DeLaSalle: A Backroom Deal?
The controversy over DeLaSalle's efforts to claim MPRB parkland has been brewing for several months. It is an issue with implications far greater than just Nicollet Island.
It is another example of how certain Minneapolis Park Board commissioners conduct Park Board business -- making major Park Board decisions too quickly, without sufficient information, without sufficient deliberation, without pubic knowledge and without relevant public input. It is a defective way to run a park system that encompasses 6,400 acres of land and is the largest landowner in Minneapolis.
Important matters like the DeLaSalle issue need thoughtful and thorough consideration by the Park Board, the affected neighborhood and the public before being placed on a Park Board agenda for approval. Yet, prior to any thoughtful and thorough consideration, approval for the DeLaSalle agreement was put on the Park Board's June 1 Planning Committee meeting's agenda.
Fortunately, minority Commissioners Annie Young and John Erwin pointed out that is would be premature and inappropriate to vote on the DeLaSalle agreement without first reviewing additional information. They were successful in postponing the issue.