Action Alert Updates
Here's a follow-up on some of our action alerts and updates on some that are current:
The action alert about power lines over the Midtown Greenway in Minneapolis has been updated with information on public hearings on April 5th and 6th, as well as opportunities to submit written comments through May 11th. Click on the power line alert title below for more information.
This Wed., April 7th, the St. Paul City Council is scheduled to decide whether or not to approve the Jefferson Avenue Bike Trail. This vote has been postponed several times, which indicates that it's not a slam dunk. If you haven't already submitted comments to the city council, please do ASAP. (Who knows, they might actually vote on it this time!) I'll check with one or two council members tomorrow to see what they expect to happen with this issue this week. Besides increasing bicycling options in St. Paul and encouraging non-motorized transportation modes, this project will also connect St. Paul bike paths to Minneapolis bike paths in two ways: via the Ford bridge and via the Lake Street bridge. This will be a boon for sustainable transportation for the entire Twin Cities area!
I'll do a follow-up blog on the Cyclops issue (surveillance cameras) soon. This is a big and on-going issue that has several ugly aspects to it, in addition to the cameras. In the mean time, please do send in locations and/or pictures of new surveillance cameras you find to watchdog@metrowatchdog.org
The Minneapolis City Council did not reappoint Dave Bicking to the Civilian Review Authority Board on April 2, dealing a serious blow to that oversight organization. There were 316 signatures on the petition calling for his reappointment, many of which came through the Metro Watchdog alert. As Dave Bicking put it, "This petition, and the overall campaign we have waged, is like nothing the City Council has EVER seen for a board appointment." Here is Dave's statement after the vote. Please let the Minneapolis City Council know what you think of their decision and, at least as importantly, the poor process they followed in making that decision:
CONTACT INFO:
Kevin Reich, Ward 1 kevin.reich@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Cam Gordon, Ward 2 cam.gordon@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Diane Hofstede, Ward 3 diane.hofstede@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Barb Johnson, Ward 4 barbara.johnson@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Don Samuels, Ward 5 don.samuels@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Robert Lilligren, Ward 6 robert.lilligren@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Lisa Goodman, Ward 7 lisa.goodman@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Elizabeth Glidden, Ward 8 elizabeth.glidden@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Gary Schiff, Ward 9 gary.schiff@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Meg Tuthill, Ward 10 meg.tuthill@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
John Quincy, Ward 11 john.quincy@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Sandra Colvin Roy, Ward 12 sandra.colvin.roy@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Betsy Hodges, Ward 13 betsy.hodges@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Phone number for all Council members is 612-673-22xx where xx is the Ward number, examples: Kevin Reich 612-673-2201, Betsy Hodges 612-673-2213
Finally, the MN Senate Transportation Committee voted against the proposed 3-year moratorium on digital billboards. Because of the short session, this effectively killed the bill until the next session. There were five industry representatives present to testify at the hearing. This will come up again, and it will next be introduced after the federal study on the safety of digital billboards has been published. We had a strong response to this alert, so the committee members were probably quite surprised at the level of public involvement with this issue. As mentioned in the alert background, this issue ties in with the broader issue of local self-determination. Specifically, the process of amortization, which allows cities and townships to decide how they want to deal with issues like billboards, needs to be re-instated. Minnesota was one of the first states to repeal this, in response to pressure from the billboard industry. We hope to see an effort to bring back amortization, and we will connect you to that effort when it occurs.
The more we speak out and the more of us there are, the more we will be heard!
Stay alert. Stay involved.
-The Watchdog
