Miller faults mayor, Council for NRP program demise: St. Paul schools
by Virginia Rybin
Last Updated: 11/16/2007 3:50:35 PM
St. Paul has its own system - a network of District Councils - to involve neighborhoods in decisions about development, housing and other programs.
It is very different from the group of Minneapolis community organizations that receive Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) money. St. Paul's 17 District Councils do not receive money to do projects in their communities.
A Matter of Power
The councils are advisory agencies that set up forums so residents can comment on the city's proposed development projects and other neighborhood programs. They give feedback to St. Paul officials on issues and projects in their areas and bring their concerns to the city. They do not have the power of the Minneapolis organizations that get grants, plan projects and turn them into reality.
The main roles of the District Councils are crime prevention and fostering community participation. Some also do other work, such as neighborhood beautification, recycling, and block nurse programs that help senior citizens to maintain their health.
There is another group of St. Paul agencies - community development corporations (CDCs) - that receive money and do projects. These are somewhat similar to the Minneapolis neighborhood groups that get NRP money. The 11 CDCs do not serve all areas of St. Paul. They generally operate in neighborhoods with significant needs and are not located in upper middle class areas. The entire city of Minneapolis is involved in NRP, although grants are much smaller in well-to-do areas.
Robert Lilligren, vice-president of the Minneapolis City Council, said the St. Paul system, with only 17 groups, shifts decision-making away from the grassroots of the community. In Minneapolis, there are 71 community organizations that get NRP money. This disparity is hugely out of proportion with the relatively small difference in the populations of the two cities. In 2002, Minneapolis had about 90,000 more residents than St. Paul, which had a population of about 280,0000.
St. Paul has a longer history of formalized community involvement, said Nancy Homans, policy director for St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman. While the District Councils were established in 1975, the Minneapolis community organizations did not receive funds until the early 1990s. In both cities, some neighborhoods had community groups before a formal structure began.
The St. Paul Study
In a report issued in August, the League of Women Voters of St. Paul praised the work of the District Councils while suggesting changes to improve the system.
The league recommended an annual, independent financial review of all District Councils. Over the past several years, three problems have prompted questions about financial accountability. None of them resulted in loss of city money. In two instances, district councils did not pay federal tax withholding for employees, although the money was withheld from their checks. In one of those cases, the District Council's tax return was not filed; although the councils are non-profits and pay no taxes, they are required to submit returns. In the third instance, an employee faced criminal prosecution for theft of proceeds from a fund-raiser.
The Minneapolis organizations that get NRP grants and the St. Paul Community Development Corporations have annual financial reviews, but many of them handle far more public money than the District Councils because they do development. Grants to the district councils this year will range from $41,000 to $102,000. A yearly financial review would be a significant expense with budgets of that size. The League of Women Voters recommended that the city help pay the cost of the reviews.
The city hired a citizen participation coordinator to help the district councils. Since the position was eliminated in 1994, the League said citizen participation has declined, and the city has done very little training for board members and employees of District Councils. The report suggests several areas in which training is needed, such as government regulations, outreach to involve diverse groups, fiscal management, fund-raising and evaluation of programs.
Nancy Homans of Mayor Coleman's office said the city should spend money to rehire a coordinator or do training through another means.