Ward 3 Events

About Diane Hofstede

Diane Hofstede is the Third Ward Council Member for the City of Minneapolis, representing 9 neighborhoods in North, Northeast, and Southeast.

For the Minneapolis City Council, Diane serves as Chair of the Audit Committee. She is also a member of Public Safety & Health, Regulatory, Energy, & Environment, and the Ways & Means/Budget committees.

Council Member Hofstede also represents the City of Minneapolis for the following Boards, Commissions, and Task Forces: Association of Metropolitan Municipalities, Homegrown Minneapolis Implementation Task Force, Meet Minneapolis, Mississippi Riverfront Corporation, Mississippi Watershed Management Organization (MWMO), North Metro Mayors Association, Northstar Development Corridor Authority (NCDA), and the St. Anthony Falls Heritage Board.

Prior to her election to the City Council she was a Senior Financial Advisor for a National Investment Company and an elected member of the Minneapolis Library Board serving as President, Chair of the Finance Committee, and Co-Chair of the Building Committee for the new Downtown Public Library, and Chair of the Neighborhood Revitalization Committee.

Diane received her Masters Degree from the University of Minnesota, and undergraduate degree from St. Cloud University.

Since she was first elected in 2005 Council Member Hofstede has made many significant and positive changes to the Third Ward.

The Third Ward Summit is now an annual event where the community has the opportunity to come together and discuss the issues that face the community.

This annual event began on March 4, 2006 when Council Member Hofstede invited members of the community to come together and meet. Third Ward Neighborhoods submitted and presented information on what their neighborhoods priorities were. Later on May 31^st small group sessions were held to further evaluate the priorities from the March 4th meeting. On June 21^st the recommendations of the top two priorities were chosen as the top priorities for the ward. These two topics were Public Safety and Housing - focusing on improvements and ownership opportunities. On October 21, 2006 the community came together to review the Third Ward Public Safety, Regulatory Services goals, and achievements with Guest Speakers Police Chief Tim Dolan and Director of Regulatory Services, Rocco Forte.

A year later on October 13, 2007 the second Third Ward Summit was held with the theme of Public Safety and Regulatory Services. Guest Speakers included Assistant Chief Sharon Lubinski and Director of Regulatory Services Rocco Forte. In addition there was discussion of the new 35W Bridge and design unveiling by Linda Figg, President/CEO/Director of Bridge Art.

The next Summit was held on October 15, 2008 and focused on Transportation. Council Member Hofstede and the community came together to review and discuss updates of Central Corridor LRT, Bottineau Corridor, Access Minneapolis Transportation Plan, Northstar Commuter Rail and Lowry Ave Bridge.

On September 23, 2009 the Third Ward Summit/Neighborhoodfest was held at the Nicollet Island Pavilion which focused on Economic Development and the Mississippi Riverfront. This event was bigger than ever, it featured traditional Native American water ceremony, entertainment from the bands and comedians. Guests had the opportunity to visit the many creative display booths featuring local businesses and organizations. There was also a panel discussion on Economic Development and the Mississippi Riverfront with participation by Council Member Hofstede, a variety of experts on the topic, Third Ward residents, and guests.

Through Council Member Hofstede’s commitment to the Third Ward over 800 plus problem properties have registered, inspected, and corrected. Council Member Hofstede has also helped pass stronger rental property licensing and noise ordinances. Finally there has been joint Collaboration with City departments to shut down the long term problem properties and businesses that have been havens for illegal activity.

There has also been double-digit crime reduction in the Third Ward and our city in the past year. In the 2^nd Precinct there was a total of an 11% crime reduction in 2009 and they led the City in Part I Violent Crime reduction over a two year period. For the 4^th Precinct crimes were down 12% in 2009 in comparison to the year before. Additionally 355 guns were taken off the street on the Northside in the past year. This represents 55% of the Citywide total.

Council Member Hofstede spearheaded the first public discussions for the City of Minneapolis to address the Housing Foreclosure crisis and the destructive impact it has had on the neighborhoods. Because of her efforts Minneapolis was awarded a total of $70 million from Federal, State and local governments for homes to be rehabbed and sold to owner-occupants. The Neighborhood Stabilization Program and Minneapolis Advantage Program are two of the programs that are helping with this issue.

Council Member Hofstede has been very dedicated to creating more community engagement within in the Third Ward community. Monthly C.A.R.E meetings (Community And Resource Exchange) were created for the community to work together to solve and address problem properties, foreclosures, crime, and livability issues that negatively impact our neighborhoods. The meetings give community members

This is your opportunity to meet with staff from Minneapolis Regulatory Services; Problem Property Unit, the 4^th and 2^nd Police Precincts; the University of Minnesota Police Department; Minneapolis City Attorney; Hennepin County Probation Office; and CPED;

A major component of the community is green and sustainable components in developments. Not only is Council Member Hofstede a member of the Minneapolis Homegrown Initiative, she has helped with a variety of initiatives including: The Hawthorne Eco-Village Housing Cluster Project, Super America’s rain garden to reduce runoff, the restoration and LEED certification of the Historic Pillsbury Library building purchased by Phillips Family Foundation, and many more.

Transportation and pedestrian access are big initiatives for the City of Minneapolis. Council Member Hofstede has played an active role in the development of the new Lowry Ave Bridge, the 18^th Avenue bike path, the 26^th Avenue North bikeway and greenway, and new light rail corridors. A major initiative Council Member Hofstede spearheaded was getting the community involved with creating the design of the new 35W bridge that was completed in fall 2008.

Another major initiative Council Member Hofstede has helped with is The University District Alliance. The Alliance is a new historic partnership that consists of the University of Minnesota and its students, University neighborhoods including Marcy-Holmes, area business associations, the City of Minneapolis, and elected officials. Council Member Hofstede, a member of the Alliance Steering Committee, is dedicated to working towards making this part of our city a great place to live, learn and work.

Created as a result of the new Gopher stadium being built, the Alliance works to preserve, maintain, and increase homeownership in the district, reverse the growing trend to convert owner occupied housing to rental property, promote the district as a premier place to live, work, do business, learn, and show how these and other livability goals can be accomplished by working cooperatively as an Alliance.