And whereas organizers and community partners are advancing a food focused future that supports local food systems, community gardens, environmental stewardship, tree planting, neighborhood business, healthy families, and pathways to an equitable and inclusive green economy.

I'm really grateful for this initiative because I am a business owner who has my license within this collective kitchen. Um, I have a catering business. I have been a restaurant owner and I really do see the necessity of a collective groups coming together to support some of our small businesses like my own.

And this is a part of our work plan, working together with community, collaborating, and building relationships and recognizing the needs that we need in our city, not just north Minneapolis, but South Minneapolis.

And whereas a welcoming Minneapolis requires more than words or celebrations, it calls for continued commitment to language access, equitable services, meaningful community engagement, inclusive employment practices, and ensuring residents have real opportunities to shape the decisions that affect their lives.

But there's an incredible amount of power in saying and believing I belong here. And in whatever language you say that in, um, whatever language, whatever cultural background you have, recognizing that Minneapolis is home for you.

As a new immigrant that has been in Minnesota for 30 years, I love Minnesota much more this year than ever. For all of you, thank you community for supporting new immigrants. And thank you for continuing supporting with mental health and the trauma that thousands went through.

I I just, you know, I want to talk about some of the concerns I've heard. People really are concerned about the public safety tradeoff for this. Uh, the feedback I've received is this is used as a tool for package thieves, right?

So we're trying to strike a balance, a compromise of what is an individual property owner's right to be able to defend their property and have these um alarm systems um and then what is the right of another property owner or resident to um have peace uh when they're in their home.

So, you just have this little security system as a deterrent to say, 'Hey, make a different choice because we're going to see you seeing us see you, right?' And this is giving people a chance to to do something differently.

And our whole community thrives when our justice impacted residents have the resources and the support and the opportunities they need to live stable and safe and meaningful lives.

This is only um removing the restriction from felons um for 20 pounds or more um who've been convicted of a felony that's considered violent under state statute. However, uh we actually in this ordinance... added in language to include uh being able to restrict ownership for anybody now who's been convicted uh of any animal cruelty charge uh which even includes a misdemeanor, which is actually great because that's helping us further protect our companion animals in the city.

I do want to point out that a big concern in the domestic violence support community is about abusers who use pets and animals um in their violence against mostly women.

And whereas the city of Minneapolis strongly supports the artwalk concept and requests Mandot to acknowledge that this part of Central Avenue is not a highway but a dense urban arts district and they will include northeast Minneapolis residents and artist communities in the corridor wide visual quality advisory committee to ensure direct input from the northeast arts arts district community in the development of the visual quality manual.

Mandot is a great organization, but that they're they develop highways and this is a very this could be the densest part of northeast Minneapolis, at least up in Ward One. and they just have to think differently and for sure listen to the community in this.

When this click item was originally introduced, the plan was to repeal click as established in ordinance and just reconstitute it by resolution. it is now being proposed to leave it in ordinance and that click will remain a tier 2 body.

I am very concerned that in this new makeup we're essentially deferring to the mayor and to the mayor's administration on who gets to make up this body and thus then have a qualifier condition for them to even have entry into it. And I don't think that was the intent originally of any of our ABC boards.

This isn't approving that concept. This is changing the notice already given. So voting for this today simply says yes, it should be an ordinance. Click should be a tier 2. The details of that still are subject to your review and amendment and process.

I think that our boards and commissions are underserved right now because we have very passionate, very dedicated, very civically active people in our city that are giving their time and their treasure to bringing their best to the city. And often times it's received to to dead air because they are they're they're the chaos that begins with not having shared goals gets greater and greater and greater the further down into the work that you're trying to do.