Robert Thompson and Michelle Chavez of Minneapolis' NCR came to speak with LHENA board members about the Community Participation Program before last night's board meeting. President Leslie Foreman graciously welcomed me to the discussion. They talked about what makes a neighborhood eligible for funding--you can't require membership dues, for example. They covered eligible/ineligible expenses--no food allowed. And so much more. This is the packet they handed out.
The issue of voter ID was raised by board member Becky Dernbach as a potential barrier to participation. Thompson said that neighborhoods should allow for alternative means of identification such as a piece of mail, or having another person in the neighborhood vouch for them. As part of the discussion, he obliquely referred to an individual (Basim Sabri) who buses people from across the city to neighborhood association (Whittier Alliance) meetings. And he told a story of his experience with the Loring Park neighborhood; they have a very open policy that allows anyone to participate because of the significant presence of homeless youth without an official address.
Thompson said that occasionally he reads letters from neighborhood organizations that use "I" instead of "we" phrasing; this erodes their credibility with the city (is this the opinion of a neighborhood, or one person?). He cautioned against the mixing of personal, divisive activism with the activities of the neighborhood association. This was amusing. I've honestly never been sure how many board members are involved with the radical, anti-everything MRRDC, besides Sara Romanishan.
It was interesting to learn from NCR's Michelle Chavez that there's been some behind the scenes email discussion around the Healy Project's ghost stories fundraiser. Do you remember last month's proposed joint fundraiser between Healy Project and LHENA? It was nixed by the board for being too controversial--a sort of endorsement of Healy by LHENA. Now they've found a loophole. Healy will hold the fundraiser, and might donate some portion of the proceeds to LHENA. Maybe I'm imagining this, but Leslie seemed annoyed when Chavez brought it up. I don't think I was supposed to hear this.
It sounded like Chavez thinks this fundraiser nonsense is a bad idea. In my mind, this damages LHENA's credibility. But more than that, I'm annoyed that I have to remember three different names for groups with the same agenda, run by many of the same people. It's time they started using the same acronym. HPLHENAMRRDC--or something.
Thompson used the example of Linden Hills to show what happens when a neighborhood becomes divided over a controversial issue like development. Antagonized neighbors start coming to meetings to watch the proceedings like a hawk. I'm thinking, that sounds about right. And, do you not know where you are right now, Mr. Thompson? Lowry Hill East invented this shit.
