"Shameful" and "not worth discussing" were used by several neighborhood board members to describe the City's "Framework" proposal for future neighborhood funding at a ward-wide meeting at Longfellow Park on Feb. 20. The City will take feedback through March 17 on the "Framework," whose authors include Mayor R.T. Rybak's office and four council members. Through the current Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) funding model, over 1,000 Minneapolis residents currently serve on their neighborhood boards (this figure does not include countless additional committee members and volunteers), where they make decisions about issues, projects, and spending priorities for the immediate geographies in which they live or work. While the "Framework" acknowledges in words the value of this vigorous civic culture, and while the NRP model could be improved, said many of the 52 attendees, the "Framework's" failure to deliver adequate funding and local autonomy would cripple or eliminate most of Minneapolis' 61 neighborhood organizations.

CNO director Amy Arcand presented a point-by-point comparison with the NRP, and explained that the "Framework" would provide about $32,700 per year per neighborhood organization (compare with $250,000 per year invested in Corcoran during NRP Phase I), while consuming over 30% of its total cost in bureaucratic structure (compare with an 8% average overhead cost for the NRP). Following Arcand's presentation, audience questions were fielded by a panel that included County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin, Longfellow board member DeWayne Townsend, Longfellow director Melanie Majors, NRP policy board member Debbie Evans, NRP director Robert Miller, and Council Member Gary Schiff. Schiff noted that most of his 12 Council colleagues have been reluctant to voice support for the continuation of the NRP as it exists today. CNO Board Chair Jessica Ward-Denison challenged elected officials in the room to move beyond words and to rewrite a proposal that will sustain neighborhood programming. Senator Patricia Torres Ray took the microphone and pledged to champion a state funding package, but noted the challenge of working against the wishes of the Mayor and the Council.

The meeting was marked by spirited conversation, and only this question left all six panelists silent, and seemingly without an answer: "Is there is anything positive about the Framework proposal?"

Click here to read the CNO board's response to the "Framework." Click here to read the "Framework for the Future" proposal. Make your voice heard as part of a community response here. Finally, click here to find contact information for the City Council and Mayor R.T. Rybak.