Northfield Chief of Police Mark Elliott is joining the list of community leaders encouraging people to wear a mask in public spaces
to guard against the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
On Tuesday night the City Council discussed and debated a mandate that would have required the public wear a mask. While the mandate ultimately failed, Mayor Rhonda Pownell, City Administrator Ben Martig and several members of the council have all made statements encouraging the wearing of a mask. Elliott said that even though there was little appetite among the public for a codified masking ordinance, he has seen and heard enough from the community to know that most people understand the need.
“A lot of those folks were just concerned for their neighbors. Some of those responses reflected that maybe they weren’t in favor of a mask mandate, but they often masked. And they just wanted other people to continue to car for each other. So, the city is really going to try to do what they can to encourage masking and get the word out.”
Elliott went on to say how gratifying it is to see the level of civil discourse within the public. People might have differing opinions about masks, he said, but the people of this town have, by-and-large, remained calm and discussed matters, rather than resorting to the sort of conflict that has happened in other communities.
In an effort to encourage masking, he said the city is making information and signage available for people to hang on doors and windows of their homes and places of business. The highly creative people of Northfield are free, and encouraged, he said to also create their own signage to encourage masking as well.
He said another way the city is encouraging masks will be through distribution of the KN95 masks that are now recommended by the Centers for Disease Control. Northfield has been able to find a large supply of the masks, ahead of the 400 million promised in the coming weeks by the Federal Government, and he said the city will be making them available to both businesses and individuals next week.
Chief Elliott said information, resources and signage is available on the Covid-19 Community Alert banner at the top of the city website.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Northfield Chief of Police Mark Elliott can be heard here
Local Housing Trust Fund could advance affordable housing efforts
Northfield Housing Coordinator Melissa Hanson gave a pair of presentations to the City Council on Tuesday night. One was a general update on the work being done by the Housing & Redevelopment Authority, and the other was a request by the HRA to consider the establishment of a Local Housing Trust Fund.
The State of Minnesota established the Local housing Trust Fund program to assist in the development of housing, which is something that the city has identified as a top priority. Establishing a fund would give the city access to up to $150,000 in state matching funds, and if the fund is administered by a local non-profit, it would be eligible to accept private donations as well.
City Administrator Martig said the fund would be able to contribute to down payment assistance, single-family, mobile home and rental home rehabilitation, rental assistance and new construction programs, which are all things the Housing & Redevelopment Authority is doing already. By making the HRA the governing body of the fund, they would be able to apply for the full amount of the state matching funds. The establishment of this fund, he said, would greatly expand the work that department is doing through enhanced financial resources.
“Continuing the programs we [have in place,] and expanding some of them potentially to help more people and explore new programs. And also, if we bring a component of public interest to support housing projects through private charitable donations, that can only help us advance our goals around affordable housing in the community.”
While the city needs housing at all levels, affordable housing is the reason the fund has so much support on the council. Mayor Pownell noted how the program lines up with the city’s strategic plan and establishing a local fund would allow it to “take advantage of a state-run program to bring additional dollars to the community to support affordable housing.”
Details of the plan still must be worked out. While the assumption is the fund would be under the HRA’s purview, other bodies like the Economic Development Authority or the Council itself could hold that responsibility. Eligibility for help from a Local Housing Trust Fund is based on Average Median Income, and but the city will have to determine if that means the Twin Cities Metro Area AMI or Rice County’s AMI, and should the city want to take advantage of the fund-raising aspects of the program, they will have to determine which non-profit should be the administrator.
The mayor said the council will discuss the topic further later next month.
Hillmann awarded humanitarian honor for listening, compassion
And on Monday Night, the Northfield Human Rights Commission presented Northfield Superintendent of Schools Dr. Matt
Hillmann with the 2022 Northfield Human Rights Award.
The award was established almost twenty-five years ago to honor a local individual, group or organization that has contributed to the advancement of human rights in the Northfield Community.
Hillmann was nominated mostly for his work with Northfield’s Latinx Community and ensuring equity in the educational experience for Latinx students and their families. He was praised for his ability to listen, and the compassion he has shown to every person involved in the Northfield School District.
Hillmann said he was honored to win the award, and true to his nature, he shared it with the staff and faculty of Northfield Public Schools. He is very proud, he said of the work the district has done in anti-racism and in making the school system an inclusive one. However, despite the progress that has been made, he said, he also knows there is still much more work to do.
“I also feel unworthy, because when we look at the progress that we’ve made, we know that there is far more progress to go. But when we look at what we have done, we are proud of that. And we commit to continuing this work to make sure that we’re removing barriers and that every single person in our community has real opportunity to achieve the American dream.”
The award was presented as a part of the Human Rights Commission’s commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King’s Birthday. Past recipients of the award include 2021 Northfield High School graduate Rahmah Abdulai, the Community Action Center, the late Father Denny Dempsey and the employees of Laura Baker Services Association.
For KYMN News, I’m Rich Larson on AM 1080 and FM 95.1, The One.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
