January 27, 2015 MPNAI Community Meeting Stewart Park Board members present: Aaron Lockridge, Sunshine Sevigny, Evan Hall, Marj Magnuson Also in attendance: Rand Retterath, Carol Vara, Cmdr. Bruce Folkens, Shirley Heyer, Jennifer Naglak, Aisha Gomez, Don Greeley, Laura Fritz, Renae Kamp, Carol Hill, George Kennedy, Jennifer Saunders, Naomi Mohammed, Tammy Johnston, Bethany Theobald Board members absent: Jana Metge, Chris Lomheim, Dan Wilder, Mary Matze Board members not active: Laura Sanchez, Maria Valencia. Board members resigned: Katherine Blauvelt, Gamaliel Ballina Aaron opened meeting. Introductions. Agenda approved. I. Sex Trafficking/Prostitution in Midtown/Minneapolis Bruce Folkens with MPD gave overview of sex trafficking and prostitution in Minneapolis based on recent study and offered printed information with statistics. Information on this topic can be found online at uroc.umn.edu/sextrafficking. Juvenile sex trafficking is particularly concentrated in the Phillips neighborhood, in addition to downtown and North Minneapolis. Tammy Johnston, Jennifer Saunders and Don Greeley also offered insight on the topic. Questions taken from community. II. 2548 12th Ave Update CEPED acquired the property and the process is in motion to facilitate Wilson Melina to purchase the property, but its a lengthy process. III. Announcements • Evan is coordinating with Housing Resource Center for brainstorming on funding/grant review on February 3, 5pm at Stewart Park. • $50,000 was approved by MPNAI to help fund construction of the Phillips Public Pool; NPP plan was approved • $10,000 was approved by MPNAI toward the Safety Center • Annual Event planning meeting will be held Feb. 7th at 9:30 • Annual Event is Feb. 24th 5:30-7:30pm at Andersen School Cafeteria IV. Public Comments Questions taken from community.
Request made by Jennifer and supported by board for the City to provide an official report on the status of the Somali Mall development. Aisha offered to bring a zoning representative to an upcoming meeting if requested. Notes: Representatives for the following were not present so the agenda items below have been tabled: – Troy Baguhn, Community Manager to present on Greenway Heights Apartments – Civil Rights Dept presenta>on by Luna Allen Backerian
Meeting adjourned.
