Our Environment, Our Future

Air quality, ground water, noise and light pollution all have an impact on Third Ward residents. As redevelopment occurs, we have an opportunity to remediate pollution problems, reduce use of landfills, and improve our environment by thoughtful planning, listening to community voices, and implementing green technologies.

Adopting the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards for certification, as a matter of policy for publicly funded projects and encouraging all developments in the City to reach toward the Gold certification of the LEED certification has and will continue to provide the stimulus for wider adoption of environmentally green practices all of our future developments.

In order to raise awareness of opportunities to promote sustainable green practices in construction, in the workplace, and in our neighborhoods, I have accomplished the following:

Before and during construction of the 35W Bridge I worked with the Minneapolis public works department, MnDOT staff, 35W Bridge Project Manager Jon Chicaglo, the Marcy Holmes Neighborhood, and other agencies to ensure that the footprint during construction of the Bridge had minimal impact on the river and the surrounding ecology. Figg Construction Company and Linda Figg, the President of Figg Construction worked with us to achieve the results that we are able to see today. During the construction, of one of the most visible tragedies in the world, we were able to minimize and mitigate the effects on our precious environment, the riverfront, and our community from the potential harmful effects of air, water, pollutants, and noise, with minimal impact on the river ecology.

As Co-Chair of the new Minneapolis Central Library Building Committee, a safe and healthy environment was critical to the construction for workers at the site, and the employees in the building and our visitors. The construction of the building resulted in a 100% percent safety record that resulted in the insurance company returning to the City of Minneapolis $750,000. The building includes three green roofs on the new library, which reduce water run off into the Mississippi River and reuses the rainwater for the outdoor trees and for reuse in the building.

I take seriously our responsibility for the health and quality of our environment, and have a long and committed record of support and action to improve the quality of our environment. I will continue to take a leadership role in promoting LEED certification, and other Green standards and other environmentally friendly policies in all of the projects in our ward and our city.