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It's been a busy summer over at District 1. I've had the pleasure of attending many community events now that the weather is nice and people are vaccinated. It's been so wonderful seeing everyone's faces! However, with the Delta variant surging, unmasked events will be limited to outdoors for now. Hennepin County buildings reinstated a mask mandate for employees and visitors, including those that are vaccinated, to address these concerns are well. It's difficult to be back to masking, but I'm confident that if we maintain these policies, we'll be able to continue having in-person events.
We hope these newsletters will be a resource for staying updated on Hennepin County programs and Commissioner Lunde's work.
If you have a story from your city you'd like to share, please email staffer Anna at Anna.Schmiel@hennepin.us
Youth on library boards
My office is thrilled that our first BAR passed at last week's board meeting! This BAR established the Hennepin County Youth Advisory Committee to serve as an advisory committee to the Library Director and Library Board. Giving young people a voice on the library's board will offer participants real-world
opportunities to influence library resources, spaces, and practices to make them increasingly accessible and appealing to all youth.
Thanks so much fellow commissioners for the unanimous vote!
 Screenshot of the youth on library boards BAR.
Initial station area visualizations
For much of the spring and summer, the METRO Blue Line Extension project has been collecting community input on proposed route options. My office has been out in District 1 doing driveway talks bringing the project team to residents so they can directly hear their ideas for improvement.
The feedback received has helped the project team identify potential station locations, prepare visualizations, and fostered discussions on how the project will be integrated into your community. These visualizations show very preliminary potential designs and are meant to facilitate resident feedback. They are not final plans, and do not include detailed design elements such as landscaping.
View potential station areas and visualizations and submit your feedback for this round of comments by August 31st.
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Robbinsdale, Crystal, and Brooklyn Park visualizations are available. **please note that Brooklyn Park's designs are more detailed since they are from the previous alignment
 Robbinsdale's Bottineau Blvd/Hwy 81 before lightrail.
 Robbinsdale station area visualization; Bottineau Blvd/Hwy 81.
National Night Out
Thanks to Brooklyn Center resident Diane Sannes for inviting me to her neighborhood's National Night Out. I had a great time meeting with residents and discussing everything from the Hwy 252 construction to public safety concerns. As Chair of Public Safety, I've been working to funnel money into District 1 for violence prevention to address the recent uptick in violence crime.
I also got a chance to see Mayor Mike Elliott and Representative Samantha Vang (40B) when they stopped by. It was quite a popular spot!
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Celebrate Your Parks Day for the Hmong Community
I had a wonderful time at the Celebrate Your Parks Day for the Hmong Community! This event was organized with the help of Hennepin County Asian Connections ERG (Employee Resource Group) and Brooklyn Center Recreation.
There were 241 event attendees who were able to access healthy living resources and activities, free books and games, a vaccine clinic & more. Thanks so much to Asian Connections and all the other event organizers for the invitation and for hosting such a community-centric event.
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Adaptive Parks
 Adaptive baseball game at Northwoods Park.
In July, I got the chance to play baseball with Courage Kenny, the Minnesota Twins and the Brooklyn Park Recreation and Parks summer inclusion staff. This baseball field was funded in part by a 2012 Hennepin County Youth Sports Grant.
**REGISTER for one of the remaining Adaptive Rec Fridays at Northwoods Park.
 Commissioner Lunde (left) talks to CCX Media on funding for violence prevention in the Northwest suburbs.
Thanks Shannon Slatton of CCX Media for profiling what my office is pushing regarding funding for violence prevention at Hennepin County. With violent crime on the rise in the suburbs, increasing funding that addresses the root causes is key to stopping cycles of violence.
I wrote an Op-Ed in the Sun Post on the importance of including victims of crime in public safety discussions. I believe victims represent a disparity issue that has not been adequately addressed. According to The U.S. Department of Housing and Economic Development, “low-income people and racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately affected” by violent crime. Providing victims with resources is an important way to address cycles of trauma, which needs to be a part of our violence prevention strategies.
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STOP: Survival Through Overdose Prevention
 Image of a Hennepin County sheriff using a Deterra drug disposal bag.
The pandemic has highlighted existing healthcare issues and disparities beyond the pandemic, further stretching the capacity of our healthcare system. The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office has seen several distinct spikes in overdoses in the overdose tracking tool ODMAP since the beginning of the pandemic. In June 2020, Hennepin County Sheriff David Hutchinson announced two new strategies to combat the opioid addiction crisis specifically designed for the pandemic era:
- Mailing Deterra drug disposal bags
- Offering online naloxone trainings. To schedule an online naloxone training, send an email to drugdisposal@hennepin.us
These strategies are both part of STOP: Survival Through Overdose Prevention.
The IRS will pay half the total credit amount in advance monthly payments beginning July 15. You will claim the other half when you file your 2021 income tax return. These changes apply to tax year 2021 only.
To qualify for advance Child Tax Credit payments, you — and your spouse, if you filed a joint return — must have filed a 2019 or 2020 tax return and claimed the Child Tax Credit on the return.
**Questions? Call 1-800-829-1040
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Contact us
Jeffrey Lunde
Commissioner, 1st District
612-348-7881
Vicky Soukaseum
Policy Aide
612-348-5206
Anna Schmiel
Policy and Communications Aide
612-348-5202
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