We are excited to announce a new addition to our staff team in the Ward 8 Office! Zoë Bourgerie joins our office after 2 years of invaluable experience as an Urban Scholar in government, including Minneapolis City Council and Hennepin County. Zoë’s background is in Geography and Public Health.
After spending the 2018 legislative session doing advocacy work at the Capitol, Zoë’s passion for public policy and local governance began to take shape. Zoë is excited to work as the Policy Associate and first point of contact for the Ward 8 Office. Zoë looks forward to connecting Ward 8 constituents to their Council Member and other City services.
Zoë’s onboarding is part of a staff transition in the Ward 8 office. In late September we bade farewell to Sara Lopez on her exciting new journey as Political Director for SEIU Local 26. Deebaa Sirdar was promoted to become the new Ward 8 Senior Policy Aide. We look forward to continuing to serve Ward 8 as a new team!
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The City Council passed a measure suspending
procurement rules to expedite the creation of the temporary Navigation Center
for people currently living at the Franklin/Hiawatha homeless encampment.
The measure under Minnesota State Statute 12.37 allows the City to provide emergency aid in a timely manner
unencumbered by bidding and procurement regulations. The Council also passed a
motion establishing a City work group on the encampment seeking participation
from Hennepin County leadership.
The City Council recently approved
a site at 2109 Cedar Ave. for the Navigation Center, which will provide a safe
and service-rich environment for people at the encampment who face challenges
connecting to traditional shelter housing. The site includes parcels owned by
the Red Lake Nation and the City.
Hennepin County, nonprofit
partners and community will take the lead on developing and implementing
services at the Navigation Center with support from the City. The goal is to
have the Navigation Center open early December.
City staff have been directed to
report back on the progress of the Navigation Center on Oct. 24 to the
Council’s Housing Policy and Development Committee.
The
City of Minneapolis has released the final draft of its 2040 Comprehensive Plan, a
holistic document that will guide the city’s development over the next 20
years. The Planning Commission and City Council will review the draft and seek
additional community input this fall, with final adoption expected in December
2018.
The Comprehensive Plan is based on 14 goals
adopted by the City Council, including reducing disparities, providing access
to affordable housing and living-wage jobs, creating a sustainable community,
and remaining a healthy and diverse economic center. The final draft of the
plan is the product of a two-year engagement process and integrates more than
10,000 public comments collected during a robust, four-month community
engagement period. The City made significant changes to the plan in response to
public input, which are shown in the marked-up version of the plan available at
minneapolis2040.com.
Highlights of changes:
- The updated draft plan addresses many
comments that expressed a lack of clarity in the first draft. The final
draft attempts to clarify these provisions, define terms and better
organize some sections to create a more understandable document. For example,
the City clarified the definition of the acronym AMI (Area Median Income),
which was used several times throughout the plan without explanation.
- It reduces the number of units allowable
on a single-family lot to three following further analysis. These
multi-unit buildings will need to fit within the setback, height, massing,
and other requirements of single-family homes. The plan also recommends
increasing design quality standards when the zoning code is updated. This
change to the draft plan acknowledges physical constraints identified
during the public comment period, while still accommodating the need for
increased housing choice throughout the city.
- It addresses concerns raised about
building heights along main high-frequency transit corridors. Two major
changes include revisions for the areas north of Lowry Avenue and south of
38th Street. The plan was changed from allowing up to six-story buildings
on main commercial corridors to allowing only four-story buildings. A
major change was also made for the side of interior streets adjacent to
those transit corridors (essentially buildings across the alley). The
change will now allow two-and-half story buildings and not three stories
as previously proposed.
- It responds to the need for more detail
in the affordable housing chapter, which now is edited to align with
citywide efforts to develop a strategic plan to create more affordable
housing. The chapter now includes an enhanced narrative outlining the need
for both additional housing supply and affordable housing, more
definitions, and additional charts and action steps pertaining to
affordable housing production, preservation and homelessness issues.
Public comments can be
submitted to the Planning Commission and City Council online at minneapolis2040.com. The interactive website
provides opportunities to view either a marked-up or clean version of the plan
segmented by topics. A clean version of the plan is available for download as a
PDF document.
Next steps
The Planning Commission will
hold a public hearing Oct. 29, and the City Council will also hold a public
hearing the week of Nov. 12. The City Council is expected to vote on the
Comprehensive Plan in December before submitting the plan to the Metropolitan
Council.
Early Voting has begun and there are 3 ways to participate:
1. Vote-By-Mail
Vote-By-Mail (VBM) allows voters to cast their ballots from any
location with the same security protections, but without the hassles and
pressures associated with the narrow window of time on Election Day. VBM
enables active military service members and their families, voters who are
overseas and/or away from home on Election Day, and anyone who otherwise cannot
cast a ballot at the polls on Election Day to participate.
Details on VBM are available on the EVS
website; instructions, tools to track your ballot, helpful hints, etc.
There is also a video that provides step-by-step guidance on how to complete a
VBM absentee ballot. You can access that video here.
Any voter wishing to participate in VBM can request an Absentee Ballot
Application through one of the following methods:
In-Person:
Elections & Voter Services – Room 201, Minneapolis City Hall
50 South Fifth Street, Minneapolis, MN 55415
Email: minneapolisabsentee@minneapolismn.gov
Fax: 612-673-2756
Online: Applications can be completed
online through the Secretary of State here
NOTE: Applications are available in 11 different
languages on the EVS website.
2. Early In-Person – Early Vote Center
Early Voting (In-Person absentee balloting) gives voters the option of
casting their ballot prior to Election Day and this is primarily operated from
the City’s Downtown Early Vote Center
located at 217 S. Third Street, one block northwest of City Hall.
There, voters can receive their ballot as well as assistance in accessing and
marking their ballot from election judges. As in years past, the service hours
for in-person voting will be expanded during the final two weeks before
Election Day and include weekend hours.
More details on in-person voting and the service hours can be found on
the Elections website here.
Important note: The Downtown Early Voter Center is the only site
open the full 46 days of Early Voting
3. Direct Balloting
Direct balloting allows a voter to cast their ballot at the Early Vote
Center in the exact same manner as at the polls on Election Day, with the same
securities and protections, just earlier. In direct balloting, the voter
completes the ballot and puts it directly into the tabulator and have it
processed and counted right then – the exact same experience for voters at the
polls on Election Day. Direct ballot is authorized during the final seven days
immediately prior to Election Day, which begins Tuesday, October 30 and
runs through Monday, November 5.
Minneapolis will be opening 3 additional Early Vote Centers during the direct balloting period to
maximize convenient access to all voters throughout the community. More details
on these locations can be found later through the elections website. The EVS website
will be updated to provide site-specific details about each of the Early Vote
Centers, including details on service hours, transportation and parking
options, and similar matters.
Here are the locations:
Downtown EVC
217 S. Third Street
North EVC
Urban League
2100 Plymouth Avenue North
East EVC
University of Minnesota – Fieldhouse
1800 University Avenue SE
South EVC
Regents Assembly Church
810 W. 31st Street
The Society of Women Engineers Presents: Invent it. Build it. An engineering experience for middle and high school girls, parents and educators that will take place on Saturday, October 20th, 2018. The Expo takes place from 9 am to 12 pm. After there are programmed sessions for middle school and high school aged girls and their parents. Registration is required for attendance, register here. Financial assistance is also provided for those who cannot afford it.
Election judges are needed for the general election on Nov. 6 to serve
voters in local polling places. Election judges are paid $15.75 per hour for
their service, which includes training. Judges who are fluent in a second
language – including Spanish, Somali, Hmong, Oromo, Lao, Vietnamese, Russian
and American Sign Language – are especially needed to provide additional
language support in the polling place.
Selection and placement of judges is based on qualifications of
applicants and political party balance within the precinct. Preference will be
given to those willing to serve a full day in a precinct with a vacancy.
The Minneapolis Elections &
Voter Services Division is responsible for administering elections in the City
of Minneapolis. For information about registering and voting in Minneapolis or
to serve as an election judge, visit vote.minneapolismn.gov or call 311 or 612-673-3000.
The U.S. Census Bureau is currently hiring throughout Hennepin County
to support the 2020 census. The U.S. census creates hundreds of jobs every 10
years in Minnesota. If you or someone you know is looking for a job and wants
to make a positive impact on Minneapolis, please encourage them to apply at the
Census Bureau's online job portal: 2020census.gov/jobs.
An accurate count of the state's population is crucial for all of us in
Minneapolis. U.S. census information determines the political and financial
resources available to our communities. U.S. census data determines how many
residents live in Minneapolis, which in turn determines funding for public
programs such as:
- Public schools
- Health care
- Transportation
2020 census data will also determine how many people will represent you
in Washington, D.C., the state capitol and in Minneapolis City Hall.
Government, nonprofits and businesses also use U.S. census data to make public
policy decisions.
The City of Minneapolis Health Department is an initial endorser of the
Global Climate and Health Forum’s Call to Action on Climate and Health.
Commitments include efforts by hospitals, doctors, nurses and health
professionals to take meaningful action to protect public health from climate
change. Among these were more than 176 health care institutions representing
17,000 hospitals and health centers in 26 countries that are committing to
reduce their carbon emissions by more than 16 million metric tons a year, the
equivalent of shutting down four coal-fired power plants. More than 1,200 of
these hospitals are also committing to use only 100 percent renewable
electricity to power health.
The forum’s call to action outlines 10 priority actions that will
significantly protect lives and improve people’s health in the era of climate
change:
- Meet and strengthen the commitments under
the Paris Agreement.
- Transition away from the use of coal, oil
and natural gas to clean, safe and renewable energy.
- Transition to zero-carbon transportation
systems with an emphasis on active transportation.
- Build local, healthy and sustainable food
and agricultural systems.
- Invest in policies that support a just
transition for workers and communities adversely impacted by the move to a
low-carbon economy.
- Ensure that gender equality is central to
climate action.
- Raise the health sector voice in the call
for climate action.
- Incorporate climate solutions into all
health care and public health systems.
- Build resilient communities in the face of
climate change.
- Invest in climate and health.
Climate change threatens to undo decades of health and development
gains. Extreme heat and weather events caused thousands of deaths and displaced
more than 200 million people between 2008 and 2015. Air pollution, whose
primary driver — fossil fuel combustion — is also the primary driver of climate
change, caused more than 7 million deaths in 2016. The agricultural, food, and
water systems we depend on for our survival are under threat; and the frequency
and severity of droughts, floods, and fires are increasing.
Climate action in the energy, transportation, land use, agricultural
and other sectors would avoid millions of preventable deaths each year.
Shifting to renewable energy, sustainable food production and diets, active
transportation and green cities will lower climate pollution and reduce the
incidence of communicable and non-communicable disease, improve mental health,
and bring significant health care cost savings.
Find more information at www.globalclimateandhealthforum.org.
Adults must now be at least 21 to buy tobacco products in Minneapolis.
Minneapolis raised the age from 18 to help protect younger generations from
lifelong nicotine addiction, tobacco-related illnesses, and the tobacco-related
health disparities between white populations and people of color.
Research shows raising the age to buy tobacco will keep an estimated
30,000 young people from starting to smoke over a 15-year period in Minnesota.
Almost all adult smokers – 95 percent – started smoking before age 21, and
nicotine is addictive. If people don’t start smoking by age 21, there’s a good
chance they won’t start at all.
Tobacco use is one of the main causes of death in the U.S. and in
Minnesota. In Hennepin County, one in seven adult deaths is attributed to
smoking. The nicotine in tobacco products can also harm adolescent brain
development.
Minneapolis joined more than 340 cities nationwide in raising the
tobacco sales age to 21. Ten other Minnesota cities have raised the tobacco
sales age to 21: Bloomington, Edina, Falcon Heights, North Mankato, Plymouth,
Richfield, Roseville, Shoreview, St. Louis Park and Saint Peter. Some states
have also raised the minimum age to 21 including California, Hawaii, Oregon,
Maine, Massachusetts and New Jersey.
Xcel Energy is upgrading all 24,000 of its streetlights in Minneapolis
to LEDs by the end of the year. You can expect to see its crews installing the
lights throughout the city on the Xcel Energy-owned wooden poles, mainly along
alleys and side streets.
LED fixtures use about half the electricity of the existing lights and
have a longer life, which means less maintenance, lower costs and fewer
replacements.
There are no costs to Minneapolis for the streetlight replacements. For
more information or if you have concerns about the new lighting call Xcel
Energy’s Customer Care at 1-800-895-4999.
What: Public Works
information session
When: 3-5 p.m., Thursday,
Oct. 18
Where: Sabathani, 310 E.
38th St.
The Public Works trainee programs are helping the department change the
face of its workforce to better reflect the community it serves. Public Works
is hiring for service worker positions and for service worker trainee
positions. See the required qualifications and experience here.
Public Works is accepting applications throughout October for the 2019
trainee programs. Trainees perform manual labor to support construction and
maintenance work while also learning the fundamentals of the construction
industry and how to drive and operate Public Works equipment. Through the
course of the program, they earn their Class B commercial driver’s licenses or
their water supply systems operator certifications.
Applicants can attend an information session or apply online at www.minneapolismn.gov/jobs.
On Tuesday, Oct. 23, Minneapolis
Public Works will begin the big task of curb-to-curb sweeping and leaf
collection on streets throughout the city. During the four weeks of the
comprehensive fall street sweep, crews will clean about 1,000 miles of city
streets. To make sure crews can do the best job possible, temporary “No
Parking” signs will be posted at least 24 hours in advance so streets will be
clear of cars when they’re swept. Anyone who parks on the street will need to
follow posted parking rules or their cars may be ticketed and towed.
Ways to stay informed of the parking rules:
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"No Parking” signs – City crews will post “No
Parking” signs at least 24 hours before sweeping any streets. Parking will
be banned from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on the day a street is swept. The “No
Parking” signs will be removed as soon as possible after a street has been
completely swept to allow people to resume parking. Vehicles not in
compliance with “No Parking” signs may be ticketed and towed to the
Minneapolis Impound Lot.
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Social media – The City will use Facebook and Twitter to post
periodic street sweeping updates and information.
- Facebook: To “like” the City of Minneapolis Facebook
page, go to www.facebook.com/cityofminneapolis.
- Twitter: To follow the City’s Twitter account, go to
www.twitter.com/CityMinneapolis.
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Phone calls to residents – In addition to the
“No Parking” signs that will be posted the day before sweepers come
through, the City will make about 3,000 automated phone calls each evening
to let residents know their street will be swept the next day. There’s no
guarantee that the calls will reach everyone, so residents should be sure
to check the various ways to be aware of the rules, and watch for signs.
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Interactive web feature – Folks can use a
feature on the City’s website to find out when the sweepers are coming
through their neighborhoods. The tool is available at www.minneapolismn.gov/streetsweeping.
The fall street sweep takes four weeks, and visitors to the website will
be able to find out which week their street is scheduled to be swept.
-
Videos – There are street sweeping videos explained in English,
Hmong,
Somali
and Spanish
as part of the City’s “Did you know...” series of short videos.
Upcoming I-35W overnight closures
I-35W: Both directions closed 10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 19 to 5 a.m. Oct. 22 for
a traffic switch. The detour route is WB Hwy 62 to NB Hwy 100 to EB I-394 to EB
I-94.
I-35 Closed both directions Nov. 2-5 from I-94 to Highway
62. This is to demolish the 28th Street bridge. The detour route is WB Hwy 62
to NB Hwy 100 to EB I-394 to EB I-94.
To excavate for a retaining wall, Stevens Ave. from E. 31st
St. to E. 35th St. will be closed starting October 22, 2018, until June 22,
2019.
Get the most updated info related to the 35W@94 Downtown
to Crosstown project
- To learn more about this
project, including all current traffic impacts and detour routes, click here
to visit the MNDOT website.
- Metro Transit bus routes
will be impacted as a result of construction. For updated route
information, and to sign up for Rider Alerts, click here.
- Follow MNDOT on Facebook
at facebook.com/mndot and
Twitter: @mndotnews
- Email the MNDOT project
team at: info@35w94.com
- Call the
project MNDOT hotline at: 612-284-6125
For real-time travel information anywhere in Minnesota
visit http://www.511mn.org/ or
dial 5-1-1.
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