PART ONE: Larry Maxwell Defense Has A Bad Day In Court

1564 Hillside, Photo By

Council Member Don Samuels


The trial of accused mortgage fraudster Larry Maxwell is moving toward an end, but that conclusion won't be happy for Maxwell if Monday was any indication.

I attended Monday's proceedings--enduring the tedium so readers won't have to--and what I saw seemed a one-sided butt-kicking for the prosecution. The fact it was the prosecution's side of the case skews perspective, certainly, but at one point I was keeping score and it was something like SIXTEEN OBJECTIONS OVERRULED ON THE DEFENSE. Anything the defense managed to score as an objection quickly found its way back in by rewording.

The proceedings...



...started out with a trial conference between the attorneys and Judge Regina Chu, with the jury not present. The attorneys were negotiating over jury instructions, with a lot of comparisons being made between the proposed instructions versus the guideline instructions. A local attorney who knows the style of Maxwell defense lawyer Larry Reed says Reed's style is old school criminal defense; he fights on every technicality, he just keeps grinding away.

(In an interesting side note: Reed is closely associated with Congressman Keith Ellison. Apparently, at one time, Ellison worked for Reed) 

Monday, Reed didn't seem to be making much headway. At the conference, there was discussion about looking at "identity theft elements" and "theft by swindle" elements. Reed kept emphasizing his desire to have instructions that were "right out of the book" while the prosecution appeared to be leaning toward what it called "simplifying" matters.

Chu--who was wearing a conservative black and white woolen weave with understated shoulder pads, rather than a judicial robe--sat at the juncture of the defense and prosecution tables to sort out the complex jury instruction issues. Sometimes things were going so badly for the defense that Reed just sat and slowly shook his head. Often, Reed was forced to settle merely for getting things "on the record."

On the prosecution side sat Bradley R. Johnson and Liz Johnston. Brad's laptop screen saver featured a picture of a baby, wearing a blue cap, which provided a surprisingly tender and touching insight into a prosecutor who appeared hard-as-nails toward the (alleged) crimes of Larry Maxwell, who often sat just three feet away; constantly wearing an expression of wounded dignity. 

To me, Brad Johnson looks a lot like one of the actors in The Princess Bride, click here for a video. While Johnson was making his arguments, I kept thinking, "Never go in against a Sicilian when DEATH is on the line!" Brad's "partner in crime," Liz Johnston, has short brunette hair and dressed in a conservative dark blue pants suit, complimented by a lavender shirt. She is attractive but not flashy--possibly late 20s--and didn't appear to be wearing any makeup or jewelry. 

At one point, there was talk about "JIGs" (Jury Instruction Guides) and Brad Johnson said, "JIGs are, by definition, guides." Reed snapped in response: "Don't be condescending to me!" Then he added, "You see what I mean, Judge?" 

Reed kept raising the messy question of "who (exactly) are the lenders?" and said the jury instructions supported by the prosecution made incorrect factual assumptions. Reed wanted the phrase "the state alleges" placed in the instructions in regard to who the actual lenders were. Chu looked at Reed, blinked a couple times, and said, "I have NEVER seen that kind of terminology in jury instructions."

Johnson chimed in saying he hadn't seen it either. Soon Reed was back to slowly shaking his head, back and forth.

"Object?" Reed asked. "What's an object?" When Bradley Johnson tried to answer that it might include a fake drivers license or fake Social Security card, Reed said, "How's the JURY supposed to know that?"

These things are funny to non-lawyers. But the folks at the table weren't finding any of it amusing.

The name of the victim with the initials "J.F." surfaced during the proceeding. It was said many times in the public hearing. Since law enforcement has made such an effort not to reveal the name, I will refrain from publishing it, also.

At another point, Reed tried to argue "there's no allegation that Maxwell verified rent or deposits!" In response, Bradley Johnson brought up VickLar Corporation, an entity name apparently formed from LARRY Maxwell and VICKI Cox-Maxwell. Reed wasn't able to keep arguing THAT point very well, once VickLar was brought up. However, it would be unfair for any reader to conclude Reed is not a competent lawyer. In fact, the judge complimented Reed on his level of preparation on the specific issue of the jury instructions. But that didn't mean Reed was going to win many arguments.

The prosecution and defense weren't ALWAYS at odds, however. At one point, Reed said, "Anything with (J.F.'s) signature on it is a forgery" and Brad Johnson quickly said, "Agreed." At another point Reed said, "But we never argued good motive!" (by Maxwell) to which Johnson said, "We agree on something!"

Though the jury was not present in the room during these discussions, their presence was felt. Legal notebooks sat in the jury chairs, some turned to the current page of notes, it appeared. The jury chairs are high-backed, padded and comfortable, capable of swiveling, it seemed. The spectator seats, though not as nice as the jury chairs, were still quite comfortable. The courtroom is small, but attention has been lavished on woodwork details and a kind of layered, lighted ceiling, giving an illusion of greater height. The room might be a nice place to hang out if an aura of human vice and suffering didn't permeate the very fibers in the carpet.

Blakely. The name "Blakely" kept coming up, though Blakely was nowhere in the case, except in the law of the case. "Blakely factors" are a kind of post-guilt consideration, and involve "aggravating factors" which make a crime even worse, and therefore meriting a stiffer sentence. A local attorney told me, using DUI as a comparative crime, having a young child in the car could be an aggravating factor. Later in the day, one could see some possible prosecution play toward "Blakely factors" by soliciting an answer from investigator Glen Miller as to which area of the state was the hardest hit by mortgage fraud.

The answer--and it came in despite defense objections, overruled--was North Minneapolis.

So, outside the hearing of the jury, much Blakely discussion took place. The issue arose of whether the trial should be "bifurcated," with the jury returning a verdict and then, when the verdict was "guilty" (oops, I mean, ha ha, IF the verdict was "guilty") should the jury be sent out to deliberate AGAIN on the Blakely factors?

The prosecution said it didn't want to "bifurcate out" the Blakely issues. Better to just do all the deliberation at once. Reed tried objecting to this, but it was brought up that he didn't object earlier. 

"Well," Reed said, "I'm objecting now to the extent everybody assumed I knew what was going on." 

Reed's objection was noted. And overruled. The judge's law clerk, Brannon Stephany, was writing all this down. 

The conference wrapped up, and it was time for the lawyers to have lunch before bringing in the jury. At one point, I heard Larry Maxwell speak to a woman in the court--who appeared to be Vicky Cox-Maxwell--that he didn't know if he could take this, anymore. She urged him to leave the courtroom and walk around.

In an upcoming post, I will discuss how the proceedings went on Monday in front of the jury, which is composed as follows: Six white women, all at least in their 40s, with one clearly a senior citizen. Three of the women were wearing variations of pink on Monday.

Eight men; all white except for one Asian. One of the men has slightly olive skin. One of the men was wearing a jacket that said "Edina." One had a business suit. Another of the men appears college-aged and is movie star handsome. Two of the male jurors appear to be having difficulty remaining awake.

Future posts will, hopefully, cover the continuing trial as well as the rest of Monday's proceedings. However, riding along to the grinding conclusion is hardly necessary to call this one:

Larry Maxwell is toast. He should start making long lists of the books he plans to read in prison.

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EDITORIAL: Insight News Abandons Kenya McKnight?

Photo By John Hoff


It's not exactly the question on EVERYBODY'S mind, but it's a question on the minds of more than, say, six people: what is up with the Kenya McKnight campaign in the 5th Ward against Don Samuels? Is she still running or WHAT?

Some insight was expected from the latest edition of, well, Insight News...

...which had not only supported Kenya McKnight in a front page article and ringing endorsement, but publisher Al McFarlane was so vocal in his support of Kenya McKnight that he pretty much burned up Kenya's speaking time at the podium during the Fifth Ward Convention, leaving Kenya with a mere 37 seconds on the clock.

So one might reasonably expect Insight News to answer the question on (at least!) five dozen people's minds: is Kenya running? Her Facebook campaign site gives no clue. Last week's edition of Insight News appeared to be press ready before Kenya McKnight information could be squeezed in, but something was certainly expected THIS week.

Sure, writing about the convention results would have been a pointless rehash for Insight News, especially since there was a STrib article and this blog covered the story extensively. However, even a story saying Kenya had not yet decided one way or another would have been some kind of news. As the situation currently stands, it appears Insight News built Kenya up to great heights and expectations only to let her crash down hard in a political mismatch characterized by veteran political observers as "poodle versus pit bull."

And, in a spirit of full disclosure, I'll admit I lost a dollar wagering against Hawthorne Housing Director Jeff Skrenes that some mention, any mention, would be made of Kenya McKnight in the next issue of Insight News. Next time I'll be sure to take the cynical side of any bet about North Minneapolis politics.

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Neighbors Looking Out For Neighbors In The Eco Village

Flickr Photo


When there is intense police activity in the Eco Village area, "Patty Cake" calls my cell phone to find out what is up...

Sometimes I know what's up. Sometimes I have no idea. Sometimes I know exactly as much as her, but from a different visual angle: there are a lot of police cars. They appear to be looking for somebody.

Last night, "Patty Cake" heard a gunshot and saw many police cars. She called me, but I was at the U of M campus with my 11-year-old son and knew nothing. So she called Peter Teachout, the Chair of the Hawthorne Neighborhood, to make sure his family was OK. "Patty" had one phone number, but she needed another one. I went into my cell phone directory and gave her JoyAnne Teachout's number.

"Call me back if anything happened to them," I told her.

She called me back, but the Teachout family was fine. JoyAnne, like "Patty Cake," had heard the single gunshot and--like "Patty Cake"--had called it in. And, yes, JoyAnne could see police cars a-cruising.

But they were fine. Everybody was fine. No telling what was up, but it appeared to be a non-event; possibly even FIRECRACKERS. No need for a police raid, hopefully.

This is the Hawthorne social network in action. Though we are hearing gunshots less often, especially in the Eco Village, the network remains strong.

"Patty Cake" wondered aloud where stray bullets go when so many crappy houses have been demolished.

Into trees, I speculated. Into embankments and dirt. Into houses that are farther away.

See, this is another reason why I prefer wooden fences to chain link.

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THE STORY IN PICTURES: Recent Intense Discussions About Marketing North Minneapolis/NoMi

Photos By John Hoff

Here are images from recent intense (but informal) discussions about marketing North Minneapolis/NoMi which took place at the offices of the Carney group, as described in the two previous blog posts.

First, this is a booklet produced by the Carney Group with North Minneapolis/NoMi marketing material. It is slick and well done. Luckily, nobody spilled wine on it. (Well, I'm sure they made more than one)

Second, ...

Jules Inda, Pat Carney's wife. Next, realtor and NoMi member Connie Nompelis (No-bell-iss) who is probably laughing at something said by Anderson Mitchell.

Fourth, Anderson Mitchell (right) clowning around for my camera, next to Hawthorne Housing Director Jeff Skrenes. Next, Lisa Mitchell. It turns out Lisa Mitchell and I both grew up in the same part of the sticks. The bottle in the foreground--which looks like it is stuffed with lawn trimmings--is exotic Honduran guifiti.

Next, Pat Carney. Look at the size of his camera. Normally, I don't give a lot of credence to beliefs that a camera can steal your soul, but...well, just look at the SIZE of that thing!

The last picture was not taken at the Carney group event, but rather just before a recent meeting with Don Allen to talk about North Minneapolis marketing efforts, which I mentioned in this blog post, click here.

Nobody wanted me to take pictures at that meeting, so this image of Connie feeding the meter is all I have. Her cute little silver coin purse is made from HAND WOVEN POTATO CHIP BAGS.

Now all the women will want one.

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PART TWO: Recent Intense Discussions About Marketing North Minneapolis/NoMi

Photo By John Hoff

First and foremost, Pat Carney of the Carney Group doesn't want his marketing expertise to be "conflated" into the reputation of Northside Marketing Task Force, which is merely one of many clients. Some of Carney's super HAPPY clients include Mitchell Construction, click here for an example of a website. (I love the use of "safety orange" in the design)

Carney stated, in so many words, he had NO FREAKING IDEA what he was getting into when he accepted a relatively simple assignment from NMTF to produce a website to market North Minneapolis, a neighborhood which is, er, COMPLICATED, to say the least.

NMTF turned out to be a toxic hornet's nest of intense interpersonal conflict and endless committee this, committee that, and oops now the committee makeup has changed. AGAIN. Try being a contractor under such circumstances.

However, instead of sending me a ticked-off email about my mentions of Carney's efforts in the same bloggy breath as the efforts of the NMTF, Carney invited me and some friends to wine and cheese at a semi-regular Friday "salon" held at their 837 Glenwood Office.

Carney is like that. He is open and communicative, happy to let things flow in spontaneous and creative directions, like a conversation with clever people flows, especially when lubricated by much wine. Carney takes enormous numbers of pictures, then casually tosses the pictures up on a website and doesn't really mind, he says, if somebody uses the picture for blogging or news coverage.

Hey, it's all good. Pat Carney is just LIKE that. He's fun and open and communicative. Unlike SOME people.

The offices of the Carney Group are...

...eclectic and spectacular and remind me, oddly, of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.

I've been there, like, FOUR TIMES. A law professor once asked me why I had toured Monticello FOUR TIMES and I answered, "To engage in worship of Thomas Jefferson to the point of idolatry." She told me how FLAWED Jefferson was and I said, well, that was part of my attraction: that a flawed and imperfect person could be capable of such sublime thought and creativity.

Like Jefferson, Carney's creativity is one with his building. Like Jefferson, he participates in his local government: he's a member of the Harrison Neighborhood Association.

"You've got to be!" he told me. To get ANYTHING done in a neighborhood, he said (and I agreed) you have to be involved in your local neighborhood association. From a window, Carney pointed to a property across the street and outlined visions of a farmers market. He pointed to International Market Square and mentioned how that place IS IN NORTH MINNEAPOLIS. North Minneapolis (NoMi) needs to claim a place like that, as part of its image.

Now how shall I put this, without violating any confidences? I told Pat Carney if he showed me the website he'd designed for the Northside Marketing Task Force--without formal, written permission to do so--there could be some kind of legal trouble. And I had a duty to tell him that, I thought.

Well, Pat Carney didn't want any TROUBLE. He is creative, but also a businessman and therefore instinctively prudent. But this was a case of "mi casa es su casa." If guests wandered around and LOOKED at things, what was he supposed to do? Intensely police his guests? That's really not his style. (Laughing hysterically, THAT might be his style)

So I wandered around. I looked at things. Other people may have looked at things, too, but I will only be responsible for MYSELF and I'll keep others out of the heat unless those individuals (who may be hypothetical and imaginary, who knows?) want to come forward on their own... which, if they are figments of my imagination, THEY CAN'T.

Yes, I think now I've sufficiently de-clarified matters.

So, in regard to the website designed for the NMTF: it's a good-looking website. The images do more than document, they celebrate the neighborhood. Relatively ordinary (but fun) get-togethers become photographic art, icons of neighborly good feeling. There are many things to click on and explore, a feature which will hopefully hold the attention of the casual browser who will get caught up and wonder, "Is there more...what's over here? Oh, that topic sounds interesting..."

The website needs more CONTENT but that's not really the job of the Carney group. They've got the house built, as it were, now people just need to move in and live there.

Could one make criticisms of the website? Oh, undoubtedly. But the mild criticisms of one of my (possibly imaginary) companions that evening were completely different than the stuff I would jump on. For example, saying "MY North Minneapolis." Well, my (fantasy?) friend thinks the whole "my thing" is "worn out."

Huh, I thought. THAT never would've crossed my mind. Yeah, put something like this cool website in front of a committee, and they will pick it apart, piece by piece. And that's the problem: this is not a new kind of soft drink. This is a neighborhood, older than any of us who are alive, a community with overwhelming levels of complexity and innumerable strong opinions.

How do you MARKET an entity like that? I say: If you want to market it, somehow you need to be able to say: here is money. Here are some broad criteria, which we've miraculously managed to agree upon. NOW JUST DO IT.

If you decide on marketing details by a committee, the (expletive) thing will NEVER get done. Somebody will say, "Let's put the nice older lady who has been here umpteen years on a billboard" and somebody else will say, "Well, if you're going to have a billboard of her, then you need a billboard of a certain young man who stopped being in a gang, and pulled himself up to assistant manager at a fast food place." And then somebody else says, "But that's your nephew!" And then the response is, "You have a problem with that, BITCH?!"

Academic studies must exist on the marketing of cities and neighborhoods. This is the kind of thing one should study, intensely, before wading in thinking, "They will greet us as liberators and throw flowers in the street."

This is what I said to Carney: Let us suppose, hypothetically, EVERY CRITICISM EVER MADE ABOUT THE WEBSITE IS TRUE? OK, I'm still left with SO WHAT?

A website that markets our neighborhood, into which content can be poured to compete with the negative messages in the media, is still better than nothing. Consider: In 1939, some units of the Polish cavalry used HORSES and BICYCLES. But which is worse: going up against Panzer tanks with horses and bicycles, or just throwing up your hands and surrendering?

At the table--amid bottles of wine and platters of cheese--I viewed a booklet passed around with crisp, concise, expressive writing and great photographs of the history of North Minneapolis, which flowed naturally into some exciting developments in the present moment. I was excited to see things I recognized and knew well, like the Hawthorne Eco Village.

Evan Reminick of Amalgam put his laptop in front of me and showed me a presentation he'd put together about ideas to market North Minneapolis--a MASSIVE amount of material, and he had done this FOR FREE, it wasn't even part of the CONTRACT.

I saw a particular line of text in his presentation and thought how that idea was very similar to my thesis of "Market and Romanticize The Struggle." Evan said he'd read my ideas about marketing North Minneapolis. (NoMi)

"Did my ideas influence you?" I asked.

"Everything I read influences me," he answered, nimbly, but he followed up by saying I was one of a very few people who had done any substantial theorizing about approaches to marketing North Minneapolis beyond merely "Let's accentuate the positive."

At some point--long after we'd consumed shots of exotic guifiti, both straight up and altered with "sugar in the raw"--long after exploring the website, (maybe that was just me) and flipping through the booklet, and checking out Pat Carney's amazing office which screams success, competence, creativity--I tried to figure out how to put all the NoMi marketing pieces together, all the players I'd outlined in Part One of this blog post.

And this is what I came up with:

NMTF pays Carney the $5,000 he is owed for services rendered. NMTF then turns over the completed website, (lock, stock, barrel and password) to the ad hoc group NoMi. NMTF then disbands. Why? Because NMTF has managed to negatively brand ITSELF, mostly by inaction and an inexplicably paranoid attitude about controlling information.

So...

NoMi uses the Carney-created website to market North Minneapolis any way it sees fit, since NoMi appears to be the group most well-situated to do this, at least at present, but time is a-wasting.

Don Allen could play a role by using his considerable geeky technical skills in driving web traffic. If NoMi wants to become a formal organization, they can approach Don Allen, who also has experience in putting together non-profits.

Yes, other entities could be approached other than Don Allen, but Don Allen is a PLAYER and he is at the table. So to keep everybody happy, Don Allen should play a role. Don Allen has talked about a highly-developed ability to shake funds loose from business entities. For goodness sakes, give him (or his new organization) an opportunity to do what he says he can do.

NoMi should retain its current cohesive structure--which is the only freaking thing getting any effective Northside marketing done--but could open itself to contributions by members of the community, Don Allen, Johnny Northside blog, and any members of (the former) NMTF who want to contribute efforts, ideas, and resources.

Johnny Northside is pretty adamant about GETTING PAID if his writing is going to be at somebody else's direction. That's the only thing. Beyond that, my dance card is free and open to NoMi, Don Allen, or even the NMTF.

Individuals who have a BETTER plan, or who want to discuss aspects of the Friday night salon that I missed are free to use the comments section.

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PART ONE: Recent Intense Discussions About Marketing North Minneapolis/NoMi

Photo By John Hoff

ADDENDUM: February 6, 2011. This blog post was written before I and many others in North Minneapolis discovered what a disreputable con man character Don Allen is. I would advise anybody: Do not trust Don Allen. Seek further information about Don Allen from various online sources before having any contact with him.


In the past several days, I've been present at two ad hoc, informal conferences to discuss marketing ideas for North Minneapolis, or NoMi. Before discussing the specifics of these two conferences, it might be helpful to run down who some of the "players" are in attempts to market North Minneapolis...

First, but not necessarily foremost, is the Northside Marketing Task Force. NMTF started with high hopes, but has seen endless internal infighting and--more more importantly--relatively little actual marketing efforts. Creative, intense individuals have splintered off from NMTF and pursued their own efforts.

NMTF is kind of, sort of a non-profit. (Apparently, some paperwork needs to be filed) NMTF is arguably the most "official" of the marketing groups and has been able to obtain some dollars to apply to marketing efforts. Recently, however, there has been talk of "reformulating" NMTF which is, arguably, highly dysfunctional and badly structured. Some personalities at NMTF include Mike Kestner and Jerry Moore.

Second, the Carney Group is a professional marketing agency headquartered in the Harrison neighborhood of NoMi. (Another entity, Amalgam, has a close working relationship with Carney and put blood and sweat into the website project for NMTF)

Pat Carney completed a website for NMTF, but has yet to get any go-ahead to unleash the completed website and--more importantly, from a business perspective--has yet to get paid the $5,000 balance of their contract, according to Carney. (Mike Kestner of NMTF may see it differently and is welcome to submit commentary, like ANYBODY is welcome)

Recently, through this blog, Pat Carney has been much more public about his dissatisfaction with the current situation (not getting paid, very little North Minneapolis marketing effort hitting the street) but he is a businessman seeking to make money, not a charity.

Third, Don Allen. Allen is known for his IBNN blog which focuses on civil rights issues and often advocates that the way to promote prosperity for black people is through business enterprise. However, IBNN is merely a hobby and a side project for Allen. The company Allen works for makes money by helping companies achieve higher Google rankings and disseminating press releases for pay. They even work for entities in CHINA. It's all about paying the bills, baby.

Don used to be vice chair of NMTF, but left NMTF and has made no secret of his disaffection with Mike Kestner and Jerry Moore. Despite Allen's strong business orientation, Allen has assisted in starting up non-profits. Allen is currently more-or-less in control of a relatively new non-profit entity which could receive public dollars and market North Minneapolis or, for that matter (in light of its mission) other areas underserved by media and marketing.

Fourth, there is NoMi.

NoMi is an ad hoc group made up of realtors. They are not a non-profit or a formal organization, yet. NoMi came up with the clever slogan "Get to NoMi" and has tried to brand North Minneapolis with the "NoMi" label, which shares similarities with the popular "SoHo" brand.

One of the members of NoMi split off from NMTF. NoMi has some helpful allies in the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender community, and yet NoMi is not a GLBT organization. Their primary concern is making "NoMi" a cool neighborhood in the public eye which, naturally, helps sell houses and raise the value of homes. NoMi has organized some successful home tours.

Despite the fact NoMi is just starting out, and lacks a website, NoMi has generated great excitement and expectations, quickly eclipsing any hope or excitement which once existed for NMTF.

Reason number one is the extreme cohesiveness of the group; in stark contrast to NMTF. The second reason is their slick, spot-on slogan, in contrast to NMTF's inexplicable leaf design and clunky slogan, "Forget marketing the f***ing neighborhood, we want justice and equality NOW!"

(OK, that's not really an exact quote, but it's close enough)

Another acceptable way of writing "NoMi" is in all-caps, "NOMI," based on artwork promulgated by this ad hoc organization. One hopes the name may evolve to the simplified "Nomi."

Fifth, this blog is a player. Though only an ad hoc, unpaid effort by a lone volunteer, JNS blog consistently cranks out content and has developed a reputation as a quick conduit for information dissemination. In terms of marketing NoMi, JNS blog's contribution has been a hypothesis called "Market and Romanticize The Struggle."

Sixth, Insight News is a player. This newspaper, published by community activist Al McFarlane, is primarly by, for and about North Minneapolis though it strives to be an "African American newspaper serving Minneapolis and St. Paul."

Insight appears to be speaking primarily TO readers in North Minneapolis rather than speaking ABOUT North Minneapolis.

Insight News puts out relatively little web content and is closely tied to its "dead trees" paper medium, but does have a website, unlike NoMi. The main concerns of Insight News are tied to social justice issues, click here for an example.

Last, but hardly least, the mainstream media is a player in the marketing of North Minneapolis. Newspapers and television stations follow the principal of "if it bleeds, it leads." Stories can be categorized and consumed easily by the public if these stories fit into preconceived mental channels, such as "North Minneapolis as a scary theme park of criminal violence and social decay."

Thus the most powerful "marketer" of North Minneapolis is not deliberately marketing at all, but merely reporting on newsworthy events but--in so doing--creating a self-fulfilling marketing and branding effort.

Arguably the only way to counter the "background noise" of this mainstream media "non-marketing marketing effort" is a principle this blog makes every effort to apply: CRANK OUT CONTENT.

Tell every positive story that can be told. Game the Google rankings with tricks like "RSS feeds." Hire marketing firms with whatever dollars can be obtained. Vigorously engage in the difficult work of revitalizing the neighborhood, and then publicize those efforts, encouraging similar efforts to take root.

So there you have the players. Now, what has been happening lately?

Number one, NMTF members have been talking intensely to Johnny Northside blog about the future of North Minneapolis marketing efforts. That's really all that can be said about THAT, except it's on the phone and by email, mostly, not so much in person.

Number two, Don Allen has been talking intensely to JNS blog and, recently, had an informal meeting with JNS, a member of NoMi, and a member of the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council. That's really all that can be said about THAT, except--once again--the discussions have been about the future of North Minneapolis marketing efforts.

Number three, the Carney Group and Amalgam have been talking intensely to JNS blog, a member of NoMi, and members of the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council. (Two of the individuals there were both former members of NMTF) More can be said about these discussions because not so much was "off the record."

The photo above shows Anderson Mitchell looking, intensely, at some rehab photos shot by Evan Reminick of Amalgam at the offices of the Carney Group, last night, at a "salon" gathering featuring wine and cheese.

More wine than cheese, actually. OK, a LOT more wine than cheese. Some exotic Honduran guifiti was consumed, too.

So that outlines the marketing players and some recent interactions between the players; to the degree much can be said at all.

Part 2 will cover what can be said publicly about last night's informal meeting at the offices of the Carney Group, including a "sneak peak" at the much-discussed, not-yet-released website for the Northside Marketing Task Force.

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Life Is Good In The Hawthorne Eco Village

All Photos by John Hoff, except second

from top by Jeff Skrenes


Every now and then, our neighborhood housing director, Jeff Skrenes, just walks around and checks progress in the Eco Village, which is the major cluster project of the Hawthorne Neighborhood.

Even though things in that area have improved by leaps and bounds--including a recent month with NO CRIME RECORDED--it's good to walk around with a friend, particularly when a backhoe is knocking down a house and some of the remnant holdout crackheads are skulking about next door, looking VERY UNHAPPY, realizing at some level this is the END OF AN ERA and refuge for crackheads isn't really something included in NRP Phase II.

So, anyway, I was Jeff's backup during this "walking audit" of the Eco Village...


Here's a little tour in photos. In the first photo, Jeff emerges from 3011 6th St. N., which is owned by PPL and will be "bid out" in April as a MURL project. This is a fine house with great potential, and anybody would be proud to live in a house like that, once it's all rehabbed.


The second photo was a "trippy image" produced by Jeff trying to take a picture through the front window of the interior features at 3011, including a mirror on the buffet.

In the third photo, Jeff is talking on the phone to PPL, letting them know another one of their houses has graffiti all over the retaining wall. In cases where we know the owner--in this case, PPL--both Jeff and myself refrain from calling 311 and, instead, call the owner of the property to take care of the issue.

Next, some kind soul keeps leaving out cat food for the strays at 3020 4th St. N. The following photo of Jeff scowling is because he's calling in about the sign on the tree. You're not supposed to nail signs to trees. Jeff called 311, then he called the number on the sign. After pumping out as much info as he could about the vacant lot, Jeff informed the person who answered the phone about the need to remove the sign. It was, however, some kind of answering service.

I was all, like, "Jeff, look the other way for a second and I'll take care of the sign." Jeff said, "I don't want to do things that way."

Next, the "stick photo" is at 422 30th Ave. N., an old brick house with a wrecked interior which appears to have a hot date scheduled with the Backhoe Of Doom. Somebody had pushed a stick down to the basement window, which could be manipulated into an open position. Both me and Jeff were momentarily mystified. What was the point of opening the window when nobody could get past the little cement wall?

I speculated that somebody on the exterior could open the window to yell to somebody inside or pass small objects through the window. This house has been raided before as a place where gangs stash drugs. Jeff said, "Let's pull that stick out of the window." So we did, for whatever temporary good THAT will do.

If this house gets demolished, I certainly hope some of the bricks will be salvaged.

In the next photo, Jeff sees some geeky mortgage technicality on some paperwork affixed to the exterior. That delighted expression is the look Jeff gets when talking about mortgage technicalities.

In the next photo, Jeff photographs the Backhoe of Doom (not seen in the picture) from right in front of the crack house at 3020 6th St. N., which is in its last days before final eviction of renters after the end of foreclosure and redemption. How many HUNDREDS of crackheads have we watched go through that door?

In the next two photos, things you bring to a demolition: a chainsaw in the truck bed, which is full of cans to be recycled. A water hose to keep down the dust...though nothing ever REALLY keeps down the dust. The fire hose is there to pay homage and respect to the DESIRE to keep down the dust, rather like speeding cars pay homage and respect to stop signs but do not come to a full and complete stop.

In the next photo, "the Polish lady" gave me and Jeff freshly made Polish sausage, knowing we get so involved in neighborhood revitalization sometimes we simply FORGET TO EAT. Every time a building gets demolished in the Eco Village, Jeff and I get Polish sausage.

Next, Jeff greets "Miko," the Polish lady's Husky. Beneath that, Jeff poses with the demolition dude, who seemed interested to learn a Level 3 Sex Offender recently lived in 3024 6th St. N. Somehow, I figured that piece of information would give him an additional sense of satisfaction and "job well done" as the building was smashed to toothpicks.

The lawn sign photo was taken at 3101 6th St. N., the old "Apartment Complex of Anarchy." While "3024" was demolished, rich black dirt was spread at 3101, then planted with grass seed.

Recently, I heard that one year, more than 900 phone calls to 911 were made from the Eco Village area. In contrast, the tough part of 6th St. where folks like Michael Klick and Brian Cheese are holding down the fort has never racked up more than approximately 600 phone calls a year to 911.

The last photo says it all. Here is where the crime, the slummy decay, the social problems that once haunted the Eco Village are heading.

To the dump.

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Green Rehab Training At 3114 6th St. N.

Photos By Jeff Skrenes


The Hawthorne Housing Director, Jeff Skrenes, just happened to be driving by when "green rehab training" was taking place at 3114 6th St. N., a house in the Eco Village cluster project. Jeff got a tour...

...of the property, which is apparently going to be demolished, but in the meantime the structure is being used for this training.

I've emailed one of the project supervisors for more details, but in the meantime here's the five cent photographic tour.

From top to bottom, first, here is one of the workmen who appears to have removed his sweaty mask for a moment while taking a break. This is a great photo by Jeff. In fact, if it were cropped a little on the top, it would be downright ARTSY. Nice job, Jeff.

Second, here is the nuts-and-bolts part of the green rehab training. I assume they're pumping some kind of insulating material into wall spaces?

The next photo shows some of the conditions in the house, including stickers all over a bedroom door. I say you can't really blame kids for wanting to sticker-ize things; it's ultimately the adults who must be held responsible.

Jeff swears the "only thing worth saving" in that whole house was the light fixture in the next photo. The image after that shows a really, REALLY old door. It looks about a century old. What scenes has that door witnessed? How long before it sees The Backhoe Of Doom, clawing its way through the walls?

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This Is 2729 3rd Street North On Drugs...

Contributed Photo

After reading about the recent drug raid on 2729 3rd St. N., one of my regular readers and contributors went by the house and snapped a picture...

What do we see here? Hmmm. Nice fence all around the property so nobody can just walk up to the door. An alarm company sign. A "Beware of Dog" sign.

Note how the grass around the house is about as neat as it can be in early Minnesota spring. Indeed, there is no reason for anybody to complain about the house and cause some city official to be sent out to make inquiries. The house is not easy to approach, but it's also not suspiciously like a fortress. Put this one right in "Better Homes And Grow Operations" Magazine.

Yes, Some damage is obvious right above the front door, but one suspects that happened during the police raid and associated search.

Will some kind of drug forfeiture law be invoked on this property? One waits and wonders. But thanks to the brave men and women of the 4th Precinct, that's one less drug dealer in our neighborhood. In the background there might lurk some good citizen who made a phone call or two, who knows? If this blog knew, this blog wouldn't be telling.

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JNS BLOG EXCLUSIVE: Big Plans Are Cooking And Brewing At 200 West Broadway

Photo By John Hoff

The area near 200 West Broadway is, arguably, the "Gateway To NOMI." After crossing the Broadway Bridge, the first thing you see is the cheery decorative caboose sitting on the property of Broadway Pizza. Beyond that is a rusted railroad bridge which would look really great repainted and emblazoned with some kind of positive neighborhood message.

Pass under the bridge and there you are...your first unobstructed view of NOMI. Just to your left is the vacant bar at 200 W. Broadway, formerly known as "Johnny A's."

Technically, it doesn't have another name yet. The minute I find out...

...the new name, I will start using it and cease using a term like "the bar formerly known as Johnny A's."

A few days ago, a businessman named Mike Levey came to an executive board meeting of the Hawthorne Neighborhood. He didn't speak at the meeting--which was held to discuss some other topics, shuffling around money to keep stuff running, basically--but Levey left several copies of a two page letter about his hopes for the building at 200 W. Broadway.

I am publishing that letter with minor changes such as more paragraph breaks.

Here goes:

BUSINESS PLAN PROPOSAL FOR A RESTAURANT AND BAR AT 200 W. BROADWAY

Part 1, History, Introduction

I was actively searching for an opportunity to open another restaurant and bar, when I was fortunate to meet Mr. Swami Palanisami in December of 2008. Mr. Palanisami is the owner of the property located at 200 W. Broadway, Mpls., Mn where the old "Johnny A's Restaurant and Bar" was located prior to closing.

Personally, I have in excess of 25 years experience in the restaurant and bar business. My experience includes bartender, security control, kitchen food prep, purchasing and owner/operator of "Mike's Allsports Restaurant and Bar" located at 3006 Lyndale Ave. So. Mpls. from 1989 to 1994.

After meeting with Mr. Palanismi, I was immediately impressed with his values, honestly, professionalism, goals for the area, and him just being a decent man. Even so, I was still hesitant to become involved due to the negative past reputation of "Johnny A's." I did not want to be involved in anything that would tarnish my reputation or anyone else's involved.

I've obtained numerous opinions from people I've gotten to know, trust and respect as people as well as their extenstive knowledge as owner/operators of restaurants and bars in the Twin Cities area dating as far back as 45 years ago. One particular individual I discussed this opportunity with was Mr. Bob MacNamara, who gave me my start in the restaurant and bar industry in 1981.

Bob was the owner/operator of both "Duff's Sports Bar and Restaurant" in downtown Minneapolis and "Macs Bar and Restaurant" on University and Central Ave., Minneapolis. I've also discussed this opportunity with additional owner/operators of several Minneapolis area bars and restaurants such as Mr. Harvey Nolan, Mr. Dick Ponath, Mr. Vince Delisi and others. I consider all of these people as well as the others not mentioned (to be) highly respected owners in the restaurant and bar industry as well as trustworthy people and friends of mine.

This opportunity was then discussed with my brother Val Levey, who has since become a co-owner. Val is a highly respected business owner in the Minneapolis/suburban areas for over 15 years as a licensed building contractor. Val and I spoke at length on numerous occasions with Mr. Palanismi about all the past and future exciting plans he and many of the other business people have to develop and improve the area.

Together we decided we would love the opportunity to become part of the future plans and efforts with everyone to help return the area to its historical days of "success and beauty." Mr. Palanisami was kind enough to speak with the people on the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council to obtain an invitation for us to an informal meeting with everyone.

After having met such wonderful warm people at this neighborhood meeting, Val and I became even more excited and motivated to have the opportunity to be part of this "future success story." Members of the council offered many great ideas, shared work ethics and could not have been more supportive and accepting to both Val and myself.

Val and I clearly felt the supportive attitudes and willingness of everybody working together that is so essential for us or anyone to achieve success, especially for our hopes and plans to open a restaurant and bar.

Part 2, Safety, Security, Personnel

As owner of my previous bar, I shall be an owner/operator on site for long hours the majority of the time, especially during the busy evening hours. During other time periods Val and/or other proven, experienced professionals in addition to past restaurnt/bar owners, managers, bartenders security people, etc. I have known and worked with for many years will be working.

We full realize the importance of having experienced and certified "security people" employed during evening hours. Also, we feel it is beneficial to work together with the police department communicating with each other and essential to obtain their valuable support and feedback. In my past experience as an owner, I have found it valuable to promote free pop, coffee and food discounts to local "on duty" police officers any time they choose to stop by. We feel the extensive security monitoring system presently installed is advantageous, but does not in itself take the place of an owner being present.

Val and I agree is is of great importance to send a loud and clear message right from the start that unacceptable or illegal activities and behavior will not be tolerated in any way. There will be no second chances! This of course includes everyone: customers, employers and employees.

Part 3, Food And Menu Plans

Val and I are very excited about our menu ideas and philosophy. We believe if you are going to put out food, it takes a little more effort to prepare excellent food. This is easily achieved by using quality ingredients, consistency with recipes, tastes and visual presentation.

We believe in a "home cooking" philosophy offering different lunch specials each weekday, such as hot roast beef sandwiches with mashed potatoes and veggies (Monday) chicken wing basket and fries (Tuesday) homemade meatloaf with mashed potatoes and veggies (Wednesday) jumbo hoagies on Sundays, etc.

These are a few examples we are presently working on with a close friend of Val's who has worked as the Executive chef in a number of top Twin Cities restaurants such as "Redstone" in Minnetonka and "Kozey's" in Edina.

We are working with this individual on recipes, creative menu items and how to maintain the above-mentioned food values while achieving quality, recipe, taste and visual consistencies. Val and I know how important word-of-mouth is, so we want to be the best in everything we do and build an excellent reputation right from the beginning.

Part 4, Maintaining Clean And Inviting Environment Inside And Out

Like everything else, this starts with ownership. Each morning there will be employees responsible for cleaning and maintaining all the interior and exterior areas. Also, employees will be held responsible for maintaining their specific work areas.

Val and I look forward to the opportunity of being part of the past, present and future revitalization of the area, along with all the wonderful people and relationships we have already developed.

(End of letter by Mike and Val Levey)

JNS has only this to add: I am all over any lunch special that involves meatloaf.

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JNS Blog "Goes NoMi" (And You Should, Too!)

Photo By John Hoff

In the future, this blog will use the term "NoMi" instead of "North Minneapolis" in stories about my neighborhood which are generally positive in tone. However, for stories about colorful political controversy, crime, mortgage fraud--basically the negative stuff--I will continue to use the term "North Minneapolis" with my preferred capitalization of "North."

Normally I don't go out of my way to state my blog policies, which are always evolving. Instead, I just do what I do. But in this case...

I believe the grassroots neighborhood marketing efforts being attempted by groups like NoMi are important enough that NOT ONLY should this blog jump aboard the NoMi bandwagon, but I should make a public point of it.

The picture above shows Kip Browne, the new chairman of the Jordan Area Community Council. Kip and his new wife Kelly live just two houses down from Council Member Don Samuels, on a block which used to be rough but has now become beautiful, revitalized, livable, ALMOST perfect and perfection seems quite within reach. A piece of NoMi artwork--which I hope will be one of many more issued in the coming years--hangs prominently in Kip 'n' Kelly's house.

I should point out, though, that "negative" can be a very subjective judgment. There are people who read stories on this blog about political controversies in neighborhoods and tell me things like, wow, they wish their neighborhood politics were so colorful and exciting. It has long been my position that we must not only market the positives, but also market our fulfilling, and continuously SUCCESSFUL struggles against the negatives.

Certain personalities want to do more than just live in a calm, sedated cocoon of suburban domesticity; they have some cowboy blood in them, some pirate personality, a desire to do heroic deeds. They sense a gold rush a-coming, and want to stake their claim, then reap the rewards of their boldness for years, decades. They are visionaries, who look at present difficulties and see the first green shoots of urban utopia pushing above the ground.

The trend is clear; North Minneapolis is becoming NoMi. I intend to get on board with the trend.

Also, for the record, the term "NoMi" has been out in the public domain for a while, in free usage. It has NOT been successfully trademarked. So I am free to use the term and so is anybody else. If somebody wants to tell me different, well, the comment threads are open.

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Larry Maxwell Mortgage Fraud Trial Is Wrapping Up

Photo By John Hoff

I've been provided with a rough schedule of the Larry Maxwell mortgage fraud trial, which is starting to wrap up. Here's what I'm hearing...

On Friday, April 3, a prosecution witness was on the stand. This witness will most likely be on the stand through Tuesday, April 7, and will apparently be the final witness. The defense has indicated they will need two days to put on their witnesses and evidence, and then both sides have indicated one day is needed to prepare closing arguments.

Closing arguments--which will provide a nice summary of the entire case, from the perspective of both sides--may happen on Monday, April 13 if the trial schedule proceeds as planned.

The trial is taking place in the courtroom of Judge Regina Chu in the Hennepin County Courthouse, 10th Floor.

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Drug Raid At 2729 3rd St. N.

Photo Sent By Lt. Rugel

Lt. Jeff Rugel of the 4th Precinct sent an email to a number of people, myself included, with an update on a drug raid at 2729 on Thursday night. Rugel writes exactly as follows...

The 4th Pct Directed Patrol raided 2729 3rd Street North last night and dismantled a pretty sophisticated indoor marijuana grow.

(By which Rugel apparently means "growing operation" in clipped cop-speak)

They took several dozen packages of harvested weed and four large live plants, along with thousands of dollars of grow lights, transformers, and a carbon dioxide generator. They arrested the lone resident, who is the homeowner.

(End of Rugel email)

Rugel did not provide the name of the homeowner, but it is a rather simple matter to look it up online. Despite some confusion in the property records--two listings coming up for the same address--it appears the property owner is Kyle Miller, who purchased the property for $217,000 on September 30, 2004. If this is not correct, and Mr. Miller is not the property owner, this blog is open to receiving contrary information.

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3024 6th St. N. Goes Down--Crackheads Watch With Grim Expressions

Photo by Jeff Skrenes 

The drug den at 3020 6th St. N. had a ringside seat to today's demolition and one reliable source tells me there was some kind of strange, yelled conversation between somebody hanging around 3020 6th St. N. and somebody on the demolition crew at 3024. Pictures reportedly exist, but I'm waiting to see if those are forwarded.

In the meantime...

...here's an image accidentally captured by Jeff Skrenes, the Hawthorne Housing Director. Jeff was snapping a few pics for neighborhood newsletter purposes or whatever, and later realized he'd caught an image of some random crackhead standing on the steps of 3020 6th St. N., watching the demolition of 3024 right next door. (Can you find him "Where's Waldo" style?) 

Keep in mind, the two houses were owned by the same guy and 3024 is now past foreclosure, past redemption, and occupancy is hanging on based upon nothing but slack in the law for tenants. Watching the backhoe do its work must feel like watching a crystal ball into the future, if you live at 3020 or just buy crack there regularly. (And, yes, from what we could tell...business was brisk at 3020)

It's not a foregone conclusion, however, that 3020 6th St. N. will be demolished. Given how notorious that house has become (and this blog has played no small roll in THAT) some have suggested it would be a major political and social statement for the house to be restored, beautified, and occupied by law abiding people...who will want to have one heck of a security system.

There is loose talk of a yard party planned for the day when 3020 6th St. N. is finally vacant and evacuated.

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3024 6th St. N. Goes Down--"The Devil" Is In The Detailed Back Story Of Crack, Prostitution, And Overdue Water Bills

Contributed Photo

An anonymous source I will identify only as a "Hawthorne resident" sent me the juicy "back story" of how 3024 6th St. N. came to be demolished today. The story came as an email, which I'm printing as it arrived except for inserting paragraph breaks, and so forth.

Here it is...

Through PPL, we tried to purchase this property from Evannor (Haymon) quite some time ago. It is a parcel that is included in Phase I, so it is a crucial piece of the EcoVillage. It was well known that Evannor was running prostitution out of that property at the time we were trying to purchase it. But because of rules associated with the funding we had available to buy the place, if we even got to a certain point in negotations while the building was still occupied, we'd have to pay relocation fees.

Well, the neighborhood had no intention of paying possibly tens of thousands of dollars to the devil's demons and demonesses, even if it wasn't technically "our money." (Side note: if we had done that, he may have had enough money to pay the mortgage on 3020 and then where would we be?)

Plus, we just knew that he'd fill the place up with "tenants" to maximize the relocation dollars and really screw us over even more if we started playing that game. Oh, and of COURSE he wanted significantly more than market value for the property anyway, and what little negotiations we could have were nowhere near productive.

At the time, he was significantly behind on the water bill. (JNS says: a conversation with my source said the water bill was, at one point, in the thousands...which is really hard to pull off, considering how cheap municipal water is in the "City of Lakes.")

So we figured the easiest and fastest way to vacate the property was to shut of the water, declare it unsanitary for habitation, and then keep it vacant long enough so that relocation fees no longer applied.

Well, we did just that, but somehow water still continued to flow to the property. We were mystified. It turns out he had broken the stop mechanism in the street so that turning off the water elsewhere had no effect. And this also revealed to us an interesting bureaucratic loophole. As long as water was flowing to the property, it could not be declared "unsanitary for habitation." It didn't matter whether the water was LEGALLY flowing to the property or not.

We then got the required repair on the city's to-do list, but kept on getting the equivalent of a bad customer service automated response like "Thank you for contacting the city with your concern. All maintenance requests are handled in the order they are received." We couldn't even get an ESTIMATED time of when they'd get to the repairs.

In our predicament, Council Member Diane Hofstede was absolutely integral to our getting the situation resolved. I know there've been concerns about her responsiveness in Hawthorne, and some of those concerns were valid. But she hit it out of the park on this one. Thanks to her work with us, this repair issue got moved to the top of the list and the water was finally shut off. Prostitutes were vacated and forced to go...well, next door, (to 3020 6th St. N.) but at least with no relocation dollars in hand.

We tried to buy 3024 from the devil again, but of course he still wanted way too much money. But wihtout any income from the place, it quickly went into foreclosure--quickly enough that we're pretty sure it was already pretty far down that path.

Once the bank foreclosed, we were able to purchase it from them at a fair market price. And that's the back story to 3024 6th St N.

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3024 6th Street North Finally Goes Down

Can nothing stop the Backhoe of Doom?

Another building has been demolished as part of the Hawthorne Eco Village project. There were many delays in the demolition of 3024 6th St. N., but no phone call came from the governor today and the execution took place this morning. Death was by backhoe. It was not merciful or brief, it took a very long time and it's still going on as of this moment. 

More details will follow but, for now, this photo tells the tale.

(Do not click "Read More")

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Follow The Heckler, Follow The Money, Lennie Chism Shows The Way

Photo By John Hoff

As part of an ongoing email discussion--which is much more congenial now, I would have to say--Lennie "The Heckler" Chism forwarded some documents in PDF form. One of the documents...

...was produced by the University of MInnesota in 2006 and discusses a kind of distribution of monies in North Minneapolis. The other document is a map which shows, it seems, some of the same stuff.

I have not dug deeply into the documents but when Lennie sent them by email I thought, "Oh, this is the kind of stuff certain North Minneapolis policy wonks would think is ACTUALLY INTERESTING."

You wanna see the documents? Just go here to the JNS blog PDF support site.

http://sites.google.com/site/johnnynorthsidesite/documents-provided-by-lennie-chism

Sorry the link is not live. Regular readers have heard me gripe about Apples versus Dells. But I will say my Apple computer saved the day today at the Hawthorne Housing Committee meeting, so score one for Apple.

Anyway....have fun digging through Lennie's documents. The information contained in the documents probably isn't as delicious as Nyquil but might produce the same results.

I want to point out that one purpose of this blog is to be a conduit of information about North Minneapolis. People may think I have my particular angles--maybe I see Don Samuels as better than Kenya McKnight, or I see the North Side Marketing Task Force as being in need of revision and reformation--but, honestly, I believe, (more than I believe in any particular side of any particular issue) in the benefit of free-flowing information and discussion.

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Very Big Dreams In A Really Small Office--Seeking More Insight About Lennie "The Heckler" Chism

Photos By John Hoff

After writing so much about 1901 Glenwood Ave. N., the office of Lenny Chism--the guy in a blue shirt who heckled Council Member Don Samuels during the 5th Ward DFL Convention--I became incredibly curious to see the building in question where so many schemes and dreams were hatched. A virtual walk on the Google Earth didn't reveal much; I wanted to get a "boots on the ground" grunt view of reality.

Reality was, indeed, a revelation...

The building sits on a corner and it is small. It's really small. How small is it?

Well, when my son Alex was little he once asked me, "Dad, how big is big?" Once I figured out what he was trying to understand, I had to explain the concept of size being RELATIVE. If something was this large--demonstrating with one's hands--it would be a BIG mouse, but it would be a very SMALL melon, because people have a certain sense of what is normal size for different objects. Likewise, even a "small" car is very big considering almost every normal household object. Incredibly, there are objects in the universe which can be called "small" though they are larger than the whole earth...

Anyway, getting back to Lennie's former building at 1901 Glenwood Ave, let me say this:

It would make a very LARGE hot dog stand.

The building is obscured on Google maps street view because, at street level, there is a roughly-constructed billboard display which features, inter alia, a sign for Lennie's real estate business. So, I realized, my hunch was right: Lennie is the same Twin Cities real estate agent who received only one review of one star, calling him "shady."

Now, some might wonder why I have this intense interest in Lennie "Heckler" Chism. Recently, somebody suggested I was making a play on words because "Lennie Heckler" sounds like "Denny Hecker," the very well known local car dealer. First, I'll say such a play on words was not deliberate, though it kind of works: Denny Hecker says "Nobody walks." What does Lennie say? "Nobody TALKS." At least, no public official talks without Lennie shouting and interrupting--over and over--until every person in the room must turn from the OFFICIAL process and take in the UNOFFICIAL disruption.

Lennie made himself a public figure--at least more of a public figure than he already was with his relentless efforts to distribute the ideas in his brochure about building wealth--so I'm just giving this public figure the kind of inquiry and attention he merits, at least on a blog about North Minneapolis. At the end of this post, I'll give Lennie his say again--via an email he sent--and the comment threads, as always, are available for substantive comment.

WHERE WAS I? Oh, yeah, 1901 Glenwood Ave. which has no business licenses on record with the city--not from what I could find online, anyway. (If somebody knows different, tell me different)

The whole building appears capable of housing one fairly good-sized office. I'm not sure if it has a basement level. One could keep files down there. The building may be small but it has EIGHT MAIL BOXES on the exterior.

The building has fallen on hard times. A pellet gun scored multiple hits on a plate glass window near the door. (Sorry, however, pellet gun damage doesn't count as "bullet holes." Pellet gun damage is nowhere near as sexy as digging a bullet out of the wall of your house and showing it to a bunch of your friends at Broadway Pizza)

Broken glass--not from the pellet gun damage, it appears--litters the grass embankment near the door. Some floodlights at the base of the small building have been damaged, possibly kicked out. A pile of leaves has blown into a corner near the front door. In the small, cute backyard (which is surrounded with a tall white fence, a very attractive and sturdy fence, I should say) a small shed has two gas cans sitting in plain sight. One of the wooden steps leading up to the elevated back yard is broken. 

When I heard Lennie Chism had paid $100, 000 for a commercial building, my first impression was, "That's not so bad, for a commercial building." Now I look at the building and think "Well, this isn't really what I pictured."

I will explain the photos above, and then (as before, in a spirit of fairness) I am printing a recent email from Lennie which gives his point of view about--among other things--why some of his business ventures failed.

From top to bottom: the first photo shows a view of the building from the street, at a slight angle. It would have been nice to put somebody in the picture for scale, but I didn't want to trespass. However, you can probably get some idea of the size of the building from the tree out front. That tree is RIGHT NEXT TO THE BUILDING. It is not ten, twenty feet away from the building, closer to the viewer. The building reminded me of the cute-as-cute-can-be "little church by the highway" chapels one sometimes happens upon if you drive a lot of midwestern countryside, only this building is...well, a real estate office and some kind of headquarters for--what?--about half a dozen organizations at one time or another?

Second photo: eight mailboxes on the exterior. Count 'em up, Sesame Street-style, if you don't believe me. The first mailbox says "Lennie Chism."

Third and fourth photos; the array of signs, front and back, including one which invites potential customers to get a beautiful home with NO MONEY DOWN.

Next, some of the pellet gun damage. There are about as many pellet gun holes as mailboxes. The next photo shows one of the busted flood lights. Last two photos: gas cans visible underneath the shed in the back yard, broken glass littering the grassy embankment.

Now, in a spirit of fair play, here is a recent email from Lennie with some of his points of view:

JNS, I am more impressed with each passing comment from your readership.

In my defense of heckling Don Samuels, well, that was the first DFL event I ever attended. They were cheering him, so I booed him and I cheered for Kenya. My bad.

Some have asked for specifics from me as to how I might make an economic change.

One underlying theme is that my business skill are lacking due to perceived failures. My answer is simple; I have been on that corner for years combined with over 20 years of self employment. Many long time entrepreneurs are failing today not due to any overall deficiency, GM, Circuit City, Denny Hecker, and so on resulting in millions of layoffs. I have watched many go under, beauty shops, clothing stores, etc. Enough said about that.

Basic strategy of capturing the wealth that is generated by our impoverished community that flows out to other communities.

First, currently we have only one MN DOT certified DBE (Disadvantage Business Enterprise) that can bid on the millions of dollars of MN DOT (MN Department of Transportation) contracts to build the roads and bridges from the stimulus money along with the new 8.5 cent gas tax passed last year located in North Minneapolis. We need capacity building grants and business incubators to grow businesses to employ more of our residents. Do we have any MN DOT workers in our community?

Second, we need prison contracts to provide basics supplies such as toiletries, food to MN prison system. We supply the commodity - inmates to Stillwater, Lino Lakes, Shakopee. The correctional system puts millions of dollars into those communities by farming inmates out of North Minneapolis--providing jobs to their communities.

In summary, where do all those proceeds from the lottery, new Heritage Sales tax, new gas tax go? What roll does the city and state government play in creating economics opportunities--have you seen the new home of the Guthrie? Ask the city council; ask the Mayor, ask Senator Higgins, and now ask Bobby Champion. Ask for our share of those proceeds. I invite anyone to come with me to the capital to see the process.

Are we receiving any of the stimulus money? If not, why not?

Lennie Chism
Executive Director/Founder
www.sb501c3.org
lennie@sb501c3.org
612-861-6662
1901 Glenwood Ave North
Minneapolis, MN 55405

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Poor Widdle Sex Offender's Former House Going Down For Sure THIS TIME

Photo By John Hoff, backhoe by house

Word comes from a reliable source that 3024 6th St. N. will be demolished today or tomorrow. I've been told this before and the demolition has not come to pass, however, this time....

...I see a bunch of debri has already been piled up in front of the step, the backhoe is in place, and the demolition contractor is All Metro Excavating, known as AME. So it seems pretty like that, this time, 3024 is coming down. 

Preservationist Connie Nompelis (No-bell-iss) is unhappy with this demolition, as sees the structure as capable of renovation. The structure is likely doomed because of its location, not its condition. This is a case of "elbow room for the Eco Village." 

I'll have mixed feelings about seeing this one go down. But my feelings surely won't be as INTENSE as the feelings at 3020 6th St. N., where there must be a strong sense of everything changing, and the Backhoe of Doom drawing closer. 

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