History is made. Abdi Warsame wins Minneapolis City Council seat

[General Duke]

[General Duke]

The final hurdles.

[Libaax-Sankataabte]

Latinos, Somalis want new Minneapolis ward boundaries

by Curtis Gilbert, Minnesota Public Radio

March 21, 2012

 

 

MINNEAPOLIS — Members of Minneapolis' Latino community are criticizing a proposal to redraw the city's political boundaries.

 

They turned out Tuesday night at a public hearing and argued that the city should consolidate as much of the Latino population as possible in a single city council ward. That would increase the chances of electing a Latino member to the council.

 

Many members the city's East African population want the same thing, and both groups are fighting over some of the same territory.

 

Mariano Espinoza urged members of the city's Charter Commission to make a map that satisfies both immigrant communities.

 

"It's not about being Latinos or Somalis. It's about recognizing the demographic landscape that we have today in Minneapolis, which is about 60 percent white and 40 percent minority," Espinoza said.

 

A group representing the East African community in Minneapolis praised the latest proposed map. It creates a city council ward encompassing parts of Cedar-Riverside, Seward and Phillips neighborhoods where many members of the city's Somali community live.

 

"We came to America looking for new opportunities. This is a land of opportunities. This is where dreams come true. And we want to have someone that looks like us, that talks our language, to be elected some day. And this can be made possible if we all support this current map," Salma Hussein said.

 

The Charter Commission will approve the final redistricting plan on Monday.

 

Minnesota Public Radio

[Che -Guevara]

I hope Somalis are not edged out.

[General Duke]

It was a tough initiative, that took a great deal of time and effort. The East African community has come along way through this process. We look forward to the final decision. Insha Allah Khair.

[faarah22]

let me be the contrarian here.i hope somalis don't get elected. uma bisla wali soomalida politiical offices, they are indisciplined and hot headed. " This is a land of opportunities. This is where dreams come true.Salma Hussein said". this not land of opportunities for everyone yaa usheega tan, it land of opportunities for certain races, and yours happens not be one of those.

[General Duke]

I think you misunderstood the whole thing. There is no election, this is about redrawing the map of the City. To increase the number of minority opportunity wards..

[General Duke]

For the Somali residents of Minneapolis and Minnesota, we are about to make history in our own small way.

[General Duke]

[Che -Guevara]

General Duke;808258 wrote:

For the Somali residents of Minneapolis and Minnesota, we are about to make history in our own small way.

Is it over?

[General Duke]

Minneapolis approves new city ward map

 

Posted by: Maya Rao under Politics and government Updated: March 27, 2012 - 6:08 PM

 

The Minneapolis Charter Commission approved new ward boundaries Tuesday afternoon that will influence city politics for the next decade, following weeks of controversy about how the revised map will affect election opportunities for minorities.

The map substantially reshapes the wards spanning the city’s midsection.

The downtown area, now represented by Ward 7, would be split as boundaries of Ward 3 in the northeast stretch west across the Mississippi to pick up most of downtown and about half of the North Loop.

Ward 6 would lose Whittier to Ward 10 and pick up Elliot Park, most of the western half of Cedar-Riverside, and the northern part of Seward.

Ward 2, which previously had all of Cedar-Riverside and Seward, would extend into the eastern half of Longfellow to make up for those losses.

Ward 9 will pick up the Central neighborhood from Ward 8 and the rest of Powderhorn to make up for losing part of Longfellow.

Redistricting Group Chairman Barry Clegg, who also chairs the Charter Commission, said the map does not pit any of the city's 13 incumbents against each other.

But it appears unfavorable for Council Member Robert Lilligren. The American Indian official is expected in the next election to face an East African population that is highly motivated to put one of their own on the council now that the lines in Ward 6 have been reshaped to give them more political influence.

Many Indians have protested the map over concerns that it pits them against Somali-Americans.

“We aren’t about protecting incumbents and making sure they have good prospects in the next election,” said Clegg after Tuesday's vote.

He acknowledged that Ward 6 now “looks pretty funny.”

But, said Clegg, “it’s not really possible unless you draw really slinky wards around almost every block to put all communities of interest in their own ward.”

Tuesday’s swift approval came off a nearly five hour contentious meeting on Monday during which the Redistricting Group faced a room full of opponents who claimed that the draft map diluted voting power of East Africans, Latinos, and Indians.

[General Duke]

Che -Guevara;810821 wrote:

Is it over?

Yes, it is over. The new map gives the East African community a historic opportunity in Ward 6. We should also be able to run a good race in Ward 9. The Hispanics might have actually taken in too much concentration of our population into Ward 9.

[Che -Guevara]

How does this give them a good chance to run for the State House and Senate?

[General Duke]

Che -Guevara;810826 wrote:

How does this give them a good chance to run for the State House and Senate?

This is about the City of Minneapolis Council. Which is relatively a powerful position. Consider that there has never been a Hispanic and only one African American serving currently out of 13 council members.

 

The new redrawn map gives the Somali's an opportunity to get one of their own elected to this position. The theory then goes that such political cohesiveness will play as a catalyst to get more Somali's elected across the board.

 

This is just the start. However we have changed the map of the city and that in itself is incredible.

[Somalia]

Looks good, the Somali Americans are far more active than the ones over here when it comes to integration.