The Minneapolis City Council recently approved a vast overhaul to how neighborhood organizations will be funded with an emphasis on engaging with communities that have been traditionally underrepresented within these groups.

Neighborhoods 2020 prioritizes equity and engagement with Minneapolis residents, particularly those who are Black, Indigenous, people of color or renters, who have typically been excluded from neighborhood organization boards. City Council approved the plan Nov. 13, and it will go into effect on July 1 of next year.

Currently, $4.1 million is proposed to funnel from the city’s budget into Neighborhoods 2020. The final budget meeting to confirm the amount is Dec. 9.

“The critical part about that is that you build relationships in the community,” said Lynn Von Korff, treasurer for Prospect Park Association (PPA). “And you learn what are the needs out there in the community, great ones that you haven’t necessarily been addressing.”

As the plan currently stands, neighborhood organizations will receive a base funding of $10,000 for the first six months. In 2021, organizations will receive $15,000 for the next full year, then $10,000 for each year after that.

On top of base funding, an equitable engagement fund will be awarded to organizations based on multiple factors within that neighborhood — such as poverty levels, gentrification and the number of cost-burdened households, families that spend 30% or more of their income on housing — based on an analysis by the University of Minnesota’s Center for Urban & Regional Affairs.

Chris Lautenschlager, executive director of Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association (MHNA), said that while some neighborhoods have made a “great effort” to engage equitably with their populations, others have fought to preserve the status quo, which he said is not working.

“The status quo couldn’t remain intact with regard to how neighborhoods were being funded,” Lautenschlager said.

Additional grants will also be available to neighborhood organizations that work with other neighborhoods and community organizations.

“The intent there is to draw in more close relationships to try to utilize best practices from both neighborhoods and community-based organizations to engage more people and have more people involved in the overall enterprise,” said Steven Gallagher, a Neighborhoods and Community Relations policy specialist with the city.

Neighborhoods 2020 has been in the works for about four years, with multiple demographic surveys conducted within neighborhood organization boards. Gallagher said the surveys found that most neighborhood board members are white homeowners.

Von Korff said PPA supports the goals of Neighborhoods 2020. PPA started working on engagement initiatives, such as the tenant’s rights project, before the Minneapolis City Council passed the plan.

“So, the challenge that we face is how do we continue those efforts?” Von Korff said. “The proposed level of [base] funding is far less financial support.”

Dave Alderson, co-executive director for Cedar-Riverside Community Council, said he is not worried about his organization’s ability to access city funds under Neighborhoods 2020 because of the various racial disparities that Cedar-Riverside faces.

But Lautenschlager said he worries that MHNA’s outreach efforts will be hampered by the cut in base funding. He said MHNA’s operations funding will drop by about 83% by the start of 2022 — even though the organization will have access to equitable engagement funds and partnership grants.

“I think that we do a decent job of communicating and engaging with people; what’s going to be more impacted is our ability to do that,” Lautenschlager said.

Many Minneapolis neighborhood organizations, including University-area PPA and Southeast Como Improvement Association, signed a letter that urged the City Council to add $3 million more to the equitable engagement fund before the budget proposal is finalized Dec. 9.

Gallagher, the city policy specialist, said the added $3 million would improve neighborhood engagement abilities, but it is hard to justify with the current financial situation brought on by the pandemic.

“It’s kind of a tough situation with revenue shortfalls and the city’s laying off staff and cutting departments.” Gallagher said. “So it’s a tough question then to increase funding to external partners … by $3 million at the same time.”

On Tuesday, Gov. Tim Walz announced new restrictions on social gatherings and restaurants to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Minnesota.

Under the new restrictions, all bars and restaurants must end dine-in service between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m., according to the press release from the office of Gov. Walz and Lieutenant Gov. Peggy Flanagan. No more than 150 people will be allowed indoors and an establishment may not host more than 50% total capacity.

The press release notes that research shows bar and restaurant environments become riskier later in the evening.

“These targeted, science-based actions will help get the spread of the virus under control so that we can care for those who fall ill, get our kids in the classroom, keep our businesses open and get back to the activities we love,” Walz said.

The restrictions also apply to other social gatherings, such as receptions.

There will be a 10-person limit for indoor and outdoor gatherings, and all social gatherings will be limited to members of three households or less. For weddings, funerals and similar events, capacity limits will downsize through a phased approach, leading to a 25-person cap. These events must not take place between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m.

“These focused actions taken by Governor Walz are designed to address some of the hottest of the hot spots we’ve seen and reduce the burden on our health care system and the heroes providing care to all of us,” Commissioner of Health Jan Malcolm said.

The restrictions are announced as hospitals around the state are stretching their capacity to care for COVID-19 patients, according to the press release. This week, the pandemic has brought on record-setting highs in new cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

Trump supporters crowded outside the governor’s mansion in St. Paul on Saturday to protest vote counting and the validity of the election results. As the afternoon waned, counter-protesters showed up, leading to group shouting matches and one-on-one debates.

Protesters carried American flags and various Trump campaign merchandise, chanting “USA” and “stop the count” while demanding that Gov. Tim Walz come out to face them and their complaints.

Kelsey, a first-year University of St. Thomas student who declined to give her last name, said she attended the event because of her concerns about nationwide voter fraud.

“I would be totally okay with the loss, if it was a legitimate loss,” Kelsey said. She added that she hoped for a recount.

The Associated Press, which has counted the votes for U.S. elections since the mid-1800s, called the presidential race in favor of Joe Biden on Saturday morning. President Donald Trump has yet to concede and is pursuing legal action. While Trump has galvanized his base by regularly tweeting about election fraud, he has not provided any substantial proof.

On Nov. 5, Facebook shut down a national “Stop the Steal” group, which may have inspired the governor’s mansion protest, saying its members were trying to incite violence following the election results, The New York Times reported. The Facebook group had gained more than 300,000 members in less than 24 hours before it was shut down.

Lydia, an organizer at the Minnesota protest who declined to give her last name, protested on the street alongside her 13-year-old daughter, Lydiana.

“It’s fraud,” Lydiana said. “How can there be this many people at rallies, or, as they call it now, ‘peaceful protests,’ and it turns out blue? It doesn’t make any sense.”

About 25 counter-protesters showed up a few hours into the event, with many coming from the March for Our Future rally that was held in south Minneapolis to protest social justice issues.

When asked what she thought of the counter-protesters, Lydia said she was “disappointed.”

“They don’t know that [Trump] cares about them,” Lydia said. “It’s just so sad that they do not respect him.”

Heated debates quickly ensued between the two groups, with competing chants like “Black lives matter” and “all lives matter” ringing out from either side. Opposing protesters also debated one another on the street about topics such as systemic racism and voter fraud. Residents sat outside their homes or watched from the sidelines as the groups continued their discourse.

Isis Atallah, an organizer with the nonprofit activism group Minnesota Youth For Justice, was one of many to leave the March for Our Future rally for the governor’s mansion protest.

“I’m confused as to why they’re out here. Like, [Trump] lost so why are you here?” Atallah said. “Why are you saying ‘all lives matter’? There are Black people being slaughtered in the streets.”

There are multiple heated conversations between Trump supporters and people on the left. pic.twitter.com/V4KQAOeTIU

— Lydia Morrell (@lydia_morrell) November 7, 2020

Several protesters carried guns, but no firearms were used.

The event concluded by about 5 p.m. as both crowds mostly dissolved. Police opened up the blocked-off street a short time later. Walz did not make an appearance and tweeted that he was near Lake Superior that day.

Near the end of the protest, Lydia said she wished that left-leaning protesters would spend more time listening to Trump supporters.

“Most of our people try to listen to them. But many times, it’s not possible because they are really, really aggressive, attacking us,” she said. “They need to approach us with more respect and say, ‘Hey, I would like to get across my message.’”

Two University of Minnesota-area restaurants have been among the top hotspots for COVID-19 throughout the state.

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has reported 103 restaurants that have been investigated for suspected patron transmission of COVID-19 statewide since restaurants were allowed to reopen in June. Fifty-five met the outbreak threshold, according to information released to the public on Oct. 9.

Minneapolis has 14 establishments that meet this criteria, including Kollege Klub and Sally’s Saloon at the top of the list.

The Kollege Klub in Dinkytown had a total of 90 cases this summer, with 21 cases reported in September alone. Sally’s in Stadium Village trails closely behind with 83 total reported cases, 34 of which were also reported in September.

Both Sally’s and Kollege Klub declined to comment regarding their response to the pandemic.

MDH notes that because locations rely on self-reporting and some people may be reluctant to share information about their attendance at social events, some outbreaks could be underreported.

Hayden Cecil, a student who went to Sally’s this semester, said she felt safe while in the restaurant because of its COVID-19 precautions but was unsettled by the behavior of other patrons.

“I wear my mask when I walk around,” Cecil said. “But it’s like, sometimes when I see other people walking around without a mask, it just gives me an uneasy feeling.”

She added that social distancing is difficult when patrons are walking between tables, sometimes unmasked, or standing in line waiting to be admitted to Sally’s.

“We’re supposed to stand on X’s. But with groups, it’s kind of hard,” Cecil said. “It just becomes one big line instead of like groups being separated in the line.”

John, a fourth-year student standing in line for Sally’s Thursday night who didn’t want to share his last name, said that even though he knows going out to Sally’s poses a risk to the community, he felt more comfortable because he does not live with anybody vulnerable to the virus.

“I’m not going to say it feels like the most safe thing and it feels kind of like a little bit morally unjust, but at the same time … [I’m] just trying to do something,” John said.

John said he thought that Sally’s previous problems with COVID-19 were because of the students who socialized with other tables and did not wear masks. However, he said staff handled the issue well, especially compared to bars in his hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. He added that the bar’s staff has tightened enforcement regarding unmasked students wandering around.

“I’ve seen people kind of get kicked out if they go to a different table,” John said. “We saw someone walk in without a mask on, and the bouncer was really strict with them.”

Loring Bar & Restaurant in Dinkytown, which has seen zero COVID-19 cases, has faced similar challenges with patrons not complying with rules. The restaurant has social distance markers for lines, two doors for separate exit and entry and requires face masks when patrons are not eating or drinking.

“I’ve had to let staff know that ‘Hey, I know this is uncomfortable, but you do need to go tell this person to put on their mask’ or, you know, ‘Tell this person to step back from someone,’ just reminding them of those rules,” Loring operations manager Jake Bruce said. “Because I mean, we’re all human, we’re all going to forget, and especially in a comfortable social setting, you’re not going to want to do that.”

He added that the biggest challenge right now is patrons, especially young people, who are not concerned about the pandemic and do not pay attention to the rules.

“But that’s our job,” Bruce said. “And it’s on us to keep everyone safe and healthy.”

Fifth-grader Rose Weaver has spent her afternoons jumping from Zoom classes at home to outdoor learning programs at Luxton Park in Prospect Park.

While Pratt Community School, where Weaver is a student, remains in distance-learning mode, a neighboring nonprofit is aiming to add two teachers to facilitate after-school programs and make sure the kids are keeping up with their remote classes.

The work of East Side Neighborhood Services (ESNS) has had a great impact on Weaver’s development and her connection to peers, she said, especially thanks to Jean Emmons, the youth program manager who has worked most closely with her.

“Ms. Jean is really nice, and she always at the end of the day if we did a good job, we all get hot cocoa,” 10-year-old Weaver said. “And then she’s also helped me with a lot of my socioemotional problems. And she also because of her, in the program, I’ve gotten some friends.”

Due to remote learning, the school district could not fund an after-school program this year, said Lissa Gordon, ESNS program manager at Pratt. In past years, the school system has given ESNS enough funding for five teachers to work with kids that have academic needs.

The nonprofit is working to raise $5,000 to add two Pratt teachers, totaling four, to their after-school programming in Luxton Park. So far, a donor gifted half of the funds and the program is continuing under the hope that it will receive the other half of funding to pay teachers through December.

ESNS programming is free for families and any kid can come to recess. Kids who have registered can also come to the after-school program, which has been entirely outdoors so far. Gordon said they have focused on “nature-based play,” and invited naturalists to come educate the students about the park’s environment.

As it gets colder, organizers plan to spend half of the afternoon session inside to focus on keeping kids on task with homework and online schooling.

The additional teachers would start Nov. 30, working one-on-one with kids to assess their progress with schoolwork and help them get on track if they are slipping behind, Gordon said.

Cynthia Harms, Weaver’s mom, said Pratt Elementary has done well with online schooling, but the physical and social parts of learning are harder to access because of the pandemic. She added that more teachers would mean there would be more eyes on the kids to ensure social distancing and mask wearing.

Harms said the ESNS program is beneficial because teachers combine behavior and learning strategies with much-needed physical activities.

“After she’s either been playing soccer or playing on gym equipment, [she’s] able to focus and ready to do more cognitive learning,” Harms said.

But between her classes on Wednesday, Weaver’s focus was pointed to the prize she hoped to win at recess that afternoon.

“I have a feeling I’m going to try and still win those McDonald’s pancakes,” Weaver said. “Yesterday in four square I was doing a really good job with one hand.”

The University of Minnesota has garnered national attention as multiple prominent names pushed for the campus to have easy access to early voting.

The LetUMNVote hashtag has been shared by Rep. Ilhan Omar, former presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker, and various celebrities in recent days, advocating for Minneapolis to add an early voting location on campus. In 2018, the Fieldhouse was home to an early voting center for seven days before the election. This year, the closest poll open prior to the Nov. 3 election will be more than a mile and half from Northrop Auditorium because of confusion caused by the pandemic and legal restraints.

The University had the highest student voter turnout among large public four-year institutions in 2018. Location played into that, said Mike Miller, University legislative advocacy coordinator.

“Students walking to and from classes could swing in and vote, and it was fantastic,” Miller said.

Fair Fight, a Georgia-based national voting rights organization, urged Minneapolis in an Oct. 5 tweet to give University students an on-campus early voting location after the University of Georgia announced its own on Sept 17.

Fair Fight called on Mayor Jacob Frey and Minneapolis Council President Lisa Bender to “make it happen.” Students and politicians then retweeted it, adding #LetUMNVote.

We should make voting easier, not harder. Every American deserves to have their voice heard in this election, especially the young people who represent our nation's future. I hope Minneapolis expands on-campus voting this year and that other colleges will do the same. #LetUMNVote https://t.co/DuKauH8J8i

— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) October 6, 2020

Minnesota statute requires that early voting centers are designated at least 14 weeks before the election, which would have been in July. At that time, the city was unsure if the University would have students on campus and could not justify the cost of having an additional location, Miller said. By the time the University decided to bring students back, it was too late to designate a location.

City spokesperson Casper Hill said that regardless of how well-intentioned the underlying cause is, a legal question remains about the city’s ability to provide an early voting center on campus.

The issue prompted the Minnesota Student Association, the University’s student government, to release a letter to University President Joan Gabel requesting that the school provide a facility that could be used for early voting, excuse voting-related absences and provide funds for student rides to the polls.

MSA is calling on the University to find a facility that would not strain the city’s budget significantly, said Bri Sislo-Schutta, MSA’s director of government and legislative affairs.

The undergraduate student government is offering to reimburse students who use ride-share apps to get to the polls and requests that the University match their financial efforts.

“We’re still working on trying to find a solution on transporting students from campus to polling locations,” Miller said.

As of now, there are two in-person early voting locations within a couple of miles of the Minneapolis campus: Minneapolis Early Vote Center at 980 E. Hennepin Ave. in Southeast Como and the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis.

Besides the Southeast Como voting center, the only option within 5 miles for St. Paul students is the Ramsey County Library in Roseville.

With a history of challenges trying to engage renters and students, Prospect Park Association (PPA) has taken first steps toward outreach and education.

The PPA tenants’ rights subcommittee had its first meeting Sunday following months of conversations about educating renters on their rights, particularly on issues with landlords. To accomplish this, PPA is engaging with students and renters who neighborhood leaders have struggled to reach in the past.

Kaaha Kaahiye, a third-year student at the University of Minnesota, has worked on a tenants’ rights project for Prospect Park since January. The original plan was to conduct in-person workshops with renters, and PPA members started interviewing renters about how the neighborhood organization could help. But after the pandemic hit, Kaahiye said they shifted their focus to creating an online curriculum.

“If people have simple things like, ‘Oh, I am having an issue with my unit, and my landlord isn’t fixing it, what do I do?’ Like those sorts of questions can be answered by [the curriculum],” Kaahiye said.

The curriculum will also contain resources for renters offered by local advocacy nonprofits like Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid and the housing-oriented organization HOME Line.

Kaahiye said PPA was motivated by disputes between Prospect Park landlords and tenants, most notably student livability complaints about the Prime Place Apartments — now called The Arrow — in 2017.

The tenants’ rights subcommittee will be co-chaired by Ben Tuthill, a renter himself, who got involved because he was frustrated with how hard it is for renters to connect with each other and be a part of neighborhood organizations.

It is difficult to accomplish anything without support, Tuthill said, and many renters are not educated about their protections and rights to begin with. He plans to start by forming connections between renters.

COVID-19 can make outreach difficult, but it also increases the need for renters to feel safe and protected in their own homes, said Jenna Hoge, subcommittee co-chair and another renter.

“COVID-19 meant that I wasn’t leaving my house every day for work,” Hoge said. “I have found it very disruptive to work in an apartment that doesn’t feel safe.”
Hoge said that she has consistently found mice in her apartment and rodent droppings in her kitchen utensils sorter. She added that her landlord did not respond or follow up after multiple complaints.

The project aims to reach out to students in Prospect Park, along with historically underrepresented and marginalized communities such as people of color and international students, Kaahiye said.

Factors that could prevent tenants from confronting their landlords include lack of knowledge about rights, language barriers and fear of speaking up, especially for immigrants, said Kirsten Delegard, founder of The Historyapolis Project, which publishes articles about the history of Minneapolis.

“Especially for students, it is this sense of, ‘Is it really worth my time for me to fight over this, because I’m going to be gone in 10 months, and I’m going to be moving on to the next thing,’” Delegard said.

The tenants’ rights educational curriculum is planned to be published online within the next few months, according to Kaahiye. The details are being finalized, but she likened the curriculum to a self-guided online course.

“At the very least, after this project is over, PPA can say, ‘Yeah we have a list of places to go if residents come to us with questions about their landlord,’ whereas, they never had any of that specific protocol,” Kaahiye said.

The Sept. 30 census deadline is approaching, and experts and community organizers fear an extreme undercount, especially in areas with high student and immigrant populations.

After the nation went into lockdown in spring, the U.S. Census Bureau extended the deadline for counting households during the pandemic. In August, the bureau updated the deadline to Sept. 30, cutting short time for door knocking and nonresponse follow-up by a month. Areas around the University of Minnesota have responded at a much lower rate than the rest of the city.

The shrinking window of time is made worse by the pandemic’s effects — limiting in-person contact — and traditional struggles of counting college and immigrant neighborhoods.

“Student communities are one of my greatest concerns for the 2020 census,” said Susan Brower, state demographer.

Three census tracts in University of Minnesota neighborhoods — Cedar-Riverside, the Dinkytown side of Marcy-Holmes and the University neighborhood itself — are currently underreported by more than 50% of households, according to data updated Sept. 14 by the University’s Center for Urban and Regional Affairs. Only one other Minneapolis census tract, a section of Ventura Village, is currently reporting at such a low rate.

The census bureau first sent out information just before spring break, when the state went on lockdown and many students returned to their hometowns, leaving census notices unopened in their mailboxes.

“The fear now is, ‘Did they get counted at all, and did they get counted in the right place?’” said Andrew Virden, the state’s director of census operations and engagement. “You should be counted where you would have lived if it wasn’t for COVID-19.”

The census determines political representation and community funding, which affects everything from government programming to business decisions.

“It makes a difference for you if you’re a college student working off campus,” Virden said. “Whether or not you or a student like you had been counted in the past might determine how long you have to wait for a bus or how far away you have to go to get a good-paying job.”

Ahmed Mussa, community health coordinator for the Brian Coyle Center, said Cedar-Riverside has been historically undercounted. He got involved to reduce the chance of that happening again.

“The library, hospital, schools, daycares and senior resources are all affected if we don’t count everybody,” Mussa said. “A lot of our East African community lives in apartment complexes and some live in low-income housing, and that will go away if we don’t get enough people counted.”

Mussa’s volunteer work centers around recruiting and working with other volunteers who are trusted and familiar within the community.

“A lot of enumerators coming to the buildings are not familiar faces, and the folks who live in the buildings have a language barrier,” Mussa said, explaining that residents do not let the enumerators in. He added that some people do not understand the process of how they are counted.

Regardless of their tireless efforts, he said the deadline is coming up too quickly.

“If it was at the end of October, it would be easier,” said Mussa, mentioning that there would be more time to advertise on social media and in front of the mosque, church and other popular locales.

The census can be completed on the census website, by calling 844-330-2020 or by mail. In-person assistance is offered at the Brian Coyle Center and at the University’s Magrath, Wilson and Walter libraries.