Star Tribune
Minnesota housing finance agency is making racial segregation worse, Black organization claims
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A Black civil rights organization claims that a state affordable housing finance agency is worsening racial segregation — and that the group’s concerns about it are not addressed in an upcoming report to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission.
The Rev. Alfred Babington-Johnson, CEO of Minneapolis-based Stairstep Foundation, which works with more than 100 Black churches, delivered testimony to the commission’s Minnesota Advisory Committee saying that the housing agency has not encouraged or allocated subsidized housing appropriately.
The testimony came a year after he sued Minnesota Housing, the state agency, alleging it was preventing adequate construction of subsidized housing in affluent, predominantly white areas. As a result, the suit says, many low-income, nonwhite residents are barred from accessing economic and educational opportunities in those places. The suit also named the Metropolitan Council as a defendant.
“Contrary to their mandate, these entities have not encouraged or allocated subsidized housing development appropriately, and as a consequence, they have become complicit in advancing racial segregation and causing economic disadvantage to vulnerable segments of our society, particularly the Black community,” Babington-Johnson testified.
But mention of the Ramsey County suit and the issues it raised were struck from a draft of an upcoming report to the Civil Rights Commission.
Advisory committee chair Beth Commers told the Star Tribune that the panel started trying to conduct an analysis of Minnesota Housing’s strategic plan. But after listening to testimony from many people on housing issues that went beyond that agency, the panel broadened the report’s scope to address civil rights themes in housing affordability and equitable access to housing in Minnesota. Commers noted that one issue they heard, for example, was insufficient money for the repair and upkeep of affordable units.
The panel removed mention of Babington-Johnson’s lawsuit in a draft because “it didn’t fit, and … we didn’t want to take a position on a case that’s in front of the court,” Commers said. Some of Babington-Johnson’s remarks remain.
Commers said the committee’s final report of recommendations on affordable housing in Minnesota will be published in about two weeks. One top recommendation is state legislation setting zoning requirements for municipalities across Minnesota to allow for more diverse affordable housing stock – for example, six- to eight-unit buildings, instead of mostly single-family homes.
“Otherwise, communities get to choose … what kind of housing to allow and what kind of housing to not allow,” Commers said.
Committee Member William Stancil was the sole panelist opposing the changes, questioning why they had repeatedly invited Babington-Johnson to testify and then removed mention of the suit. He voiced concern that the report was siding with industry groups that oppose the ideas Babington-Johnson put forth.
One such group called Equity in Place, for example, told the committee that it sees the “areas of opportunity” framework — the crux of Babington-Johnson’s lawsuit and testimony — as a dated one that might appear to serve the interests of people of color, the working class and low-wealth renters but is leading to a pattern of reducing affordable housing investment in communities that are mostly people of color. Equity in Place, a coalition of organizations led by people of color and housing advocacy groups, argued that this policy is often used against communities of color trying to fight against pressures of gentrification and displacement.
Minnesota Housing funds more subsidized units in the Twin Cities than any other entity and allocates Low-Income Housing Tax Credits.
In its lawsuit, Stairstep Foundation said 35% of the region’s subsidized affordable housing is located in “racially concentrated areas of poverty,” and only 1.3% of such housing is located in “racially concentrated areas of affluence.” In census tracts greater than 30% nonwhite in Minneapolis and St. Paul, there is approximately one subsidized housing unit for every four nonsubsidized units, according to the suit. But in tracts less than 30% nonwhite, there is about one subsidized housing unit for every 24 nonsubsidized ones.
Minnesota Housing and the Met Council denied the lawsuit allegations in court papers filed last month, though the former admitted that the region’s housing is racially segregated by some metrics.
During testimony, Minnesota Housing Commissioner Jennifer Leimaile Ho objected to a statement in the report that most affordable housing in the state has been built in the urban core of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The report, she said, needs to make clear that Minnesota Housing is not “concentrating” or “clustering” affordable housing.
In the last several years, she said, 63% of the new rental units in the Twin Cities metro area that have been awarded funds through the agency’s Consolidate Request for Proposals have been in the suburbs while 37% have been in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Ho added the agency is actually funding housing in a wide range of communities.
Babington-Johnson and University of Minnesota Law School Professor Myron Orfield dispute those numbers. Orfield, who also testified before the committee, said the share of Minnesota Housing funding going to the suburbs is 41% over the last five years, though the suburbs are 75% of the metro area. Minneapolis and St. Paul have 60% of the units even though they have 25% of the population, he said.
Babington-Johnson wrote a letter to the committee in June raising objections that the advisory committee had “abruptly stripped” reference to the civil rights issues on which he had testified, but that it incorporated Ho’s statistics. He said the committee had fallen short of its obligation to fully incorporate all civil rights concerns.
John Powell, professor of African American Studies and Ethnic Studies at University of California at Berkeley, also wrote to the committee saying he strongly objected to striking references to the “opportunity neighborhood framework” that is embedded in America’s fair housing law — a central part of Babington-Johnson’s lawsuit. He said the suit against Minnesota Housing is one of the most important fair housing cases before the courts nationwide.
Star Tribune
Plans for an education district for the University of Minnesota, Rochester remain years out
In the meantime, the Rochester campus will continue using a leasing model that university officials say has served it well. It now has space in six buildings scattered around downtown Rochester, including a newly opened Student Life Center in the former DoubleTree Hotel that includes 400 beds along with a dining hall and fitness area.
Across the street, the university is working out plans to remodel its longtime home in the top two floors of the Galleria. It leases additional space in 318 Commons and the Discovery Square complex, where students take classes in a collaborative environment that also includes offices and lab space used by Mayo Clinic and other health companies.
“There are a lot of ways to have a campus,” said U President Rebecca Cunningham, a former emergency physician who took over the position in July. “One of the things that strikes me here is what an amazing place it is to be a student, nestled in the middle of this vibrant, innovative health care ecosystem. That’s a campus in and of itself.”
While growth in the built environment is part of the planning for the Rochester campus, so too is the need to drive innovation in academic programming. Two years ago, the school launched NXT GEN MED, an accelerated program that offers students the chance to get a health sciences degree in 2½ years while getting hands-on experience at Mayo Clinic.
The university has also received national attention for its commitment to equity. While two-thirds of the student body come from historically underrepresented populations — students of color, first-generation students and low-income students — university officials say there’s no statistical difference in student outcomes.
Lori Carrol, chancellor of the Rochester campus, said maintaining those outcomes is a crucial component to the university’s gradual growth.
Star Tribune
For some vendors, the Minnesota State Fair is also a family reunion
“It is not easy some days, but we know we are in it together and have each other’s back,” Helmer said. They’ve seen fryer fires and downpours of rain. Family members, from St. Paul and Brainerd and Otsego, all crammed into a camper van during the fair. But Helmer said they all support one another even in the occasional chaos.
“I’m so grateful to be a part of the fair,” she said. “It’s really a community; we’re all in this together.”
(Alex Kormann/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Sisters Sheryl McGuire, Leanne Mear and Tracey Donnelly have a strict family rule, according to Leanne: “No pregnancies, no weddings, no nothing during the fair.”
The sisters, who run the Danielson’s and Daughters Onion Rings trailer and Route 66 Roadhouse Chicken in the food building, are too busy for such celebratory distractions.
The family’s fair involvement started when their parents, Bill and MaryAnn J. Danielson of Maplewood, first opened a pizza booth at the fair in 1956, then the onion ring trailer in 1963. Eventually, Bill formally added his daughters to the sign and the business; all three have been working at the fair since they were about 9 years old.
They vote on everything, and each of them has her own role in the business. Tracey, of Woodbury, is the “cleaning lady,” and works the night shift after the fair has closed; Leanne, of Lake Elmo, is the problem solver and day-to-day management; and Sheryl, of Oakdale, is the accountant.
Star Tribune
What to look for when choosing a financial adviser to help manage your money
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Deciding how to convert a lifetime of accumulated savings into retirement income usually requires professional assistance.
Investment advice, like legal or tax advice, is highly specialized. Finding the right professional is critical. If you’ve accumulated some wealth, the number of people seeking to assist in the management of your wealth can be overwhelming. Everyone from your banker, insurance agent, stockbroker, mutual fund manager, lawyer and even your CPA wants to help. Here’s some advice on how to find the right financial adviser for you:
The ideal investment adviser possesses three characteristics: 1) attentive listener willing to learn the full picture of your personal circumstances; 2) trained/experienced expert on all relevant subject matter; and 3) ethical practitioner whose interests don’t conflict with yours and whose compensation properly reflects the time and wisdom provided.
The most reliable way of finding someone who meets the first characteristic is to ask people you trust who are working with an adviser they like for a referral. If you don’t have access to such referral sources, there’s always Google. Try searching for an investment adviser using search terms such as “local,” “experienced,” “flat fee” and “highly rated.”
Once you’ve acquired a handful of names, conduct a background check. The financial services industry is highly regulated with client-facing professionals who must have licenses, supervision and up-to-date knowledge of best practices. Any complaints reported against them are public record.
For financial advisers, FINRA’s BrokerCheck is a helpful resource for viewing advisers’ experience, licenses and any “disclosures” of complaints or legal actions. If the representative is an insurance agent, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and Consumer Information Source (CIS) serve as watchdogs where you can find information akin to what FINRA provides for advisers. Searching for an adviser’s name and firm online can also yield some other important and relevant biographical information.
When you have your list narrowed down, investigate the advisers’ pay. The bottom-line question is simple: Is the adviser’s compensation based on the investment decisions you make? In other words, do your investment decisions impact how much the adviser or their employer earns?
The financial services industry has long blurred the relationship between your investment decisions and how much your adviser makes from those decisions. In my experience, even when properly disclosed and highly regulated, such conflicts function like gravity. They’re an invisible force that pushes financial advisers to recommend certain products or programs that increase the adviser’s own compensation. In short, you should be aware of all potential conflicts of interest when selecting an adviser.