Government

Families begin moving into first new public housing in Mpls since 2010

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN-RECORDER — Families began moving in at the beginning of March and MPHA anticipates full occupancy by the end of the month.

Published

7 years ago

March 18, 2019

Oakland Post

By MSR News Online

The Minneapolis Public Housing Authority (MPHA) has opened the city’s first new public housing since 2010 to 16 area families experiencing homelessness. The Minnehaha Townhomes are owned and managed by MPHA and families come as referrals from the Hennepin County shelter system. Families began moving in at the beginning of March and MPHA anticipates full occupancy by the end of the month.

The four buildings revitalize a long-vacant site in the East Nokomis neighborhood, donated by the City of Minneapolis. The townhomes include four two-bedroom and 12 three-bedroom units reserved for families below 30 percent of area median income.

At a cost of approximately $5 million, the Minnehaha Townhomes represent the financial contributions of MPHA, Minnesota Housing, the City of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, the Met Council, Federal Home Loan Bank, and Otto Bremer Trust.

“These 16 new units are opening as we embark on our long-term plan to preserve and expand MPHA’s housing across the city,” said MPHA Executive Director Greg Russ. “They also show the level of quality, sustainability, and household amenities we can provide to families when we construct modern public housing.”

Hennepin County’s Coordinated Entry process is designed to ensure that individuals and families with the highest vulnerability, service needs, and length of homelessness receive top priority in housing placement. The townhomes are helping to fill a gap in the process, as 70 percent of families who are eligible for Coordinated Entry are waiting for permanent supportive housing — sometimes spending up to a year in the shelter system.

“This is really a dream project for us as far as needs go,” said Hennepin County Housing Referral Coordinator Sarah Hunt. “For the families that we have been able to refer, it directly correlates with a population that we were unable to send to other housing. The unique nature of these affordable units paired with services is exactly what has been identified as an ongoing need.”

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The families who live at the Minnehaha Townhomes receive services from the county and several rapid rehousing providers, offering intensive case management up-front to help families get oriented to the area, assistance with basic housing needs, referrals for ongoing needs, and more.

“The families who have been identified have not had any other options and for them it’s a big boost,” said Hennepin County Shelter Team Supervisor Pat Hartnagel. “It’s amazing to see the things they’ve worked through and accomplished, purely because of the hope to have this housing.”

The wider impact of this housing is being felt for the Hennepin County team already. “It’s one thing to have 16 units open up and allow stability for families to have a place to call home, but it’s also directly opening up spaces in emergency shelter for other families in crisis,” said Hunt.

The site on Riverview Road in South Minneapolis includes a playground, ample green space, and community patio. The townhomes are located on the Green Line light rail between two major job centers—Downtown Minneapolis and Bloomington/MOA/MSP. They are walking distance to the VA Medical Center and Minnehaha Regional Park.

Learn more at https://MPHAOnline.org/Minnehaha-Townhomes

—Information provided by the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority

This article originally appeared in the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.

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Four Candidates, Including Incumbent Barbara Lee, Qualify for Oakland Mayor’s Race

POST NEWS GROUP — Four candidates, including incumbent Mayor Barbara Lee, filed their papers to run for office by last Friday’s deadline, and the City Clerk issued a list this week of those who are qualified to run.

Published

1 hour ago

August 15, 2026

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View of downtown Oakland, California and City Hall. iStock photo.

By Post Staff

The four mayoral candidates who will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot are:

Brenda Grisham. A business owner in East Oakland and public safety advocate, Grisham led the successful recall campaign against Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price. As part of her platform, she pledges to work with local, state, and federal partners to secure stricter gun control measures and investments in community violence intervention programs.

Barbara Lee. A former congressional representative and state Assembly member, Lee was elected by voters in a special election last year for a two-year term. Now running for a four-year term, she points out that her administration achieved major successes in addressing some of the city’s major challenges, including balancing the city budget, dramatically reducing crime, and making significant inroads into homelessness and illegal dumping.

Mindy Pechenuk. An educator and activist, Pechenuk is a registered Republican and supporter of Lyndon LaRouche, who has been described by observers as a conspiracy theorist and cult leader. She ran unsuccessfully for mayor in last year’s special election and for the at-large council seat in 2024. She seeks to end Oakland’s police commission and MACRO and invest in more police while launching a new local war on drugs.

Julius Robinson. While little information is available so far about Robinson, he was quoted in a KTVU story about Thao’s recall, stating that people in Oakland want to come together as a community but lack infrastructure and leadership.

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of August 12 – 18, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of August 12 – 18, 2026

Published

4 hours ago

August 15, 2026

Oakland Post

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Commentary

COMMENTARY: Why Local School Tax Measure G1 Will Not Be on the November Ballot

POST NEWS GROUP — Measure G1 is the local tax measure that supports middle school teacher retention and the expansion of arts, music, and world language programs at both OUSD middle schools and charter middle schools. The current measure expires in 2029.

Published

4 hours ago

August 15, 2026

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By Jennifer Brouhard, Oakland School Board President

There has been considerable speculation recently about why Measure G1 will not appear on the November ballot and what that means for the Oakland Unified School District’s current budget.

I want to provide some clarity about what happened and, importantly, what did not happen.

Measure G1 is the local tax measure that supports middle school teacher retention and the expansion of arts, music, and world language programs at both OUSD middle schools and charter middle schools. The current measure expires in 2029.

Because these funds are important to our schools and to the continuity of these programs, the district initially intended to place a renewal initiative on the November ballot to provide greater early certainty about funding beyond the expiration of the current measure.

As part of that process, the Board scheduled a special meeting for the required public hearing on the ballot initiative. There has been some suggestion that this meeting was noticed only one day in advance. That is not accurate.

Public hearings of this nature are subject to specific notice requirements, and the meeting must be noticed at least two weeks before the hearing. In practice, the notice may appear even earlier depending on publication schedules. The notice for the Measure G1 public hearing was published in the Tribune on 7/24/2026 and 7/31/2026.

So, why wasn’t the Measure G1 paperwork ultimately filed?

After the Board approved placing the measure on the ballot, the next step required the Alameda County Superintendent of Schools to sign the necessary paperwork before it could be submitted to the Oakland City Clerk.

During that process, Alameda County Superintendent Alysse Castro raised concerns about potential litigation stemming from another court case unrelated to OUSD and about whether proceeding with the measure could expose the district or County to legal challenges. Superintendent Castro’s action is unprecedented and concerning.

It is important to distinguish between the Board’s decision to pursue Measure G1 and the subsequent procedural and legal issues that arose. The Board did approve moving forward with the measure. The measure did not fail because the Board chose not to support it, nor was the public hearing improperly noticed.

The decision not to proceed with the November ballot was made in light of the County’s concerns about potential litigation and the County’s required approval process.

We also need to be clear about what this does, and does not, mean for OUSD’s current budget. The existing Measure G1 funds remain available through the expiration of the current measure in 2029. The immediate issue is the longer-term continuity of funding beyond that date, not the elimination of these resources from the current year’s budget.

Our responsibility as a Board is to protect the educational programs and services our students depend on while ensuring that our decisions comply with the law and protect the district from unnecessary legal and financial risk.

We will continue working to understand the County’s concerns, explore our options, and advocate for the resources our students deserve. Our middle school students, teachers, and school communities deserve stability, and continued investment in arts, music, world languages, and teacher retention—and that work remains a priority for Oakland Unified.

Jennifer Brouhard is a retired OUSD educator and is the current OUSD School Board President representing District 2.