Some still wary of Blue Line anti-displacement measures

By H. Jiahong Pan Contributing Writer

he committee that oversees construction of the Blue Line light rail extension through the Northside and the northern suburbs voted unanimously on June 8, to adopt recommendations from a University of Minnesota report to curb displacement resulting from construction.

The recommendations, authored by the University of Minnesota Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) and released in early May, call for strengthening tenant power, ensuring diverse Northside communities get priority consideration in building the extension, request that government agencies develop an intentional policy of disposing of surplus land instead of selling it to the highest bidder, as well as incentivizing first-time homebuyers.

In 2021, Metropolitan Council and Hennepin County plan- ners and engineers decided to build the light rail line extension through North Minneapolis on the way to Robbinsdale, Crystal and Brooklyn Park after they were unable to successfully negotiate right-of-way with Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF). Initially, planners wanted BNSF to share its railroad with Metro Transit’s light-rail

■ See BLUE LINE on page 5 ing and Murdered African American Women and Girls along with a $1.24 annual budget to assist with cases, and the Juneteenth state holiday.

“We have a legislature that looks more and more like Minnesota,” said Flanagan, of the legislative diversity in St. Paul. “So many of us have been working on this together,” she said of legislative bills that restored voting rights for former felons, suspended gun permits for people experiencing a mental health crisis, abortion rights protections, a “trans refuge” law that protects transgender children who travel to Minnesota for medical care, and other bills that some are collectively calling the ‘Minnesota Miracle 2.0’ for its progressiveness.

Nearly a month after the 2023 legislative session concluded, and with new laws now in place, the lieutenant governor emphasized that after the victory lap much work is still needed. “We absolutely have got to get it right,” especially for communities of color, she noted. “There is a tremendous amount of work that our state agencies have to do. In some cases, they have to hire a lot of new staff to implement the things that we just passed.

“We also have to make sure that we are communicating with community so they know what’s coming. They have to know how to access some of these resources. It’s a big task.

“We can now take the work that we’re doing in Minnesota and to continue to make progress,” said Flanagan. “I think so much of what we got done this session has been long overdue, and now we need to think about how do we maintain those wins but also look forward to the future.”

Charles Hallman welcomes reader responses to challman@spokesmanrecorder.com.