DFL
Green Caucus
Endorsement Questionnaire
1.
Airport
noise and airport air quality impacts.
What can the city do to alleviate these problems?
This
issue is not going away, but the city needs to be involved in lessening the
impact on community residents. By
appointing effective people to the Metropolitan Airport Commission, the city
needs to discourage expanding runways and pressure Northwest to invest in a
quieter fleet. The city should continue
to support home improvements like new windows, doors, and insulation to
diminish flight noise, direct air traffic away from residential neighborhoods,
and decrease night-time flights.
2.
Lake
water quality, reducing pesticide use and runoff into the lakes and streams.
Through
the Clean Water Partnership, the city needs to do more to support education for
community residents on the proper disposal of grass clippings and decaying
leaves to curb our algae problems, as well as decrease use of pesticides and
salt. The city must vocally disagree
with the Governor’s threat to cut funding to the Partnership. The city should continue its efforts to
clean up lakes and streams, build more wetlands, and hold corporations
accountable for water pollution.
3.
What
is/has been your stance on the Hwy 55 re-route, and its impact on the urban
forest wildlife habitat and on Minnehaha Park?
I
am against the reroute. I supported
activists in their efforts to stop the rerouting of Highway 55. Once again, it’s unfortunate that people’s
homes are taken for progress and sacred native lands are confiscated for
cars. With this knowledge it ways heavy
on my conscience that these methods are employed to this very day. We need to find better ways to get societal
needs met than disturbing human beings and animals.
4.
The
Kondirator. Should the city have paid
off American Iron & Supply for the inconvenience of delaying approval of
its metal shredder?
I
understand that in some situations businesses and their workers need to be
compensated for time lost. However, I
do not believe our taxpayer dollars should be used for corporate welfare,
especially for polluters.
5.
Green
purchasing policies. Should the city
buy recycled-based materials? What else
can the city do to encourage waste reduction, re-use, and recycling.
Yes,
the city should continue to purchase recycled-based products. To encourage the three “r”s, the city must
support efforts like the Re-use Center, a project for which the neighborhood
group People of Phillips leveraged funding under my leadership. The city should also fully staff and fund
recycling projects.
6.
Solid
waste, landfilling vs. incineration.
What do you see as the future of the downtown garbage burner? Was the building of the garbage burner a
solution or a further part of the problem?
Building
the garbage burner is a further part of the problem, both for its negative
impact on air quality and on the lives of people in its vicinity. I feel that the future of the burner is
uncertain, but we must be creative in solving this problem. We must find ways to recycle and reduce so
the choice is less often between the lesser of two evils.
7.
Air
quality issues. What can we do to
improve air quality?
When
addressing questions of pollution, we must look at its cumulative effects. We must push for fuel-efficient cars,
investment in better public transportation like buses, LRT and personal rapid
transit. We must enforce emission
standards on businesses. Poor people
are especially effected by this problem, as we can see in the number of
children with asthma.
8.
Auto
congestion and transit. What can we do
to reduce dependence on the automobile, and reduce the burning of fossil
fuels. Are we going in the right
direction with LRT? Shouldn’t PRT
(personal rapid transit) also be considered?
Yes,
we should consider PRT as a creative solution.
Yes, we are headed in the right direction with LRT, but we should use
buses too. We need to encourage
community living such as neighborhood grocer stores, dry cleaners, barber
shops, and hardware stores so people can walk to the services they need and
support their own communities. The city
should lead the way to purchase clean air cars that run on alternative fuels,
like park board vehicles.
9.
Mention
other issues that you wish to highlight.
Include campaign literature that illustrates your campaign.
As
Board Chair of Minnesota ACORN, I am currently leading an environmental
campaign in the Phillips neighborhood.
We are fighting against ground born vibrations from the metal forging
company Challman and Company which disturb the peace and livability of
surrounding community residents. I am
on the forefront of forging an agreement between the company and community
residents, and am working with city Environmental Health Department and the
Zoning and Planning Department to enforce the city’s Nuisance Ordinance. This is a case of environmental
discrimination, of a company that has been allowed to get away with polluting
its surrounding environment because it is a low-income neighborhood. If elected to City Council, will continue
the fight to uphold environmental standards for all people.
Please
contact myself at (612) 872-1149 or my campaign manager, Sasha Baltins, (612)
296-6195 with any questions.