NEIGHBORHOODS 2020 - PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD ENDING SOON
On July 15, 2020, the public comment period will close on draft guidelines for Neighborhoods 2020. Please consider submitting your feedback to the city, and to Council Member Fletcher, by July 15th.
But first, let’s review.
WHAT IS NEIGHBORHOODS 2020?
Neighborhoods 2020 has been a multi-year, city-wide initiative to reassess how 70 neighborhood associations, like the Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association (MHNA), are funded by the City of Minneapolis. Many associations receive 100% of their funding through the City, while others receive additional funds through grants and fundraising campaigns. Despite its long-standing success at receiving grants and raising its own funds, a majority of MHNA’s operating budget comes from the City.
One goal of Neighborhoods 2020 is to ensure that public funds would be more equitably distributed throughout the city, but also to make certain that the associations using these funds would equitably engage with their communities, especially and most notably with renters and people of color. For too long neighborhood associations have been largely led and organized by older, white homeowning men and women hoping to protect and preserve “their neighborhood.”
The current Community Participation Program—that currently distributes association funding—will expire on December 31, 2020. The guidelines and attendant funding formulas of Neighborhoods 2020 (perhaps under some new, less outdated name) will begin on January 1, 2021.
WHY DOES THIS MATTER TO ME?
If you value the role that MHNA has played in organizing our community—not only in this extremely challenging year but in years prior—we ask that you take note of how severely our overall operations could change next year. Although the precise funding formula is difficult to discern at this time (there are many moving parts, which you can glean when you read the guidelines), MHNA could experience up to a 75% reduction in funds it receives from the City. It will be difficult to continue to improve this organization, and it will be difficult to maintain the number of things that we already do well.
WHAT CAN I DO?
First, we invite you to explore the program documents for yourself. You can find the draft guidelines for the Neighborhoods 2020 Program here.
You can also review the City’s Neighborhoods 2020 webpage here. On this page you will find a wealth of information, from the original conception of the program, notes and videos from meetings over the years, and most importantly, you can find out how you can make a comment by July 15, 2020 at 11:59 pm.
If you have any questions, please contact MHNA Executive Director, Chris Lautenschlager at [email protected] or 612.623.7633.