| A large group of City of Minneapolis water employees stand before with Councilmembers Cashman and Koski Vibrant Storefronts Initiative: Yesterday the Council authorized a contract with the Minneapolis Downtown Council for their Vibrant Downtown Storefronts, an initiative aimed at supporting and growing the ecosystem of downtown retail by: - providing direct technical assistance and mentoring to retail shop owners,
- developing and promoting branding and marketing,
- conducting a retail space inventory,
- completing a node analysis and node strategy in partnership with downtown stakeholders,
- hiring and resource a commercial real estate specialist, and
- activating downtown storefront spaces.
Partnership Engagement Fund Projects: Council approved 41 Partnership Engagement Fund projects positively impacting communities across the City, including the following three in Ward 7: - Authorizing a contract with Somali TV of Minnesota, in partnership with Citizens for a Loring Park Community, in the amount of $25,000, to create a campaign and host events that foster communication, engagement and community pride.
- Authorizing a contract with Bilingual Education Collective (dba Colectiva Bilingüe), in partnership with Sheridan Neighborhood Organization, in the amount of $25,000, to expand their environmental justice work to five schools including Emerson Elementary in Loring Park.
- Authorizing a contract with Liban Kano (dba Strangers Meeting Strangers), in partnership with Citizens for a Loring Park Community, in the amount of $25,000, to host community connection events and activities with the Minneapolis community to foster social interconnectedness.
Climate & Infrastructure work: We advanced 17 items through the Climate and Infrastructure Committee this week including some incredible work on street resurfacing projects, water quality improvement, street lighting improvement/replacement, as well as public space and event permits for Warehouse District Live, Art-A-Whirl, and the Edina Art Fair. Most consequentially, I was proud to support the New Nicollet Avenue concept layout for the former Kmart site. The project team attended or hosted 62 events and received 17,650 survey responses on the project between August 2022 and March 2024. Some of the featured elements of this design include green space, pedestrian safety and ADA accessibility to the greenway, traffic calming investments, and transit signal priority. This project is a huge step forward for the Nicollet Corridor also known as “Eat Street” and will shape our future conversation about the portion of Nicollet in Ward 7, the downtown Nicollet Mall. Learn more about the specific elements of the design. Community Safety & Violence Prevention: We spent hours debating how to reinforce accountability and capacity building for The City's unarmed safety initiatives housed in the Department of Neighborhood Safety within the Office of Community Safety. This week, Council members pushed the administration to finalize and implement the contract with John Jay College of Criminal Justice, national experts on group violence intervention, to provide technical assistance to our community vendors. We also extended four contracts with vendors on the ground providing violence intervention and street outreach services. There are ongoing discussions about how to provide critical oversight of these contracts and vendors, as is the job of this council on behalf of concerned citizens. As a Council and with the Mayor's administration, we share a commitment to seeing this body of work grow and supporting our city’s safety system moving forward. Honorary Resolutions: The Council brought forth eight honorary resolutions: Ward 7 Community Survey Series In each Ward 7 Newsletter, we include a question for constituents to weigh in on. Questions may be related to upcoming policy decisions, future planning, issue prioritization, community project ideas, and more. Today's question: Community-centric events are fantastic opportunities to showcase the Twin Cities' deep pool of artistic talent. Name a local artist or group you would like to see performing or included in an event this summer. SUBMIT YOUR RESPONSE HERE A photo graphic shows Councilmember Cashman smiling with a cup of coffee Details for April "Coffee with Katie" Downtown West residents, join me for the next monthly iteration of “Coffee with Katie” at The Minneapolis Central Library (300 Nicollet Mall) on Monday, June 3rd from 5:30-7pm. These monthly community roundtable discussions provide a chance to talk directly with me and your neighbors about ideas, concerns, and opportunities. Come and go as your schedule allows! This event will be held on the 2nd floor in the Doty Board Room (N-280). Councilmembers Cashman and Koski stand for a photo with Mayor Frey in construction safety gear Out and About in Ward 7 Our team continues to get out into the community, engaging in more than 25 constituent and stakeholder meetings of all sizes and formats over the past two weeks. A few highlights include: - Talking with neighbors at the Bakken Museum during the April 30th Coffee with Katie
- Touring the North Star Center, one of the two commercial-to-housing conversion projects currently in progress downtown with Mayor Frey and Councilmember Koski
- Sharing space with neighbors and business owners at the founding meeting of the Uptown Community Coalition
- Discussing traffic calming efforts and other topics with owners at Utepils Brewing and the Fruen Mill project
- Visiting small businesses in the 19th & Nicollet area, a shared corridor with Councilmember Jamal Osman and the Ward 6 team
- Speaking and connecting with neighbors at three of our Ward 7 neighborhood organization annual meetings in Kenwood, Cedar-Isles-Dean, & Bryn Mawr.
A painted image of flowers next to the event details Minneapolis Sculpture Garden Art Fair New art fair alert! Support local makers this weekend (May 11-12) at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden Art Fair, the latest addition to our local lineup of unique and vibrant community art fairs. Featuring 150 artist booths, music, crafts, food trucks, and a botanical garden, this event is the first of its kind to take place on the iconic Walker Sculpture Garden grounds. Hope to see you there! Community members at an outdoor event with MPD officers, an ambulance, and tents Minneapolis Police Department Open House Week The Minneapolis Police Department is hosting an open house week at precincts across the city. Residents are invited to tour their local precinct (you can look up your precinct on this interactive map) to meet staff from various law enforcement units. There will be food and activities at these family friendly events. 5th Precinct Open House - Where: 5th Precinct, 3101 Nicollet Ave S
- When: Monday May 13th, 2024, 4pm – 6pm
1st Precinct Open House - Where: 1st Precinct, 19 N 4th Street
- When: Tuesday May 14th, 2024, 11am – 2pm
A large group of people sit around tables at a Bryn Mawr neighborhood meeting Minneapolis Annual Neighborhood Day Be the change you want to see in your community by getting involved in your neighborhood organization! This Saturday, May 11, Minneapolis neighborhood associations will be hosting events including neighborhood meet and greets, garden tool swaps, youth choir concerts, happy hours, and cleanup citywide. For more information, you can check out this handy interactive map tool to check out what’s going on in your neighborhood, including a few in Ward 7. An event graphic with flowers and a photo of Robert Skafte Memorial Tree Planting to Honor Robert Skafte Robert was a beloved community member, Oak Grove Grocery staff, and Greening Coordinator at the Stevens Square Neighborhood. The location for tree planting will be at Superintendent building in Loring Park (the small building with pointed roof by the flower gardens). A graphic with event details, sponsor logos, and a photo of people in Commons Park Celebrate Minneapolis Bike Week Join me and City staff for a group bike ride from the Walker Sculpture Garden to Commons Park next Thursday morning! We will be gathering at 8:15am to depart by 8:30am, taking a slow pace on protected bikeways and will arrive at the Celebrate Bike Week event by 9am during which I will be speaking. Even if you can’t make this event, you can still participate by getting out and riding your bike on your schedule! Celebrate Bike Week event details below: - What: Celebrate Bike Week Event
- Where: Commons Park, 425 Portland Ave S
- When: Thursday, May 16 9am – 10:30am
- Event features: Free bike tune-ups and safety checks; Scooter and e-bike demos by the shared micro-mobility providers (Lime & Veo); Bike organization exhibitors to share information and resources on bike related topics
Minneapolis, as part of its Transportation Action Plan, is aiming to have 3 out every 5 trips taken by walking, biking or transit. This will be one of many community engagement events promoting the many ways we can get around. I will be at this event in support our of Public Works’ As You Go MPLS campaign, I hope you can join!  |
A graphic with event details and photos of people visiting locations during past Open Doors events Doors Open Minneapolis, May 18-19 Doors Open Minneapolis is your chance to explore the buildings that tell our city’s story, and it's happening next weekend! From theaters to business hubs, sacred spaces to private clubs, sports complexes to engineering wonders, historical gems to not-even-open-yet buildings, Doors Open Minneapolis will give you a FREE behind-the-scenes look at over 100 exciting venues. Building owners and caretakers will provide unique perspectives that illustrate why these venues, people, and businesses, are central to our city’s identity. I’ll be volunteering this year and am excited to connect with special places throughout Ward 7 and those of you coming through to see them. Metro Transit will be providing FREE rides during this event. Visit www.doorsopenminneapolis.org to learn more and plan your weekend. A visual rendering of the 21st Street Station design Work Resuming on Green Line Extension 21st Street Station Work on the 21st Street station area is expected to resume in late May and be completed by early August. This work will include a minor track shift along with the remaining work that didn’t get completed in that area last fall. Check out the project page for regular updates or reach out to Metro Transit Community Outreach Coordinator Kaydee Kirk with questions: Kaydee.Kirk@metrotransit.org or (612) 373-3941. |
