted to become involved because I saw the importance of local and
more specifically neighborhood involvement. Since my first meeting I've tried
to offer a perspective of open and transparent communication on any board or
commission that I've served on. Our boards and commissions in Minneapolis are
effective with new leadership and continued community dialogue. As a current
commissioner on the Neighborhood Community Engagement Commission my number one
priority is to find ways for neighborhood organizations to communicate
best practices and share successes and barriers to success and offer tools to
build upon the knowledge gained from both.
What
do you like most about your neighborhood or community?
As a
current resident of the Bryn Mawr neighborhood I'm regularly impressed with the
amount of community involvement I've witnessed during my time as a volunteer
with my neighborhood association. As the Chair of the Downtown
Minneapolis Neighborhood Association I've seen incredible development in
Downtown East since I was elected to the board in 2012. The DMNA looks forward
to building more engagement in Downtown West and with a motivated board focused
on impact in the coming year - I expect a great deal of success.
Do
you have any tips for residents interested in running for neighborhood boards
and/or City boards and commissions?
The
most important tip is to attend a meeting of the board or commission before you
apply. It's important to learn about the culture of the board or commission to
make sure that it's a good fit for your personality. The process of becoming a
part of a board or commission can seem messy, hard to navigate and sometimes
frustrating but the end result of being a part of the process will be that your
voice and community's voice will be heard by decision makers in the city of
Minneapolis.
The
“Meet a Commissioner” series of the monthly Minneapolis Connects newsletter is
intended for readers to get to know representatives of the Neighborhood and
Community Engagement Commission (NCEC). The NCEC is a 16 member board. Seven
members are appointed by the City Council and Mayor, one member is appointed by
the Park Board and eight members are elected by neighborhood organizations.
The
purpose of the Commission is to advise the Mayor and City Council on a wide range
of community engagement issues. The NCEC is responsible for developing
guidelines for the City’s principal neighborhood funding program, the Community
Participation Program, as well as the One Minneapolis Fund and the Community
Innovation Fund. The Commission also works to broaden participation on advisory
boards and commissions and develops recommendations for improving the City’s
public participation process.
The
Commission meets every 4th Tuesday of the month at 5:00p.m. Learn
more about the Commission.
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