MinnPost’s Twin Cities Documenters program trains and pays community members to take notes at local government meetings. Below are Documenter Glen Johnson’s summary and observations from the May 12 meetings of the Hennepin County Board committees and the Housing and Redevelopment Authority. You can find Glen’s full notes here, which include links to the agendas and video.

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Summary:

The board meets as committees to discuss issues in depth before voting on them as a full board. Even though all board members are present at each committee, these are only considered committee actions. Next, commissioners will take a final vote on these items at their formal board meeting. Each of the board members also serve on the Housing and Redevelopment Authority, which is included in these notes. 

Editor’s note: These notes are missing the Open Forum section, which is not livestreamed. We have filed a public records request for the recording and will attach it to our webpage for these notes. 

The Law, Safety and Justice Committee:

The Administration, Operations and Budget Committee:

• Sent to the full board a proposal to establish an annual Heart of Hennepin service award.
  • Edelson brought forward the action to recognize residents doing exceptional work for their community.
  • Commissioners expressed support for the award, but wanted to discuss implementation and cost before taking a final vote.  

The Housing & Redevelopment Authority: 

• Approved $19.2 million across five programs that will create or preserve 1400 units of affordable housing.
  • Staff noted that requests for affordable funding projects were for more than twice the available funding.
  • Staff noted a new Local Affordable Housing Aid (LAHA) funding source totalling $1.4 million was included for the first time.  
  • Commissioners Conley and Fernando expressed support for the mix of housing types and home ownership options funded through these programs. Conley also noted the focus on preservation, which avoids affordable housing projects being sold, losing the affordable status.
• Approved the sale of three county-owned properties to an affordable housing developer in North Minneapolis.
  • The sale is a joint effort with the city of Minneapolis to create affordable housing development near Lowry Avenue and Penn Avenue by coordinating the sale of vacant properties held by each entity.
  • Fernando highlighted these properties have been vacant for many years. Commissioners expressed optimism this action leads to activation of the corner and the surrounding area. 

Observations and follow up questions: 

Accessibility: Did you face any challenges that made it harder to document the meeting or that may have made it difficult for others to attend? For example: trouble accessing the location, difficulty hearing the discussion, lack of nameplates for elected officials, or the agenda being unclear, disorganized, or incomplete.

Scene: About how many members of the public attended the meeting? If watching virtually, what was the livestream count (if applicable)? Was anyone protesting outside? 

• At the start of the meeting, audible chanting just outside the camera view. Administration, Operations, and Budget Committee Chair Goettel mentioned people ‘clearing out’ after open forum time as the meeting recording began. Brief mention from Human Services Committee Chair Edelson that some part of the chanting was commenting on fraud.
• 210 views morning after the meeting

Notable: What stood out to you as interesting or confusing? Is there anything you’d like to see reporters look further into? Were there any particularly memorable quotes?

• Multiple affordable housing programs awards in the Housing and Redevelopment agenda were approved. No presentation at the start of the items, but comments from staff and commissioners on item 4D highlighted these programs are strategically combined in one coordinated RFP and total awards were over $19 million.

How to get involved:

When is the next meeting for this board/committee? Any upcoming public hearings? Online surveys? 

• The full board meets Tuesday, May 19th at 1:30pm.

Related: More Minnesotans deserve an affordable American Dream

More context:

Read Documenter Glen Johnson’s full notes here, which include links to the agendas and video recording. View our full database of notes here.

Want to become a Documenter? You can start by making an account here.

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