Kingfield Neighborhood Association Board Meeting, February 8, 7 PM, MLK Park
Dr. Martin Luther King Legacy Council, Feb 9, 6:30 PM, MLK Park
Crime Prevention and Safety Committee: February 21, 7 PM, MLK Park
Youth & Schools Committee, February 27, 6:30 PM, MLK Park
Green Committee, no meeting scheduled.
Redevelopment Committee, February 22, 7 PM, MLK Park
Event Committee, February 1, 6:30-7:30 PM, MLK Park
Empty Bowls Event at Nicollet Square, February 9, 4-8 PM, 3710 Nicollet Ave. S.
Please consider donating to support your totally local non-profit and to end hunger and homelessness in our neighborhood! 75% of donations made on-line, here, between 1/17/12 and 2/9/12 will be donated to Nicollet Square, which provides affordable housing and a supportive environment for young adults (ages 16 – 21) who have experienced homelessness or been in the foster care system.
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Reporting Darcy Pohland MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO)
When Minneapolis police chief Tim Dolan presented his plan Monday to cut $5 million from the police department budget, council members were surprised. For one thing, the members of the Ways and Means Committee expected more cuts — $8 million, not $5 million.
The other surprise was Dolan’s plan to get rid of the city’s crime prevention specialists, a favorite program of many council members. Ninth Ward Council Member Gary Schiff didn’t see it coming.
“This has not been on the chopping block until yesterday,” he said.
Dolan plans to save $3.7 million by eliminating 47 jobs — 26 police support positions and 21 crime prevention specialists. Together, those jobs represent almost 23 percent of the police department’s civilian employees. Other cuts include the mounted patrol, cell phones for non-supervisors and the chaplain corps, which helps with family notification.
WCCO-TV wanted to interview a crime prevention specialist for this story, but Chief Dolan wouldn’t allow it.
Instead, residents in a Minneapolis neighborhood sounded off.
Bill Bryant owns one home in the Minneapolis midtown area and he’s fixing up another. A member of the 11th Avenue Block Club for 20 years, Bryant said it would be a “terrible loss” if the crime prevention specialists were laid off.
“We have made so much progress so far,” Bryant said. “We feel we are running the right direction, and to cut that off at this time when things are going so well would be a terrible loss of momentum.”
Just today Bryant received emails about a nearby business burglary and holiday crime prevention tips.
“You can’t learn, understand and notify if you’re not aware of what’s going on,” Bryant said. “I’m notified when there’s a serious crime of a certain level that took place within a block or two of where I live, and I can take that information and pass it on to other block club members.”
Crime prevention specialists help residents deal with problem properties and problem people in city neighborhoods. They tend to focus on what are known as livability issues.
“So if there’s an area of prostitution or drug dealing or a vacant house that somebody broke into, it’s that crime prevention specialist who removes the burden from 911 and allows citizens to work with city employees to solve those problems,” Schiff said.
Even Dolan, the man behind the plan to cut the community crime prevention staff members, believes they do good work. At Monday’s Ways and Means Committee meeting he said, “The work they do at keeping communities connected and connected with us is valuable. Very, very valuable. But, it is just something that, at this point in our budget, we cannot afford.”
Council members like Schiff say those jobs are worth saving.
“If we want crime prevention specialists to continue to work with block club leaders, then we need to make that statement,” he said. “We also need to provide the chief with the funding to keep them employed, so that’s our job in the next 72 hours.”
The Ways and Means Committee will start marking up the city’s 2010 budget Wednesday — saving some programs and cutting others. The final budget vote is scheduled for Monday.
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