Have your say on how your neighborhood gets funded – comment period ends July 15

There are seven neighborhoods in our Camden Community. Each neighborhood has an organization which has gotten a certain amount of money (from you/your fellow taxpayers) dispersed by a City fund, to help your neighborhood.

The City is making changes on how your tax dollars will be spent on supporting neighborhoods. Neighborhoods 2020 is the City’s draft program guideline on neighborhood programming and funding to support the City’s 70 neighborhood organizations in 2021 and beyond.  

For some months the City asked for your comments on the plan – but it has been difficult recently considering the COVID-19 pandemic. So they wanted to give folks a little bit of extra time to evaluate and comment on the Neighborhoods 2020 Plan – extending the comment time to July 15.

The draft program guidelines are the outcome of a City Council direction that staff work with a consultant to have conversations with neighborhoods and the community on program guidelines for the Neighborhoods 2020 framework.

The Cities’ draft program guidelines follow the vision to preserve Minneapolis’ neighborhood organizations and create equitable communities in which all people are valued, communities are engaged and leadership mirrors the diversity of the city.

During the public comment period, Neighborhood and Community Relations staff expanded outreach and held virtual public meetings. The last one was held April 2. The meeting was recorded and is available at minneapolismn.gov/neighborhoods2020.

So have your say – comments must be received by 11:59 p.m., July 15. There are several ways to submit comments:

•     Email: Neighborhoods2020@minneapolismn.gov

•     Phone: 612-673-3737

•     Text messaging and voicemail: English: 612-518-8743, Español: 612-404-2978, Hmoob: 612-367-6548, Soomaaliga: 612-404-2978

•     Mail to: Neighborhood and Community Relations, 105 Fifth Avenue South, Suite 425, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401

The guidelines are expected to go before the City Council for review in mid-August. Find info on Neighborhoods 2020 at ci.minneapolis.mn.us/ncr/2020.