Tonight / Mill City Times Endorses 4 Candidates for the Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Election on October 21

What: Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association (DMNA) Election & Annual Meeting

Where: The Depot, 225 3^rd Ave S

When: Tuesday, October 21, 6:30PM

Early Bird Voting: 6:00PM-7:00PM

From redevelopment of the area surrounding the new Vikings Stadium, to the creation of a new Central Riverfront Master Plan, the complete makeover of Nicollet Mall, and the threat of hydropower drying up St. Anthony Falls, the next few years will reshape Downtown Minneapolis for decades to come.

Last year saw 4 new members join the DMNA Board, and they’ve made great strides revitalizing the organization.  Our endorsed candidates - 2 who would be new & 2 existing members - will complete the transformation and build on the momentum gained over the past 12 months. 

A seat on the DMNA Board should not be viewed as a career enhancing networking tool or a resume builder.  It is an opportunity to roll up your sleeves and serve the community. These four Downtown residents & business owners, all extraordinarily engaged at the neighborhood level, will serve the Downtown neighborhoods well:

- Nick Cichowicz is the current Board Chair on the DMNA and has served on the board for two years. His professional background includes experience in both the corporate and nonprofit spheres.  He is currently the Executive Director of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry and previously worked at Target and at the Community Action Partnership of Suburban Hennepin in community outreach roles. In his most recent professional positions he has prepared grant proposals and funding requests while also implementing community outreach strategic plans targeting public, private and nonprofit organizations.

Nick has lived in Minneapolis since 2008 and has a passion for the city.  His focus on the DMNA Board has been on making Downtown MPLS vibrant, safe and livable. In the next two years Nick’s goal is for the DMNA to become, “with the help and input of residents, businesses and visitors alike” a key contributor to the strengthening of both Downtown East and Downtown West.

- Ken Searl is a businessman, entrepreneur and community leader.  He grew his first company from one office and $500,000 in sales to a 20-office, $35 million business, and most recently founded a start-up software company that attracted strong interest and support from venture capitalists. He has a long history of serving on both industry and nonprofit boards of directors.

Ken lives in Minneapolis and organized the Safety and Prevention Group of 15 condominiums in the riverfront as part of the Mill District Neighborhood Association. He devotes considerable time to volunteer work in the city, including working with grade school children at Ascension school and serving on the board of Mill City Commons.

- Carletta Sweet is a homeowner at RiverWest Condominiums in the Downtown West neighborhood of Minneapolis and an editor for a small business consultancy also located in the Downtown West neighborhood.

Carletta promotes public and private sector collaborative relationships that foster affordable housing, business development, and cultural as well as educational opportunities for the residents, businesses, employees and visitors to downtown Minneapolis.  To accomplish these goals she has been instrumental in forging relationships between DMNA and:  Aeon on whose board she served as chair; the East Downtown Council on whose board she currently serves as vice president; 2020 Partners as the DMNA representative; the Minneapolis Riverfront Partnership on whose board she currently serves as secretary/treasurer; and the Above the Falls Citizen Advisory Committee on whose board she currently serves as the downtown neighborhood representative.

Carletta joined the DMNA to assist in making the downtown neighborhood attractive, safe, economically viable, and a great place to live, work, play and visit, similar to what she experienced during the renaissance in the late 1980s and early 1990s in the South Loop (Burnham Park Neighborhood) downtown community of Chicago, Illinois. Carletta has been a DMNA board member since 1998 and brings a rich historical perspective of the issues that impact the community.

- David Tinjum grew up in North Minneapolis and now lives in the Mill District.  Seeing a need for better communication and community action among Mill District residents, he founded and publishes the Mill City Times website and weekly newsletter, which has mobilized the Mill District residents on important civic issues, such as the proposed Crown Hydro project.  He is Chair of the Mill District Neighborhood Association, he is a member of the Central Riverfront Regional Park Master Planning Citizens Advisory Committee, and he served as Campaign Chair for Jacob Frey’s successful run for the Minneapolis City Council.

David is also a businessman and community activist who would bring enormous energy and passion to the DMNA board. He is a self-made CEO, who started a software company at his kitchen table and grew it into a company with annual revenue of $9 million, employing 75 software engineers.

David will use his experience with Mill City Times and the Mill District Neighborhood Association to build real community engagement Downtown, so that everyone who lives or works Downtown has a seat at the table on the issues and projects that will shape our neighborhood for decades to come.

Call to action - we need your votes. There are four seats up for election to the DMNA Board of Directors. This means if you live or work in the Downtown East/Mill District or Downtown West neighborhoods you have 4 votes, one for each seat.

Make Sure We Have a Seat at the Table.  From redevelopment of the area surrounding the new Vikings Stadium, to the creation of a new Central Riverfront Master Plan, and the infill development already planned, you can ensure our neighborhoods have a seat at the table.  Make note of their names – Nick, Ken, Carletta & David – and use all four votes!