The Fifth District Report

Fields: Ellison Ignores North Minneapolis

The Fifth District Republican challenger argues that last May's tornado highlighted Ellison's ineffectiveness.

Chris Fields, the Fifth District Republican challenger to incumbent Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), took to the Star Tribune opinion section to criticize Ellison's focus on North Minneapolis. In the commentary piece, posted Sunday, Fields argues that Ellison has continually ignored the area, especially in the aftermath of last May's tornado: A continual lack of focus by U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, a Democrat representing the Fifth District, led to a failure in making the case for the North Side in Washington. Who else is there to make the case? Instead, Ellison focuses on issues in the Middle East concerning Palestinians, Syrians and Egyptians. They are not the 99 percent of constituents, are they? Fields says there were issues in the area before …

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Fridley Farmers Markets Wouldn't Include Front Yard Stands

Proposed ordinance change would still prohibit most marketing of food products in residential areas.

Farmers markets could pop up almost anywhere in Fridley under a proposed ordinance change that gets its first reading at Monday's city council meeting. The exception: most properties in residential area couldn't host markets. Farmers markets would be allowed at properties under every other type of zoning, from commercial to heavy industrial. The sale of garden products in residential areas "could cause disruption and alter the characteristics of the residential neighborhoods, by bringing increased traffic, congestion and parking problems," according to the city attorney. So the proposed ordinance change would only allow farmers markets if the residentially zoned property holds an institution, such as a church, school or clinic.  In the …

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John Anderson

10:27 am on Monday, May 21, 2012

There is already a limit on the number of garage/yard sales people can have in Fridley. They don't need to enforce this in residential areas especially when they do, they are actively violating the Constitution of Minnesota. This is another example of the Council and City Staff looking for a way to be relevant by expanding government and thus providing themselves job security.   more ›

ENCORE: Ron Paul MN GOP Speech Is Something to Tell Kids about, Says Fridley GOP Leader

Ron Paul speaks to Minnesota Republican Party convention in St. Cloud Friday.

UPDATED: How Do You LIke Fridley's City Plaza Park?

Minneapolis' Peavey Plaza controversy puts spotlight on modern concrete parks.

Updated below. A simmering controversy over plans to demolish and re-build Peavey Plaza in downtown Minneapolis hit the New York Times Thursday and is drawing attention to concrete-and-water city parks—like Fridley's City Plaza Park. City Plaza Park (next to Fridley City Hall) and Peavey Plaza (next to Orchestra Hall) are similar in several ways. Both use concrete steps to go vertical—the Minneapolis park dips below street level while the Fridley park goes up. And the original water features at both have seen better days—in Minneapolis, the problem is pump failures; in Fridley, budget constraints have kept City Plaza Park dry. What do you think of City Plaza Park? Have you been there when water flowed? Have you spent time there lately? …

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Chris Steller

4:23 pm on Friday, May 18, 2012

... and this year 49er Days is at Moon Plaza, LJ! Thanks for your perspective of 10 years. I agree Fridley has a lot of parks, from tiny to big. There's a park system map at this city web page that shows them all: http://ci.fridley.mn.us/parks-trails   more ›

From Fridley High to MN Capitol to Mpls. City Hall: Aasen Is New City Coordinator

Paul Aasen was Minnesota Pollution Control Agency commissioner under Gov. Dayton.

Paul Aasen, who once roamed the hallways of Fridley High School as a student, is now roaming the marble corridors of Minneapolis City Hall in his new position as city coordinator. “I’m excited about working for a world class city with a world class future,” Aasen said in a statement. 'Very Lucky' Aasen was sworn in Tuesday, after the Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously May 11 to approve his appointment by Mayor R.T. Rybak. “We are very lucky to have someone with Paul Aasen’s extensive experience in this important role,” said City Council President Barb Johnson, also in a statement. Aasen resigned as commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to take the Minneapolis city coordinator job. Gov. Dayton appointed Aasen to the…

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(UPDATED) Ron Paul's MN Convention Speech Drawing 5th District Interest

Local Republicans readying for Paul's appearance Friday.

See updates below. Ron Paul is set to speak at the Minnesota Republican convention Friday, and party activists in the Fifth District are preparing for a possible Paul win—with one local activist saying "I get the feeling I'm witnessing history." Paul is poised to make a strong showing in Minnesota after congressional-district conventions gave him 20 of 24 available national delegates. The Texas congressman was denied a speaking slot at the 2008 state convention, but has proven a popular candidate and speaker here since—turning fans away, for example, from an over-capacity speech in Arden Hills shortly before Minnesota's 2012 caucus night. On Monday, Paul announced his campaign would stop spending money in states that haven't yet held …

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