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Minneapolis council candidate guilty of disorderly conduct at Pittsburgh protest

Chris Steller — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:57:05 +0000

Minneapolis City Council candidate Melissa Hill says she’ll likely appeal a Pittsburgh court’s ruling today that her conduct last month during a political demonstration was disorderly.

An appeal would mean another return trip to the city, an expensive proposition that already has cramped her campaigning style in the final weeks before the Nov. 3 election. Hill was set to fly in and out of Pittsburgh today so she could be back in Minneapolis for a Ward Three candidate debate Thursday at the University of Minnesota.

Pittsburgh was the site of a September meeting of leaders from the G-20 group of nations that drew sizable street protests — protests that Hill says she was only trying to cover as a journalist for Indymedia when police arrested her, damaged her camera and confiscated a video cassette.

Hill is on the Minneapolis ballot as a “Civil Disobedience” candidate. She was also arrested outside the Rage Against the Machine concert in downtown Minneapolis during the 2008 Republican National Convention (charges were dropped), and has coordinated several “End the Fed” demonstrations at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank.

Ward Five challengers target Samuels at lively debate

Paul Demko — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:06:57 +0000

Natalie Johnson Lee (right) speaks at the Ward Five candidates' debate in Minneapolis. Photo: Paul Demko

Minneapolis City Council debates are generally polite, drowsy affairs. But Ward Five has a reputation for boisterous, even unruly, political discourse.

That might explain why more than 100 people showed up at the Capri Theater on Tuesday night to watch the five city council candidates debate the issues. Among those in the audience: state Rep. Bobby Joe Champion, Ward Four city council candidate Marcus Harcus and mayoral challenger Al Flowers.

Despite Ward Five’s reputation for fiery political rhetoric, the debate was generally civil and issues oriented. The focus was primarily on bread-and-butter concerns: crime, economic development, education and taxes.

“Change” was a theme frequently invoked by the four challengers. “We need a change in leadership,” said Kenya McKnight, a first-time candidate who is running as a Democrat. “You can’t get change if you keep re-electing the same people to the same offices.”

But incumbent Don Samuels, who is the DFL-endorsed candidate, insisted that the North Minneapolis ward has been well served by his leadership, citing a dramatic reduction in homicides in the area as evidence. “In the worst of times, with the economy being as bad as it has ever been since the Great Depression,” he said, “it is hard to believe that North Minneapolis continues to see growth and development and reduction in crime.”

Lennie Chism, who is also running as a Democrat, was easily the most aggressive in challenging Samuels. He repeatedly assailed the incumbent for his purported shortcomings. In response to a question about the achievement gap for minority students in Minneapolis’ public schools, for instance, Chism invoked the incumbent’s controversial remark in 2007 about wanting to “burn down” North High School.

“I’m of the belief that if I said I wanted to burn down Eden Prairie or Wayzata or any of those places, I would have to go,” Chism said. “Our community is being told that we should not even have a building.”

He then resorted to a naked appeal to North Side pride. “We won a couple championships with North High,” he said. “It is the pride of our community.”

Samuels acknowledged regret for the statement. “I think I’ve apologized over and over for that statement,” he said. But he went on to argue that his rhetorical gaffe is being used as an excuse to not seriously address the achievement gap.

“I am passionate about the young people in our community,” Samuels said. “If they’re not learning, we as adults are failing them. And we must stop the nonsense now!”

Police misconduct was a topic that came up often. McKnight suggested that the city’s budget woes wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t repeatedly paying out money to settle civil-rights lawsuits. “The residents of North Minneapolis feel like there’s a shakedown,” she said.

McKnight also came up with a novel answer to the question of whether police chief Tim Dolan should be retained. She called for the return of the prior chief, William McManus. Of course, McManus left his post in Minneapolis three years ago to helm the police department in San Antonio and isn’t likely looking to get his old job back.

It’s often been suggested in recent years that the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department be eliminated and that the state take over responsibility for investigating discrimination claims. But that cost-saving proposal didn’t find much support from the Ward Five candidates.

“Once you get to the Capitol you’re lost,” said Natalie Johnson Lee, another Democratic challenger. “We need to make sure that it remains right here in the city so that our neighborhoods can access it.”

Johnson Lee previously held the city council post, but lost to Samuels four years ago. She argued that the area’s residents were better served when she was at City Hall.

“After watching and seeing and observing, I had no choice but to put my hat in the ring to go back,” she said. “We need good representation for the city of Minneapolis. We need people who are compassionate for the people.”

Roberst Smithrud, who is running with support from the Republican and Independence parties, struggled to communicate his message. In response to a question about rising property taxes and declining property values, he spun himself into rhetorical collapse.

“Sorry, I’m not as prepared for this question as I thought I was,” he acknowledged. “I’m thinking that the best thing is to try and cut our expenses as best we can so that we have less need for the money.”

Even well-worn political clichés failed to rescue Smithrud. “It takes a town to raise a child,” he said in response to a question about education. “Or it takes a city to raise a child. It takes a group of people. I can’t remember the old phrase.”

The audience responded with sympathetic applause.

Chism came up with the shortest answer of the night. When asked about his plans for bringing environmentally friendly policies to City Hall, he had this to say: “There isn’t but one type of green I want to bring to North Minneapolis.”

The final question of the night dealt with Minneapolis’ new instant-runoff voting system. The candidates were asked who they would recommend as their second choice. Despite the relatively civil tenor of the debate, all but one of them declined to endorse any of their rivals. Johnson Lee was the only candidate to offer support for a fellow challenger. Her second choice: McKnight.

Ward Twelve: Colvin Roy faces three challengers

Andy Birkey — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:41:17 +0000

Sandy Colvin Roy, Brent Perry, Charley Underwood and Rick Nyhlen

In Minneapolis’ southeast corner, all candidates for the city council share concerns about saving small businesses and keeping big developers in check. But beyond this agreement, the three candidates vying for the seat now held by Sandy Colvin Roy offer distinct choices for Ward 12 voters.

Brent Perry is running with the backing of Socialist Action, “a nation-wide group of revolutionary socialists.”

“Capitalism has failed,” reads Perry’s campaign website. “You may be asking how much one city council member in one city can accomplish toward ending the global system of capitalism… [R]efusing to vote for the ruling class’s candidates, and instead voting for socialist candidates is a blow to the capitalist system.”

Perry says this election presents a good opportunity for a socialist. “Because of the economic recession, people are taking more of an interest in economic forms other than capitalism,” he tells the Minnesota Independent. “This election looked like a good opportunity to advance our politics.”

The advent of Instant Runoff Voting also prompted him to run. “The DFL often goes unchallenged in Minneapolis so I hope to use the opportunity of instant runoff voting to introduce people to a third party.”

But he also says that economic issues facing the people of the city are important, citing the high foreclosure and unemployment rates.

“Police brutality continues to be a problem,” adds Perry. “And I will seek justice for Fong Lee.” Fong Lee was shot to death by police on the city’s north side. Family members say he was unarmed at the time.

“To see that police corruption, one only has to look to the Metro Gang Strike Force,” he says.

Staunch capitalist Rick Nyhlen, running as an independent with the backings of the Republican Party and the Independence Party, offers a stark contrast.

He’s “concerned that Minneapolis is all for big business contractors, leaving the small businesses and citizens who care for our city with higher taxes and poorer services. Small business owners must be able to afford operating in our neighborhoods.”

He calls for transparency and an audit of city finances. “The questions, concerns and needs of Ward 12 residents are going unanswered. I will truly serve the people who get me elected,” he says.

As a general concern, Nyhlen says that the city cannot push road and bridge projects back in order to balance the budget. “These are basic public needs which need to be kept up,” he says. “Saving money now by not repairing them will cost us more later.”

He also says property taxes need to be kept low. “6.6 percent per year is too much without clear answers as to where it is going,” he says. “State cuts to Minneapolis, while not good for the city, are nowhere near 6.6 percent per year.”

Charley Underwood, a local peace activist who’s running as an unendorsed DFL candidate, also believes that the city budget needs some work.

“The city is broke,” he says, and the burden is shifting in the wrong direction, through tools like inspection fees and assessments.

“It’s driving local businesses out of business, and people are getting taxed out of their homes,” he says.

He also says the city is moving too far away from neighborhood control, and he opposes abolishing the Board of Estimate and Taxation and the Park Board. He characterizes both issues as ways of hiding city problems from the public view.

“The shifting of the Neighborhood Revitalization Program out of neighborhoods is an example,” he says. “It’s designed to hide just how bad things are getting in our neighborhoods because it provides for less of a voice at the local level.”

He continues, “People at the city can make cuts and those consequences wouldn’t be immediately known.”

He decries the defunding of other neighborhood programs such as the McGruff houses and the Citizens Emergency Response Teams. “All of the things that would empower neighborhoods are going by the wayside and I am very concerned about that.”

He says city funds for stadiums and huge tax breaks for big developers are wrong for the city and that’s why he wants a seat on the council. “Somebody needs to be there to say, ‘Where are your priorities?’ Why are we giving money to big developers when our neighbors need help?”

Underwood praised Instant Runoff Voting. “I think it’s going to be very good not only for the city but also the state of Minnesota. I really hope it spreads.”

Plus, he hopes for more civil elections as a result: “It doesn’t pay to be nasty during campaigns with IRV.”

Incumbent DFLer Sandy Colvin Roy says property taxes are her number-one concern. She says she repeatedly hears from residents about their fear that continuing tax increases “will force them out of this city.”

A large portion of the city’s only light rail line runs through the heart of the ward, and upgrades are needed to handle vehicle traffic around the line, she says. “We do have a major problem with traffic crossing Hiawatha Avenue, due to signal changes for LRT that were not accompanied by the necessary investment in upgraded equipment when the LRT project was built.”

And, as other candidates have mentioned, development in the ward is a key issue. “Development, when the economy returns, must be managed to fit the community’s vision of itself as well as the property owners’ goals,” says Colvin Roy.

Colvin Roy says that voters should return her to the council because of her experience with the budget and her plans to create more jobs.

“My experience with the budget, both how to put it together to match our community’s values and then how to stick with the plan during the many decisions that are made week after week, will be crucial to bringing down taxes,” she says.

Employment is another issue for Colvin Roy “I am also committed to creating more jobs in the city,” she says. “Two methods are tying jobs for local residents to city assistance for development, something already done successfully several times, and matching local job training to emerging green-energy technologies.”

She says she has been working to educate constituents on Instant Runoff Voting so voters will know what to expect and that electoral success under the new system is the same as the old. “[It] still rests primarily on communication with voters through months of door-knocking and conversations, on door steps and at community events.”

Colvin Roy leads the money race, having raised $11,170 by the pre-primary deadline. Perry raised $288.21 and Nyhlen, $273.05. Underwood hadn’t raise anything, but had $4,657.32 on hand.

This is the twelfth in a 13-part series on Minneapolis City Council races.

The full series:

Ward One: Five seek open seat in northeast Minneapolis
Ward Two: Gordon, Aigbogun and … no DFLer
Ward Three: Hofstede tries to hold off four challengers
Ward Four: Trio of challengers take on political dynasty
Ward Five: Crime and economic development dominate North Side race
Ward Six: South Minneapolis contest draws crowded field of contenders
Ward Seven: Despite full campaign coffers, lawsuit clouds Goodman’s prospects
Ward Eight: Glidden faces four rivals in south Minneapolis
Ward Nine: Schiff, Bicking vie again
Ward Ten: Four candidates vie for Uptown council seat
Ward Eleven: Three vie for Benson’s South Minneapolis seat
Ward Twelve: Colvin Roy faces three challengers
Ward Thirteen: The independent ward could see fireworks in November

Obama nominates MPD’s Lubinski for U.S. Marshal

Andy Birkey — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:33:56 +0000

The White House announced Tuesday that President Obama has nominated Sharon Lubinski, Minneapolis’ Assistant Chief of Police, as the U.S. Marshal for the District of Minnesota. Lubinski is also one of the first — if not the first — openly gay person to be nominated for the position.

The U.S. Marshals Service is charged with protecting the 94 United States District Courts. Lubinski will be in charge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota if approved by the U.S. Senate later this year.

Lubinski is openly lesbian and has served in law enforcement for more than 30 years and is one of the highest ranking LGBT members of law enforcement in the country.

If confirmed, Lubinski would also be the second female U.S. Marshal currently serving in that capacity and would be the 13th female Marshal in U.S. history.

President Obama praised Lubinski in a press release Tuesday afternoon. “Assistant Chief Lubinski has dedicated her career to the noble cause of protecting her fellow Americans. She has displayed exceptional courage in the pursuit of justice, and I am honored to nominate her today to continue her selfless work as a U.S. Marshal for the District of Minnesota.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar recommended Lubinksi earlier this summer. She wrote:

Sharon Lubinski’s mix of experience managing a large, urban police department and working in a more rural sheriff’s office sets her apart and makes her uniquely qualified to serve in this new role. During my eight years as Hennepin County Attorney, I had the opportunity to work with Sharon on an almost daily basis. I observed firsthand the strength of her leadership abilities and the respect she commands from people at every level of law enforcement and in the larger community.

According to her bio, Lubinski has served in the Minneapolis Police Department for 20 years and has held a command post for 10 years. She started her law enforcement career as a member of the force at the Dane County Sheriff’s Department in Madison, Wis., and she is a member of the faculty at Metropolitan State University School of Criminal Justice.

Ward Four: Trio of challengers take on political dynasty

Paul Demko — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:21:40 +0000

Clockwise from top left: Barbara Johnson, Marcus Harcus, Grant Cermak, Troy Parker

A member of the Rainville family has held Minneapolis’ Ward Four city council seat since the mid-1970s. First elected in 1975, Alice Rainville represented the area for more than two decades, in 1980 becoming the first woman to serve as city council president.

Barb Johnson then took over her mother’s post in 1997. Four years ago she was the only incumbent on the Minneapolis City Council not to attract a single challenger, winning re-election with 92 percent of the vote. This year, however, Johnson faces three challengers for the seat. Her opponents believe it’s time for the Rainville reign in North Minneapolis to end.

“The Fourth Ward has been represented by one family for 40 years, longer than I’ve been alive,” says Marcus Harcus, who is running as a Green Party candidate. “I respect that they’ve stood up and served the community for all these years, but the North Side needs new leadership, new faces, new ideas.”

Troy Parker is also disturbed by the political dynasty established in North Minneapolis. He initially ran (unsuccessfully) against Johnson when she first sought the seat in 1997.

“Her mom was retiring and she was the heir apparent,” Parker recalls. “I just didn’t think that was a democratic way of doing things.”

The scuttlebutt around City Hall is that Johnson is more than a little concerned about the electoral competition. But the city council president insists that a vigorous campaign is welcome.

“It really was a fluke that there was no opposition last time,” she says. “I view competition as a good thing. It makes you sharpen your message and get your information out there.”

Ward Four stretches across the northwest corner of Minneapolis and includes the neighborhoods of Shingle Creek, Folwell and Cleveland. The area encompasses blocks that are blighted by crime and abandoned houses, along with bucolic stretches that could be confused with surrounding suburbs. At the time of the 2000 census, a majority of the residents were non-white.

Grant Cermak, the third candidate challenging the incumbent, is running with the backing of both the Republican and Independence parties. Last year he took on state Rep. Joe Mullery for a seat at the Capitol, but fell well short, with 18 percent of the vote. The software engineer and small-business owner was inspired, in part, to get involved in electoral politics by the presidential campaign of Ron Paul and espouses a libertarian philosophy of municipal governance. He cites Minneapolis’ prohibition of pit bulls and restrictions on idling cars as two areas where the city has overstepped its proper authority.

“I’m very fiscally conservative,” he says. “Other than that, I kind of have a laissez-faire philosophy in terms of trying to legislate morality.”

Cermak also has concerns about civil rights abuses by police officers. He believes that the cops have been repeatedly allowed to overstep their authority without repercussions.

“I think Chief [Tim] Dolan has to go,” he says. “They haven’t been operating in a way that’s been beneficial to the community.”

Harcus is also partially motivated by police behavior. The 31-year-old says he’s been pulled over 52 times by the cops over the years, the overwhelming majority of times for no conceivable reason. In one instance, Harcus says, he was dragged to the ground and beaten with a night stick. His crime: running to catch a bus.

“My experience with police abuse compels me to pay attention to city politics,” he says.

Among the changes Harcus would like to see: subpoena power for the city’s Civilian Police Review Authority, which is charged with investigating citizen complaints against the police department. Harcus argues that Johnson is too closely aligned with the Minneapolis Police Federation and the department brass to make needed changes to police oversight.

“She’s totally biased in favor of the police,” he says. “She believes they can do no wrong.”

Johnson denies this assertion, but believes that criticism of the police is largely misguided. She notes that violent crime is down dramatically and argues that cops who misbehave are being held accountable.

“The police chief has to be vested with the authority to be strong in his discipline of officers who misbehave — and I think that’s in place,” she says. “Our chief has fired more police officers than any other chief. That doesn’t make him the federation’s poster boy.”

It’s not the first time Harcus has sought elected office. He ran for mayor in each of the last two election cycles, but garnered less than one percent of the vote in each contest. However, he insists that this election will be different.

“This time around I’m in it to win it,” he says. “The previous two times I was just running to make some noise.”

The proof of his intent: Harcus has been door-knocking in the ward since April. He estimates that he’s surveyed 800 residents about their beliefs and concerns.

Parker sought the DFL endorsement, but lost out to Johnson. He touts economic development on the North Side as a chief concern. In particular he wants to see more business growth on main corridors such as West Broadway and Lyndale avenues. Parker argues that Ward Four hasn’t gotten its fair share of tax dollars in recent years.

“The development dollars just haven’t been dispersed equally throughout the city of Minneapolis,” says Parker, who works as a pipefitter. “We can’t just lie down and allow people to take advantage of our community and our residents.”

He also believes that Johnson has failed to vigorously advocate for residents of the ward. “They just feel as though they have no representation whatsoever,” he says. “You have to give a voice to everyone in the community.”

Johnson rejects criticism that she’s out of touch with the ward and not a strong voice for her constituents at City Hall. “My roots are in that community,” she says. “I’ve lived there my whole life. I have connections all across the community, which none of the other candidates can even get near.”

This is the eleventh in a 13-part series on Minneapolis City Council races.

The full series:

Cop out: Just two Hmong officers assigned to North Minneapolis

Paul Demko — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:21:10 +0000

Photo: Minnesota Independent

On a Saturday night last month, roughly 70 Minneapolis Hmong residents gathered at Fairview Park on the city’s North Side. They were joined by Minneapolis City Council members Barb Johnson and Don Samuels, who represent the area, to discuss relations between the Minneapolis Police Department and the Hmong community.

The meeting was prompted, in part, by a recently released study by the University of Minnesota’s Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) that documents the paucity of Hmong police officers on the force. But also shadowing the meeting were several troubling incidents involving cops assigned to the MPD’s 4th Precinct and the Hmong community in recent years. In 2006, 19-year-old Fong Lee was shot eight times by an officer after fleeing police. Then in 2007, 22 shots were fired when police wrongly raided a Hmong family’s home during a botched drug raid.

“We’re a group that oftentimes doesn’t get heard from,” says Yia Yang, a community organizer with CURA who attended the meeting at Fairview Park. “But there’s really not that much trust with the Minneapolis Police Department.”

A couple of seemingly simple proposals came out of the meeting at Fairview Park. Representatives of the Hmong community wanted to sit down with Police Chief Tim Dolan and 4th Precinct Inspector Michael Martin to express their concerns. More concretely, they wanted a Hmong-speaking officer assigned to the day shift in the 4th Precinct as soon as possible.

The CURA study seemingly backs up the need for such a personnel move. At the time of the 2000 census, the most recent period for which figures are available, there were just under 10,000 Hmong residents of Minneapolis. Roughly 70 percent of those inhabitants were clustered in the 4th Precinct, which covers all of the city’s North Side.

But MPD recruitment has failed to keep up with demographic trends — a phenomenon that certainly isn’t limited to the Minneapolis force. The 900-officer agency has just eight Hmong police officers, representing less than one percent of the force.

Further troubling to members of the Hmong community is where those officers are assigned. More than half of the Hmong officers patrol the 5th Precinct in southwest Minneapolis, an area that is predominantly wealthy and white. Just 226 Hmong residents — or roughly two percent of the city’s overall Hmong population resided in the 5th District at the time of the 2000 census.

Meanwhile the 4th Precinct, home to the majority of Minneapolis’ Hmong population, has just two Hmong officers. What’s more, both of those cops work the overnight shift. The upshot: when Hmong residents of the North Side, many of whom are recent arrivals in this country and have limited English language skills, call the cops for help there’s generally no one available who speaks their language. Shifting one of the existing Hmong cops to the day shift in the 4th Precinct seemed like a simple, common-sense means to at least partly address the problem.

“That is what the community feels would address this problem for them,” says Don Samuels. “I’m supportive of it.”

But Samuels and others realize that getting a Hmong cop assigned to the day shift in the 4th Precinct is not as simple as it might sound. MPD’s personnel policies are governed by a labor contract with explicit rules regarding assignments and shifts. In essence, individual officers bid for assignments based on order of seniority.

“We can’t tell people where they can and cannot work,” says Sgt. Jesse Garcia, an MPD spokesman. “To actually move somebody over there would be outside of the contract and basically against their rights as an employee.”

Garcia compares it to posting a job listing for a police liaison at (predominantly-black) North Community High School and limiting it to African-American candidates. “You would be staring down the barrel of a lawsuit at some point,” he says.

Garcia also points out that the CURA study relies on outdated numbers to draw its conclusions, as the 2000 census was completed nearly a decade ago. He argues that the Hmong community is no longer so heavily concentrated on the North Side. “It has spread out through the city much more,” he says.

In addition, any deal would have to be brokered with the Minneapolis Police Federation. The police union has notoriously sharp elbows and lately has been at loggerheads with police brass over the firing of officer Jason Andersen.

Andersen is the cop who shot Fong Lee in 2006. He was exonerated of any wrongdoing by the department, and a civil jury subsequently ruled that Andersen did not use excessive force in shooting Lee. But Andersen was subsequently arrested on a domestic assault charge, which apparently prompted an internal affairs investigation by the MPD and led to his dismissal.

The police federation has made it clear that it’s not happy about Andersen’s firing. Lt. Robert Kroll, vice president of the police union, told the Pioneer Press last month that Andersen was simply a hard-nosed cop doing his job.

“In the current administration, that is not tolerated,” Kroll told the St. Paul daily. “They don’t want big, tough street cops. They feel he got them negative press over Fong Lee, so they’re going to make him pay.”

While the internal-police spat has little to do with whether a Hmong cop is assigned to the 4th Precinct day shift, it might mean that the police federation will be in little mood to compromise over contractual obligations. (Calls to the police union by Minnesota Independent were not returned.)

Despite these hurdles, Wameng Moua, editor of Hmong Today, argues that the city’s leadership can get a Hmong officer assigned to the day shift in the 4th Precinct if it’s truly viewed as a priority. Even a Hmong liaison who is not a sworn law-enforcement officer would be a big improvement, he notes.

“We all know that if anything is a priority they’re going to pursue it despite any budget restraints,” Moua says. “To me it just seems the mayor, the chief, they just don’t see it as a priority to help out a big part of their constituency.”

Samuels hopes that some kind of deal can eventually be brokered.

“I think we have to broach the subject with the police and the union to see if exceptional circumstances could bring about an exceptional compromise,” he says, “because there is significant hardship in the community.”

Ward Five: Crime and economic development dominate North Side race

Paul Demko — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:45:10 +0000

Clockwise from top left: incumbent Don Samuels, Kenya McKnight, Lennie Chism and Natalie Johnson Lee

On Friday, a backhoe pulled up to the corner of Plymouth and Sheridan avenues and began ripping apart the building that was once home to Uncle Bill’s Food Market. The corner shop had sold milk and bread to North Minneapolis residents for more than two decades. But neighbors complained that it also served as a safe haven for drug dealers and was a blight on the community. In 2007 it was shut down after the building was condemned.

To those supporting the demolition of Uncle Bill’s it was a sign of significant progress in the fight against crime and economic blight on the North Side.

“It’s part of our strategy to keep the community sane and safe and blight free,” says city council member Don Samuels, who is completing his first full term on the council. “We analyze empty buildings to see what condition they’re in. If we think they’re not worth keeping, if they’re a blight to the community, then we inform the owners that they need to bring it back up or take it down. If they don’t tear it down and they don’t have a rehab plan, we take it down.”

But to Lennie Chism and other opponents of the building’s demolition, it was a symbol of the city’s lack of support for entrepreneurs operating in the troubled area.

“They’re saying it’s a nuisance property and it is structurally unsound,” notes Chism, who purchased the property for $3,000 after it was condemned by the city in hopes of reopening it as a health-food store. “My question back to them is, is there anything that can’t be cured? To me it’s just a building. It can be cured. But you cannot cure political will if the political will is to tear it down.”

Kenya McKnight, who works with the Northside Economic Development Network to help create business opportunities in the area, agrees that the strategy of demolishing troubled properties is flawed. “It’s kind of like blowing up your house because you have mice,” she says. “It just doesn’t work.”

Chism and McKnight, both Democrats, are two of the four challengers seeking to replace Samuels on the city council. Former city council member Natalie Johnson Lee is looking to return to the council after losing to Samuels four years ago by a 55-44 percent margin in a bitter political contest. Also on the ballot is Roger Smithrud, who has the backing of the Independence Party and previously ran for the state House.

*Johnson Lee blames her loss four years ago on low voter turnout and hopes to turn the tables this year. After winning election in 2001 with the backing of the Green Party, she’s now running as a Democrat. Johnson Lee argues that Samuels has failed to follow through on campaign promises, including a pledge to respond to every constituent call within 24 hours.

“I was really concerned about what I was hearing about the lack of representation of people in the fifth ward,” Johnson Lee says. “That’s residents as well as businesses.”

Crime and economic development are the signature issues in Ward Five, which includes the neighborhoods of Jordan, Harrison and Willard-Hay. It is among the poorest and most diverse wards in the city. In Harrison, for instance, median household income was less than $24,000, according to the 2000 census, and more than two thirds of the population was non-white.

Samuels, who is the DFL-endorsed candidate, touts progress on both crime and economic development as proof that he’s been an effective voice for his constituents at City Hall. Most significantly, crime is down more than 40 percent over the last four years in the 4th Precinct, which covers the North Side, while homicides have plummeted by 65 percent. Samuels points out that he meets weekly with the mayor and the police chief to make sure effective strategies are being utilized in the area. He further notes that every time there’s a murder on the North Side he collects victim-impact statements from those affected by the killing and distributes them to his council colleagues, the mayor and even the governor.

“So that when we asked for resources here there was no pushback,” he says. “It was incredible. For the first time in known history, all of the council was focused on North Minneapolis to mitigate the terror that our young people and families were experiencing.”

But Samuels’ challengers note a dark side to the more vigilant police presence on the North Side. A spate of high-profile incidents, most notably the videotaped beating of Near North resident Derryl Jenkins, have inflamed concerns about police brutality.

“I have not seen him to be a champion against police brutality,”‘ says McKnight. “We need city council members who work with us and let us know that they do understand.”

Samuels argues that this criticism is unfounded and that progress cannot be made on the issue simply by attacking the cops.

“I think people should be outraged and express their concerns,” he says. “That’s part of the solution. I want to assure the community that I am very concerned and upset about the images I have seen.”

Economic development, particularly along the key corridors of West Broadway and Plymouth avenues, is the other touchstone issue in Ward Five. Samuels touts the opening of Cub Foods and an 800-job Coloplast factory as signs of economic progress. He also points to projects in the pipeline — such as the $70 million Broadway Plaza Project, which includes a new YWCA — as indicators of future development.

But Samuels acknowledges that there is still significant work to be done, noting, for instance, the lack of sit-down restaurants as a significant shortcoming. He points out that a recent study found that North Side residents spend $70 million annually at restaurants outside the area.

“The restaurants there tend to be perfectly vertical,” he says of the North Side. “You stand to order it, you stand to receive it, and you walk away with it.”

His opponents believe that Samuels is part of the problem. Chism argues that his support for demolishing abandoned properties is symbolic of the lack of support for small businesses on the North Side.

“In order for that community to change you’ve got to have a better storyteller bringing the bacon home,” he says. “The same issues that existed when Don Samuels took office are the same issues that exist currently.”

Ward Five has a history of poisonous politics. The contest four years ago got particularly acrimonious, with Samuels being parodied as an Uncle Tom. And there have been some signs that the race will not be without fireworks this year.

McKnight characterizes Samuels as aloof and cut off from the concerns of most residents. In particular, she cites his inflammatory remarks from early 2007 when, in a moment of rhetorical flourish, he suggested North High School should be burned down.

“It comes down to this idea that he gives off that he’s made it and the rest of us haven’t, and if we want to be successful we have to be like him,” she says. “That’s been divisive and it hasn’t been productive.”

Smithrud believes that Samuels and his council colleagues don’t listen to residents when they seek to make their opinions about municipal governance known. “It’s like the city council has already made up their mind and is not willing to listen to their proposals,” says Smithrud, who works in the mail room at the Star Tribune.

Chism has produced a mailing caricaturing Samuels as a puppet of former Ward Five council member Jackie Cherryhomes, who lost her re-election bid eight years ago.

“They voted her out once,” says Chism. “Now we have to vote her out again. I’m one of the few people who will come out aggressively and say that.”

Samuels dismisses the attack as nonsensical.

“I cannot figure that out for the life of me,” he says. “I don’t know where he gets that from.”

Despite some heated rhetoric, the incumbent believes that the specter of instant-runoff voting, in which candidates will rank their favored candidates, has had a cleansing affect on the race so far.

“I think it’s much less stressful this year,” he says. “There’s a lot less personal attacking going on.”

But Johnson Lee is worried about how the introduction of instant-runoff voting will play out. While campaigning in the ward, she’s seen little evidence that people are aware of the new system.

“People don’t have a clue,” she says. “For every 20 doors I knock I find one person who’s familiar with it.”

(*Johnson Lee was out of town attending a family funeral when the Minnesota Independent initially tried to reach her for this story. Her comments have been added to the original story.)

This is the eighth in a 13-part series on Minneapolis City Council races.

The full series:

Officer who shot Fong Lee fired by MPD

Paul Demko — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:26:12 +0000

Jason Andersen, the police officer who shot and killed Fong Lee (pictured), has been fired by the Minneapolis Police Department. The development comes after the fourth-year officer was arrested following a domestic disturbance in June. A criminal charge against Anderson was dismissed two weeks ago, but apparently the incident prompted an internal affairs investigation that led to his dismissal.

In May a federal jury ruled that Anderson did not use excessive force when he shot the 19-year-old North Minneapolis resident eight times following a foot chase in July 2006. Lee’s family had maintained in the civil lawsuit that he was unarmed and gunned down for no justifiable reason.

The Minneapolis Police Federation is not happy about Anderson’s firing. The organization’s vice president, Lt. Bob Kroll, told the Pioneer Press that Anderson is being unfairly retaliated against and that the union has already discussed the matter with an attorney. Kroll described Anderson as a “good, hard-nosed street cop.”

“In the current administration that’s not tolerated,” he told reporter David Hanners. “They don’t want big, tough street cops. They feel he got them negative press over Fong Lee, so they’re going to make him pay.”

Others are saluting the development, however. TakeAction Minnesota released a statement praising Andersen’s dismissal. The organization is also calling on the MPD to hire more minority officers and appoint a Hmong community liaison to prevent future incidents.

“The Hmong community is relieved that Officer Jason Anderson has been fired from the Minneapolis Police Department, apparently as a result of an internal investigation,” reads the statement from Dai Thao and Amee Xiong, who oversee TakeAction Minnesota’s Hmong organizing program. “Since Fong Lee’s shooting death in July 2006, the Hmong community has been fearful of the Minneapolis Police — the very people who are supposed to protect us. That is why since Fong Lee’s death, our community has been united in working to bring significant change to the Minneapolis Police Department so this kind of thing doesn’t happen to anyone in our community again.”

Endgame: Protesters arrested, pepper sprayed as Williams is removed from home

Paul Demko — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:57:33 +0000