July 8, 2021 | Friday

The Como Community Council Board is seeking candidates to fill two recently vacated seats on our board of directors.

• Sub-District 1 board seat (West of Hamline & North of the BNSF Tracks)
• Vice Chair (Open to all District 10 stakeholders)

To ensure inclusion on the mailed ballots, apply to be a board member online no later than Sunday, July 11. All renters, homeowners, and other residents age 16 or older who live in Sub-District 1, as well as authorized representatives from a business or nonprofit organization located in the sub-district, are eligible to run for the Sub-District 1 seat. All District 10 stakeholders are eligible to run for the Vice Chair seat.

To vote in the special election you must request a ballot online.

Environment Committee Meeting

Wednesday, July 14 - 7pm on Zoom

Como Park Steward Program

The Como Park Steward Program will be opening this month. It is a great opportunity for individuals or groups like families, schools, churches, clubs and others to volunteer and give back and to help keep our regional treasure welcoming for everyone. 

You can choose an area on the Como Steward Program map to "adopt" and care for - Pick your favorite area to walk, run or bike, or that you have a special connection to, as an environmental project or learning experience, or even in memorandum of someone special. 

To participate as a steward, there is an annual volunteer commitment and you will participate through ongoing clean up, working with the city departments to report tree and natural damage, graffiti, safety, and other concerns. Watch for more information about how to sign up. In the meantime, contact Jennifer Victor-Larsen for information or if you have questions.

This program is a partnership between District 10 Como Community Council and St. Paul Parks and Recreation. 

The Environment Committee will also hear from Thomas Lucy from SPFE Climate Action group on solar energy and discuss the Como Community Garden and upcoming Como Lake Clean-Up events.

Land Use Committee Meeting

Monday, July 26 - 7pm @ Dock & Paddle

Dock & Paddle Evaluation

The Land Use Committee will be meeting in-person on July 26 at the Dock & Paddle. In addition to regular committee business, we will host a discussion and Q&A with the Dock & Paddle. We're looking for constructive community input on what's going right, what's going wrong, and thoughts on improvements that might be made at the Lakeside Pavilion.

Preparations and options for giving input for those who can't or aren't comfortable meeting in person are still being finalized. Stay tuned for more info next week!

East Como Lake Drive Reopens to Vehicle Traffic

E Como Lake Drive from E Como Blvd to Lexington Pkwy reopened for vehicle traffic on Thursday.

The road was temporarily closed to allow for expanded social distancing for pedestrians and bicyclists enjoying the lake during the pandemic. 

The D10 office has heard from a number of people more than ready for the reopening, as well as some who have thoroughly enjoyed the extra room during the closure. 

We encourage everyone to walk, run, bike, and drive safely as we all adjust to the reopening this weekend and beyond.

Como Zoo Welcomes Newborn Kudu Calf

Como Zoo has welcomed a female lesser kudu calf, born overnight on Wednesday, June 30, 2021. The birth is the result of a recommendation from the Lesser Kudu Species Survival Plan (SSP), coordinated by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). SSPs provide breeding recommendations to maximize genetic diversity, with the goal of ensuring the long-term survival of the AZA population and the health of individual animals. Como Zoo is an accredited institution of the AZA.



The calf was born to five-year-old Fjorda and sired by seven-year-old Bond. She is the third offspring for Fjorda. “The calf was standing and nursing when the Zookeepers arrived in the morning. She has long legs, big ears, and is fiercely cute,” said Andrew Nerness, Senior Zookeeper. “Fjorda is taking great care of her and has already proven to be a great mom.” The calf stands about three-feet-tall and weighs in at about 14 pounds.

The baby calf is currently off exhibit while she bonds with Fjorda. She is expected to make her public debut in the next few weeks.

National Night Out Coming Up August 3

National Night Out is Tuesday, August 3. You can register your event or, in a few weeks, view where registered NNO events are here on the city's website.

District 10 has street barricades and portable recycling containers that community members can use for block parties, neighborhood, or family events. You can borrow the recycling containers for free; there are two kinds:

• For cans, bottles and other items you can include in your weekly recycling.
• For food scraps and other compostable organics.

The street barricades are required by the city when you block off your street or alley -- but ours are a more-affordable option than getting them from Public Works. Barricades require a $50 deposit. We return $40 when you return the barricades. Reservations are first-come, first-served. (To rent our barricades, you must have an event permit from the city.)

To reserve any of this equipment, call our office at 651-644-3889, or send us an email.

Open Rental Assistance Programs

RentHelpMN 

For eligible renters to get caught up on overdue rent and utilities dating back to March 13, 2020. Currently processing Phase 1 for households who owe back rent. Phase 2 will make provisions for those at risk of falling behind on rent payments due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To apply for RentHelpMN, visit renthelpmn.org or call 211. The 211 helpline has dedicated multilingual staff available to answer questions about RentHelpMN, 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday. 

Note: There are a lot of people applying and a backlog of applications being processed, so it will take some time. If you have applied, be sure all the required documents are in and check that your application is complete.  

Zero Balance Project—Application Reopening Soon 

The counties of Dakota, Hennepin and Ramsey, and the cities of Minneapolis and St Paul are reopening the application to The Zero Balance Project for emergency rental assistance soon. The Zero Balance Project (housinglink.org) 

For details and questions about the difference between RentHelpMN and The Zero Balance Project, go to: https://www.renthelpmn.org/learn-more

Dept. of Planning and Economic Development: Help Wanted

The City of Saint Paul is hiring a new Deputy Director of Planning and Economic Development.

This role will serve as the administrative and operations manager for the department, overseeing accounting, real estate/loan servicing, federal grants management, HR and public relations. This position will also assist with the annual department budget, provide leadership over business process improvement, record and file retention/compliance, and the evaluation and selection of technology tool. The job is posted on the city's website if you'd like to apply or share the posting.

Weekly Crime Incident Report

District 10 SPPD Incident Report for

6/17 through 6/29

The city hasn't substantially updated the dataset that generates this report since last week, perhaps related to the holiday weekend. Check back here next week for an update.

Find more reports here on the D10 Website

Summer Swimming Lessons at Como Pool & Highland Park

Greetings from your new D10 Como Park Executive Director, Shevek McKee (Me!).

With myself and Jessica Willman, our fantastic Community Organizer, being very new, and a handful of new board members, District 10 is experiencing a LOT of changes all at once. You may have noticed this newsletter itself has been going through some changes as well. I expect changes will continue to emerge as our staff and board determine priorities and explore creative avenues to engage with new and more diverse members of our community that this kind of organization hasn't historically done an adequate job representing. We'll never be perfect, but we can strive to be a better and more welcoming place.

We've had one of our wonderful board members, Benjamin Kowalsky-Grahek, helping us with the newsletter during our staffing transition (Thanks Ben!!). This has helped me immensely. So many of our board members have stepped up throughout the transition and it's been remarkable seeing this Ice Cream Social event get put together in a whirlwind happening around me as I get up to speed on everything else. Please come out tonight if you're able!

Also, thank YOU for bearing with us during this transition. I've learned so much these past few weeks and it feels as if there's infinite more to learn about the nuances of the district council, the city, partner organizations, and all of the community members that make Como Park such a wonderful place to live, work, and visit.

If the changes to our newsletter have resulted in the loss of specific information that you're missing dearly, please let me know and I will try to include it again going forward. If you have neighborhood news you'd like us to consider for inclusion in future newsletters you can email it to me. I will do my best to pull things relevant to community members of many age groups and backgrounds, but I will always be limited by my own perspective to a degree so please especially share things of backgrounds you think I may be missing entirely.

Best,

Shevek McKee

Executive Director

District 10 Como Community Council

(651) 644-3889

district10@district10comopark.org