EMERGE corrects mistake – but only after it was brought to their attention. So much for knowing what you are doing.
North Minneapolis: A community that needs the immediate infusion of at least 30,000 jobs to build capacity, wealth and independence continues to suffer with a program that provided a position for 1 person, with 5 more that started training on Monday, December 8, 2009. Concerned community stakeholders need to take a look at other north Minneapolis agencies entrusted to bring jobs to our community. I attest this is not the first time this has happened – but a continuation of bad business practices and administrative bureaucracy.
Minneapolis, MN (IBNNNEWS)…Sources close to IBNN informed us of possible transgression as it pertains to the paying weatherization workers for a program within Emerge. Not only in this matter but other questions like: “Why did Emerge have job fair participants to fill out W-4 forms, with critical social security information – and no jobs available?
Does this denote an investigation?
We say yes.
IBNN sent an email titled, “Emerge was illegally paying weatherization workers less than prevailing wage” asking Emerge to clarify its process in this matter.
The following is the email response from executive director Mike Wynne:
Mr. Allen, Read more
Congressman Ellison – “Where are you?” National Urban League Writes National Leaders on Behalf of 27 Million Underemployed Americans!
Today at 11:35 a.m. on Facebook, the National Urban League delivered the following message:
The below letter outlining National Urban League’s plan for putting Americans back to work was sent to the following National Leaders:
Mr. Lawrence Summers, Director, National Economic Council
Honorable Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader, U.S. Senate
Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives
Honorable Barbara Lee, Chair, Congressional Black Caucus, U.S. House of Representatives
November 24, 2009
Dear National Leaders,
I am writing to you on behalf of the over 27 million underemployed Americans in desperate need of full-time employment. This includes not only the 
unemployed, but also the marginally attached and those working part-time for economic reasons, all of whom are struggling to make ends meet during these difficult economic times. As you are well aware, the news that in October, the national unemployment rate exceeded ten percent for the first time since the early 1980s was a sobering wake-up for the leadership of this country even to the point of soliciting a call for a Jobs Summit to be held after the Thanksgiving holiday. While I applaud the Administration for publicly acknowledging the gravity of our nation’s employment situation, I would add that double-digit unemployment has been a reality for communities of color since last summer –for African Americans since August, 2008 and for Latinos since February, 2009.
As President and CEO of the National Urban League, the nation’s oldest and largest community-based movement devoted to empowering African Americans to enter the economic and social mainstream, I have firsthand knowledge of the tremendous obstacles these families have been facing, not just since national unemployment reached 10.2% in October, but for over a year now. In fact, demand for workforce development, business development and housing counseling services through the Urban League’s more than 100 affiliates located in 35 cities and the District of Columbia increased by 74 percent between 2006 and 2008. Our local affiliates are on the front lines of this jobs crisis and witness the devastating impact it is having on the individuals and families that walk through their doors. In response, the National Urban League went on record last fall drawing attention to the deepening unemployment crisis in urban America and calling for a second stimulus plan that would invest directly in job creation and training for the very communities we interact with and serve every day.
It is now a year later, and I am again calling on our nation’s leaders to invest in a long overdue plan for putting urban America back to work that is targeted, temporary and timely. The National Urban League’s Plan for Putting Americans Back to Work meets these criteria. Targeted because it provides solutions for communities with the highest rates of unemployment and the long-term unemployed who often face the greatest barriers to getting a job the longer they are without one. Temporary in that the recommended investments require less than a three year commitment. Timely because the bulk of the plan involves direct job creation as a means of bringing recovery to those most in need more quickly.
Most economists agree that the pace of recovery will be slow. Yet, the individuals to which this plan is targeted are often the last to experience the effects of even a more rapid economic recovery. Therefore, the National Urban League’s Plan for Putting Americans Back to Work is a comprehensive six-point plan to make a direct investment of $168 billion over 2 years to address the most urgent needs of American families in economic crisis by investing in direct job creation, job training for the chronically unemployed, greater access to credit for small businesses and additional counseling relief for those caught in the backlog of the foreclosure process. The plan also proposes tax incentives for clean energy equipment manufacturers who employ individuals in the targeted communities. The plan proposes to do these things in the following ways:
1. Fund Direct Job Creation by offering financial support to cities, counties, states, universities, community colleges and non-profit community based organizations to hire the personnel necessary to provide critical services in communities across the nation. Eligibility for support will be based on local unemployment rates with a focus on the long-term unemployed. At least twice in American history, the government has responded to high rates of unemployment with investments in direct job creation – the 1935 Works Progress Administration, when nearly one-fourth of the labor force was out of work, and the Emergency Jobs and Unemployment Assistance Act of 1974, which established Title VI of CETA as a temporary countercyclical employment program at a time when unemployment was quickly approaching 9 percent. We propose an investment of $150 billion to create 3 million jobs, a number that represents only half of the current unemployed with a high school diploma or less.
2. Expand and Expedite the Small Business Administration’s Community Express Loan Program through a reduction of the interest rate to 1 percent targeted for those businesses located in areas where the local unemployment rate exceeds the state average. A ten-fold expansion of the program (from $1 billion to $10 billion) should make credit available to an additional 50,000 small businesses nationwide.
3. Create Green Empowerment Zones in areas where at least 50 percent of the population has an unemployment rate that is higher than the state average. Manufacturers of solar panels and wind turbines that open plants in high unemployment areas will, for a period of three years, be eligible for a zero federal income tax rate and a zero capital gains tax under the condition that they hire and retain, for a minimum of three years, at least half of their workforce from the local area.
4. Expand the Hiring of Housing Counselors Nationwide by investing $500 million to fund housing counseling agencies nationwide to help delinquent borrowers work with their loan servicers to secure more affordable mortgages. Over the past 18 months more than $400 million in federal funds have been invested by the Administration to help mitigate the mortgage crisis through housing counseling and, according to a recent report by the Urban Institute, borrowers facing foreclosure are 60% more likely to hold onto their homes if they receive counseling and receive loan modifications with average monthly payments $454 lower than those who did not see counselors.
5. Expand the Youth Summer Jobs Program for 2010 by investing $5-7 billion to employ 5 million teens. While the unemployment rate for African-American youth is over 40 percent, the employment population ratio makes clearer the desperate situation faced by many urban youth. Since the late 1990s, this number has declined from a high of 33 percent down to 15 percent, and labor force participation for this group is now at a record low of 26 percent. A critical factor in eliminating racial and socio-economic disparities in unemployment is providing a solid foundation upon which African American youth can build positive future labor market expectations and experiences.
6. Create 100 Urban Jobs Academies to Implement an Expansion of the Urban Youth Empowerment Program (UYEP) to employ and train the chronically unemployed. UYEP, a four year demonstration project created in partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor in 2004, is a youth career preparation initiative designed for at-risk, out-of-school, and adjudicated youth and young adults between the ages of 18 and 24. With 27 Urban League affiliate sites and a total of $29.3 million, the program served 3,900 youth, 65 percent of whom either had job placements (paying an average wage of $9.32/hour) or completed their high school diploma or GED. Two hundred participants were placed in postsecondary schools or college upon completion of their secondary education. Scaling this program up to 100 sites would more than triple the program at a cost of $108.5 million.
At a time of the year when we traditionally give thanks and prepare to share generously with those around us, the American people are both frustrated and disappointed. When the financial industry was hemorrhaging, there was great urgency in devising the TARP plan for its rescue. Despite the ambivalence of most Americans with regards to spending billions of dollars to bail out the very businesses they felt had previously taken advantage of them, they understood the need to take swift and deliberate action to avoid a major national, or even global, financial crisis. We ask that the same urgency be given to the people experiencing a personal financial crisis in cities throughout this country. Recognizing the tremendous amount of work that is required to implement a plan of this magnitude in the most efficient and beneficial manner, I make myself available to meet with you to discuss the ideas proposed herein.
Sincerely,
Marc H. Morial
President and Chief Executive Officer
National Urban League
Green Job Politricks to North Minneapolis…Return to Sender, Address Unknown
As reported by Insight News on Friday, June 5, 2009: Democratic Rep. Margaret Anderson Keliher, Speaker of the Minnesota House, praised the work of HIRE-MN, the expansive network of community service and environmental advocacy groups that succeeded in passing a bill directing $2.5 million for training and outreach for green jobs and infrastructure stimulus spending.
According to Alex Tittle, about 7,000 jobs in infrastructure repair and renovation will be created from federal stimulus spending in Minnesota. (Tittle is responsible for training programs at Summit Academy Opportunities Industrialization Centers-SAOIC and one of the partner stakeholders in HIRE MN).
…Fast forward to September 8, 2009. “Where are the 7,000 jobs related to the passing of the bill for $2.5 million?”
How about this, “Where is one job” created in North Minneapolis from the passing of this bill? Why are local north Minneapolis news outlets reporting a “win” when in fact the journey has just begun?
“Self-interest journalism” in north Minneapolis misleads the community into thinking that because it’s a front page story, it must be true. Example: Stories about the “great accomplishments” of the Minneapolis Urban League appearing in one particular north Minneapolis based newspaper, when the MUL is facing a possible scandal concerning the numbers of people it actually serves, compared to those it claims to serve. Is it possible that this newspaper is getting money from the MUL for advertising, and therefore has a vested interest in publishing “fluff” rather than “fact?” Would this not add to the already-corrupt practices in north Minneapolis’ Black community, where some “self-appointed” leaders have positioned themselves as gatekeepers for stimulus dollars, state construction contracts, politics, jobs and community interests – clearly working outside of their field of expertise.
Okay, back on point: Let’s take a closer look at why no jobs have been created in north Minneapolis since the passing of this bill.
Sources from the Minnesota Department of Commerce-Office of Energy Security say they are pushing for the $2.5 million to be routed through the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System (MSCU), which is comprised of 32 state-supported technical colleges, community colleges and state universities.
Students that receive training through MSCU are more likely to succeed in their careers than those who attend a non-accredited colligate institution. In some cases, students that are paying for Green Job Training could in fact receive the same training for free at technical colleges.
The MnDOT Piece:
Interestingly, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) is currently within compliance standards based on the ethnic breakdown information that has been supplied by the City of Minneapolis. However, there is a problem here: the City of Minneapolis has not completed, or commissioned, a Disparity Report (which would provide current figures on minority hiring) since 1997 (!).
MnDOT’s contractors are required to make a “good faith effort” to use DBE’s (Disadvantaged Business Enterprise) and WDBE’s (Women Disadvantaged Business Enterprise). This clause is problematic however, as it implies no obligation to actually contract with a minority-owned business, instead allowing MnDOT to define what a “good faith effort” means.
In other words, MnDOT cannot stipulate that an all-White general contracting firm from St. Cloud, Minnesota must use a Black business for any project…that’s against the law.
Despite being fully aware that this law needs to be modified, and a new Disparity Report must be commissioned, Michael Jordan, director of the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights has failed to act. In our opinion, he continues to display a lack of true concern for the minority-ethnic workforce of Minneapolis.
Enter Representative Bobby Joe Champion.
Representative Champion’s committee assignments include, Civil Justice; Finance; Transportation and Transit Policy and Oversight Division; Transportation Finance and Policy Division (Vice Chair) – with the ability to put fourth legislation to change the law, Rep. Champion has not acted accordingly, instead preferring to hold “circus style” town hall meetings with Congressman Keith Ellison.
Ellison and Champion have delivered neither jobs nor economic development to the Black community they claim to represent. Ironically, however, their “celebrity” status remains very high.
H.I.R.E. Minnesota files “Missing Persons Report” on Minnesota Department of Transportation (MNDOT) – whose missing? …Hundreds people of color that should be hired by the agency to work on road construction projects throughout the state
Rally at MNDOT 11:45 am – 1 pm, Thursday, July 23, 2009. (Minnesota Department of Transportation is located at Transportation Building, 395 John Ireland Boulevard, Saint Paul, MN 55155. Click here for map.
Earlier this month, H.I.R.E Minnesota asked people from around the state to contact the Office of Energy Security to let them know that we expect them to be accountable to low-income communities and communities of color. Thanks to your help, we are moving negotiations forward to make that happen. We’ll keep you updated.
At the same time, there is another state agency we need to hold accountable: The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MNDOT).
Join us this Thursday as we file a missing persons report at MNDOT!
Meet on the lawn across the street from the MNDOT Headquarters (in the MNDOT cafeteria in case of rain)
Each year, MNDOT gives hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money to private contractors to build and repair our roads, bridges and transit ways.
They know they are supposed to meet their modest goals for women and minority contracting, hiring and training. They know because they’ve been told by the federal government, by community groups, by workforce development programs and by HIRE Minnesota, including many of you who came to hearings this spring.
Yet year after year MNDOT fails to meet its goals. Drive by any local construction site and you’ll notice whose missing: workers of color.
But MNDOT now tells us that we are asking them to move “too fast” to meet their goals!
We’d like you to help us file a missing persons report with MNDOT. Please join us at the MNDOT headquarters this Thursday. We need to remind MNDOT that they need to be accountable by giving opportunities to people from our community.
HIRE US! Rally tomorrow – Tuesday, April 12, 2009
Our economy needs infrastructure hiring opportunities for communities of color and low-income communities.
We need your help to make this a reality with the City of Minneapolis.
Please Join Us to Rally: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 from 8:45AM-11:30AM in Downtown Minneapolis.
Meet at 8:45AM on the corner of 12th Street and Marquette Avenue in downtown Minneapolis.
We will march to City Hall (350 South 5th Street in Minneapolis 55415) for a Public Works Meeting at 9:30AM and then rally in front of the Federal Courthouse (300 S 4th Street Minneapolis 55415) at 10:30-11:30AM.
For more information, please call 612-278-5259
Scheduled Events:
March Meet-up 8:45AM-9:00AM
Meet on the corner of 12th Street and Marquette Avenue in front of Westminster Presbyterian Church
March 9:00AM-9:30AM
Marchers will walk from 12th Street and Marquette Avenue to City Hall, 350 5th Street S
Drummers 9:30AM
Drummers will begin at 9:30AM in front of the Federal Courthouse
Transportation & Public Works Committee Meeting 9:30AM-10:20AM
Marchers will sit-in on this meeting in Room 317
Meeting Departure 10:20AM-10:30AM
Marchers will leave Committee Meeting to walk to Federal Courthouse, 300 S 4th Street
Rally 10:30AM-11:30AM
10:30AM-10:40AM Drummers
10:40AM Clyde Bellecourt
10:45AM Rev. Jerry McAfee & Rev. Paul Slack
10:55AM HIRE Representatives
11:00AM SAOIC Student Roy Bates
11:05AM Louis King
March Ends 11:30AM
Buses pick-up students from Federal Courthouse and participants depart
The City of Minneapolis Fails at hiring Minority Contractors!
The City of Minneapolis – Department of Civil Rights and elected officials have ignored a 2007 study on the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights Contract Compliance Unit, making it impossible for minority-ethnic contractors to have a fair chance at social and economic goals with the City of Minneapolis.
Our Men and Women Need Jobs!
The Executive Summary reads:
- Page ii – MDCR “Community” Evaluation Report, May 2007:
“The City’s diverse community deserves to have a government committed to fulfilling the social and economic goals of the Civil Rights Ordinance and the intent of the Civil Rights Ordinance through effective implementation and evaluation, thus ensuring that the civil rights policy has the impact it was designed to produce.”
- Page ii – MDCR “Compliance” Evaluation Report, May 2007:
“Governmental and non-governmental entities governed by the Civil Rights Ordinance are NOT in full compliance with the hiring, contracting, reporting, monitoring, and enforcement mandates described in the contract compliance provision of the ordinance.”
# # #
On Friday, March 20, 2009 the Independent Business News Network provided a link to the May 2007 Evaluation of the City of Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights Contract Compliance Unit Report.
Unfortunately the link to the city website that held the report and City of Minneapolis Council member Cam Gordon’s email alert to others was cut.
Today, you can read, review and print the report here or copy and paste the URL below in your web address browser.
Evaluation of the City of Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights Contract Compliance Unit – May 2007 – the link to this report is http://v-newswire.com/MDCR.pdf. (We recommend Firefox for the download of these files.)
If you ever wondered why we never saw any Blacks, Hispanics-Latinos, Asians, Somali or other minority-ethnics on City of Minneapolis construction sites, this report explains why.
Comments are welcomed at info@ibnn.org.
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