The 2017 Municipal Election in Minneapolis, MN has been a major focus of New Hughes – Old Shoes since Donald Drumpf took the Presidency. Nine months on, the decision to emphasize the response of the local communities that live, work, and campaign in the neighborhoods of my city has been strongly validated. This is particularly true for the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board (MPRB) races, where most of my effort has been targeted. That continues with this post featuring the full text of the September 21, 2017 Candidates Forum for Parks District 3. The event, organized by Parks & Power and Tenants United for Justice, also featured a forum with candidates for District 4 MPRB Commissioner; the subject of an up-coming post.
Parks & Power is based in the Hope Community and was organized to promote racial equity in Minneapolis Parks. The forum was as much a chance for Parks & Power and the cohost, InquilinXs UnidXs por Justicia, to present a vision for Minneapolis Parks shared by local groups advocating for urban agriculture, racial equity, and prevention of gentrification of vulnerable neighborhoods. The gist and context of the forum was eloquently stated by the organizers, Jacob Virden, Emmanuel Ortiz, and Roberto de la Riva before the candidates took the stage. The District 3 MPRB Commissioner Forum features Abdi “Gurhan” Mohamed, AK Hassan, and Charles Exner. We’ve broken the forum up into a series of 7 videos each of which contains the responses to a single question. Together these videos comprise the whole forum, edited only for clarity. Here are the links in chronological order:
Who are you? Why are you running for Park Board?
How will you reduce the cost of kids programming at the Parks?
On a percentage basis, how would you allocate the MPRB budget?
How does MPRB policy impact private land near the parks?
Why are you the best candidate for District 3?