Update from the Mayor - May 5, 2006

I am delighted to offer the first edition of a new, enhanced version of my Minneapolis Update electronic newsletter. In this email - and in updates to come every other week - I hope you will discover more than the same old mayoral e-newsletter. Our goal is to share stories you might not have heard, to engage residents in frank conversation about the issues we face, and to highlight what’s new in our city government. Over time, I hope you’ll find this to be a useful news source.

Mayor R.T. Rybak

Making Minneapolis a Safe City

This week Police Chief Tim Dolan and I launched the Safe City Initiative, a detailed, coordinated, city-wide strategy that targets repeat criminals, responds to juvenile offenders, and dramatically increases police presence and visibility.

As a result of this Initiative, residents and visitors will see more police and talk to more police in Minneapolis. Our officers will be focused on reducing unacceptable and threatening street behavior because our streets belong to us, not criminals.

The Safe City Initiative incorporates a multi-pronged effort to improve public safety throughout the city for the rest of the year, especially in popular areas and in neighborhoods most challenged by crime. Included in the plan is direction to:

1. Create a new Juvenile Unit in the police department to coordinate youth enforcement and work with schools to centralize juvenile crime prevention.

2. Target loitering by tracking repeat offenders, making routine visits to those on probation, targeting drug dealers, attacking prostitution, and enforcing curfews.

3. Implement more rigid geographical accountability to encourage officers to take greater ownership for the neighborhoods where they are located.

4. Improve the livability of the five most problematic neighborhoods (Jordan, Hawthorne, McKinley, Phillips and Central) by pairing specific patrols with specific gangs and preventing retaliation after homicides and shootings.

5. Promote a greater sense of safety downtown by supporting the successful Downtown Safe Zone. The city also has plans to harness this Safe Zone model of collaboration between police and businesses for use in Uptown and north Minneapolis.

6. Expanding collaborations with other law enforcement agencies, criminal justice agencies, business leaders and neighborhood groups.

For more information about the Safe City Initiative, including a detailed neighborhood-by-neighborhood breakdown of strategies involved, go to my website.

Jayne Khalifa to be new Deputy City Coordinator, Michael Brown to be new Civil Rights Director

This week I appointed Michael K. Browne to be the Interim Director for the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights, replacing current Director Jayne Khalifa, who will be our new Deputy City Coordinator. Browne currently serves as Director of Enforcement and Community Outreach for the Civil Rights Department where he is also responsible for assisting Ms. Khalifa with day-to-day management of the Department. [ Click here to read more.]

National Effort Against Illegal Guns Launched

Last week I joined fifteen mayors from across the nation by signing onto a mayoral Statement of Principles pledging to expand the fight against illegal guns and to build a coalition of leaders from across the country. I joined this effort because there are too many guns in our city, in our state, and in our country. Month after month our police officers seize record amounts of guns from our streets and month after month more guns show up in our city. This is a national problem that must be addressed at a national level. [ Click here to read more about this effort.]

A Renewed Focus to Revitalize North Minneapolis

Earlier this month I used my annual State of the City Address to call for increased police presence and declare a deep commitment to revitalizing north Minneapolis neighborhoods. Speaking at the historic Capri Theater, a beacon for changing times on West Broadway, I called for a common vision for north Minneapolis, declaring that there was no other part of the city needing more attention. Now is the time and this is the place to make north Minneapolis the jewel we need it to be. This entire city – from top to bottom – needs to be committed to success in north Minneapolis.

Every person in this city, every person in this region, every person in this state has a stake in the future of north Minneapolis. We will not be judged by how well we do with areas that are already doing well. We will be judged by whether we saw an area with deep challenges, and refused to rest until it realized its great potential. [ Click here to read my entire State of the City Address.]

See you at the May Day Parade!

Learn More About: Making Minneapolis Wireless

The City is hosting informational meeting about Wireless Minneapolis. Share your ideas about bridging the digital divide.

To stay informed, sign up for Wireless Minneapolis e-mail updates.

Learn More About: Making Minneapolis Green

Minneapolis is one of the top ten greenest cities in America by homestore.com. More than 60 percent of our downtown workers get to work some other way than driving alone, whether by public transit or carpool. We have over 80 miles of bike paths and lanes, with a goal of building 40 more miles. Our natural environment is praised as a place full of lakes, parks, ponds, greenways, and 200,000 trees. To read more about our environmental goals, see Sustainability Initiatives.

See and be Seen: Upcoming Events

Central Library Opens!
Sat., May 20, 10AM-6PM
Minneapolis Public Library
300 Nicollet Mall

Join the celebration weve been waiting for! Enjoy outdoor festivities and live music, roam the library's four floors, discover public art by artists from across the nation, explore gallery space, and join kids activities. 

Published May. 5, 2006