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On the Issues
"The people of Ward 10 should have a strong voice in the decisions made about their city. I will bring your voice into the room."
We need Ralph's vision and leadership in our fight for:
Quality of Life Issues.
Read Ralph's Commentary Piece Published in the Star Tribune!
"Ralph Remington: I'm all for development on right scale" (9/9/05)
Smart Development
Smart Development is about vision, sustainability, and long-range community-driven planning.
We need to promote the creation and restoration of diverse, walkable, compact, vibrant, mixed-use communities assembled in a more integrated fashion. These communities contain housing, work places, shops, entertainment, schools, parks and civic facilities essential to the daily lives of the residents all within easy walking distance of each other.
Community involvement is key to successful planning. Enhancing communication between residents and the city is a must. We need full disclosure, and transparency in the process. Citizens will be more involved when they know their voice is being heard, and they see results from their input. Together we will:
- Build successful partnerhips. The city and developers must be better partners with residents, from project inception through completion. The city needs to develop a better way of informing citizens of pending developments — a 45 day notice to our neighborhood groups alone is not sufficient.
- Strengthen AND enforce ordinances that fully protect our shoreline areas from inappropriate development.
- Shape the future development of Uptown by developing a master plan. We can build on the Charette done in the 90s and expand the conversation on our vision for Uptown. We need to bring the four area neighborhoods together in conversation with businesses and developers, and develop an area master plan together. Good development comes from good planning.
- Promote economic development that includes living wage jobs; support existing, and create new opportunities for locally owned businesses.
 Affordable Housing
Our renters and homeowners are being driven out of their neighborhoods because of rising property taxes, condo conversions and construction of housing units our current residents cannot afford. Together we will:
- Create solutions that combine restoration and preservation of our current housing stock along with new construction. Improving your home should not be penalized with an immediate rise in property taxes.
- Implement “inclusionary zoning.” Developers would have to set aside a percentage of their housing units as “affordable.” This means a renter or buyer would only have to earn 50-65% of the Area Median Income (AMI). This should apply especially in cases where there are requests for variances and CUPs (conditional use permits) from the city. This translates into maintaining availability of housing for the middle-class.
 Safe Neighborhoods
Our police and firefighting forces are stretched thin. In the case of the police force, there is not much, if any, time for community policing—building relationships within communities, and education. They are having to be constantly reactive instead of proactive. Together we will:
- Achieve full-staffing levels of our police and firefighters, and provide them with the equipment and training they need to serve & protect our city.
- Continue to diversify the force. There needs to be adequate resources for developing a diverse pool of officers through recruiting/training.
- Address the root causes of crime: lack of economic opportunities, lack of hope.
Environmental Sustainability
The city needs to incorporate sustainability principles into everything they do. We need to hear from, and actually listen to environmental advocates. The city needs to lead by example. Together we will:
- Implement stringent green purchasing guidelines. Ensure that all city development projects follow sustainable design principles. Encourage the promulgation of the pedestrian friendly and sustainable practices of New Urbanism.
- Replace vehicles as they reach the end of their city use cycle with hybrid (or alternative fuel) vehicles.
- Support maintaining an independent park board, and work closely with the MPRB to address the problem of Dutch Elm Disease. Work actively to protect our urban forest, creeks, lakes and river.
- Expand the use of LED technology for light sources (traffic signals, street lighting, etc.).
- Commit to purchasing renewable energy in an increasing proportion of city energy use. Doing so will provide a significant market/demand for clean energy helping to facilitate the expansion of our state’s wind power providers. We need solar energy technology wherever feasible into our infrastructure. We need aggressive conservation goals, and actually work towards achieving them.
Quick & Efficient Transportation
We cannot pave our way out of our traffic problems. Together we will:
- Support merging the Planning and Transportation departments. One doesn’t effectively work without the other. A sustainable city cannot be acheived without Transit Oriented Development (TOD). Expanding our mass transit system isn’t optional—it’s absolutely necessary to protect and enhance our environment. (UPDATE: as of 7/28/05 Mayor Rybak has included this in his proposed budget)
- Champion LRT on Southwest Corridor (and an area-wide system) with a Light Rail Hub at The Midtown Greenway
- Support a Streetcar line on the Midtown Greenway from Uptown to the Hiawatha LRT.
- Support Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) that uses alternative energy/fuel sources.
- Support effective, innovative traffic calming measures for our streets
Responsible Fiscal Policy
We will demand socially and fiscally responsible use of public funds that are raised in an equitable and progressive manner. We can do great things with limited means. Together we will:
- Develop creative and innovative funding solutions. An example would be a parking tax added to city owned ramps. This would help to raise revenue from non-city residents that benefit from but do not pay for our city resources and services. We are examining other plans that will derive revenue from non-residents of Minneapolis.
High-Quality Public Education
We must strive to make high-quality public education and lifelong learning accessible to all of Minneapolis' children. The city can do much in the way of supporting our schools. Together we will:
- Work with the School Board to promote early childhood development.
- Support afterschool and youth development programs.
- Lobby state legislators for better funding.
- Encourage arts institutions to develop and support stronger arts education programming.
Arts and Culture
Arts and culture are at the core of a vibrant community. To strengthen what we have, and expand opportunities we will:
- Encourage foundations and local business leaders to support small independent film and one act play festivals that would premiere in our ward.
- Promote the creation of film, theater, dance companies and art galleries.
Civil Rights, Human Rights, and Democracy
Together we will work hard to ensure the equal participation of all residents in political and civic affairs, regardless of their race, class, gender, sexuality, age, disability, ethnicity, or immigration status. |
