Great dialogue and a great discussion. And though I do appreciate the Kudos from Dennis, I have to put the reason for the success I've had in Jordan right back on the residents as well as the people who work with us. All of it comes down to team efforts.
And while the "Hood" may be utilized as "containment zones" they are not hostage zones, the way to change them is by taking a stand and working to make a difference. We had an incident recently where one of the residents in Jordan noticed drug activity at a specific house and passed that along to me along with license plates. I've spoken with Inspections, the 4th Precinct, Probations and even the Hennepin County Attorney's office who's dealt with the problem owner before, and each part of the team is watching and doing their part to make certain if this person even sneezes wrong that they are shut down. Every situation doesn't work like this, but the point is that this started from one resident taking a stand and saying "this will not happen here". Jordan, Hawthorne, Phillips and others are not Eagan or Edina, they have a lot of challenges, but they have even more people who make these neighborhoods their home and who make the effort to get involved everyday and make a change. Dennis Plante who fearlessly watches out for activity and calls the cops or walks up to the people himself and tells them that it's unacceptable activity is joined by Dennis Wagner who takes down license plates on his walk and at least once a month writes to the Governor to dramatize the situation in Jordan, who is joined by Dottie Titus, who brings in neighborhood kids and teaches them how to bake cookies, allowing them to take the fruits of their labor home as she logs licenses and descriptions, who is joined by James Kpoto who has one of the most active Block clubs in the city and knows all his neighbors. And in conjunction, we've got great people working in Inspections, Probations, the City Attorney's Office, and the 4th Precinct who are brought together by Council Member Barb Johnson at the Fourth Ward Care Task Force to address problems on all fronts. We've got Don Samuels who lives in the heart of this and confronts the problems on a policy levl in office and on a personal level at home. We've got Reps Mullery and Ellison and Senator Higgins working to address laws that make the legal changes to the process. Every one of these people is part of the team and everyone refuses to stand idly by when they can make a difference. With apologies to Billy Joel, we didn't start the fire, but we're the ones to put it out. Should we have the problems? I think no on many levels. Should we have to put it out? Yes. That's what responsible civic engagement is about. Being involved, taking a stand and doing whatever you can and whatever needs to be done to get the job done. Yes it may seem like an uphill battle, but I and many other people from Jordan and other neighborhoods refuse to be held hostage in our communities, and that's what makes the difference and the change. Change is never easy, but if you really want it, it's possible, you just have to be willing to do what you need to do to make it happen. Jonathan Palmer working in Jordan, living in Victory "Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they are yours." ~Richard Bach, "Illusions" REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
