The porchlite
News from the Summit University Neighborhood
The porchlite
 The Minnesota Cold Weather Rule will go into effect on October 15, 2019.
In order to be protected under this rule, residents would have to contact their utility company to apply. This protection keeps qualified residents from having their natural gas services disconnected if they are having difficulty paying their bills. The Cold Weather Rule runs from October 15th to April 15th. Spread the word around the community and let people know that they can prepare if they need protection! https://www.ag.state.mn.us/…/Publi…/UtilityDisconnection.asp
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 St Paul - City Council Ward 1 Candidate Forum
Please join League of Women Voters St Paul in partnership with the Hallie Q Brown Center for a candidate forum for Ward 1. League of Women Voters St Paul candidate forums free and open to the public. Questions for candidates can be submitted online in advance, or in person at the forum. Cards will be provided for questions. Questions or inquiries can be sent to hkilkenny09@gmail.com. When Thursday, October 17, 2019 7 PM - 8:30 PM Where Hallie Q Brown Center 270 N Kent St St Paul, MN 55102  Election Day is November 5 — and we want to be sure you’re ready! As a reminder, we have city council and school board races this year, and for the council races, we use Ranked Choice Voting. Adopted by voters in 2009 and used for the first time in 2011, RCV is not new, but with new voters in the neighborhood, we want to be sure everyone knows about it and is prepared to rank their ballots come to Election Day!
RCV is a simple change to the ballot that lets voters rank their preferences on the ballot, 1st choice, 2nd choice, 3rd choice, etc. You can rank up to six candidates in any race. RCV eliminated the low-turnout, unrepresentative August primary, so voters need to turn out for just a single election in November. The rankings are used to ensure winning candidates receive support from the broadest swatch of voters possible. RCV allows you to identify backup choices in case your #1 candidate doesn’t gather enough support to make it past the initial rounds of counting. That means choosing your favorite – plus two, three or additional other candidates you could live with – and marking them in order of preference on your ballot. Identifying backup choices isn’t mandatory, but it’s smart. Ranking your ballot 1-2-3 gives you more choice and gives your ballot more power. Each ballot will have three columns, with 6 available rankings. Simply mark the ballot left to right, indicating your first choice in the first column, your second choice in the next column, and your third choice in the column, up to six choices. “Bullet voting,” marking just one choice or marking the same candidate in all three columns, is identical to only picking a first choice. It’s just like voting in the primary, but sitting out the general election if your first choice doesn’t win. Fully ranking your ballot in the multi-candidate races means that if your favorite candidate doesn’t gather enough support in early rounds of counting and is eliminated, your vote will transfer to your next choice and you’ll continue to be part of the decision-making process. To learn more about who’s on the ballot and how RCV works, visit www.rankyourvote.org and rcelections.org. Early voting started Oct. 29 so you can vote at Ramsey County before Nov. 5. See the location here. Download your sample ballot and practice before you vote! https://www.ramseycounty.us/residents/elections-voting/voters/ranked-voting Happy Election Day, and remember to rank your ballot on Nov. 5! Thanks for all you do to make our neighborhood, and our city, stronger.  Tuesday, October 15
6 PM – 8 PM St. Paul City Middle School 643 Virginia St Every St Paul resident should have the right to live where they work and work where they live. It is the best set-up for our people and the planet to continue life that will nourish healthy pathways for future generations. However, this is not the world that we currently live in. Join us at the Ward 1 City Council Candidate Forum as we center the concept of home and the role that the Ward 1 City Council Member can play in moving us towards the world that should be - one where people can grow roots in communities so that they can feel the impact of their labor and contribution and investment into community. Confirmed Ward 1 Candidates: - Anika Bowie - https://anikabowie.com/ - Liz De La Torre - https://neighborsforliz.com/ - Abu Nayeem - https://www.facebook.com/AbuForWard1/ - Council Member Dai Thao - http://daithao.org/ Food and childcare will be provided. Bring your housing questions to ask candidates! Email Tram at tram@thealliancetc.org if you have any questions.  Do you believe local elections matter? Are you undecided? Still unsure if you're registered to vote and/or how rank choice voting works? Want to ask your City Council Ward 1 candidates a specific question?
If you answered yes to any of the above, please come join us for the Saint Paul City Council Ward 1 Candidate Forum held right here in Frogtown: Friday, October 4, 2019 Kolap Restaurant: 601 Dale St N, St Paul, MN 55103 6:30pm – 8:30pm Karen Larson will be moderating this event. Tony Schmitz will be timekeeping. Event is free and open to the public. This City Council Ward 1 Candidate Forum will be recorded for future broadcast during my "Living Loud" replay time slot on WFNU 94.1 FM Saint Paul, Frogtown Community Radio. As usual, we will be asking you to pass up your audience questions during candidates' opening statements (for those who wish to remain anonymous) to be asked during the main portion of the forum. In addition, I have decided to allot time during the forum for those audience members who wish to ask their questions directly. Don’t miss this opportunity to meet the candidates, hear their positions, voice concerns, and ask questions. All Ward 1 candidates are confirmed as of 8/16: Anika Bowie Liz De La Torre Abu Nayeem "Frogtown Crusader" CM Dai Thao Many thanks to Kolap Restaurant owners, Sophie and Stevena Pen, for donating space/ sound for this event. Kitchen will remain open for the duration of the forum, so please feel free to order food and drink. Fairvote will be tabling this event for anyone with questions about registering to vote and/or rank choice voting. See you there! 🐸  The mission of the Summit-University Planning Council is to improve the common good of District 8 by informing, activating, and empowering community members to address issues that affect them. We are excited to bring on 6 new neighborhood representatives and welcome back 5 returning neighborhood organizations who will help us accomplish goals we have set for the upcoming year. They are your neighbors, and part of your community, and committed to working together for Summit-University.
(We welcome new Board Members mid-term, so reach out if you are interested in joining this team! jens@summit-university.org) Sub-District A Erica Valliant Sub-District D Jack Hennen Sub-District E Daniel Stahley Sub-District F Molly Rink At Large Jo Ann Buckholz Harry Oda Organizations Hallie Q. Brown Jonathan Palmer Ramsey Hill Association Judith Tande Unity Church Unitarian Martha Tilton ASANDC Leeta Douglas Urban Farm/Garden Alliance Melvin Giles  Metro Transit is in the planning stages of creating a new rapid transit line to Minneapolis and Saint Paul that would potentially run along RT 21. They are doing community engagement and outreach along the bus route starting in late August. These are their main questions for the community:
Planned community engagement/ outreach activities:
More information:
 Saint Paul Public Works will be doing mill and overlay projects in 2021 on:
St. Anthony Avenue from Snelling to Victoria Concordia Avenue from Lexington to Marion in 2021. (Work excludes off-ramps and the signalized intersections of Snelling, Lexington, and Dale, which are being addressed through separate projects) St. Anthony and Concordia often have traffic speeds that are very high, and they are often used as a way to bypass traffic by motorists who do not treat them like the neighborhood streets that they are. We have heard from neighbors for years that the crossings at the pedestrian bridges and at the schools can be very dangerous. Maxfield has spent significant time working to create safer crossings for their students, and reaching out to the City to address the issue. The City of Saint Paul is responding by using the scheduled mill and overlay project as an opportunity to do further community engagement along the corridor, and identify how they can improve safety for pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists. SUPC is interested in learning about how construction assessments for people along the corridor can be mitigated. We will be hosting a forum to discuss this with neighbors along Concordia and Saint Anthony. They are currently encouraging people to take a survey, both online and while tabling at community events. They are also setting up special meetings with people along the corridor like, Maxfield, St. Paul College, and Jeremiah House. They will follow up this outreach period with a community meeting in the fall to review design concepts. You can participate in the survey by following the link below: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/94frontageroads  It's time for the SUPC annual election. Find out who is running to join our board in your neighborhood and show your support!
Voting for the Summit-University Annual Board of Directors Election is open! Visit the link below to read about the candidates and how to vote: http://www.summit-university.org/candidates.html  The Sterling Club, incorporated on August 28, 1919, is one of the few remaining icons for the historic Rondo neighborhood in St. Paul, MN. If was founded during a time when African-Americans could not access the same accommodations as white community members. Original membership was a vast representation of professionals, including lawyers, government employees, war veterans, railroad workers, janitors,and postal workers; and all carried a vision of community-building.
On, Wednesday, August 28, 2019, Commissioner Carter honored The Sterling Club with a proclamation on it’s official 100th anniversary. The centennial celebration will culminate with a formal event on Saturday, September 14 at 6 p.m. where they will honor Richard Mann with the Lifetime of Service Award, and Mary Mackbee with the Outstanding Citizen Award. |
about usThe Porchlite is a monthly newsletter and blog that is developed by the SUPC Communications Committee. Archives
September 2019
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