Pivotal Park Board Race Determines Future of Minneapolis Parks

Submitted by Jean Deatrick, Editor, Hill & Lake Press

We have seen dramatic change in Minneapolis over the past four years since our last municipal election in 2017. This is especially true in our beloved park system, which has experienced unprecedented challenges due to increased recreational demand as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Park Board’s permitted use of housing encampments in public parks in 2020, and a surge in crime in many parks and throughout the city, which is especially challenging for Park Board police after current Park Board Commissioners temporarily severed ties with the Minneapolis Police Department for park events as political statement in the aftermath of George Floyd.

Despite these challenges, the Park Board is claiming to make progress on issues affecting Minneapolis such as racial equity and climate. Prior to the current administration, Superintendent Jayne Miller was the first to launch a nationally acclaimed Racial Equity Matrix in the Park Board’s planning and policy making decisions. In 2016, Park Board and the City of Minneapolis approved ordinances to reverse years of underfunding in neighborhood parks. The 20-Year Neighborhood Park Plan (NPP20) is a long-term initiative that will protect current levels of MPRB funding and dedicate an additional $11 million annually, through 2036, in NPP20 funds for increased maintenance, rehabilitation and capital investments in neighborhood parks. The allocation of NPP20 funds is specifically tasked with using a data-driven, criteria-based system to help address racial and economic equity. Now the current Park Board is furthering these efforts with a “Parks for All” initiative to make their own mark. In an age when many politicians are vying to signal their commitment to pursuing issues of the day, what tangible policies can be implemented to create more equitable parks? What types of park uses should be permitted in public parks? How should the Park Board live up to its own mission and charter? What are its core competencies and what should be left to other agencies? What is political theater versus sound governance?

Elizabeth ShafferThe League of Women Voters Minneapolis presented some of these questions to District 4 candidates Jono Cowgill, the current incumbent Commissioner and Park Board President, and Elizabeth Shaffer, a community volunteer and teacher who decided to run after leading an effort to “Save the Seven Pools” in Thomas Lowry Park, which successfully reopened last month. Responses to the questionnaire can be read in full at https://lwvmpls.org. The attempt here is to bring much needed attention to the fact Mr. Cowgill and Ms. Shaffer are two very different candidates who will likely play a pivotal role in future of Minneapolis Parks, as District 4 has historically played a leading role on the Park Board. The comments are based on the League of Women Voter’s questionnaire and recent candidate interviews.

Jono CowgillMr. Cowgill, a self-described progressive, would like an opportunity to continue his initiatives over the past four years including prioritizing an additional $2.6M tax levy to support youth initiatives and promoting climate friendly policies and programs. An early supporter of encampments who later changed his position on the issue, Mr. Cowgill has been critical of the police, even State Troopers using Park Board bathroom facilities. In a recent interview Mr. Cowgill condemned the Seven Pools renovation effort as elitist, a community-driven grassroots public-private partnership in his own district that raised $650,000 in private funds to restore the historic fountain prior to its 100th birthday. He is leery of public-private partnerships bringing disproportional influence to parks, even if they bring outside funding streams and community volunteers and energy. It appears as if Mr. Cowgill is more committed to his ideological positions than to his constituents’ desires. It should be noted that Mr. Cowgill was hired for public engagement after his election by SRF Consulting, the consultant to the Park Board on their Southwest Service Area Master Plan and Bryn Mawr Meadows Park Improvements, both located in his district.

Ms. Shaffer, in contrast, describes herself as a nonpartisan pragmatist and would like to see the Park Board operate according to its mission and bylaws, not politics. Ms. Shaffer is keen on promoting equity through initiatives such as improving park maintenance throughout the park system, creating safer parks by investing in Park Police and Street Reach initiatives, building community around local parks through supporting “friends” groups, and making all decisions focused on data and the core competencies and mission of the Park Board, which includes equity at its core. When asked about the Seven Pools, she replied that the Seven Pools brought a community together during a tumultuous time and that it should be celebrated, not scorned, especially by its representative on the Park Board who failed to attend its opening after being invited. She supports establishing more public-private partnerships through friends’ groups to further leverage fiscal and volunteer resources so that tax dollars can stretch further into supporting communities where it’s needed most. In her advertising, Ms. Shaffer commits to actively listen to her constituents and represent their voices.  She finds the current Park Board’s “growing political posturing alarming, which distracts from its charter and good governance” and she has volunteered all of her time on park initiatives to date.

Who do you think will be a better leader for our parks? Please remember to vote on November 2 at your local polling precinct. You can get more information at www.vote.minneapolismn.gov.

The Hill & Lake Press has published for the East Isles, Lowry Hill, Kenwood, Cedar Isles Dean neighborhoods of Minneapolis since 1976.