(00:00:00) Good morning, you're doing to ksjn 1313 broadcast of Minneapolis. Mayor. Donald Fraser state of the city speech is made possible by contributions to the Minnesota Public Radio public affairs fund contributors include the Twin Cities law firm of Opperman and penguin and the public affairs group of Padilla spear verdict and Beardsley now live from Minneapolis City Hall. Here's Danielson. Thanks Lauren Emoto. Good morning, everyone with my colleague you and care were with you to bring you live the address of Mayor Don Fraser titled the state of the city message. We don't know a lot about the state of the city message, which is a contrast to past years euan Kerr when we have indeed gotten the document typically the day before this is a speech the state of the city that has not been given all throughout the history of Minneapolis. But Don Fraser as much as any mayor has used the state of the city message for a couple of different purposes. And one of those purposes has been to Simply give citizens and other officials in the city of a good solid base of information from which to work. He typically bases his car. And switch often lasts from 20 to 30 minutes on City staff work demographic information and the like and of course there is a second purpose to the state of the city message and that's an effort by married on Fraser to Simply do a little bit of Plumping and thumping for issues that he feels are important. We're on the third floor of Minneapolis City Hall in Downtown Minneapolis. And this is the old castle like building City Hall that many of you have seen from time to time as you drive downtown. We're on the third floor in the city council chambers Chambers paneled with natural wood and we are in the back of the room towards the back and in front of us sits a U-shaped well round which the city council members from the 13 Ward's sit mayor Fraser is going to be using some visual aids some slides. We are assured that for the benefit of this blind medium. He won't be saying and now if you'll look at that slide we are assured that he'll use them in a fairly General way. The mayor is in the council chambers right now waiting for the 13 members of the council to come in a few. Of them are here mayor Fraser wearing a gray suit white shirt and tie. I will be speaking from a Podium just off to the side of council president Alice rainville seat just in front of the Council secretary and Council parliamentarian. There is a rather full complement of media here today including at least four television stations, and also including the Minneapolis television network, which will be broadcasting this event live over its cable channel service over the City of Minneapolis a number of City officials including the police chief. Anthony Boza is here the superintendent of schools Richard Greene in the audience. You might not think at first glance that a state of the city message would generate quite this much interest and indeed in past years. It did not there was a rather sparse turnout for some of them now council president. Alice rain bill has just entered the chambers in his sitting down with her coffee cup in hand over the years though. What has happened is that mayor Fraser has used these state of the city messages to lay out. His vision of what he thinks needs to happen. And so over the years a number of high city officials have decided that it's important to attend because this serves as a good source of information Parks superintendent. David Fisher is two rows ahead of us and just to his right sitting next to him is Patty Baker the president of the Minneapolis Board of Commissioners for the Minneapolis Park system. And now we have a few more folks coming in including mild Schwarzkopf who in various duties has been City coordinator and secretary for the City of Minneapolis. Well, um care, I don't know what to make of this the fact that we do not know a great deal about what mayor Fraser is going to say. You did not get a copy before hand of the comments know that there were some worries that perhaps in the past releasing the speech to the meeting beforehand had caused problems. And therefore it has been decided that it was not the thing to do this year. Actually we seem to be seeing companies of the Each passing by us at the moment and I hope that the mayor's had a chance to look at them. The there have been some indications perhaps that the mayor will be talking about his interest in human development a report about human development in the area will be released after this meeting to the media and it's of course expected that he will talk a great deal about natural speech and now you and we have gathering in the council chambers quite a few more people see it starting to fill up. I suppose the chamber since the back portable wall has been folded back so that the back room can accommodate more Spectators. I suppose we're looking at as many as a hundred twenty-five folks who can sit in the council chambers at any one time and just in back of the u-shaped table at which the council members sit is the seal the City of Minneapolis and seal approved from 1878. There are folks Gathering here now a few more Council Showing up denish Olstead the independent a few steps away from Barbara. Carlson is caucus colleague the other independently Minneapolis city council has certainly must all know dominated by DF ehlers. Although that dominance by the dfl in the Minneapolis city council is at best a tenuous situation since it is often as not important to think about the city council divided into the north side and the South Side members, they're not appreciative of hearing that talked about very much but in it is in fact a reality in my opinion Yuan and maybe you can react to that fact that as much as anything DF ehlers have a north-south split its it's always very hard to tell which way boats are going to go on the city council and the things are not always as they seem when you come in to watch a meeting of this body because there's a lot of behind the behind the scenes wheeling and dealing going on all the time Sandra Hillary now one of the council members dfl. On the North side and mayor Fraser standing up but near the podium greeting a quite a few folks council member brianc. Well from the Sixth Ward now coming in with his blue coffee cup and a collection of coffee cups. By the way has been one of the favorite spectator sports over the years. Now. We see Steve Kramer and of the dfl are coming in ready to take his seat. We have sitting across from me about 15 feet the president of the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners, Sam Savannah who is also here to listen several school board members including the chair of the school board. Judy farmer is here sitting close by the superintendent of schools Richard Greene couple of the council members have been to the audience. Well area and shaking hands this you and then if I can just rub the slices former chair of the Hennepin County board, thank you postmark and recently took over that position much appreciated and this yuan is you certainly know is a great opportunity for City Council Members to do just exactly what they're doing right now, which is This is a little bit and move about council chambers. Press the flesh. See some folks who they haven't seen for a time because even though these are all officials serving in a medium-sized city of 350,000 people. They don't always see each other. So it's a chance to shake hand and say hello Fraser now has stepped even farther from the podium. He's over by the television cameras just chatting with a few well-wishers and others who have come to say hello. It's actually kind of interesting to notes. Then that despites perhaps the importance of the decisions that are taken by the city council did there is remarkably little media coverage given to many of the issues that come before this and I think that both the mayor and council members are very eager to take advantage of this opportunity to welcome speak to the public. That's right, and we will attempt to allow them to do just that because my colleague here the flying you and care will take his roving microphone as soon as Vera Fraser speaks and he'll go up to the bar which separates the raised platform of the council desk from the audience well here and he'll attempt to get the attention of council president Alice. Rainville AFL are from the north side and a speak with her and get her reaction fairly immediately afterwards following mayor Fraser's address and then I'll attempt to wave at Barbara Carlson and independent in the seventh war and see if we can't get her reaction and maybe the reaction one or two other individuals as well. Now the chamber's filling up considerably you and I suppose a couple of points of civic interest. The City of Minneapolis is not a strong mayor system generally speaking. It is a system more or less divided the city council arguably is the holder of power in Minneapolis, but I think it can be demonstrated that over the years mayor Fraser has carved out for what would otherwise be a weakness. Our slot a rather sizable amount of power that carving out began several years ago when he first came into office by being able to Corral for himself in his office some duties that had originally been exclusively in the domain of the council. We're talking now specifically about things like forming the budget doing some of the research for the budget before mare Fraser's arrival almost exclusively Council domain many mayors prior to Mayor Fraser. This isn't completely 100% the case with many mayors were more or less figureheads proclamations ribbon cuttings. And the sort this Mayor Don Fraser is cut from the mold of a few other Minneapolis mayor. Zarkan afternoon comes to mind and several others who have been activists mayor's interestingly enough. I was talking with council members Steve Kramer yesterday, and he said, of course, he did not know what was going to be coming up in the address today. However, he said, In his opinion that's quite often the council works best when there is a certain amount of what he described as creative tension between the mayor's office and the cancel not that they're deliberately looking for that tension, but some of the better discussions that have come out certainly over the last year have been a result of almost antagonism between the two bodies and know you hear the gavel from president Alice right though. Yeah, Quorum being present. We will call a special meeting of the city council (00:10:39) to order called by the mayor the purpose of the meeting is that the mayor may give his state of the city message to the city council. Clerk will call the roll councilmember white coil Carlson Sales Belton Scallon. I Nee Meek creamer. Sjostad Johnson. Detoxic. Will Brian Hillary quite fit the rainville. I there are 12 members present. All right, we will turn the Meeting over to the mayor for the stated purpose. President rainville members of the city council staff members of boards and commissions and ladies and gentlemen. I might first answer three questions that have been asked of me for why is this state of the city address so late? Apparently the president the governor and I were in a contest to see who would go last and it appears that I won the second. This is not a Donahue show and I will not be going out into the audience of the microphone third. The reason we don't have popcorn today is that it would have taken a change in the ordinances which would be required 10 days of planning and in our office. We haven't achieved that framework that capacity yet. I'm going to give a version of the state of the city which does not correspond identically to the written text. So if you have any noon appointments, you may want to cancel them know each year as specified in the city Charter. The mayor is must present a state of the city message which reports and where the city's been during the previous year and where it's heading during the next part of this requirement is covered by two reports available to you today. It's not snapshot of the city the end of 1986 and that's this thick document published or prepared by the City Planning Department. and then we have a document which lists the accomplishments of the city for the past year. It's a very useful compendium of reports prepared by the different departments themselves. the fact that we have these documents gives me the latitude to look a little further back and a little further forward aided by slides which have been prepared by graphic staff. I'm going to begin with a brief history Minneapolis in order to reflect on our historic strengths and to identify what appears to be new and different in the 1980s. I'll end with a five-year forecast of what we can expect in 1992 if we do an adequate job of responding to today's problems. Perhaps I'm showing my age by reflecting on History. Although I'm aware that the only things that we can count on is change. I also find that the older I get the more I tend to agree with Oliver Wendell Holmes who said that a page of history is worth a volume of logic. From the beginning our unique geographic location that the head of the navigable headwaters of the Upper Mississippi occasioned our growth the hydropower Saint Anthony Falls was located between immense Pine Forest on the Upper, Mississippi and insatiable markets for cut Lumber in the growing cities of the urban Frontier Downriver The Falls provided the power for the city's first and largest industry up to the turn of the century saw milling. After the first settlement of Saint Anthony in 1843 and Minneapolis across the river in 1851, the fledgling towns experienced a heady speculative real estate boom growth all did however during the devastating National depression of 1857 and the national convulsion of the Civil War from 1961 298 1861-1865 with the coming of the railroads. The city's fortunes changed the link to the east opened up populist Eastern markets to year-round shipments the lines to the west and south opened the rich Prairie lands to farm settlement from the frontier Farms came the floods of wheat that built the city's second and eventually greatest industry flour Milling. This Economic Opportunity cause the most rapid growth in our City's history the to struggling towns facing each other across the river at a combined population of about 10,000 in 1870 by 1890. They had grown to a single city of nearly a hundred and sixty five thousand as floods of migrants from Scandinavian Germany, and from Eastern cities came to find jobs in the booming Urban economy. The flower Industries need for large amounts of short-term credit to buy weed at Harvest Time created the basis for our present role as the center for Banking and Financial Services for the Midwest region the demand for farm machinery and household goods from the farms and small towns of the ever-expanding Agricultural Frontier made Minneapolis a manufacturing and wholesale Center. The present position of the Twin Cities as the financial aid distribution center of a multi-state region was solidly forged in the two decades after 1870. Such rapid growth almost overwhelmed Municipal services and brought Minneapolis the squalor as well as the riches of 19th century industrialism. It also brought the activities and institutions which we associate with a great City Nicholas Avenue became the retail mecca for the city Shoppers and City visitors after 1882. It's not covered that you'll have noticed the public library dates from 1886. The city's first public Hospital from 1888 University of Minnesota Grew From one building to a whole campus the city even got its first Convention Center in 1885 and hosted the national Republican party convention in 1892 where Grover Cleveland was nominated, perhaps the most important initiative to shape. The city's future was a creation of the Minneapolis Park Board in 1883. It's farsighted plans and land acquisition for parks and Parkways faced popular opposition, but gave the city a treasured Heritage proving the value of planning for the benefit of future Generations. Another severe National depression in 1893 slowed the city's growth until the turn of the century with recovery came new directions for the city's economy. The lumber industry peaked in 1901. Then rapidly declined as loggers exhausted the resources of the state's forests in 1919. The last big saw mill closed flour Milling reached its peak in 1916, then gradually slackened as the effect of soil exhaustion throughout the Upper Midwest and transportation costs made Buffalo and Kansas City more attractive to Miller's. Minneapolis continued to attract thousands of residents each year. It's job base expanded steadily from its growth as a financial and Service Center and from steady diversification of business and industry the corporations and capital that bill Turley Minneapolis remained finding new outlets for energy and investment in what by 1930 was a city of four hundred and sixty four thousand at the center of a metropolitan area now beyond the city's boundaries. The phosphate Tower was the tallest of the downtown buildings the symbolized the city's role as the economic capital for the region. Fantasies about the city's glorious future were encompassed in the city beautiful plan designed by Edward Bennett and Daniel Burnham in 1917 it influence some of the classic structures still with us, but the plans Ambitions outstrip public interest particularly when the first world war redirected Civic energies in 1920, the City Planning Commission was formed in the business oriented lazy Fair climate of the 1920s. However, city government gave planning little attention. Once the zoning ordinance had been enacted in 1924 planning was one of only many was only one of many Municipal functions that received little support in an era when private Prosperity alone was supposed to be sufficient to assure a Rosy future. The city neglected its infrastructure and kept its services minimal exacerbating the differences between residents who lived in either squalor or Prosperity then came the Great Depression. Although the city's Diversified economic base shielded it from some of the worst effects of the depression Minneapolis shared the national problems of unemployment business failures closed factories and disinvestment through the 1930s soup lines homeless persons shantytowns and conflict between business and labor where only the most visible signs of economic distress. The city was no longer a place of opportunity. The depression soon overwhelmed the city's traditional methods used by charitable organizations for helping those in need the national response to the depression Express. The Roosevelt's New Deal brought the federal government into the local scene. Not only with Social Security and other Health and Welfare programs, but also with public works and public housing the Sumner Olson housing project was begun what little new construction occurred was usually sponsored by the Public Works Administration private investment downtown often took the form of demolishing old buildings for parking lots. Rearmament for the second world war through to 1945 brought an end to the depression but did little else to help us City the showed increasing signs of age and Decay the version of capital and energy to the war effort meant continued failure to replace obsolete structures and Facilities both public and private new residents attracted by the city's wartime job opportunities caused the worst housing shortage since the 1880s the population peaked in 1950 at five hundred and twenty two thousand when growing families were crowded into approximately the same number of housing units as we have now with 362,000 people. Minneapolis after 1950 the number of residents began to decline freeway construction radically alter the cityscape and swept away several thousand structures. Well new apartment buildings added units and increased inner-city densities families with children sought new homes in the city's Fringe neighborhoods or suburbs older families shrank in size is their children left home and single young adults flock to the city from the Upper Midwest region at the same time. The City's population of poor people increased barred from Suburban housing by lack of income or discrimination and forced to accept the oldest deteriorating housing in the Central City the poor could neither afford the cost of homeownership nor Escape exploitation by owners of Slum rentals. They tended to be handicapped or unskilled workers are senior citizens. the city's economic health also began to slip Industries found the Aging multi-story Factory buildings of the Central City no longer suited to their needs only vacant Suburban sites could provide the cheap space needed for the single-story land extensive facilities the new manufacturing and storage techniques and demand for parking spaces required for public transportation to Suburban plants resulted in Lost job opportunities for City residents most in need of jobs, the reduced purchasing power of cert Central City residents combined with the growing Suburban affluence pulled retail business out of the city as well mobility in a society dependent upon the automobile led to the creation of shopping malls the Southdale Shopping Center opened in 8 1956 was only the first of several Suburban shopping malls that cut most severely into the trade of neighborhood shopping areas and also threaten the health of downtown retailing The decision made by General Mills in this same year to move its corporate headquarters to a birth Suburban site boded ill for the future of downtown offices. But 1956 was also the pivotal year when Minneapolis leaders began to reverse the trend toward Urban Decay, which would destroy other Central cities in the nation during the 1960's the public-private Partnerships for which we've gained a national reputation began to form to counter obsolescence before 1956. The City Planning Department was staffed by only one professional concern over downtown decline the effect of a state freeway plan on neighborhoods and an obsolete zoning ordinance led to a 1956 Barton Ashman study the recommended a much expanded planning department with a director willing to get involved in the political decision making process the city accepted the studies recommendations and here and hired Larry or even from Columbus Ohio to head the expanded Department. Another 1956 initiative which created the turning point for Minneapolis was the formation of the downtown Council working with the council the planning department drafted the first downtown plan by 1959 it set out the principles which are still guiding development in the Metro mm plan a compact car offices clustered close to retail development a pedestrian mall on Nicholas Avenue parking ramps around the periphery of the core to intercept employee Parker's as they came off freeways and all-weather pedestrian links on skyways from parking ramps to the core the downtown Council began work on the skyways and Nicollet Mall elements of the Redevelopment plan in the early 60s. Complete rezoning was also undertaken in the late 50s with heavy neighborhood involvement adoption of the new code in 1962 made Minneapolis. One of only three large Central cities in the nation to modernize its zoning code in the post-war period based on what was then an advanced concept of permitted as opposed to excluded uses and performance-based standards for industry in 1959, the City Planning Commission adopted a map of neighborhoods and communities that became the basis for planning the neighborhood reorganization efforts. Many residents became conscious for the first time of their neighborhoods identity organized around neighborhood schools. The neighborhoods of today are essentially as mapped in 1959 often most active when angry about decisions made by government or private developers neighborhood organizations have waxed and waned over the last 25 years, but have always strengthened our sense of community. In 1956 in addition to ensuring effective planning the city set up the capital long-range Improvement committee. Click to remove Capital funding decisions from the political Arena and to set priorities for the maintenance of the city's infrastructure from clicks work proceeded systematic programs over the years to replace fire stations improve Sewer and Water Systems pave residential streets separate sanitary and storm sewers and provide public improvements in renewal areas Minneapolis made far more infrastructure Replacements than most older cities and at that same time achieved and maintained a AAA Bond rating. Federal funds have been artfully captured for a multitude of programs beginning with the urban renewal programs of the 50s and continuing with the war on poverty in the Great Society programs of the 60s and the HUD sponsored Community Development programs of the 70s and 80s results of federal urban renewal programs were mixed. For example, the total clearance required in early urban renewal projects cleared out Skid Row in the Gateway project, but also demolished the Metropolitan building the loss of that wonderful building spurred the historic preservation movement in another example concentration of public housing in the Glenwood Lyndale and Grand areas ended up having disastrous consequences for desegregation planning in the Minneapolis schools. Other Federal programs missed the mark prescribed by Congress the pilot City program for the north side for example got local agencies together in the pilot City Center, but failed to achieve its intended goal of interagency cooperation at the federal level the model cities program on the South Side did create social service agencies and Foster citizen advocacy, but did little to affect its stated goal of physical rehabilitation the new communities program in Cedar Riverside required an unrealistic level of housing density and stopped short after construction of Cedar Square West as the neighborhood rose up in revolt against the project. Stringent regulations accompanying short-term federal dollars often diverted comprehensive local planning finally in 1974 the federal government began the Community Development block grant program, which accommodated locally defined needs just as neighborhood organizations have been stimulated by the 1965 program requirement for maximum feasible participation of people affected so was neighborhood organization fostered by cdbg requirements in the 70s from 1974 through 1978. Town meetings were held in planning districts to elect representatives to a Citywide advisory committee. You're listening to Minneapolis mirrored on freezers state of the city address on ksjn 1330. We hapless sample committee. Through the 1982 planning district citizen advisory committees PDC ACS aided by Community planners employed by the City Planning Department worked on comprehensive plans for Neighborhood revitalization on the plan for the 80s in targeted Central City. Neighborhoods. Federal funds were also focused on neighborhood strategy areas and essays. As a federal dollars dwindled and relations deteriorated between the council in the political leadership generated by the PDC ACS support for those umbrella Community organizations was eliminated since 1984. However, some of our limited cdbg dollars have been channeled through the McD a to support the work of neighborhood groups. Umbrella organization such as the neighborhood priorities Coalition and the neighborhood Consortium of nonprofit developers have helped maintain support for neighborhood revitalization. Corporate support is also been important to the revitalization of Central City neighborhoods as well as to the continuing growth of downtown examples include a loan to acquire facilities for the pilot City Health Center. Honeywell Supportive Housing Rehabilitation Rehabilitation and job creation in the Phillips neighborhood Dayton Hudson support for planning for the Whittier neighborhood Equity provided by the downtown Council to promote the rehabilitation of Elliot Park General Mills participation in the Steven Square project and the formation of the greater Minneapolis Metropolitan Housing Corporation gimmick to coordinate private efforts in the housing area. Public-private Partnerships are responsible for the creative financing, which has been a Hallmark for this City's approach to assuring housing and Commercial development. As probably the best example the city council secured State legislation permitting tax increment financing in 1970. Although the first tax increment projects in Loring Park and Nicollet Lake began slowly as the 1973 recession dried up investment Capital just as land was cleared. The application of tax increment financing is taken off since 1980 there now 44 tax increment District projects whose assessed values increased after fiscal disparities by over three hundred and thirty eight million dollars. Thanks to private investment supported by public assistance. outstanding examples of tax increment development include industrial parks such as North Washington the now completed Loring Park housing area commercial revitalization on West Broadway City Center the Uptown development at Hennepin and Lake Center Village River Place and seen Anthony, Maine the American Indian Business Development corporations projects on Franklin Avenue International Market Square and Riverfront development in Industry Square since the Minneapolis Community Development agency was formed in 1981 combining all of the development functions previously located in the Housing and Redevelopment Authority the city coordinators office and the Industrial Development Corporation more approaches to create a financing have been developed providing the city with its own bank to Aid high-priority Redevelopment these tools for generating local dollars are essential if the city's to remain competitive with Suburban locations for residents or businesses just as the city has been creative and Redevelopment Finance. So it has been superb in its budget making during the last decade in 1978 mayor hofstede instituted a process for planning long-range Capital Improvements and the annual operating budget a process which is outstanding in the nation as recognized by the United States Conference of Mayors First Financial leadership Award presented to Minneapolis this month. Through that budget process. We have maintained a stable Mill Levy and climbed back down the ladder from 1st to 21st among metropolitan area municipalities for our property tax burden as important. We managed to maintain an increasingly rare Triple A Municipal Bond rating. To summarize this brief history Minneapolis has survived and prospered through recessions and depressions and wars and immigrations and out migrations and the urban crisis. We are still the Upper Midwest Center for financial and business services and for retailing in spite of intense International competition in all Fields, the private sector continues to expand job opportunities befitting our Origins. We are turning the face of the city back to the river. We are steadily adding magnetic attractions for tourism in the Arts and the city is artfully leveraged its resources to rebuild neighborhoods maintain the infrastructure and provide traditional services within increasingly tight budgets. Now, however, we Face another Watershed year similar to 1956. There's no longer the growth in our tax base to match our fiscal needs so that we must raise the mill Levy in 1988. No amount of creative financing can really compensate for the cutbacks in federal dollars for affordable housing or Central City revitalization. Most important Central City poverty is growing too much and too fast endangering our human resource potential and neighborhood livability. Now there are two cities in Minneapolis one is comprised primarily of middle-class adults who are workers are retired seniors. There's another city in Minneapolis comprised primarily families headed by single parents were employed in low-wage jobs or unemployed and dependent upon welfare assistance. the social and economic distance is increasing between the adults either filling career jobs with expanding fringe benefits or benefiting from substantial retirement income and the children who face increasing barriers to Social and economic independence as they grow into adulthood the barriers fostering dependency include Personal barriers such as early childbearing divorce lack of nurturing low self-esteem drug and alcohol abuse poor education poor health and nutrition community service barriers such as the lack of affordable reliable childcare lack of medical benefits lack of affordable housing disincentives created by public assistance lack of transportation to where the jobs are and labor market barriers created by the job Supply the lack of job skills, which match employers hiring criteria lack of fringe benefits and racial discrimination impediments which begin during childhood and Adolescence are having a profound influence on the lives of future Generations in what is called the welfare cycle. Other family members neighborhoods and schools also suffer the consequences of chronic unemployment and Welfare dependency the larger communities affected through pressures on government budgets charitable resources human service agencies and other local institutions stretching to support at-risk families. Minneapolis economy is always been vulnerable to swings in the National and international economy poverty has always been with us in contrast to the Past. However, some current conditions reduce hope for the future of our persistent poor and therefore for our community on the one hand long-term dependency on our welfare system as isolated children in single-parent families from a support system, which can provide access to hope for the future on the other hand changes in the economy have reduced hope for access to good paying jobs, which provide adequate support support for family self-sufficiency. The present composition of our population also create special concern about the impact of growing poverty on our neighborhoods the baby boom generation of young adults who moved into the city through the late 60s and 70s is moving into middle age raising families making decisions about where to live. There are far fewer young adults to take their place in the neighborhoods or the workforce by the early 90s all of the businesses, which seek either professional technical or service workers will face a major shortage and entry-level workers and middle income neighborhoods, which seek new residents to fill housing vacancies will find few takers. We Face an impending crisis. We cannot afford to waste the human resource potential of males who are out of the workforce mothers who want to work but are hedged in by lack of adequate childcare unskilled youth or School dropouts. Our businesses need workers. Our neighborhoods need stable families with the income to buy and maintain homes. We must mount a massive concentrated effort to invest in the children growing up in the city their future is our future. Almost every major city problem, which I can identify is tied back to the problem that many of our children are not growing up to be healthy well-educated citizens. When you think about crime unemployment teen pregnancy drugs School dropouts all of these problems stem from inadequate Youth Development. Dramatic changes in the family structure been occurring during the last couple of decades and the important responsibilities of child-rearing has been devalued along the way. The first 20 years of life are not years to be gotten through in front of a TV set. They should be explored richly with steady growth through nurturing as an important part of the total Continuum of life regardless of family circumstances every parent and that includes Fathers as well. As mothers should be required to deliver a school ready child at age 5 and to participate in the education of that child from the kindergarten through the 12th grade. Looking at the long-term interest of the city. Which of these expenditures do you think is most cost-effective a ten thousand dollar Grant to a homeowner to fix up the electrical and plumbing code violations. Or a ten thousand dollar contribution enabling for disadvantaged children to participate in a program such as project Head Start which is demonstrated that half as many children will become pregnant while in high school or will drop out of high school compared to those at-risk youngsters who do not participate in Head Start if I could I would choose the latter we've seen in our historic review that Redevelopment programs focused on physical rehabilitation. Consider consider for a moment the contrast between the construction of a house and the growth of a child once a building permit has been issued the city sends out an inspector to examine every system within the dwelling before permitting occupancy. For those who live in the house on the other hand, we have a lazy Fair attitude, which says that every anything is ok. So long as you don't get caught breaking the law help is provided through a non system of agencies, which must be sought out by the parent. There are no defined Community standards for parenting except for extreme problems of abuse or abandonment. We thought it was wise in the 60s to shift the city's role in education to an independent school district and the fiscal burden for Human Services to the county as these separate agencies have taken on the responsibility for Human Services. However, different aspects of human development have been treated through categorical programs, but nowhere has the full Continuum of human development needs been addressed in the meantime, the city has faced three decades of growth in poverty. We all want a healthy Community with healthy people living in healthy neighborhoods capable of participating in a healthy job market. This community is got to organize itself to be able to coordinate human development as well as housing and economic development and transportation and job training and traditional city services in order to fulfill those healthy objectives. The city council members know what I'm hooked on I want to make sure that every at-risk child is tracked from the time of a mother's pregnancy. So that adequate nurturing will occur with parenting education nutrition and early childhood development. I want every Minneapolis adult to make time for tutoring or mentoring a disadvantaged child. I want the business Community to guarantee work experience for every high school student and graduate through the new interagency youth Coordinating Board. I have found out that the best way to think about human development is through a systems approach looking at the Continuum from birth to adulthood. I know what the city council members are hooked on they are afraid that the economic strength essential to the quality of life will be eroded as middle-class families decide to move to the suburbs abandoning the Central City to the Social and physical deterioration which accompanies growing poverty. Council members are correctly addressing their fears through a process of strategic planning which began last spring one result is the commitment to ensure coordination of all city services within each neighborhood through a neighborhood coordinating team. Another is to dramatically increase police and crime prevention activities through what is termed the safe program meetings are now being held in the neighborhoods to inform residents about these initiatives and to shape their practical application with citizen input Both the council members and I are feeling frustrated. However, we know what we want, but somehow we can't make it happen some major obstacles stand in the way of fulfilling this communities potential. Government bureaucracies themselves provide a major obstacle when yawns maybe left her job as director of economic assistance for the county. She said that 95% of Staff time was spent on paperwork rather than on people. Well, we press for comprehensive Human Service planning, which will focus on case management for families and individuals working in their way to economic self-sufficiency. I have the feeling that managers of state and County programs responsible for income support food stamps Child Care Health Care Jobs programs and education have no vehicles to even talk to each other no matter how interested in their children and their clients. They're consumed by red tape. State and federal deficits make it abundantly clear. There will be few new Human Service dollars to combat inner-city poverty even so the governor could right now make an enormous Difference by demanding the waivers be granted to allow families in need to come to a community-based family Advocate who would be responsible for not only providing welfare assistance, but also development of individualized self-sufficiency plans and referral to support systems, which could make self-sufficiency come true. Sebastian e on the south side and pilot City in the north side are perfect locations for this kind of coordinated delivery of services. Within the city we can do a much better job of looking at human development systems rather than isolated system services. This means we must have the audacity to look beyond the limits of services funded exclusively by city government setting up collaborative mechanisms, involving other public or private agencies insisting that problems be dealt with in a comprehensive Cooperative manner. Let me give you some examples. Now we fund neighborhood organizations through the McD a to plan housing and economic development. We should be funding these organizations to take on the full range of Resident needs as Outreach for a neighborhoods neighborhood needs assessment as recruiters for tutors and mentors for disadvantaged youth as Outreach for the neighborhood coordination team in the safe program as planners for Coordinated Childcare funding for comprehensive neighborhood planning must be provided because neighborhood organizations provide the infrastructure for Community Development. We need to involve neighborhood organizations and a major effort to develop a plan for the 90s. We've developed a few good models for getting over the obstacle created by separate governmental jurisdictions. Youth Coordinating Board is one example. Another is the new Criminal Justice coordinating Council, but the barriers between the city council and school board or the city council and the park board are just as bad or worse as between the city council and the County Commissioners. We cannot survive without the common understanding that all of us elected officials report to the same clients. Neither the school's nor the parks nor the city agencies belong to the elected officials or administrators. They belong to all of the people in Minneapolis. Bureaucratic jealousy is the worst Venom. In this week mayor week Council week everybody form of government in which everyone has to stroke everybody before our consensus is reached too much energy and time and taxpayers money is wasted in the process of achieving consensus. Just as we need better inter-governmental planning. We need to attend to our own internal organization. The experience of the last few years have shown both significant progress in improving the management of the city and continuing weaknesses. These weaknesses revolve around the central question of who's in charge. This question comes up frequently because of lack of clarity about who's in charge of particular projects multiple referrals to council committees, which require excessive staff time and delay resolution of issues multiple and sometimes conflicting directions to staff from various elected officials and intervention by individual officials and staff performance of assigned responsibilities. The council should act as a board of directors setting goals defining policies setting priorities and monitoring follow up. Instead the council has 11 committees. So that each majority caucus member can chair committee now served by at least one eight and secretary to take care of constituent calls. Every full-time councilmember feels that he or she must be responsible for the Department's our offices reporting to his or her committee. This ends up with every Council committee feeling responsible for every nitty-gritty detail of Staff activity. The council now has 11 managers each of whom leads a committee which acts as a commission responsible for Department management. What does this do to professional staff who are called upon directly by council members regardless of the staff status within a department. I believe that reduces their efforts as managers and risk-takers and leads them to hide and shift Direction frequently. It's unhealthy. What do we do about this problem of everyone running everything? There are three ways in which these questions can be addressed through a change in the charter which currently fails to distinguish between legislative and executive functions through changes in the committee structure and through changes in organizations of the Departments and the reporting requirements. Consideration of Charter change would undoubtedly lead to consideration of various proposals, which would alter the size of the council among these possibilities are first a strong mayor system under which the mayor appoints all department heads subject to council approval and the responsibility for the city's divided with the council having legislative Authority and the mayor the executive Authority. This proposal has been considered by the voters on a number of occasions since World War II and his failed each time. Second a nine-person counsel with the mayor chairing three of the council members could be elected at large the Rest by Ward's the executive committee could be made up of at large Members Plus. The mayor department heads would be appointed by the executive committee as now or third a 13-person counsel with for elected at-large. Otherwise, the range does above. Or fourth a 26 person council with council members being part time they could elect three or four members of the executive committee who would serve full-time. On the question of the internal organization of the council the following options might be considered. Reduce the number of committees to five or six or restrict the work of committees to policy and oversight not management or simplify the process by allowing one committee to dispose of an issue without referral to other committees. Or require the executive committee to meet more frequently to provide follow-up on implementation of policy and on management issues. A review of departmental organization suggest a couple of changes which might be considered. First assign only staff functions to the coordinator staff functions are defined as those serving all the other departments then consolidate departments. So there are few under which all operating activities are conducted. The second alternative or choices to assign the coordinator to Monitor and coordinate the city's total work program. How can these issues get raised studied and decided again? There are a number of alternative approaches first asked the charter commission. Look at the structural issues second hire an outside consultant to review the city's organization and make recommendations third create a Citizens group to study City management and structure using people skilled and management and also people knowledgeable about City Hall would be important to get people who are not otherwise directly involved in City Hall decisions. Fourth grade and in-house task force to look at relationships between departments and elected officials and develop recommendations or V. Ask the city council rules committee to take up the issue so that some of the problems can be addressed through the council rules. I recommend that these subjects be placed on our agenda for 1987. So we might begin now the process of improving the capacity of city government the more effectively deal with the problems of our community members of the Council of already begun discussion of some organizational issues through the majority caucus and through the Ways and Means Committee, which is taking the lead in his work plan for 1987. This year we are celebrating the bicentennial of the United States Constitution. Through its framework. We have all pledged allegiance to the goals of justice for all the pursuit of happiness and the general welfare of our citizens now, however, the world is our community accountability is vast let us be accountable nevertheless for the pursuit of justice and happiness of our own Minneapolis citizens. Thanks to the stability of our constitution. We have both memory and hope both are needed in the days to come based upon my belief in the ability of this community to Rally Against All Odds. I'd like to present a forecast for 1992 playing out some of the trends which are clear from our past. This forecast is Created from current plans and demography demographic projections spiced with a little bit of optimism the niches the initiatives needed now to make this forecaster reality make up a part of our agenda for 1987. If we respond adequately to today's problems we can have hope for tomorrow. In 1992. The population has dropped just below 350,000 the baby boom population is middle-aged while the number of seniors has declined steadily as has the number of younger adults ages 20 to 34 family households have increased whereas non-family households have fallen off resulting in a higher level of vacancies in efficiency in one bedroom apartments and in demolition of older apartment buildings, which provide this kind of housing stock aside from continuing growth of Riverfront housing focusing on the historical amenity of Saint Anthony Falls, which created the city. No housing starts are occurring. Higher turnover of homes in The Fringe areas of Camden Nokomis the Northeast continue as senior homeowners die. The amount the amount of downtown office space of all types has increased to 25 million square feet compared to nineteen point five million in eat in 1986. A hundred and forty thousand workers are now employed downtown now in 1992 including many more service workers in low-paying jobs depended upon the growing success of the city's hospitality industry. Trade along. The new Nicollet Mall is excellent supported primarily by downtown workers and tourists. The entertainment center on Hennepin Avenue attracts families to a variety of indoor and outdoor activities supported by the Hennepin Avenue Theater Association and backed by the basketball and hockey arena and old warehouses Lively with art studios and galleries. The technology quarter is an attractive. Well landscaped area between the University of Minnesota and downtown some of its research and development. Enterprise is hidden from view in mind underground space media and Graphics Industries are filling in the space between the technology quarter and downtown providing the Skyway connectors, which link downtown to the Metrodome. The various new buildings in the city are diverse in style yet attractive assisted by a non-binding design review process. Rapid Transit links the to downtown's of Minneapolis and st. Paul as well as the airport and downtown. Although the two cities still have separate government's many of their business and cultural organizations are now unified plans are finally being developed for a second major airport. South of the Twin Cities quieter aircraft engines have reduced airport noise, but increased airport operations, make noise more continuous. With a decrease in supply of entry-level workers more of the hard to employ a found employment. The number of hard to employ will begin to decrease as Early Childhood programs reach at-risk children in time to prepare them for K through 12 schooling. Although many workers are part-time. It received prorated fringe benefits childcare available on a sliding fee basis dependent on income allows parents to take service jobs. The business Community has moved as also moved to cafeteria benefit plans and offers Flex time to parents many residents and workers in Minneapolis volunteer times is time as mentors for at-risk youth work internships are available for all youth who stay in school and teen pregnancy is dramatically reduced. Neighborhood organizations provide effective Outreach for coordinated City County Services and themselves operate community based business enterprises to provide Neighborhood Services. The public housing projects on the North side are filled increasingly by families who will stay only long enough to acquire or improve job skills at the expanded family Learning Center now affiliated with the TCO. I see as they find jobs. They move on to permanent housing the Glendale housing project in Southeast Minneapolis is a national model for tenant management. The city has learned that physical and economic and social revitalization go hand-in-hand must involve those who are affected by the programs and proceeds best through steady increments of progress rather than through Giant Steps the government helps the private sector to shape Visions through a coherent planning process provides incentives coordinates follow-up and provides the infrastructure for development, but recognizes that continued revitalization depends on private investment. 1992 Minneapolis is an exciting people place with a diverse Cosmopolitan population and sophisticated varied cultural choices is tied through quick and easy access in all but rush hours to a Twin Cities society and economy making use of all that's in st. Paul as well as in Minneapolis in 1992. Minneapolis would be a great City with in the Twin Cities within the Upper Midwest with in the world most important. All of the people in the community will be able to share in its amenities. I'd like to express my thanks to did Keith in the planning department in the graphics department for their work on this history and forecast. Now outlined in the forecast we're plans already being pursued with the private sector and other public agencies as well as other plans so far only on the drawing boards. I ask each and every one of you to help me verify the forecast of 1992 Walt rostow says that we're entering a new political era one in which America will be preoccupied by increased economic competition from abroad and will need better cooperation at home to deal with this challenge. To help the city to be competitive in the changing International environment. I strongly support Council efforts to establish an international trade task force this group would make sure that government is coordinating and cooperating with business to support our competitive standing. We in City Hall recognize that we need more and better cooperation among our elected officials and public agency heads and businesses and City residents to meet the challenge for comp corporation based. On our history of cooperation in Minneapolis. I believe that we have an excellent chance of making our way through the world of the 1990s with a community-wide sense of common commitment and Destiny. Thank you each of you for taking an important part in our common effort. (01:00:39) Minneapolis Mayor Don Fraser completing his state of the city message. 50 minute message longer by half than previous state of the city messages for listening to live broadcast of the state of the city message by married on Fraser on ksjn 1330. Welcome (01:01:02) the mayor and to the many (01:01:03) complications Gordonsville member Tony's calendar into the city council. Bring some I'd like to receive and file and (01:01:13) agreed at the printing of the mayors of statement and thank him for making his time available to us here. (01:01:21) This is a pro forma motion common after all state of the city messages to receive the mayor's address (01:01:27) enter it into the record council president Alice reyne built taking The Voice vote shortly Shield adjourn (01:01:34) and will attempt to get reaction from Council president. Rainville DSLR from the north side to this address roll call now closing this special session of the Minneapolis city council. Our reporter euan Kerr is stepping up to the bar which separates the well of the city council from the From The Spectator area and shortly Yuan will be attempting to get the attention of council president rainville while I think whatever your political affiliation you are going to have to agree that mayor Fraser's presentation 50 minutes worth was provocative if nothing else called city government and unhealthy tangle of cross affiliations and other networks all the eleven council members who are currently chairs of the various committees that the council coordinates Tangled Up In bureaucracy mayor Fraser now shaking hands with a few of the councilmembers a full house. By the way, all of the council members did show for this presentation, and now the reporters are rushing to the center to get a few comments from some of the people and will be attempting to Corral Alice rainville and others and we see that Barbara Carlson is nearby To care is heading up Alice Randall is still sitting at her desk. This presentation was quite different from state of the city messages of the past mayor Fraser. First of all gave a longer message as we mentioned this though, if you knew nothing about Minneapolis was the kind of historic overview that you would rarely get from a city official. This is in keeping some might say with mayor Fraser's other scholarly approach to things including city government and and and you and care now has located president. Alice rainbow will go to her. Thank you very much Dan. I am standing here on the (01:03:34) platform. Cancel. Just waiting for council (01:03:36) president Alice rainville to come and join us for a (01:03:39) moment. President Randall if I may ask you your first reactions to the mayor's speech this morning. We all my statement is the after mayor Fraser has stepped on my toes for years. But with this morning's message, he has (01:03:54) landed with both feet (01:03:57) on the majority caucus and to Delights of the minority caucus and I think that's unfortunate. I don't think what he describes is a difficulty is he is having and dealing with a democratic form of government. He likes a hazard or a he has trouble dealing with other people having strong points of view the strength of this city as he described it in his in his historical presentation was just a result. I mean, there's a successes of this city are a result of democratic government and if he had his way He would abolish that and impose on us a city manager form of government with one elected apartment with a one elected official. Then I have disagreed with that for years (01:04:55) the mayor made a number (01:04:57) of proposals for (01:04:58) changing the way that things are done at the moment head. Likely do you think that those (01:05:02) plans are actually that's come to fruition. The mayor has an obsession with organizational tables what you get from this is everything is fine in in in that chartered office in the mayor's office. He had no references to where his office should change everything is perfect on first floor, but elsewhere it is all in disarray. And and I don't agree with that. Why did he go to take that get that award for a triple A City if it's all in disarray his first state of the city message said that city government looks like a plate of spaghetti. (01:05:40) You (01:05:40) should have spent send someone else to get that award if he truly, you know, if he wants to be honest about (01:05:45) it. So overall you're not very happy about what's happening. (01:05:51) I have pages of notes and and I will make a printed the response to to this document. I have my notes and I'll build on (01:05:59) them. Thank you very much this city council president Alice rainville back to you Dan. Thanks you and care. Well council member Barbara Carlson and independent from the council president. Alice rain Villa dfl are from the north side just told you and care that mirrored on Fraser has in the past stepped on the toes of the majority of the city council. And Alice rainville said this time he came down with both feet on the majority. She's not happy with what the mayor had to say. Well, let me tell you what I think I'm going to continue my love-hate relationship with Mary Fraser and his state of the city message. What council president rainville does not like I think is fabulous. I think to take a look at what the consul is going to In reorganization how many members we should have should we have chairs of all these committees should we have all of these committees? I mean, it is very hard in the minority to keep track about what everybody's doing and you really do have 11 Chiefs and no Indians. It is a very unwieldy system, but I do have some concerns so I'm in support of that. But I do have some concerns again about what Don is doing in the delivery of Social Service. He has is in the delivery of Social Service. Now, maybe what he wants to do is to take a look at Uni government, maybe with all the changes that he's talking about. We should look at Uni government because it's very very cost-effective. We've got expensive staff. We don't (01:07:23) always get along with all these boards and (01:07:24) agencies. Maybe we should have just one government that makes the decisions that sets policy the taxes our constituents and does everything. I did hear correctly. He's calling for a higher mill rate in 1980. Well, I want you to know that he The book of 26 pages that says all the wonderful things we have done in this last year. The City of Minneapolis has (01:07:45) not raised its mill rate in the last 10 years. (01:07:49) He accomplished 26 pages (01:07:51) and we can do it again without a mill increase (01:07:54) council member Barbara Carlson and independent from the Seventh Ward. Thank you very much by my side now is denish olsat also an independent from the council served here on the council for many years over a decade Steve Kramer will be with us shortly to to offer some comments adenosyl student council president. Alice Randall was not very happy with mayor Fraser's remarks. He said as we heard that the organization of the council is unhealthy, it's all tangled up in itself. Oh, I agree with them. I agree with the mayor we have too many people on the city council Waltons I can die for years have suggested that we reduce the size of the council from 13 people down to 9 now. We have a couple more people on the council Kramer for one who agrees that we should reduce the size and I'm very pleased to see the mayor saying the same thing. I'm also See the mayor questioning the role of the city council. We should indeed be a board of directors rather than dealing with day-to-day management of each department. And that's what we are beginning to do. The mayor is right on in those areas. But mr. Schultz said this proposal by mayor Fraser to unencumbered if you will the city council is probably going nowhere. If you ask my opinion in terms of the current power structure of the city council the dfl is in control and I would imagine it's going to be very difficult for committee chairs to give up some of that power react to that conclusion. Oh, you're right. The reason we have 11 committees as because there are eleven Democrats on the city council and they feel that it's important that each Democrat on the city council be a committee chair. I think that's stupid. It's bad government to say we're going to have as many committees as there happen to be people elected from the majority party. And so I'm glad the mayor is Raising this issue and I will be fighting to to help him implement it. Alright council member Schewel stood. Thank you very much for dropping. In by councilmember Dennis hillestad an independent from the Minneapolis city council and perhaps overhearing some of those comments is dfl or Steve Kramer another city council member who might argue might take issue with the observations of Dennis Olstead and times Carlson at times that this is not an entangled counsel that the committee system works. Just fine your reaction to them. Well Dan, I thought first of all, I thought the mirror basically describe democracy which is at times not very not very efficient and can be difficult to deal with now. I also believe that some changes are in order and have proposed reduction to a nine-person council, but I guess I think that things must be going pretty well in the mayor's office of he's had it so much chance to think about how the council out of run. I think that the real issue for us is coming to know what happens inside our departments. We have had a good but an No budget process for these last 10 or 15 years and over that time. I think the activities of city government in our departments have built up in an incremental fashion and we need to somehow reach inside those departments figure out what's going on and make a decision if what they're doing number one is needed today and number two if it is needed are they doing it in the proper fashion? And I don't think that government structure per se permits you to make that kind of reaching assessment of what city hall is up to so I'm less less enamored of the structural structural discussion, and I'd rather get on with the business of really figuring out how we're doing our business these days finally councilmember Kramer did I hear correctly make the mayor calling for a higher Mill Levy for the city's portion of the - I think he did and I must say that one of the issues he identified I think is an important one and that is we are being squeezed on the revenue side while our responsibilities are increasing and that is a formulation that suggest if we're going to do everything as Being asked to do by the federal government and now the state if I read Governor purposes budget correctly if we're asked to do everything we don't have enough Revenue right now to accomplish that and so we're going to either have to decide to increase revenue or we're going to have to say hey, there's some things we just can't do councilmember Steve Kramer. Thank you very much for coming by councilmember Kramer DSLR from the Minneapolis Southside. Well, Brian Coyle not to be outdone by his colleagues a dfl council member from the Sixth Ward has stepped up and he has watched his colleagues have their say at our microphone and Brian. Thank you for dropping by suspect. You have something to say everybody else has reacted council president calling the mayor's comments. If I may paraphrase her her reaction. She's rather unhappy with being characterized as a tangled mess in terms of city government your reaction. Well, I think that we I think he hit it right on the head. I do think frankly that everyone here tries to run everything and I welcome his introduction of the overhaul of City Hall and government into the debate. However, where I differ with the mayor is that I didn't hear any sense of urgency about the current problems that the unemployed adults and inner city have I mean I welcome his his emphasis on Youth Development, but when I listened to Ronald Reagan Rudy perpich this morning, and now mayor Fraser, even though one is a Republican and tour Democrats what I keep hearing from all three is a yuppie agenda that seems to neglect the people that are down and out right now and at best concentrates on the future of Youth Development, but councilmember but councilmember coil as a member of committees. Are you prepared to give up some of your power terms of committee assignments potential committee chairs that apparently the mayor is calling for consolidation. Yes, I would be if it made government. More effective you about and I think there are many things that we can learn from the private sector and things that we can teach them and I welcome his emphasis on partnership. But what I want to be focused on is some real urgent issues in the present such as crime and such as neighborhood deterioration that I didn't here with all this historic perspective and future forecasting. I didn't really send get a sense of urgency about things as they are right now councilmember Brian Coyle a dfl are from the West Bank area. Thank you very much for dropping by the Cedar Riverside Neighborhood. Minneapolis's Sixth Ward. You have been a brave listener. We hope an interested listener to stay with us this long for what we frankly didn't imagine would be a grand oppas presentation a city state of the city address by Mayor Don Fraser lasting 50 minutes. And then as you've just heard reaction from for City Council Members to DIA fillers to Independence, we think though if we can state it somewhat objectively that this It was a broad overview offered by the mayor a bit out of character with past messages not only in its length, but also in some fairly provocative observation observations about what he termed the unhealthy state of city government in terms of its bureaucracy and Tangle un Care. Thank you very much for joining me. You'll have more reaction later today on the ksjn news programs. Yes where I'm actually on my way to press briefing with the mayor and he will know that expand even more from the ideas. He presented in his speech this morning and reaction will continue to be rich from school superintendent Richard Greene and others affected by some of the things the mayor said including the downtown Council the Chamber of Commerce and others Alan Strickland was at the mixer on our first floor office in the evening Apple City Hall Bureau. Thank you Alan Scott Bridgewater handle the controls here at our third floor table and city council chambers with my colleague euan Kerr. This is Dan Olson reporting live from the Minneapolis city council chambers in Minneapolis. Halt thank you Dan this broadcast of Mary Donald Fraser state of the city address was made possible by contributions to the Minnesota Public Radio public affairs fund contributors include the Twin Cities law firm of Opperman and penguin and the public affairs group of Padilla spear Burdick and Beardsley.