Jordan Area Community Council (JACC) Got Down To Serious Business Last Night (But Where Was Slumlord Keith Reitman?)

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

Meeting at the Plymouth Christian Youth Center (PCYC) last night, the Jordan Area Community Council tackled an impressive laundry list of neighborhood issues, affirmed Michael "Kip" Browne as its Chair, and met in closed session over the latest frivolous grievance filed by Level Three sex offender Peter "Spanky Pete" Rickmyer.

As discussed in a previous blog post, Rickmyer appears to be claiming his loathsome and disgusting "pedophile" status makes him a member of a protected class for purposes of discrimination, like race and gender.

Yup, just another fun-filled JACC meeting. Here's the rundown...

1.) City Council Member Don Samuels--who lives quite near JACC headquarters--would like to have office space at the "JACC house" so he can meet, conveniently, with constituents. JACC approved the request, unanimously.

2.) Vincent Thomas, the Director of Development at Kwanzaa Community Church in Minneapolis, spoke of his desire to provide a drop-in center for women involved in prostitution. The drop-in center would be on the 2100 block of Emerson Ave. N. This would allow the women to talk to social workers, use bathrooms, etc. in a comfortable space "instead of having to go all the way downtown" for the same services.

Expect more editorials on this topic, but the Irving Inquisition blog has a great example of what our neighborhood is enduring due to the presence of these so-called "sex workers," click here.

3.) David Snyder, a Community Organizer for Jewish Community Action, spoke of the need for more folks to help with door knocking as part of the ongoing outreach by the Northside Community Reinvestment Coalition to help individuals experiencing mortgage problems to save their homes.

4.) There was a presentation on plans for the upcoming Minneapolis public schools headquarters. Impressive architectural drawings were circulated. Four individuals presented on this topic: former City Council president Jackie Cherryhomes, Todd Elkins of Urban Home Works, Mark Bollinger, the Executive Director of Facilities at Minneapolis Public Schools, and Lynn R. Littlejohn, Director of Community Affairs for Mortenson Construction.

Though many aspects of the project were covered, I was particularly interested in the fact some "public art" would be incorporated into the project. During the comment period, I spoke up and expressed a hope any such public art would be "tasteful" and not done in a style I would dub "contemporary urban dystopia," which celebrates the aesthetic of graffiti, decay, and lawlessness. I pointed out there were many individuals (Gratia Countryman comes to mind) who have made substantial educational contributions to Minneapolis, and have connections to the Northside. These individuals are deserving of tasteful statues in their honor. Or, to sum it up another way: ANYTHING BUT A GRAFFITI MURAL LIKE THE "TRIPPING COWS" ON THE SIDE OF THE KEMPS BUILDING.

5.) There was an extensive discussion on using "buy back dollars" to promote more police presence in the Jordan Neighborhood. The discussion got incredibly bogged down--and, it is fair to say, somewhat tense--over a desire by some members in the community to use bike and foot patrols only. It is fair to say "drive by policing" is a major concern and source of irritation in this neighborhood. When Jordan residents call police about a hooker on Penn Ave. N., we want the police to get out, check identification, do pat down searches, detain, and INTERACT INTENSELY AND INTERPERSONALLY WITH THE SUSPECTS, rather than making a "keep on moving" motion from behind their windshield while slowing down to five miles an hour.

6.) Three recommendations came from the Housing Committee. A.) Supporting the preliminary design proposal for the Minneapolis Public Schools headquarters building, B.) supporting a variance and conditional use permit for Alliance Housing/Gateway Lofts, C.) recommending JACC support the Lowry Avenue Strategic Plan and proposed zoning changes.

7.) Michael "Kip" Browne, serving as Chair in the wake of the resignation of Vladamir Monroe, was unanimously reaffirmed without opposition. Eric Johnson was appointed Vice Chair, without opposition, after two other board members declined nominations to the position of Vice Chair.

8.) The most exciting part of the night was closed to the public: dealing with Peter "Spanky Pete" Rickmyer's latest frivolous and stupid grievance.

If I had to hazard a guess as to how the matter will be resolved, I'm guessing JACC will write a letter saying pedophilia is NOT a protected class, the grievance therefore has no basis, and Peter Rickmyer should go crawling back to whatever dark snake hole he crawled out of. (I'm paraphrasing the last part) Unless, of course, the grievance is just dismissed by the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department, which is what SHOULD have happened.

9.) A grievance filed by the Penn Gas Station was resolved. The gas station--which is a filthy hole where dubious activity takes place openly right in front of employees, see a recent blog post regarding THAT, click here--had its metaphorical pants all in a sweaty bunch over something that had been said in long-ago minutes about how the store had been raided by police. The comment had been made by some random community member during open commentary, and NOT by a board member.

The store denies it has ever been raided. JACC agreed to change the minutes to reflect the fact the store had never been raided. How this old, obscure portion of the minutes ended up in front of the store owners is not hard to guess. This may be a good time to mention Peter "Spanky Pete" Rickmyer has been known to work at the store.

The store, pictured above, recently laid down new blacktop in its parking lot, which will undoubtedly improve the store as much as lipstick will improve a pig.

10.) At the very end of the meeting, right before closed session, a relatively recent Jordan resident and proud home owner stepped forward and politely asked to join the board. She highlighted some experience serving on other boards, which she promised to document with a resume.

She was appointed to the board, conditionally, and must present documentation of her residency by the next board meeting.

The appointment is only good until October, when JACC board elections will be held again.

Oh, and on a final note: Slumlord Keith Reitman, who is a JACC board member and usually makes JACC board meetings, missed this particular meeting.

One can't help but suspect the heat is a little too hot in the kitchen for Reitman's tastes, but this is all Johnny Northside Dot Com can say at the present time about this matter.

Stay tuned as more information comes available.