3. I have learned through friends, supporters and neighbors, and of course
through my experience running for this position that past and current MPRB
commissioners are using their reach in the form of PACās, inserts, mailers,
email lists and forums like this to try to influence campaigns and races
throughout the city. For fairness sake, I thought it only right that I provide
something like a counter point here as well.
Scott Vreeland has insisted on bringing negativity to this campaign, one in
which he has very visibly chosen to support my opponent, Abdi Gurhan Mohamed.
Who he supports is not the issue, and he of course has the right to endorse and
speak on his candidateās behalf. What is suspect is how he has used his time,
influence and platform as a public official try to detract from my character
and to paint me as badly intentioned and without experience. I think this is
unfortunate, inaccurate and petty, and below how a current MPRB Commissioner
should be behaving.
I have run only on positivity, highlighting the things I have done in my
community to make Phillips and Minneapolis a better place, and good ideas for
how we can make our parks more equitable and accessible places. I got involved
as a youth coordinator at Franklin Library, and was an active member of Youth
In Government as a teen because I care about my community and was excited by
the political process. My intentions for being an active and engaged member of
my community today should also not be brought into question. I feel that if you
need to disparage another, as opposed to speaking on what you can offer, then
you donāt have a lot to bring to the discussion. If Abdi is the right candidate
for the district, then let his record, experience, ideas and hard work speak
for themselves. It shouldnāt need to come funneled through a current
commissionerās microphone with a vendetta. Please find attached a screen grab
from a campaign email sent to people who have supported Commissioner Vreeland
in previous elections.
āTake his seatā. It is subtle, but this mentality is problematic. Democracy
does not allow for passing of power. That is opposite to democracy. Supporting
a candidate is one thing, but refusing to stay impartial to the point of
slandering another, especially in a privileged position as a public official,
and stumping for support while also asking people to suspend critical thinking,
looks more like other forms of government, ones that we are unfortunately
sliding toward in our current federal political environment
I have one request for you, Commissioner Vreeland: let the people of District 3
decide for themselves who they want to elect to the Park Board on November 7th.
Cut out the negativity, and quit trying to divide us as communities before we
cast our ballots. Once again, I will speak to what I know best: how hard I have
worked, my record of engagement in the community and my ideas for the District
3
As neighborhood Chair of Ventura Village, I have worked closely with the Park
Board, School Board and with State Officials Like Rep. Karen Clark to bring
resources back to my community. The Phillips Community Aquatic Center is
something I am very proud to say I had a part in bringing home, an
unprecedented resource for the Phillips Community that will enrich the lives of
residents here. (Please find attached a photo of me speaking at the ground
breaking for this project). As Chair of the Somali Caucus in the DFL, I have
worked to enfranchise people in my community to help create an informed and
engaged electorate. As an organizer with āOpen Streetsā, I know what our
communities can look like when we come together around a cause and use our
urban spaces with imagination. As an immigrant and a refugee, I have valued the
ability to grow in a society that promotes hard work and opportunity
simultaneously. As a candidate for Park Board, I know we are missing out on
opportunities to enrich residents lives with strong youth development,
recreational programming for young and old alike, and educational partnerships
with our school board around community agriculture and public health.
The goal of Minneapolis parks and the Park Board is to enrich the lives of
residents. The job of the MPRB should be to always improve on how this promise
is delivered. It should also engage in the community in a visible, open and
democratic way, and playing dirty politics, creating PACs to influence voters,
and slandering hardworking members of the community on community forums should
not be MPRB priorities. This is the kind of paradigm we are trying to get away
from by electing new, young and diverse candidates, those who have strong
records of community involvement and actual ideas on how we can make our parks
and communities more engaging, inclusive and accessible places.
Stop the division, Scott, because that is too easy. Letās get down to the hard
stuff and find imaginative ways to speak truth to power at all levels of
politics, the Park Board included. I hope you will join me.
Sincerely,
AK Hassan
Chair, Ventura Village Neighborhood Association
Chair, DFL Somali Caucus