A guide to the 2021 Minneapolis Park Board and Board of Estimate & Taxation candidates – Minneapolis Star Tribune

All nine Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) commissioner seats are up for election after the board first permitted then prohibited large homeless encampments in parks across the city amid last summer's civil unrest. Activists clashed with the board over what they described as inadequate services, and neighbors complained of numerous safety problems, including discarded needles and sexual assault. Four incumbents are stepping down, while 23 candidates are vying for office. Early voting began Sept. 17 and Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 2.

The Star Tribune asked each candidate for the Park Board questions on top issues:

Voters will also select two new members for the Board of Estimate & Taxation (BET) this fall. The two will work with other elected officials on a six-member board to set the maximum tax rates for most city funds and play a key role in managing the city's debt. Four candidates filed to run for the board this year.

The responses below are the candidates' own words, lightly edited for clarity.

At-large commissioners do not represent a specific district.

Homeless encampments

During the 2020 summer pandemic, via the Governor's Executive Orders of no evictions, homeless encampments were allowed through a permitting process. Parks are not a safe or appropriate place to reside, but during last year's crisis, MPRB managed the situation using available resources. The impacts of homelessness are a growing challenge in the park system and Minneapolis, and I will work collaboratively with those resourced to address homelessness. It will take a collective effort at all levels of governmentMPRB, city, county, stateto solve this problem so that individuals experiencing homelessness are able to find the shelter they deserve.

I am proud of our outreach staff who are doing an amazing job in connecting with Hennepin County staff whose wheelhouse it is and tapping their resources. And, therefore, this year, no encampments have been established in our parks. Staff is swift to respond with appropriate resources.We found out all too well that we are not in the housing business.

In 2020, I was personally involved on the advisory board of Project Back to Home with the permitted encampment at Lake Harriet. We were successful in placing each person in resource specific housing. The needs and resources are varied and complex. I am grateful for tireless advocates like Michelle Smith, who was the permit holder. Partnering with those who are professionals in the field is essential.

Expanding access

My goal is to enhance our park assets by breaking the barriers that exclude some from the use and enjoyment of our park system. Equity in our city is critical for it to grow and all to prosper. In my short two terms, we have added over 20 acres of strategic parkland to our system and targeted access gaps in underserved areasparticularly along the banks of our Mississippi River in North and Northeast Minneapolis. We have increased from 94% to 98% that every resident is within a 10-minute walk of a park. Now that the entire city has been park master-planned, policies and practices can be enacted for long-term development and improvements.

Connections to these new park spaces is critical for underserved areas of our city. Universal park access promotes social, racial, gender, and economic equity. My past and future work is to increase accessibility above the falls of the Mississippi (adding more park acreage), along the Midtown Greenway (adding several parcels adjacent to the corridor), Bassett Creek Redevelopment (promise for more parkland developed in the Harrison neighborhood), securing of the rail bridge across the Mississippi (creating connections from the north side) and completing the Ox Cart Trail/protected bikeway along Marshall Street as well as the Grand Rounds Missing Link (providing more connections to parks in Northeast). Continued cooperation with the City to implement the use of Park Dedication Funds to grow parks in newly developed areas ensures access as our city continues to develop.

Youth programming

The recent uptick in violence, especially youth violence, poses a major challenge to our entire city, but I believe that our park system can be a catalyst for change. Our number one priority in our 2022 budget will be to invest in programming for youth by fostering youth employment that creates life-skills to acquire sustainable jobs, to develop expertise toward stewardship of our environment and to prevent youth violence through building relationships.

Our park superintendent is addressing the gap in funding for our youth with the support of our board as well as our mayor. The programming options for youth activities are a priority. An additional $2.6 million dollars over the next five years is being requested in the 2022 budget to address the issue. Our proposed budget includes bringing on 22 full-time youth-staff.

The funding will be used for youth-violence-prevention targeted at ages 17-22 who have low-level offenses on their records; innovation grant funding for youth ages 13-18 in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood; seven full-time dedicated professionals to program Creation Spaces; expanding hiring for our Teen Teamworks program and green jobs to develop a diverse group of community leaders through deliberate offerings that provide career exploration and pathways to full-time employment as well as actually increasing youth employment via Teen Teamworks (43 teens); increase StreetReach staffing; free RecPlus at Webber Park; and three full-time dedicated professionals to enhance intergenerational and nature-based community programs.

Greatest need

I am a lead commissioner in creating our Climate Resiliency Initiative. Parks are natural sequesters of carbon. Parkland and waters provide the opportunity to mitigate stormwater runoff, air pollution and heat islands via best practices, to continue investments in trees, which are still our best weapon against global warming with carbon sequestration and to accelerate implementation of resiliency projects for parkland being impacted by climate change.

An emergency Minneapolis tree levy is expiring at the end of 2021. The first part of this Initiative is to begin the creation of the first ever in Minnesota certified carbon-offset-credit program that will create necessary revenue to grow Minneapolis green space, to support climate and environmental resiliency. With new funding, increased tree planting can be initiated in 2022 with minimal project start-up. Our project scope is 7,000 trees planted over a one-year period including street trees and park trees, focusing on heat islands in North Minneapolis where the largest are located and other environmentally disadvantaged areas. The Tree Levy that is expiring removed over 40,000 Ash trees and replaced them over eight years. Yet, the canopy hasn't expanded in numbers. To do so, our existing trees must be preserved and also new trees need to be planted at a greater rate. This is a 20 year campaign to plant and maintain 200,000 additional trees on City streets and parkland, leveraging and expanding MPRB Urban Forestry capabilities. This is just one of many actions being researched and developed.

Homeless encampment

Growing up I was taught by my family and my community in Fargo, ND, to help people in need. Now as an adult living in Minneapolis one of my first memories of homelessness was while I was at work eating a meal and the family of four at the table next to me was very overwhelmed with sadness. One child was crying, one child asking his mom why can't we go to grandma's house, the man's face was lost in deep thought, and the lady was crying while trying to talk on the phone to a family member. This family was going to experience homelessness that evening because the shelters were full and their family could not assist them with money for a hotel room. I started to cry because I did not have the money, resources, or experience to assist them with housing. After my own personal experience of watching this family struggle, and now most recently watching MPRB struggle to house homeless people on their property. I believe that MPRB is not set up to house people with disabilities andor special needs. This is best left to the professional nonprofits and the city. My final thought is that instead of housing the homeless encampments, my suggestion is that the MPRB could partner with the city and local nonprofits to assist with things such as food, showers, and work.

Expanding access

MPRB should find ways to provide access for all without having the price tag to participate stand in the way. We look at our revenue and our expenses. Additionally, we should look at the health and wellbeing of our community, and in doing so we could offer more items for free and/or reduced prices. My thought is we need the MPRB to look at expenses, revenue, and add another category such as free and reduced passes (etc.) to see how our organization is performing in times of plenty and times of need. I am proud to say that the MPRB offers assistance for youth sports. Along with amazing free music and movies. Yet, I do think we could do more for our community as a whole by offering other items for free or at discounted prices. These items could come in the form of a bus pass to and from our parks, free or reduced bike rental pass, and free or reduced prices on rentals of items such as canoe, kayak and standing boards (etc.).

Youth programming

What a great question from a human resource (HR) perspective. This question places the candidate on the spot by asking for just one specific way. So, for me this answer starts with me asking the Minneapolis community, you the voters, to please vote in a new candidate(s) for Park Board Commissioners At- Large because the pandemic is changing how humans live, work and play which means we need to be adaptable with our thinking for Minneapolis Parks and Rec youth programing . We need new perspectives using creative thinking and critical thinking. Next, I want you to know that my son is currently playing Park and Rec Sports. He just started the fall soccer season. In the winter he participates in basketball. And spring is baseball through MPRB. I am a soccer and basketball mother. And this past season for baseball I was an assistant coach. When my son is playing sports I check out the parks where we practice and play games. While at these events I see how other families and children use youth programming in the form of child care, computer labs, indoor and outdoor play. I see how the MPRB staff interact and assist children, community members, coaches, families, and volunteers. After seeing the whole picture as an MPRB parent I would be honored to recommend that we enhance parent and volunteer involvement in our youth programs. As examples this could be creating more training videos, everyone reads the MPRB ethics, and we seek volunteers from local high schools and colleges.

Greatest need

My simple answer is shelter for both questions. If we improved on this one theme we could provide: Shelter from the sun, shelter from the storm, shelter from the pandemic, and shelter from food insecurity to name a few. I ask myself these questions and so should you. Questions to ask yourself: Do we need more trees? Yes. Do we need buildings that do not leak every time it rains? Yes. Did we all know someone who worked from home during the pandemic, and could we not offer them a special spot to work outdoors moving forward? Yes. Did we all see children in the MPLS school system and around the country struggle with distance learning? Yes. Could we create a shelter for teachers to teach their students outside? Yes. Do we need shelter for history? Yes. Do we need shelter for the game of golf at Hiawatha Golf Course? Yes. Did you not ask yourself what could we do in the park system to help, to assist all of these needs? Yes. Could we supply shelter in the form of community gardens for people that need access to healthy food? Yes. All of these questions and answers are exactly why I have such a big passion for MPRB! This is why I am running for Minneapolis Park board commissioner At-Large because I am being called to take a great system already in place and make that system work in a way that will delight all park visitors and staff, and cause everyone to walk away with new found joys for our park system in this generation and for future generations.

Homeless encampments

The MPRB should serve all people who come into our parks, including those experiencing homelessness. However, they should not serve or make policy to allow encampments on MPRB property. We learned last year that tents in parks aren't safe for anyone - not the daytime patrons nor the unhoused. In addition, access to what people need to live- water, electricity, heat, security- is limited on parkland, and it's beyond the parks' mission to provide that on a large scale. We all need parks to be parks, not housing.

That said, the MPRB did gain valuable experience in the only year in its history officially permitting encampments. Park Street Reach Teams had already been established, and I support their continued funding, staffing and training. Street Reach staff have been working to approach unhoused people this summer with dignity to ask what they need, and to offer choices besides camping in a Minneapolis park. MPRB staff and volunteers also learned new ways to connect unhoused people with organizations and resources they need during the day, and they collaborated more with organizations that have a history of work with homelessness - Hennepin County, the City and numerous nonprofits - to find shelter and affordable housing overnight and long-term.

Expanding access

The MRPB and city collaborated in 2016 to fund NPP20 - a steady investment for 20 years in capital expenditures in all of our neighborhood parks. The Equity Matrix was established at the same time as a necessary part of that collaboration, which provided data to prioritize historically and racially marginalized areas for first investments. This is a unique advancement, which I support fully. High quality parks are now built or being planned in most marginalized areas. The next step is to provide high quality programming and sufficient staff in these new parks. The MRPB staff has identified a $2 million dollar gap in youth program funding to simply maintain what it already offers. I am heartened that filling this gap seems to be a priority in 2022 budget discussions, and I will push for that in December and beyond if elected. I will look for additional ways to fund high quality programs and to lift up program leaders. Another important step is to work with communities to solve how kids, families and seniors will feel safe going to and coming from their local park, as well as during activities. I will seek park police historical knowledge and collaborate with neighborhoods and community members to create safe, welcoming park environments.

Youth programming

Youth programming is dear to my heart and a big reason why I decided to run for the Park Board. A specific way the MPRB could enhance it is by clearly defining, with the Minneapolis School Board and with park-using clubs and sports organizations, who is responsible for each program that currently serves teens, especially middle school-aged kids, aged 11-15. After assessing and defining the gaps, the next step would be to create, staff and publicize more individualized teen programs where needed that are fun, active, outdoors and challenging.

Greatest need

There are 180 parks in our system, 102 miles of walking and biking trails, and 49 recreation centers. Everyone notices more about the park closest to them than other parks, so I posed this question to someone who had the perspective of seeing all of them in a short time. Glen Varns is an active volunteer and park user who challenged himself to bike to all 180 parks in 2 days last spring. He told me that he was surprised to find that the trails and amenities around our lakes were in the worst condition of all the parks and trails he encountered, especially around Nokomis and Bde Maka Ska. If Minneapolis is the City Of Lakes, and host to a Regional Park System gem that is visited by more tourists than any other State Park, that is not acceptable, so I name that our greatest need.

Homeless encampments

Our entire nation is in a housing crisis, and every governing body and community must do what they can to break the cycle of homelessness. I see it as the Park Board's role to help provide a stable place for our unhoused neighbors while we work with the city and county to provide more permanent housing solutions and other needed resources. We have seen a marked improvement over last summer thanks in part to the federal aid from the American Rescue Plan. We will have to maintain the pressure on the city, county, and state governments to continue providing the needed housing and resources into the future. This past legislative session I watched several hours of testimony from experts and people who are experiencing homelessness. The number one thing that perpetuates homelessness and costs our society an incredible amount financially is continued displacement and instability. Encampments aren't pretty, but kicking people around continues the cycle that contributes to our homeless crisis while costing our society more money. So while I may not be 'pro' encampment, I am absolutely anti-displacement and anti-perpetuation of a failed system. If we experience an influx of homeless encampments like we saw in 2020 under my term I will base my decisions off of a philosophy of valuing the humanity and individuality of each neighbor, and will work to provide land for encampments on city, county, and potentially MPRB land with the city and county taking the lead on administrative duties.

Expanding access

There are a few strategies that MPRB should take to improve access to our high quality of parks throughout the city. The first step we should take is to analyze and adjust our current outreach methods and communication accessibility to ensure we are reaching as many residents as possible regarding MPRB services and events. Far too many voters have told me that there is a communication disconnect that results in reduced participation. We have to fund efforts to actively increase engagement and community buy-in across the city so we can maximize the service we already provide. I will also push to complete the unfinished vision of Theodore Wirth by completing connections to the Mississippi for North and Northeast, and finish the missing link of the Grand Rounds. Lastly, I would like to work with the city government to convert certain underused side streets to create mid-block playgrounds and parks. This will accomplish several important things, including the creation of easily accessible and safe parks, reduction of the devastating heat island effect, and the ability to create high quality parks in every neighborhood.

Youth programming

I have a few different ideas to improve youth programming but they all fall under increasing funding. That's the quick and easy answer, but here is how we can accomplish this and a couple thoughts I have about how we should spend these increased funds. First, we have to push for stronger levy increases so we can keep up with the rising costs of running programming across the city. Youth programming is a great way to spend our collective funds as it pays dividends and is always sound fiscal investment. In a similar vein I will utilize my legislative experience to push for higher investments from the state. Second, I believe that the MPRB should take a hard look at certain new capital projects and consider if the funds to create these projects (and the subsequent maintenance costs) would not be better spent on our youth. While new capital projects can be a great boon for our city (like connecting North/Northeast to the river), building up our community through youth development can be just as, if not more, important. This is the type of consideration I will make as your commissioner to ensure we are getting the most out of every penny in our budget. With these additional funds I will invest in a revitalized work pathway program that will create a direct pipeline between our youth and well paying middle class jobs, and I will create new innovative programs that the next generation truly want.

Greatest need

It is difficult to pick one systemwide issue that should take precedence over all others. However, to put it broadly, I think our greatest park need is to ensure that the land and facilities we currently control are used and maintained optimally. While our park system is not perfect, it does lead the world in quality and the services it provides. But, this will not continue to be the case if we fail to do a couple things. First, we must increase and catch up on maintenance across our park system. Every neighbor I've spoken to has a broken down basketball court, crumbling path, or dilapidated rec center they can point to as a barrier between them and full use and enjoyment of our parks. We have to focus on maintaining what we have at a higher level so everyone can get the full use out of every park. Second, we have to continue to adapt to changing tastes, demographics, and generational desires. This means building more skateparks, basketball courts, pickleball courts, soccer fields, and non-athletic amenities like spaces, for gardening, art, pollinator friendly habitat, and intentional community building. For example if you look at a Google Earth image of Minneapolis you will see clearly that far too much of our park land is given to underused spaces that have lost popularity decades ago. It is time to reappropriate underused land to meet modern demand or else we will see a decline in use of our wonderful parks.

Age: 58 Lives in: Willard-HayOccupation: Firefighter and EMT, Minneapolis Fire Department

Homeless encampments

As a 21-year veteran of the Minneapolis Fire Department both as a firefighter and E.M.T., I've seen firsthand the conditions our residents dwell in at the parks. The conditions are unacceptable and dangerous for them and for our park users. We need a real solution for our unsheltered brothers and sisters, right now. However, using the Parks for housing should not be the solution.

I believe the encampments have been a deterrent for many who would like to participate in our parks. This is unacceptable and unsafe for not only our temporary guests but for any users of those affected parks. We must do better as a city.

I support greater expansion of affordable housing funding by our developers both for profit and non-profit and even strategies such as tiny housing developments for the current unsheltered populations.MPRB must stay with its responsibility of providing a place for all users including our unsheltered brothers and sisters to stay healthy through recreation and community bonding. We must stay true to our mission "permanently preserve, protect, maintain, improve, and enhance its natural resources, parkland, and recreational opportunities for current and future generations."

Expanding access

First, it starts with a belief that our parks in our communities deserve to be the best for all users. Too many times, red tape and even simple personal spats get in the way of progress and partnerships.We must collectively invest our time, talent and treasure into all of our parks. It is a blessing to have this resource and we must all support it.

I support and will continue to promote the current policy that prioritizes parks and communities that have been traditionally left behind. However, I believe we must do more. I will work with my partners to expand new sources of resource, human and fiscal and work to develop stronger partnerships with community agencies and programs to expand the communities programming.

Youth programming

As we come out of the challenges for the past two years, we must reimagine how we program our parks for all youth and families. As a 25+ year coach with the Police Activities (Athletic) League and Hospitality House, I have a great appreciation for the struggles to develop and maintain these programs. In fact, I developed a program with teachers, mentors and parents to support the development of the whole child during my time coaching to ensure our their success as well-rounded young people and had the best shot to succeed as an adult.

WE (Parks, Agencies, Community) MUST WORK TOGETHER! Within my first few months, we convene a PAC conference to begin the process of developing stronger collective efforts.

There are so many great agencies and programs across Minneapolis. The solution is right before us. Note - our suburban communities coordinate their community education, schools and other agencies into one system ensuring all kids regardless of skill level can participate at the level they so choose and builds their abilities and confidence. This one concept would improve programming opportunities for parents while enhancing efficiency and effectiveness for our community agencies.

I will personally work to promote and develop that system with the park leadership and staff, community users, agencies and business owners in effort to create the most impactful programming for us all.

Greatest need

Safety and relevant programming. What good is a beautiful park if people don't feel safe to get there or feel safe once they get there?

As we are blessed with a remarkable system, unfortunately many potential users will not experience it because they do not feel safe or see activities that speak and empower them. Our city has grown and changed over the past decade. However, the programming is still rooted in our past. I believe the 20 year master planning process led but MPRB across the city will provide better clarity for the system, many young people, families and communities still believe the facilities and programs are irrelevant and unsafe.

We must find unique ways to rethink and expand how to keep our users and guests safe. As we feel safe, we can do great things if we work together for our children and families at the parks.

Through the PAC process I will set the table and engage as many who feel left out of the process. We WILL commit to engaging ALL users in real time and work to see our collective success within each other. Once we do that, our kids will feel safe and increase their activities, in turn creating a safer, more just community.

Homeless encampments

Homeless encampments being permitted on to the MPRB property is not truly a permission that a person experiencing homelessness typically asks for. Usually, space is taken as people seek safety and solace during difficult times in their lives. Now, if this question is asking me should we provide permitting in the way of written approval my answer is no. It is my personal belief that people should not be unhoused, especially if they desire housing in the traditional terms. Certainly our parks are not the place for encampments as it encroaches on all of our ability to truly enjoy the parks and it encroaches on the people who are unhoused as well. The parks certainly may serve as a conveying partner/resource for supporting the unhoused by partnering with other governmental and social service agencies. We may bring the resources into our parks and provide them directly to and for the people, especially given the proximity and ability to do so in real time. We may offer laundry support, personal hygiene resources or even access to technology to search for jobs, housing etc We certainly have a role to play in supporting the unhoused and we must be creative and humane in the process because if our parks are truly for all we must not exclude anyone based on their housing status.

Expanding access

We must consider programs and resources that promote partnership with other agencies that may support families in these marginalized communities. What I mean by this is that we must include the folks who are dealing with housing, education and economic development, we should not act as separated and isolated experts, but should be fully integrated as much as possible to fully address the entirety of the communities issues. It has been proven that belonging to a community is one of the effective factors in creating the sense of community and the way that you do that is convening a space where people may socialize, access resources and feel invested in with dignity and care. We must also provide space for these simple yet important actions to happen, while creating space for communities to have some ownership in what is happening from a programming perspective to amenities creating a long term investment in the upkeep and success of the parks. There has to be an installation of those nice tennis courts, basketball courts or water parks in areas that have been completely overlooked and we must invest in the upkeep of those parks at a rate that may be different than others areas. We must not forget that these communities have been disregarded by every aspect of our system so we have to build trust in order to be truly effective. It takes time and effort to get to this level of trust/investment with the people for the greatest change.

Youth programming

One way that MPRB is able to expand youth programming is to solicit youth voice, youth choice in the type of programs they would like to see happening inside the parks in which they frequent. The very basic concept of youth voice and youth choice isn't revolutionary but it can feel that way when you have not practice this type of youth work before; I believe that we haven't flexed this muscle in a while, we should be able to implement this easily across all of our parks and give each community the diversity in programming that they would like to have offered based on who anyone specific park primary users maybe. We also need to adapt and offer programs that promote building skills and competencies that allow young people to function and contribute in their daily lives, ensuring skills that lead to productive adults. Every program offering must include at the base operations and functionality for the youth to develop self-confidence, optimism, and initiative. This is how we expand our youth programming. We must also ensure that our staff are properly trained and supported to facilitate high quality and effective programming and ensure that we hire a staff that is reflective of the community it is serving!

Greatest need

The greatest park-related need system-wide is for our parks to actually live up to and fulfill our promise and truly be a park for all no matter what your economic and racial background may be. Parks are a powerful community tool that play a huge role in the socio-economic and physical wellbeing of our city. We need to truly serve our communities by providing greater access to recreational opportunities for all. By offering intergenerational programming and cutting edge creative programs uniquely crafted to a community. We must modernize our park infrastructure and increase public safety in our parks so that families in all neighborhoods feel safe in our parks again. Parks must truly become the center of our neighborhoods! During this global pandemic we have seen the dramatic rise for safe social connections and the restorative effects of nature in our parks so it's critical that we provide to everyone fulfilling our promise to have parks within a half-mile or six blocks of city residents.

Did not participate: Londel French

District 1 includes northeast Minneapolis east of the Mississippi River, including the Nicollet Island and Boom Island regional parks.

Did not participate: Billy Menz

District 2, located in north Minneapolis west of the Mississippi River, is the home of Theodore Wirth Park and North Commons.

Homeless encampments

While individuals are seeking shelter in our parks we should continue to work with them to help them locate more permanent shelter, and provide resources to them such as water and food. Affordable housing is a major crisis that the MPRB cannot solve alone, and any of our neighbors that are seeking assistance should be helped.

Expanding access

The MPRB has a number of programs and activities that only exist in select spaces and these can easily be replicated in other areas of the city. Additionally partnering with Metro Transit we can make sure that our parks have sufficient transportation options. No park space should be more than a few minutes walk from a bus or train line.

Youth programming

Right now most of the rec centers are park facilities are closed and don't carry or have rec programming for youth. By establishing staffed rec programs at these facilities we can provide both good paying careers to teenagers and activities for youth of all ages all days of the week, including meals during summers and weekends.

Greatest need

Youth related programming and activities is the biggest need in North Minneapolis right now, as well as teenage employment. City-wide the MPRB needs to improve its communications, both in making residents aware of programming and activities but also in its website and digital communication.

Age: 48 Lives in: Lind-BohanonOccupation: Employment recruiter, Twin Cities Rise; executive director, Heritage Youth Sports Foundation

Homeless encampments

As an agency and community leader and a coach, the sight of our fellow residents in challenging conditions is difficult to witness especially for our kids they play within feet of some encampments should be a challenge for us all. This is unacceptable in the 21st century for a community that prides itself of caring for all of us. However, we must not use the Parks for housing.

These encampments have been a deterrent for many who would like to join a program or just even walk around our parks. This too is unacceptable. We must do better as a city solve this issue as one community.

As my citywide partner in the race, Charles Rucker, pointed out we must support greater expansion of affordable housing funding, encourage more developers to build more affordable units and create unique housing solutions to ensure everyone has a place to call home. With that said, MPRB must stay with its responsibility and use its resources provided by our taxpayer a place for all users, including our unsheltered brothers and sisters, to stay healthy through recreation and create opportunities community bonding. If we use our limited and focused resources to shoulder the housing load, our abilities to serve our residents and staff will suffer even more.

I will work with efforts like Heading Home Hennepin and other elected officials from our federal, state, and local governmental partners and our community non-profit partners to find real short and long-team solutions to improve the lives of our fellow residents.

Expanding access

I have been working on this issue for most of my professional career and we are building huge momentum on the Northside and we must continue to build upon our latest successes.

Too often, the news is always bad from our side of town. However, the latest run of activities led by a 60+ community coalition of youth serving, civic engagement, health enrichment, artistic social and service development organizations that I am proud to be a major partner through Heritage Youth Sports Foundation has begun to turn the tide over North.

I believe we can duplicate this energy and structure across the city. For a little background, we came together in response to the pandemic and stayed together after George Floyd's murder. Through our collective work, we have provided high-quality meaningful programming with our park partners and distributed 28,000+ PPE, meals to community members and first responders, hosted the community summer games for our youth and provided some their first jobs in effort to build a better community.

Our effort demonstrates what can happen when organizations and individuals can put away egos and stay commit to building high-quality programs even in the face of social unrest.

This was possible because MPRB join the community table and built the process with our community coalition. If elected, I will help our communities create their own coalition in partnership with the park board.

Youth programming

Our coalition beings with one question, "So how are the children?" As we come out of the challenges for the past two years, we must reimagine how we program our parks for all youth and families. As an agency leader with Heritage and 20+ year coach with North, Henry and Park Center High Schools, I understand the challenges to develop and maintain programs.

There is nothing new under the sun. In my 20+ years of service to our community, I have seen amazing solutions to enhance programming across the region. The question is 'are we ready for that change?'

If elected I will provide leadership for the communities to implement a system that coordinates our youth servicing organizations and work with public and private partners to streamline our collective activities starting with North Minneapolis and building a comprehensive process throughout the system and ensure all kids regardless of skill level and interest can participate in our parks. This will encourage greater collaboration support the best our communities and our youth's dreams regardless of their abilities.

Greatest need

Safety and relevant programming. As encampments are a challenge across the system, getting to the park safely at times is equally difficult in North Minneapolis. That coupled with irrelevant programing reduces the energy for our people to visit our parks. Further, our community has changed greatly even in the past decade.

The rest is here:

A guide to the 2021 Minneapolis Park Board and Board of Estimate & Taxation candidates - Minneapolis Star Tribune