Letters August 3

Residing in the same block as 2312 South Lyndale building burned last Dec. 3, I’m growing increasingly appalled at repeated mishandling of incident. Taking out recyclables, literally glad to smell rotting trash instead of presumptive flesh from burnpit nearby. Current council member hasn’t responded to inquiries, but MFD’s public report suggests handful of individuals sheltering there unaccounted for. City, meantime, has made no outreach to update, or apologize to, neighbors who witnessed conflagration.

 

Now learn it’s waiting for owner to remove rubble, whose neglect in first place led to blaze. Having torn down shell after snowstorm Jan. 5, this makes little sense. Might we not respectfully clear debris, mindful of potential victims, and bill back insurer half year later now, full year after condemnation?

 

Intersecting multiple issues, from bad landlords and lack of affordable housing, to ineffective policing reveals manifold inability to address urban problems. Gap in cityscape signals gap in governance fellow Minneapolitans can see passing by, yet reelection looms. Altogether avoidable catastrophe here almost predictable, given history of tentfires at encampments.

 

Ward overseen should not come to resemble wartorn wasteland, overlooked, while de facto allowance for cremation of unsheltered is not progressive policy toward ending homelessness.

 

Should end campaign, however, “Viva Warsame”?

Doug Bjostad (Social Democrat)

 

A really neat pollinator-friendly garden on the Greenway (2841 5th Ave. S.) is the Urban Ventures Farm; six beehives, cherry orchard, one-acre organic vegetables for the community and chickens.

Keep up the good work!

Yours,

Mark-Peter Lundquist

Urban Ventures staff and Kingfield resident