Minneapolis Park Watch

HEADS-UP FOR THE OCTOBER 20, 2010 PARK BOARD MEETING

5:00 P.M. REGULAR BOARD MEETING. Committee meetings to follow. The meetings will be held in the boardroom at Park Board headquarters, 2117 West River Road, just north of Broadway Pizza.

5:30 P.M. OPEN TIME. Speakers need to sign up before 3:00 p.m. the day of the meeting.

This meeting is the last meeting that David Fisher will be attending as Superintendent. His four month stint as interim superintendent ends on October 31. We are grateful that he accepted the invitation to come to Minneapolis to fill this position.

Posted by Arlene Fried on Mon, 10/18/2010 - 3:37am. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

MORE COMMENTS ON FINE'S COUNTERPOINT

The following four e-mails are on-line responses to Fine's February 15 Star Tribune counterpoint:

Posted by Arlene Fried on Tue, 03/02/2010 - 3:22pm. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

The following letter to the editor was published in the Star Tribune in response to the counterpoint article by Park Board Commissioner Bob Fine:

FINE IS THE ONE GUILTY OF SPREADING 'FALSE' INFO

Bob Fine's Feb. 15 counterpoint suggests the Star Tribune Feb. 7 editorial, "Good start for new board," "contained false and misleading information." The same could be said of his counterpoint.

Posted by Arlene Fried on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 5:50pm. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

On Feb. 7, 2010 the Star Tribune published an editorial which was critical of Park Board Commissioners Bob Fine and Jon Olson. On Feb. 15, the Star Tribune published counterpoint letter from Fine criticizing the editorial.

Fine's letter elicited the following response, which appeared in the Opinion Exchange on the editorial pages of the Star Tribune on February 18, 2010:

Posted by Arlene Fried on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 4:45pm. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

The following request for bids by the MPRB for the Lake Calhoun South Shore Parking project appeared in Finance and Commerce. Dated on June 9, it states that the bids will be opened on July 9. But the project plans were never brought to the commissioners for approval BEFORE being sent out to bid. And the public NEVER had an opportunity to weigh in on this project.

Posted by Arlene Fried on Tue, 07/28/2009 - 3:29pm. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

This week the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board will celebrate Sunshine Week* (www.sunshineweek.org) by retreating from transparency and public oversight. In a move that boggles the mind, the Park Board, after its regular meeting this Wednesday, will hold a Committee of the Whole meeting off-camera.

Posted by Liz Wielinski on Sun, 03/16/2008 - 4:37am. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

By Chris Steller, special to the Daily Mole

“Change” may be the watchword for U.S. presidential candidates, but it’s also in the air at the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, where this month commissioners reorganized themselves under a new president, electing first-termer Tom Nordyke [pictured] to lead the city’s independent park board and raising hopes for a sharp turn toward good government and fiscal responsibility.

Posted by News junky on Wed, 02/06/2008 - 3:23pm. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

Posted by News junky on Mon, 01/28/2008 - 2:48pm. | Permalink | Login to post comments

The highlight of the meeting was the vote on Crown Hydro. The motion to be voted on was, in a convoluted way, an approval of the controversial project.

Posted by Arlene Fried on Wed, 01/02/2008 - 4:58am. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

Former Vice-president Walter Mondale wrote a letter in opposition to the proposed Crown Hydro project at St. Anthony Falls. Commissioner Carol Kummer, a project defender, dismissed Mondale as "a NIMBY" and "less than ... open-minded." Not to be outdone, Park Board President Jon Olson characterized Mondale's opinion as "so self-serving it's not even funny."

Posted by webmaster on Fri, 12/21/2007 - 6:17pm. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more | 1 attachment

On the Minneapolis Issues forum, Dick Shanahan points out some problems with recent Park Board behavior with respect to its own ordinances involving communication with the public in their project at Power Horn Park.

...I am disturbed by how the MPRB has morphed itself into an unrestrained oligarchy by ignoring the Code of Ordinances in place that dictate its conduct, with requirements for citizen notification, consultation and approval. Even more disturbing is the fact that the board is working very hard to revise their Code of Ordinances in a way that will eliminate public participation in every way, shape or form.

Posted by News junky on Sun, 10/28/2007 - 7:41am. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

Dr. Roxanne Ornelas made an open time statement at the September 19, 2007 MPRB meeting about transparency and limiting public participation. That statement is now available at YouTube: