Being the amazing, true-to-life adventures and (very likely) misadventures of a writer who seeks to take his education, activism and seemingly boundless energy to North Minneapolis, (NoMi) to help with a process of turning a rapidly revitalizing neighborhood into something approaching Urban Utopia. I am here to be near my child. From 02/08 to 06/15 this blog pushed free speech to the envelope, so others could take heart and speak unafraid. Email me at hoffjohnw@gmail.com
Stock photo, missing computer in North Minneapolis, ho hum,blog post by John Hoff
In a development which sounds mysteriously similar to a controversy which happened in the Jordan Neighborhood, click here for one sample story, a reliable source reports secondhand information that computers are missing at the office of NRRC (Northside Residents Redevelopment Council) and office records have been shredded. This incident reportedly happened some time earlier this week. This information is unconfirmed but solid enough by blogosphere standards for publication with the aforementioned caveat included. Johnny Northside Dot Com seeks more information, photos, commentary from anybody in the know and has avoided the publication of any name(s) reportedly associated with this allege incident until and unless more information comes forward, either to this blog or via other media.
NRRC (pronounced like "NERK") is an umbrella-like neighborhood uber-organization which...
...a few years ago, had swallowed up some smaller neighborhood organizations and/or brought those organizations under its influence...specifically, Near North and Willard Hay. However, in recent years the organization had struggled to survive, as documented in this 2007 City Pages article, click here. It sure seems like there was a whole lot of money flowing through NRRC, and not much to show for it.
This recent incident, if true, may be the swan song of an organization which has existed in some form or another since 1968 but, in all likelihood, has been bypassed by more successful, well-managed, and forward-thinking forces of revitalization.
The University of Minnesota held its grand opening ceremonies for its Urban Research and Outreach/Engagement Center yesterday. Although the pomp and circumstance happened on Wednesday, the facility has been going full steam ahead since opening its doors. Over 9,000 business and community participants have been in the facility since September.
Before getting to the videos, the pictures above show how close I could get when the ribbon was cut, the leftovers of the ribbon, the band providing music, and the main conference room packed to overflowing. The event was so momentous for north Minneapolis that it was almost impossible to get a picture without also capturing several other people looking for their own photos of the day.
Bill English, co-chair of the African American Leadership Summit/Coalition of Black Churches, gave a rousing speech that I did not have a chance to record. He said that at this site, "four years ago, you could buy just about anything illegal that you wanted...now this is a place where community engagement happens." He also emphatically stated that this is not just a case of the University investing in the community. We are part of a true partnership and the community is investing in the U. "The assets of this community will build the University for more years than you can imagine."
All of the speakers were asked to keep their remarks under two minutes, and most of them obliged. Also, I apologize for the shakiness of the camera. My arms were about to fall off after all the hard work I'd put in at the Hawthorne EcoVillage Tree Nursery earlier in the day. The first speaker to appear on this episode of JN-SPAN is... ...Robert J. Jones, Senior Vice President of the University of Minnesota.
Next up is Robert H. Bruininks, President of the University of Minnesota.
Representative Keith Ellison couldn't make it, but recorded this message:
State Senator Linda Higgins is our next speaker.
I've got to hurry up and get this post done before midnight so that I can say it was also a happy birthday present to the next speaker, CM Don Samuels.
And finally, Hennepin County Commissioner Mark Stenglein. Why does he always have to speak AFTER someone as energetic as Samuels? Stenglien is actually a rather engaging public speaker, but would serve better as the set-up man for Samuels to bring it all back home.
After the ceremony, I had a chance to wander through the building. It's filled with exciting pieces of art and other historical and cultural contributions. But this was by far my favorite item. First, click on the picture below for a larger view of the description of the project. Then take a look at the pictures and artwork itself.
I should also mention that through our partnership with the University of Minnesota, CURA, and UROC, we have been able to get research assistants to help north Minneapolis neighborhoods track our effectiveness in foreclosure prevention outreach. This groundbreaking research will be brought forward to the community at a formal presentation at UROC in the coming months. Even before the grand opening, they have not only opened their doors for community events, but have also collaborated in very real ways with the community. UROC, welcome to NoMi!
A known, creditable source at U of M gave information to a known, creditable source in the Hawthorne Neighborhood, who conveyed it to me earlier today:
Jerry Moore, the former Executive Director of JACC, who is currently involved in a lawsuit against JACC, was "let go" from his job at the University of Minnesota UROC program. According to the U of M source.... It was reportedly coverage on this blog which "blew open" the issue of Moore's hiring and forced the hand of U of M decision-makers after the issue had been quietly, respectfully brought to their attention over a week ago. I am told pages were printed from my previous blog post about Moore's hiring by UROC, including the extensive comment stream, and these pages got "waved around" a bit in a discussion at U of M.
It continues to be my position that if Jerry Moore wants to discuss his point of view in detail, and cite such facts on his behalf as he wishes to cite, I will air his point of view. The comment threads are also open, subject only to relatively brief delays before I hit the APPROVE button.
The issue of other (reported but unconfirmed) controversial hires by U of M UROC continues to be a concern. The question keeps getting asked by neighborhood leaders: WHAT THE HECK IS THE DEAL WITH UROC? Are hiring decisions being made on the basis of tawdry political favors?
I say that merely "letting go" of Moore isn't good enough. The matter of how and why he was hired--and by whom--should be formally investigated by U of M.
Consider:
* Moore doesn't have a college degree.
* Moore is currently suing his former neighborhood association, (JACC) one of the neighborhood groups essential to UROC's North Minneapolis mission.
* Moore admitted being involved in a physical altercation with members of the JACC board in January of this year and was denied employment benefits on the basis of that misconduct. (Unknown if his appeal has been resolved, however) Moore was FIRED for that misconduct.
* The involvement of Jerry Moore's consulting firm with Larry "Maximum" Maxwell is a matter of public record in the Hennepin County court system. Maxwell just went down for more than a dozen felonies involving mortgage fraud. The LAST THING ON EARTH Jerry Moore should be doing is "research" involving mortgages, particularly research supported by a public entity funded by taxpayer dollars.
Based on any ONE of these factors, Moore shouldn't have been hired by U of M. But here you have all four factors. So what explains his hiring? This wasn't just a bone-headed move, to me this looks like somebody trying to throw patronage in the direction of Jerry Moore after his oh-so-justified termination from JACC, so Moore can be saved, inflated, propped up, and still around to fight battles on behalf of whoever-the-hell Moore fights for. (Would that be the right of poor North Minneapolis folks to get just as rich from mortgage fraud as well-to-do suburbanites?)
The more pressing question becomes: who else was hired by UROC who shouldn't have been hired? All hiring decisions made by whoever hired Jerry Moore need to be reviewed and investigated, IMMEDIATELY.
With 1200 U of M jobs being eliminated, Jerry Moore somehow managed to land himself a sweet job for which he was supremely unqualified. This is not something that should be quietly swept under the rug by "letting go" of Moore. And I have reason to believe I'm not the only media entity which has its jaws in the ass bone of this issue.
Word reached me about a week ago from a source that former JACC Executive Director Jerry Moore had been hired by the UROC program at U of M; the nice (but obviously naive) folks bringing North Minneapolis that big, expensive, rather slowly-delivered project at the former Penn-Plymouth shopping center. Another credible source made some calls and confirmed firsthand this was, in fact, the case. Jerry Moore is now--among many other things--a gopher.
My U of M gopher blood boils with shame. THE SHAME!!!!!!!!
Jerry Moore--who has been a plaintiff in a lawsuit against JACC, and was fired from his executive director position for misconduct, (fistfight, cough cough) is nothing if not a controversial figure in the Jordan Neighborhood...
So when word reached certain neighborhood movers and shakers about Jerry being hired by UROC, and being involved with some kind of "research" about mortgage issues in North Minneapolis, consternation was followed by seething anger. Repeated and specific evidence in Hennepin County District Court shows Jerry Moore was involved with a high-profile fraudulent mortgage at 1564 Hillside Ave. N. The collective judgment of decent people in the Jordan Neighborhood--"decent" being defined as "not actively involved in mortgage fraud"--is that Jerry Moore is the last person who should be working on this kind of task and WHAT THE HELL was U of M thinking by hiring him?
Even assuming (as lawyers say) "arguendo" that Jerry Moore has received a bad rap over 1564 Hillside Ave. N., the problem remains that current JACC leadership will have nothing to do with Jerry Moore, and the Jordan Neighborhood makes up a big part of North Minneapolis. It's not hard to picture situations where the UROC people attempt to engage the leadership of Jordan, but all the "Jordanites" will want to talk about is, "Why the hell did you hire Jerry Moore, and when will you be getting rid of him? Get rid of him and we will talk."
That's the word I'm getting from neighborhood leadership. In fact, my reason for delaying posting about this matter was because I was prevailed upon to avoid airing this dirty laundry until there was a chance, behind the scenes, to call some leaders at U of M and fix this mess. With the matter still pretty much the same as it was a week ago, I was contacted and told to please, please blog about this matter. So: Jerry Moore is working for UROC, and UROC has just lost major cred with North Minneapolis leadership. (The ones not involved with mortgage fraud, anyway, which clearly doesn't include all the self-declared leadership)
In fact, some are going so far as to say UROC has never had the creditability of CURA, which is another program at U of M which has been working with neighborhood issues for a long time, very successfully, though often with a low profile. The question being asked in this time of budget cuts is "Why is there a UROC at all? Why not just have things done under CURA, a program with a proven track record which would never, in a hundred years, pull this kind of stupid bulls***t?"
Stock photo, missing computer in North Minneapolis, ho hum,blog post by John Hoff
