PL PACKET 06161992 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

1 Council Meeting 2 May 26, 1992 3 Page 3 4 5 6 Councilmember Fleming 7 8 The Councilmember reported responding with a letter of protest 9 to the negative article carried by the St. Anthony Bulletin on 10 the D.A.R.E. program which the City has supported and 11 encouraged. When Police Chief Engstrom called her attention 12 to a Wall Street Journal article which also raised questions 13 about the program. Councilmember Fleming said she had written 14 a note to Sgt . McGanley who is in charge of the Minneapolis 15 D.A.R.E. program requesting that he let the City know if there 16 are problems other communities are experiencing of which St . 17 Anthony might not be aware. She also told the Mayor she is 18 trying to find out who wrote the Bulletin story to identify 19 the source of that information. 20 21 Councilmember Fleming had her notes on the conferences she had 22 attended the previous week duplicated for the other 23 Councilmembers. She had attended a conference on "Hate . 24 Discrimination . Bigotry . Racism . Crime - Right here in the 25 Suburbs" held May 18 . in the Minnetonka Radisson. The program 26 addressed diversity of race, income, and family structure 27 which call for communities making long term commitments to 28 change to meet the challenges of having populations projected 29 to reach a 45% mix of minority and ethnic by 2080. 30 Cooperation of business communities, especially Chambers of 31 Commerce will be essential, according to the various speakers 32 at the conference and the Councilmember said .it was also 33 considered necessary for cities to have Active Human Rights 34 Commissions. The roles neighborhood Crime Watch programs can 35 play was also underscored. The Mayor recalled that the City 36 Council had been forced to undertake the responsibilities of 37 the City' s Human Relations Commission after such commissions 38 in the past had failed to function. 39 40 Councilmember Fleming also summarized her notes on the 41 Community Leadership Forum on Family Violence sponsored by the 42 Ramsey County Communities at the Earle Brown Center May 21 . 43 She said she thought this conference especially was worth the 44 time and money spent on it and indicated she was surprised to 45 see hundreds in attendance. The conference called for 46 cooperation between communities in the effort to stem the tide 47 of family violence. The Councilmember noted that District 48 #282 Superintendent of Schools had already received 49 instructions on setting up a Non-Violence Program in the 50 school district. Councilmember Fleming reported being 51 particularly edified to hear almost every speaker acknowledge 52 that the problem would never he solved without God ' s help.