Somali Link Radio - Urban Farm, Not Toxic Harm!

Speaker 1 00:00:19 Um, Speaker 2 00:00:21 Oh, welcome back. This is Abdirizak B from Somali link radio at K F a I 90.3 F M. Today, the weather is getting way much better and, uh, cutting to NPR, whether our men, um, it's going to be nice next couple of weeks. So at least that's a break from the winter. Um, today we had, um, very bad insi, uh, accident, but luckily nobody was hurt right here, close to the studio. Um, a U F M bus crushed into one of our neighborhood businesses, the Acadian, uh, all the way inside. Luckily nobody got hurt, uh, including the driver and passengers and, um, you know, participants, uh, everybody's fine. And the building did not collapse and the people are working on it. So in case you're planning to come to the radio or parked somewhere by the bank or see the Riverside be mindful of that cross section happening right now. Speaker 2 00:01:32 Um, it's still, today's the eighth day for Minneapolis teachers on a strike. And as me as a parent, not the radio as a parent, uh, of, uh, students that that goes to south high and the public schools, I support the teachers. And, uh, we, as the parents, a lot of students I talked to in my community and many other communities are really supporting the teachers because we need to fight inflation. We need to, um, uh, help them raise their money in order to be able to have the resources they need. Uh, uh, smaller classrooms are really important for young people, especially in the community, people of color to really get the attention of the teacher and as well as mental health or this couple of years or three years of COVID-19 mental health on the, um, on our children, young people all over the country is really rising. Speaker 2 00:02:33 So those three demands are really important for all of us, for families, for the future of the country. Um, we are really lucky behind it to compete in the, in the, in the developed world and because of our education system, we're not spending enough on our teachers and our classrooms. And most of all, our future leaders today, we have a wonderful guests. Um, Dean and Joe are not new to the radio. And, um, as you know, Phillips neighborhood east Phillips neighborhood has been fighting. Um, our leaders, our community members on organize the slide, Joe and Dean I've been fighting years, uh, the city to really curb pollution that are scenic pollution that really causes a lot of, uh, health issues. Um, us mom, uh, four times rate the rate of the state in Phillips neighbor, east Phillips neighborhood. So recently we've got a good news because thanks to the supporters, the environmental justice workers and that the leaders of this community, um, the city council, again, voted on this time in favor of the community of east Phillips. And the issue is the roof, uh, depo, uh, LAN that has been at the issue where the city wanted to do a water facility that they already have and a duck that neighborhood, certain bottle, that neighbor is called triangle or scenic triangle, uh, Dean and Joe will, uh, uh, talk about this and educate us about the struggle for this community and the impact of the health of this community and what they have done and what they want us to do to support our communities, to stand with our communities, Joe and Dean. Welcome. Thank Speaker 3 00:04:32 You for having us. Thank you. Speaker 2 00:04:33 First of all, um, I'm sure there are a lot of audiences that are new to this program or to, to the issue. And, um, could you please tell us over a few of the neighborhood, what kind of neighborhood is east Phillips? Speaker 3 00:04:48 Tell you I have honors here. Aren't me too. Speaker 4 00:04:51 I can give it a crack. Um, and again, thank you so much for having us again, uh, the makeup of, you know, east Phillips or Phillips in general is, you know, it's quite frankly, it's one of the diverse neighborhoods in the entire state. Um, the cultural groups that make up this neighborhood are predominantly Latin next east African, uh, native American African-American. And, um, you know, so you're looking at a very, you know, diverse crowd there and, you know, adding to those demographics, it's also, you know, very, very poor area with the average median household income, um, being 32,000 with that dropping significantly significantly to 12,000 a year annually, uh, for little earth residents, which also resides in east Phillips in that, uh, quote-unquote arsenic triangle, uh, that you referenced earlier, um, you know, for the past eight years, this community has been fighting with the city of Minneapolis over the, you know, the future of the historic roof Depot building. Speaker 4 00:05:53 Um, and you know, it's a stark contrast between, you know, the dreams of the community versus, you know, the ambitions of a, of a city, a city of Minneapolis that, you know, claims to have, you know, green aspirations and, you know, protecting, um, certain communities, uh, quite Frank and quite frankly, communities like east Phillips, because it does reside in a place, um, that is designated as a green zone, which is a, a city policy, uh, that, you know, demands that the city recognizes, um, that this land, uh, receive, you know, large sums of a transportation investment, green energy investment, um, particularly particularly in infrastructure, um, because this is a industrial area that has been polluted historically. Um, and it has a sister green zone in on the north side. Um, and you know, these green zones were passed, um, in the, you know, 20 sixteens. Speaker 4 00:06:56 And, you know, unfortunately the city also voted, you know, after its acquisition of the roof Depot building to, you know, expand its Hiawatha, you know, public works facility there in what is called the Hiawatha, um, expansion project, which would, you know, how's the city, the entire city's, you know, truck fleet, uh, pipes, um, and equipment. And, um, into this area that is, you know, logistically speaking very, very convenient, you know, for public workers, um, and, you know, to cut down on diesel costs because of it, you know, Hiawatha is right there next to Hiawatha. And so it could get to, and from any part of the city relatively fast. So, you know, that pothole, you guys might have outside the city workers will be there in no time, um, and using less, uh, gas and fuel, especially in this economy that is looking really good. Speaker 4 00:07:55 Um, unfortunately that is consolidating all of this pollution that comes from the, these heavy trucks coming in and from east Phillips already, as you referenced before on an area that has terrible air four times the asthma rates in cancer rates than any other part of Minneapolis, I mean, it's absurd. And there's a reason why this place is, you know, designated as a green zone. And unfortunately the city sees convenience and profit over the lives of quite frankly, poor by pocket people as you know, rationale enough to move forward with this terrible project. So the community rightfully so has been fighting for eight years and we're not done fighting. Um, and as you mentioned, we had a victory last week, last Thursday, to be specific eight to five in favor of, you know, a new direction for roof Depot. Um, the staff, the resolution that was passed essentially allowed, um, for formal proposals to be submitted for the roof Depot building. Speaker 4 00:08:56 So that means something different can happen here. It doesn't just say, Hey, east Phillips is the only one that gets a shot east Phillips does get, get its fair shot because, and it deserves its fair shot because in the eight years, this was the first time, you know, we were allowed, uh, such an honor. Um, and it's something we take seriously. Um, and so, you know, with that, you know, come Friday afternoon, that resolution was vetoed by mayor fry. Um, and it's considered, you know, a technicality veto, um, because there's language such as, you know, there's, he doesn't like that formal proposal wasn't, you know, defined. So what exactly means a formal proposal at the end of, you know, the timeline, um, and which is something we do welcome, but it's language that is quite frankly, it's just unnecessary language such as, you know, not only is the community meant to come up with a project proposal, which we have, um, but also the $14 million to recoup the city's, uh, money that it's spent on this project thus far, um, which is also fine. Speaker 4 00:10:07 Uh, but there's also the point in the mayor's veto for the community to also be in charge of finding a alternative location for the city's project, which quite frankly, is not our job. The city pays urban planners and transportation planners, hundreds of thousands of dollars every year to do this job. And you know, this project, you know, we've always said it can go anywhere else in Minneapolis, but it doesn't mean we're the ones that needs to tell the city where exactly it needs to go. The city has its resources to do that. And we also welcome the city's resources to help us with this formal proposal. Because again, this is a community led project and you know, to this day we have fought hard for the money we've raised. We fought hard for the plans we've been able to develop, but we recognize that this project, like we need all our neighbors support. We will need, you know, all forms of local government to support this community, to realize this project. And we welcome, you know, city council members, the mayor's office and the mayor staff to help us along this journey because we want to move forward eight years as long enough. And we're ready to prove to Minneapolis that we do have something special. And we welcome everybody at the table. Speaker 2 00:11:21 Um, how about your Dean? Speaker 3 00:11:25 So I'll first of all, Joe, first of all, let me, um, uh, and again, thank you for having us speak about the Minneapolis teachers. Uh, the union was kind enough Tulsa speak before the rally. They had downtown last week that astronaut Joe organized and they had thousands there. And we presented this project to the male plus teachers. They support us and full cheered and even chanted with me, you know, urban farm, not toxic Carm, urban farm, that talks about how powerful. So they were very much aligned with us and we cannot thank them enough for their support, but we're aligned with them. We're doing this because of the youth cause a future Minneapolis cause what's needed is what's necessary. Community control, community ownership, all those aspects. So first I want to make that shout out to the Minneapolis teachers for supporting us and thank them for their effort because we can help each other and really create a future for Minneapolis as outlined. Speaker 3 00:12:30 The project is about the community and sound about me. It's not about Joel. No. I got to give Joe a lot of credit for making us go so far because of basis. His project is going to be community owned. The idea is that the residents of east Phillips has a chance to own the real estate. Think of the green bay Packers, which everyone knows is community owned. Thank God. There's a good team. So people feel proud of the ownership, same idea here. We want people feel proud of this ownership. What does that give? It allows people. It allows Phillips the residency owners to start developing intergenerational wealth because our whole country tax laws and wealth is built on real estate ownership. As you know, and what that allows is the depreciation, which allowed to take the appreciation that could occur with it. That starts building ability of people to build their own wealth and have their control of their future. Speaker 3 00:13:31 And that's a big deal. What we hope to do with this project is not just paint the community's vision, which is most priority, but start changing how development is done in Minneapolis. The historical model has been, you hire a Mortenson or a Ryan to do the or United properties to build the project. And the residents gets to comment on whether they have day lilies or sunflowers, and that sort of been the limit of their experience, but it never really partake or learn of the real estate process or have that ownership. We want to use these Phillips urban farm as a blueprint to influence lake a Nicholas, the Kmart site influence upper Harbor influence her excite. So we have community-based development, community ownership, which really starts to change a mindset and provide a lot more opportunity for many more residents of Minneapolis to participate in the process. Speaker 3 00:14:35 So instead of just being a renter or just being a visitor to the project or a shopper, you have a chance to actually be an owner. And that really changes the outlook of where this community could go. So this is a very significant move. And as Joe mentioned at council vote to eat to five is the beginning of that process. And the beginning of that motions occur. The other thing is unique of was project. It was really generated by three major cultural communities, the native American community and Cassie's involvement. The saffron community has been a crucial, this and elf Tina's community have three cultural diverse communities come together to shape this project. So one was an adventure on the outside. There wasn't an invention from the majority of population. It was invention within those communities that stated this and the alignment of opportunities of urban agriculture, aquaculture, business ownership, bike shops, Camille kitchen, all these aspects. Speaker 3 00:15:34 So we came to lane, our interview came out of their mind and now it's time to express out the old overlay. They may have the opportunity to actually own the facility. Now I have something really powerful that will last for decades as opposed to our terms. So again, we can't thank you for having us because this is a story that really needs to be telled told it really needs to be told over again. And our hope is that we start out as a community. We start to teach Minneapolis the right way of doing development. Much like the teachers are trying to teach me how to serve right way of doing education, same belief, same theory of using the minds and genius of the community. Speaker 2 00:16:17 Thank you. This is really very amazing project. Um, but what the city wants is true. Another build a new, highly needed, um, water facility, but it, they already have a water facility somewhere else. They just want to bring it over here. What's going to happen. Why don't they let that facility still stay there and let the community do urban farm business, their trainings, their, um, community gatherings, whatever we need. Speaker 3 00:16:53 So first, so clarification, the city does not want to create a water facility. They have that already in Fridley. This is not a water facility. And some of the formal, far more council members made that claim a Flint, Michigan. It has nothing to do with the processing of water. So I want to clarify that this is a storage yard for diesel trucks. It is a maintenance shower. That's what they are proposing for the neighborhood, which is a facility that can go in many different locations, geographically. It was here because the neighbors probably the least ability because of the nature of the demographics show reviewed to defend itself. So as dabs are you type on viral racism, easiest spot to place. So for facility and the reason original reason it has given us formal council members, why they want to move it to the east Phillips neighborhood is they wanted to free up the land where the existing facilities for economic development, because it was much more prime site in Northeast Minneapolis. And so the idea of move the noxious use to Phillips, we redeveloped the other site, everyone's happy except the Phillips residents and that. So Speaker 2 00:18:10 What's the plan to redevelop the other side housing. Speaker 3 00:18:14 Yes, that was the sell to private development and let them create a mixed use project out of it that was underlined to free up that real estate because it's near the university near, uh, Northeast Minneapolis. It's a much what they consider a favorable Speaker 2 00:18:31 And Dean and Joe. So it's moving all the pollution to a neighborhood. That's primarily people of color that has a triangle triangle, which has please tell me other ballooning things that that's already happening there. Speaker 4 00:18:51 Well, you know, it's, it's called the arsenic triangle because it was at bituminous roadways Speaker 3 00:18:58 As Smith Foundry, bituminous roadways, or the existing companies. And our select triangle is because department of agriculture, stockpiled arsenic during, in a grasshopper invasion, uh, during the great drought and the stuff blew all over creation, existing pollution and historic pollution, sorry. Joko had no, Speaker 4 00:19:21 No worries. And so when that blew over, um, it was, it was, uh, kind of tombed underneath roof Depot. And, you know, since then it's kind of remained. Um, and it wasn't until the 1990s, when, you know, you know, the Minnesota department of pollution control actually, you know, tested the soil and realized that the pollute, the art lead levels were extremely high at lethal amounts. And, you know, the cleanup required would require, you know, federal help. And that's what came. And that's where it was deemed a Superfund site, um, from the early two thousands all the way up until it was revoked of its status back in 2018, um, which conveniently was when the city council voted to move forward with its expansion project. Um, but today outside of, you know, the historical pollution that we just referenced, but Smith Foundry still exists that exhausts, um, you know, high levels of pollution and it's able to do so because it's been grandfathered in meaning it's an old industrial, um, jobs provider that has existed long before maybe city law might've changed, uh, um, you know, lower the pollution amounts that is allowed in the air, um, uh, kind of like, uh, Northern metals. Speaker 2 00:20:53 Yup. Yup. Speaker 4 00:20:54 And, you know, then you have Hiawatha avenue. Yep. And then Cedar avenue, that is one of the most used roads in Minneapolis receives over a thousand cars a day. Um, all of this cuts right through the heart of east Phillips. Um, so you can imagine, you know, the air levels every day, but then you acute, you also add in the factor of climate change last summer, nobody could go outside because of the fires. You know, it was toxic to be outside. That's what east Phillips is like every day. Wow. Except, you know, the choking doesn't happen right away. It happens over time, you know, our, our comrade, uh, Cassandra homes, you know, and many others, um, they either have children or themselves who weren't born, or there was never any examples of, you know, uh, hereditary, you know, uh, you know, passing of any type of physical, um, you know, w would you call it like, uh, and I'm blanking on it at the moment. I apologize, but just, you know, the development of abnormalities, you know, you know, Sandra's son, you know, had an enlarged heart and that was something he was not born with. It was something developed because of his zip code, because he lived in east Phillips. And this is extremely common. You know, I had a friend, you know, who healthy man, you know, in his early or in his mid thirties had a heart attack Speaker 4 00:22:27 And the air is literally killing our people. But as Dean referenced before, uh, it it's a silent cry that goes on deaf ears of the city, um, because convenience or profits over the lives of poor people, poor BiPAP people and predominantly indigenous folks. So it's, you know, a form of genocide it's modern day genocide done through, you know, Neo liberal politics that, you know, quite frankly is exactly why the community is up in arms and will never stop fighting for a different plan for this building. Speaker 2 00:23:06 Thank you. I know when we're going to pause for hearing a nice message, but after we come back, uh, I would love to ask you, um, today we have the highest number of people of color at the city hall and city hall. Speaker 1 00:23:37 Oh, Speaker 2 00:23:44 Wait, come. This is Abdirizak B from Somali link radio at the K F a I 90.3 F M K F a I radio is 24 7 different cultures, different languages, all kinds of music, 24 7. And the best of all, you can listen to KFI from any point in this [email protected] today, my guests are leaders, grassroots leaders, um, of east Phillips neighborhood who has been fighting for over eight years to stop more blue ocean already over polluted community, that people are dying off and people having cancer and asthma four times more than any other place in Minneapolis, at least. And that right now the city is forcing more pollution on them. And, uh, because of their struggle, finally, they track eight to five vote from city council that gives them a little breathing opportunity to really achieve the dream of this community. And finally, right after that vote, our mayor, mayor Frey, Jacob, uh, has threatened a vetoed, uh, and he did vetoed, um, by using a different kind of language. Speaker 2 00:25:12 That's difficult for the community to process. So I'm talking to Joe and Dean who are representing east Phillips neighborhood Institute and the roof, our Depot. Um, first of all, before I go to my question of city council, changing colors for the first time, more people of color are elected into the civic council that, um, today that we thought we are going to address a lot of issues and I'm glad they come, uh, majority of them supported the project. Um, so how do you feel as a zone, a neighborhood that has been declared green zone? And when you hear east Phillips neighborhood is a green zone, you expect drive by or walk by a park, more trees, children playing outside, people, being healthy, everybody else coming, you know, loving to live in that neighborhood or visit, or have relatives there, but it's such it acid, our scenic triangle. It has Foundry and more pollution. And now the city wants to bring more maintenance and about 500 trucks to this community, small community. What do you think the hope is our, that our beautiful, colorful civic council? What is the hope for you and Dean and the other leaders? Speaker 5 00:26:42 Well, Speaker 4 00:26:43 I always say reconciliation is meaningless in a system where profits hold more sanctity over the lives of our BiPAP people. Um, you know, I don't representation alone is meaningless. Um, we need action, but I will acknowledge that the strong mayor system makes it incredibly difficult as we're seeing with this vote, uh, to get anything done, eight to five should be able to move council that is over half council approving and voting alongside, um, a resolution, a direction. And that should be enough. However, mayor reviews any and all resolutions and can veto veto them. And so, as, as much as I respect, um, council members, it's, it comes back to, you know, I don't mean to sound so jaded, but you know, it comes back to get the work done, but I will provide, you know, that understanding that it is very difficult to maneuver right now because of the strong mayor system. Um, Speaker 3 00:27:45 And I want to call out one thing, uh, in relation to your question of people cover the council. That has been good, but since I have the power of the mic here in the party radio station, I want to call up Jamelle Osman. He is voted no consistently as his project from the start and has never given a good drama. Third reason why he claims there wasn't enough east African can involvement yet. That's one of the major forces that are driving this project. So Jamelle or here, we're calling on you. Why no support, why they continue no support. You've seen what's happening. You've seen the support of these SAF community they've called you. And I asked them to continue to call you to support this project, because this is really for the saffron community. Along with the other cultural communities, I lift the Latinex and the native American. So listeners, please ask them why not support this project? You're a position of power. This is a responsibility you have to your community. Speaker 2 00:28:51 Thank you. It's, it's, it's a very ironic to have a Somali American, um, being elected in ward six and, uh, not supporting the east African community, the indigenous people, uh, the native American community, the Latin X community, the immigrant community that he promised that he's from to support on work. And, um, I believe their, uh, the livelihood. Um, but what's so ironic. Is I still, what does it mean to declare a zone or a neighborhood at green zone? Then ironically put more pollution into that area by the same city of Minneapolis, Speaker 3 00:29:42 It's an, a joke coined the term. And I, I, it's a benevolent colonialism. What it means is, well, give them the green zone. Yep. We'll do what we need to do regardless of that designation. So you think about it. They, they create a green zone. They create a green zone committee. They created groups around it, studies conversations and so forth, designated south side greens on and our north side green zone with all the policies based around a green future. Yet the same console says, we know better for you. You need to get a water yard. We'll give you a 50 union jobs, be happy yet. And base of that violates every green zone concept. There is a Regan and more traffic, a lot of asphalt diesel trucks, so forth opposite of green future opposite of green opportunity and really limits a neighborhood. Cause here's the comparison under the plan we talked about this project could bring to these Phillip's neighborhood, $600 million over 10 years of economic development between salaries, businesses operate could be up to a thousand jobs. Speaker 3 00:30:58 Wow. As it gets developed, the water service yard. And that's what it is. That's a service yard, not processing the water, not making clean water, nothing to do with it may generate 50 new jobs in Nat set for, for ever no new businesses created no new jobs occurring, no ownership by the community, no additional business created by people working within and moving to the neighborhood. That's last forever can never get it back. And that's why this is so crucial that fold determined that future for the neighborhood. That's how big this is. This is a watershed moment. Do you continue in what you have and continue to Jerry? Or do you create an opportunity for the people and citizens of east Phillips? That's why this is so crucial. And if this works, as we talked, Joe and I talked about before, it can work in a lot of other neighborhoods. So that's what, why it's so pivotal about what's occurring right now? Speaker 2 00:31:57 Yeah, it's really like, I can't process the thought that we are designating certain communities, a green zone by the city of Minneapolis and then the same city of Minneapolis once to do more pollution and build more maintenance and have 500 cars, trucks, um, a community that's dying, uh, suffering cancer and asthma four times than any other community. Do you think Joe, this could have happened if this committee was not that diverse, if there were no indigenous people in this community, if there were no east Africans living there, do you think the city itself or any leader would allow that to happen? Speaker 4 00:32:53 And I don't want it to seem like we're just bashing on Jamal, um, or kinds of Osman, um, because this is a responsibility of all the council members given the vote and th their votes impact people's lives. And, you know, if east Phillips was a majority white neighborhood, absolutely it would not happen without a doubt, but we have to understand where are the white communities, mostly S uh, centralized in Minneapolis, it's around water, which is where indigenous folks in BiPAP folks have been predominantly pushed out of because they've been priced out or through redlining completely kicked out physically. And so it's, it's hard for me to re imagine a different scenario where, oh, if this was a white neighborhood, this wouldn't be happening because a white neighborhood would not exist in east Phillips because of the way it was designed. You know, I say for a long time, east Phillips has been the toxic dumping ground by design for the city. Speaker 4 00:33:57 You know, it was never meant to be, it's always been a area for, uh, undocumented folks and for poor BiPAP folks, you know, and, you know, majority of these BiPAP folks are not even honed on Omar owners, the renters. So it means those, these homes were rented, bought out and then rent it out for this purpose. And so, as Dean mentioned before to undo, that is going to require, you know, a different plan, which is what we're offering. This is not going to solve everything. We understand that, but it's a step in the right direction. Um, and there's so much more to do. Um, but you know, just to bring it back home, you know, it's on all council members, no matter if they're from Southwest or from, you know, they're the ninth war council member, they have a responsibility to these green zones because we have to be seeing them or viewing them as sacred, because these are folks that the city has historically harmed. They have used taxpayer dollars to hurt people and continue to hurt people to this state that should alarm all Minneapolis. And, you know, we urge you to join us in this fight and urge you to keep falling behind because he tells it how it is. Speaker 2 00:35:17 Thank you. And, uh, after we hear this message, I would love to ask Dean and Joe about the plan of the city includes, um, to implement that plan from the city. It includes construction, of course. And if that are seen as a construction that are scenic toxic will blow over, and it will not only blow in Eastern Phillips. As I heard from residents, concerned residents in Seward and also in St. Paul. So we'll talk about that when we come back Speaker 3 00:36:15 Thank you. Speaker 2 00:36:16 Welcome back. This is from Somali link [email protected] today. My guest again is, um, Dean and Joe, who are two of the, um, uh, members of the leaders and organizers of the east Phillips neighborhood, um, urban farm. Uh, and that is a spot you might pass by every day. That's the roof depo on Hiawatha on 28th. If you ever, if you don't know, you will never understand, but if you listen to this program and get involved and you just take one walk on 28th, you will definitely smell the Foundry, all the pollution that's happening right there. Imagine living there and guess what happens to those folks, folks of people of color, native American, you know, um, Latin X communities, east African communities, uh, is very diverse, just a lot of fun, senior cushion community. There, people live there and that's home. And that's where people are getting asthma four times than anywhere else in the city concept. Speaker 2 00:37:34 The same thing. So Joe and Dean, the city's plan, of course, you have an amazing plant. You want to do urban farm. You want to do use every possible of dreams of these communities, whether it's a trade, creating jobs, mentoring young people into farming, into other trades, uh, businesses, uh, spaces for elders communities, um, real community spot, uh, and it's huge, but the city wants to build a maintenance, um, but their water facility, and I have four, 500 trucks there and those small streets every day. But if they have to do that, they have to do a cross structure. And in that construction, what happens? Speaker 3 00:38:23 So here's, what's tough about this. The community pays twice once during construction and then for the rest of it's history, due to the operations that are being located there. So not just a single hit, it's a double hit. So the key this, the city service chart, their proposal talks about 300,000 square feet of buildings shed asphalt. So it's a large intensive operation. This is not like a parking lot with a few cars in the corner, a couple of trucks. This is a major century consolidated service yard, serving all Minneapolis within the neighborhood in order to build that they have to demolish a building and tear up the soil below it because they have to put in their footings foundations, utilities, train systems, all those components. When they do that, they release the RS thing. Right now, they are six seal below the roof Depot building, which is 230,000 square feet. Speaker 3 00:39:25 So it's a large facility in its own and then below the parking lot. So all that is disturbed during construction, which for projects as size would probably take two years. So it'd be two years of the dust, which will contain our snake the best that's matures within the building, the trucks hauling it out, the graders, moving to style, raising a dust, and all those aspects will re be basically recreating our spec flume that originated from the great depression, uh, when the, uh, major role of grasshoppers outside that occurred. So they get, we get to live through that then for the main meal, all that operations is now housed there. So imagine all the truck moments, all the activity, all the DAS, all the diesel, all the effects. So you've created a one-time major pollution event. And then you've created an ongoing pollution event that goes many years. Speaker 3 00:40:27 So this is a longterm impact, this and that just cycle few. So I have the chooses as fresh and all is happy. No is survived the two years of construction and he got all the benefits of it's no different than creating a freeway. You had all the disruption or freeway have turned down. The house has all the ranch, and they ended up inheriting a hundred thousand dollars, a hundred thousand cars per day, if for the rest of your life, same situation. That's why this is so grievous to the neighborhood and what we're working very hard to change the future on this project. Yeah, Speaker 2 00:41:01 Joel, a lot of people in Seward and also simple are saying if the construction takes place, um, they're afraid that our scenic desks will fly into their homes all the way to St. Paul through Seward isn't Devin important for them to get involved too. And not only say it's, um, east Phillips issue, isn't, it's too insidious issue now, Speaker 4 00:41:29 Right? It's a twin cities problem at that point. And absolutely, you know, as I said before, as you know, residents of Minneapolis, along with council members, you know, your vote and your action matters, and you should be appalled that our taxpayer dollars are being used for this, um, to harm communities and to further harm other communities. Um, and you know, just kind of circling, you know, back to Jamal Ozmen, you know, with sewer, you know, with folks, you know, from there, reach out to him, tell him you absolutely do not need this. You do not want this, um, in your backyards because let me tell you, I grew up with, you know, my backyard being dug up and having, you know, because when the, our snake, you know, plumed over, um, all those years in generations, it landed on nearly 400 to 500 homes, which, you know, the city or the federal government had to go to each home and dig out their soil while a lot of people were growing food. A lot of, you know, undocumented folks, folks who were, you know, just now coming to the United States, my family in particular being of Mexican descent, um, you know, they grow their food in Mexico, but they come here and they're like, we can do the same. Yeah. But little did they know, you know, uh, their soil was Speaker 2 00:42:55 Toxic. Speaker 4 00:42:56 Wow. You know, fortunately my mother who was native American was able to read English because the city late, late in the game, you know, sent, you know, little tiny postcard, everybody, Hey, don't do that. Don't grow food in your soil. But a lot of people in the neighborhood is, you know, we've discussed English. Isn't their first language, if it is at all. And you know, a lot of families were harmed and we're starting to see the ramifications of that, which are the asthma rates, which is the defects that we see later in people's lives, um, with the enlarged hearts and, you know, the heart attacks where, you know, people are perfectly fine, but it's just the years of cumulated pollution. That is the potential future that is being offered to not just the people of Minneapolis, but our St. Paul folks. And I think, you know, everybody should be absolutely offended and outraged that, you know, Minneapolis is willing to roll the dice on that for, you know, their constituents and our neighbors. When, you know, as you said, this is a green zone. Well, if it's not a green zone, get rid of the policy and stop pretending like you care about people's lives both here and in St. Paul Speaker 2 00:44:01 Could the syllabi sewage in case the mayor continues to veto, uh, because calling it up on the books, a green zone, then not only repairing the past damages and removing current, um, blueberries, they're dumping more. Is there a legal issue here in the future? Speaker 3 00:44:24 Actually, there's a legal issue present. Um, and I have to give credit to these Phillips community. They've raised a half a million dollars own money. Some from the state legislature allow their own sources. And beyond fizzy saw the plate of what was going on. We have sued the city because there was an EDW that was done that was insufficient, that didn't identify all those issues at Joe and I are speaking of, uh, and put that forth because it was such an injustice that, uh, lawyers and other legal professionals said, we'll support your effort for what's occurring, because this is a very blatant example of environmental racism. It's just textbook. They basically sat, and this needs to be stopped, especially in light of your question, it's a green zone. So then he started to take the contrast of designating near north side as the nearside green zone, and then turn around and create this element just really sets up a dichotomy that just can't be left and can't just be ignored. Speaker 3 00:45:34 So yeah, there is a legal issue currently, and the community will continue to fight until this is solved and done profit. Cause we've, if we get it right here, we'll get it right in every other Minneapolis neighborhood and around the nation, because this has term be viewed, not from within Minneapolis, but I'm getting a lot of calls for the Kohl's. A lot other players seen what's going on here. And it may, because of tragedy enjoyed Florida merge our Floyd, that a lot of light and a lot of tension in Minneapolis and the justice issues are very paramount. And this is one of them. Speaker 2 00:46:08 Yeah. I also read that beyond the city council vote, which was really great step. After eight years of hard work, you have done, uh, you and your community of leadership. Um, also state and federal leaders, elected officials are supporting the community, uh, Senator, uh, fatty supporting. I heard Hodan Hassan representative, state, Minnesota state representative for them. Hassan is supporting this community to have our urban farm and this land to stay in the community. And also I heard, um, Congresswoman Ilhan, Omar is supporting to, Speaker 4 00:46:50 It has wide range of support, um, at all forms of government, even, you know, you've missed, uh, Angela Connolly, just shout out to Angela Connolly's Speaker 2 00:47:00 County commissioner. That's my commissioner. Yeah. Speaker 4 00:47:03 Just shout out to her amazing person, um, living true to our word and a fighter, but, you know, I think people get hung up on the word urban farm as if that's the only thing that has projects is offering, which that is false. Um, that is a big component because as we talked about the elders and the youth were at the forefront, um, in the planning of this project, which is, you know, providing, you know, educational opportunity, but more importantly, getting indigenous youth reincorporated with the land, again, getting their hands in the dirt, but like clean, healthy soil, you know, doing, starting that at little earth with its own urban farm project. And then moving forward as they're getting older and, you know, advancing the techniques at their arsenal. But as you mentioned before, there's a cultural market, you know, to fuel that entrepreneurial, innovative spirit that we do have in east Phillips, but there's just, no, uh, there's no Mo like there's no space for it. Speaker 4 00:48:06 And more importantly, they're being priced out because renting space on top of rent, you know, housing rent is extremely unaffordable. Um, you know, add that with, you know, the cultural classrooms for educational purposes, the world cafe, you know, to invite top chefs and, you know, you know, coffee shop, bike shop, you know, and we have our own training facility, you know, which is in the works with particular unions that we can't name drop at the moment because we're waiting for, you know, confirmations, um, from their teams. But you know, where we can, in-house incubation for our future union workers, starting from a young age where union is in their ear, where it's not this thing that you just hear about when people are on strike. No, it's, you know, which totaled solidarity with our teachers, but it's something that grew up hearing that this is normal, and this is something that should exist all the time. And that's why we have all of this support from all levels of government, because we are much more than an urban farm. Speaker 2 00:49:08 Exactly. The S you're, right. People just hear the urban farm. Um, but the, how many acres, Speaker 3 00:49:17 Seven Speaker 2 00:49:18 Acres, seven acres, it's huge. And it's a really space for everything that this community was promised, jobs, trainings, um, that a life of quality, better quality of life. Um, um, um, it, it, it's really ironic again, that our city keep talking about addressing health inequities and the people of color and the same city is actually polluting more and forcing and coming against the people who have spoken for this center. Isn't that ironic? Speaker 4 00:49:58 Well, they always said opportunity and benefits for, but for who Speaker 3 00:50:02 The word, the proper word is painful. If it was ironic, that's a theoretical discussion. It's really painful because it's actually costing peoples lives. People's sales people future. So it's not just a theory, it's a reality. And the fact that they're enhancing this negative rally and further is, uh, sort of unimaginable and, you know, credit a Jason who led the charge on this and gave actually a very impassioned speech to open this up, which is on his way. He put it on his Twitter feed. We can't think of enough for picking up the flag and really mobilizing us. So Jason and always standing. And thank you. Speaker 2 00:50:46 Well, Travis, I know him city council, man, uh, Jason Chavez of what nine. I know him very well passionate, um, experience, uh, connected with the community, knows really what the issues are and dares to stand up and address it. And I really, we thank him for taking the leadership here with other suburb, uh, seven city council. And we are hoping for the rest of the city council to really do what they promise it, that they will stand up for the health and the, the life of the community. People are dying. Parents are losing children. Um, you know, my daughter used to have Aspen when they were kids and I understand the pain getting up three in the morning and standing, you know, in the emergency room somewhere and imagine people doing that almost every other night, their lives. And I think it's a moral issue here at stake. Well, last few minutes. And I would like you to share how people would get involved. And are there any conditions that they have to live in the neighborhood? Do they have to be that or this, please explain, Speaker 4 00:51:57 No, you don't have to live in the neighborhood to, you know, provide solidarity. Um, right now we're requesting a meeting with the mayor. Um, we, as in the east village neighborhood Institute, along with our, you know, local community leaders and elders to sit down and have a conversation with mayor fry and, you know, negotiate these conditions, disease put forth, you know, some of them we can understand because we need some legally, a binding language to what composes a formal proposal we understand, but there are just some things we believe are outrageous and not our responsibility and all such as I referenced earlier, the relocation of the city's project. And so we urge people to contact mayor fry along with their council member to contact mayor fry, you know, and ask them to meet with acne with the east Phillips or with the Phillips neighborhood, because we're United on this one. Um, and if folks want to, you know, learn more or reach, reach out to, you know, the leaders fighting in this, because it's not just Dean and I, there's a team behind this. You could follow us on socials at east Phillips, urban farm or east Phillips neighborhood institute.org, or acne [email protected]. Speaker 2 00:53:11 Dan, last one minute. Speaker 3 00:53:13 Okay. Talk really fast. Speaker 2 00:53:16 Well, two minutes over, sorry. Speaker 3 00:53:18 Yeah. So here's, what's important. And credits of the council, the mayor was never really engaged with us through our whole fight. He was distant. I'll just leave it at that. When we got the eight to five volt, he showed up with a vital, not exactly the best welcome Cardi could receive, but at least he engaged. Now we need him to support. We got to go from Cipla engagement to support, meaning, meet with us, hear us. We're not against the city. We're not against public work. We're not against unions. That's the image that's been paid painted. We're actually supportive of the city process and support of that. And that's how I want to work with the integrated training. So we're willing to work with them to see how it can make this work with the city, given the needs and Sufis as they need and quality of offices, those components. So don't look at us as the enemy. Don't look at us as the opposing force. Look at us as a community, a community that has a common vision that can really make your administration more successful, mayor fry, and make the city more successful. So please join us. Please meet with us so we can plan in unison on this. Speaker 2 00:54:36 Thank you. And how, tell us your website Speaker 4 00:54:40 East Phillips neighborhood institute.work. Speaker 2 00:54:44 So one more time. Speaker 4 00:54:45 East Phillips neighborhood institute.org. Speaker 2 00:54:48 Thank you. And that was the leaders who have been working less over eight years to really stop in east Phillips neighborhood. Thank you. Speaker 3 00:54:58 Thank you so much for taking time to hear us.