Wedge LIVE!

John is joined by Wedge LIVE lifestyle producer Paula Chesley for a special miniseries featuring the stories of real people, not just surviving, but thriving through a Minneapolis winter. This time we're featuring the artists and participants in the Art Shanty Projects. Music, meditation, climate awareness, winter fashion, froga (frozen yoga), bathwater ice sculpting -- this episode has something for everyone.

You can see the Art Shanty Projects at the Lake Harriet bandshell Saturdays and Sundays January 21 – February 12, 2023, 10am-4pm. For more information: https://artshantyprojects.org/

With city councils in both Minneapolis and St. Paul on the ballot in  2023, John has a conversation with St. Paul Councilmember Mitra Jalali  about the issues that will define this election year. What is the  conversation we should be having on public safety? What accounts for the  different approach and results in the Twin Cities when it comes to  homeless encampments? Are there lessons for Minneapolis in the St. Paul  rent control experience? We talk about how Mitra's relationship to the  internet has changed since her first election in 2018, how to get beyond  empty campaign rhetoric, and the reality check candidates should give  themselves before running for office. Plus, a discussion of what John is  calling perhaps the most well-crafted issues section on a local  candidate website that he has ever seen:  https://mitrajalali.com/community-issues

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

John is joined by Grammy-nominated transportation organizer José Antonio  Zayas Cabán (Our Streets Minneapolis) for a conversation about the push  for municipal sidewalk clearing. In a northern city with significant  annual snowfall every winter, how seriously do we take our commitment  that each of our neighbors should get where they're going with bodies  unbroken? We talk about the cost to do it right, the skepticism, what it  looks like in other places, why the city council voted down funding for  a pilot project in the 2023 budget, and the impact to the city's  transportation and climate goals if we accept the failed and dangerous  status quo. We finish the episode by congratulating José on his Grammy  nomination and talk about some of his musical inspirations, including  his experience as a young pedestrian growing up in Puerto Rico. 

About Montreal's sidewalk clearing program: https://montreal.ca/en/topics/snow-removal-sidewalks-and-streets  

Our Streets Minneapolis' push for municipal snow removal: https://www.ourstreetsmpls.org/muni_sidewalk_plowing  

José's Grammy nominated work: http://joseantonio-zayascaban.com/release/el-pais-invisible/  

Recommendations:

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

John is joined by Josh Martin (aka "the new new Larry Jacobs") for an introduction to another Minneapolis City Council election year. Why should you get off your butt and pay attention? Will we rehash the crime-themed election of 2021 or find a new theme? What are the big issues? Which wards are especially key or likely to be competitive? Please share this episode with your friends so they can get pumped about Minneapolis Election 2023!

Content warning: Any lip smacking you hear in this episode was caused by Josh pounding can after can of lime LaCroix.

John is joined by biostats grad student Jonathan Kim for a conversation about rent control. Jonathan's claim to fame is that he spent 2022 serving on two very high profile volunteer work groups for the City of Minneapolis: one to come up with a recommendation on rent stabilization policy and the other on citywide redistricting. We talk about what swayed him towards the more aggressive version of rent control policy, some of his potential concerns, and his assessment of how effectively the work group operated. On redistricting, Jonathan explains why the Cedar-Isles-Dean neighborhood is probably out to get him. He also describes his work group volunteerism as a hobby, a relaxing break from statistics. John argues that's a "sick, sad" way to spend your free time. 

For a more thorough discussion of the basic policy considerations of rent control, listen to our December episode with Jennifer Arnold.

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

This episode features endless frustration about fake environmentalism weaponized against something that's unquestionably an environmental good, with guests Adam Wysopal and Alex Schieferdecker. Adam provides an update on the 2040 Plan lawsuit, initiated in 2018 by a group of rich southwest Minneapolis residents unhappy that their neighborhoods would no longer be reserved exclusively for single-family homes. Last last month, an appeals court upheld one part of the district court's decision (regarding the assumed full build out of the plan) while also telling the lower court judge that his decision lacked "findings on the necessity and scope" of the relief provided to the plaintiffs. Alex says it's a mistake to assume a full build out of the housing portion of the 2040 plan, because that's just not how it works. He also wonders if the judges will also assume full implementation of the aggressive transportation and climate policies in the plan. The three of us agree that the courts are poorly suited to resolving these complicated city planning issues. John argues these are political questions, and Minneapolis did a good job answering them with a robust, years-long political process involving policy experts, elected officials, and city residents. John asks Adam if he can sue to stop the city of Lakeville over their comprehensive plan, considering the traffic and environmental impact of the average new Lakeville resident are significantly greater than for Minneapolis. We are more than four years into this lawsuit to stop a ten year plan. No telling how many more years of transparently bad-faith legal arguments the courts will have to hear before it's resolved.

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

John is joined by Wedge LIVE lifestyle producer Paula Chesley for a miniseries featuring the stories of real people, not just surviving, but thriving through a Minneapolis winter. For this episode recorded January 1, 2023, we're at Lake Harriet narrating people jumping into a hole in the ice as if it's the Rose Parade. We speak with first timers, longtime ice dippers, and skeptical observers who live in the neighborhood. Then we head over to Embrace North, a sauna and ice bath facility in Linden Hills which helped organize this event. Paula ventures into the sauna for more conversation and gets the story from the founder of Embrace North, the self-styled Sauna Papi. From Guatemala, to California, to Minnesota -- Luis Leonardo talks about how he turned his dread of winter into a business and a community.

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

It's the Holiday Special! John, Elissa, and PeggySue talk about what this time of year in Minneapolis means. We name the persons and/or concepts that Scrooged us the hardest in 2022. And offer thanks to the people who "Saved Christmas" - which is a necessary trope of any holiday special. Elissa has tips for how you can do end of year self reflection and 2023 goal-setting in a positive way, without being hard on yourself. Lots of recommendations in this episode if you're looking for a book or video game for yourself or a loved one. Special thanks to our surprise musical guest (please don't fast forward to the surprise musical guest). 

Year Compass goal setting: https://yearcompass.com/

Elissa's book recommendations (buy from your local bookstore, so obligatory links to Moon Palace Books):

The City We Became https://moonpalacebooks.com/item/2-gUryvjjJ8m-aeb3SffJw

PeggySue's book recommendations:

Cloud Cuckoo Land https://moonpalacebooks.com/item/rPCoGQ_-yAXyV_mg5DPfQA

Video games mentioned on this episode: Bear and Breakfast, Spiritfarer, Stray, Tunic, Immortals: Fenyx Rising, Hades, Prey, Citizen Sleeper.

John's TV and movie recommendations: Severance (Apple TV) and Plan B (movie).

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

In 2021, Minneapolis voters approved a ballot question giving the go-ahead for a rent control ordinance. In 2022, the City Council and Mayor Frey formed a Rent Stabilization Work Group to make policy recommendations. Those meetings began in September and wrapped up last week. A majority of the work group (14 of 25) voted for a policy recommendation that, if placed on the ballot and approved by voters in 2023, would be the most strict in the country.

We start the episode with a ten-minute check-in with Jimmy Harris about his experience as a renter and tenant organizer -- and the precarious housing situation facing many Minneapolis renters. Then, a conversation about rent control policy, and the city's Rent Stabilization Work Group, with Jennifer Arnold, co-director of the tenant advocacy non-profit Inquilinxs Unidxs por Justicia (IX). The headline is the proposed 3% cap on annual rent increases, but there's a lot more to it. In addition to giving us the perspective of rent control advocates, Jennifer explains key concepts like rent banking, inflation adjustment, exemptions for affordable housing or new construction, and how rent control would be enforced. We explore the issue of "vacancy control" -- and how "decontrol" would interact with the city's current lack of just cause eviction protections.

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

It's our not-quite monthly appointment with Dr. Melody Hoffmann, PhD. Melody starts us off with the farmers market report. We talk about the massive fire that destroyed a 25-unit, 100 year old apartment building at 24th and Lyndale in the Wedge -- and whether city hall failed to properly intervene to stop a public safety threat that neighbors had been predicting for months. We talk about a failed effort to put $200,000 in the city's 2023 budget for a municipal sidewalk snow clearing pilot. John makes the case that the dream of a dense pedestrianized, climate-friendly city, where people drive less, falls apart if it's not safe for people to use the sidewalks all year long. John expresses skepticism about the crime-fighting impacts of MPD's Operation Endeavor, the results of which are being celebrated on the TV news. During the underwhelming gift guide portion of the episode, we find out if Melody's use of the phrase "neighbor-friend" is actually a euphemism for something a bit more intimate.

You can find Melody on Twitter at @MelodySWV and https://southwestvoices.news

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive