Business expansion. Neighborhood density. Housing diversity. Transportation. All these topics and more were explored during last week's Neighborhood Plan meeting.

The Summit Hill Association held an open meeting on Thursday, October 22nd to capture residents' input into the updated Neighborhood Plan, which provides a blueprint that outlines the character and direction of the neighborhood. The city refers to the Plan when making decisions on issues ranging from zoning regulations, open spaces, and business development.

More than four dozen homeowners, renters and business owners joined in the remote discussion. They provided views on everything from greater access to public transportation and the availability of affordable housing to parking issues and the continued vitality of the Grand Avenue corridor.

Couldn't make the meeting? We still want to hear from you! Keep up to date on the Plan via our web page at SummitHillAssociation.org/plan. The page includes a Guest Book where you can sign up for more information. And check out our calendar for upcoming Neighborhood Plan committee meetings.

Notes recorded during the meeting on various topics of the Neighborhood Plan are included on the Meeting Notes. If you were not able to attend, consider including your thoughts and opinions by attending one of our online focus groups (scheduled on our calendar) or completing the Survey (available Nov 16-Dec 16, 2020).

Excerpted from the Oct 25, 2020 “Sundays on Summit” e-Newsletter

Danger Boat Production's Let’s Get Uncomfortable series creates a facilitated group experiences to discuss racism and anti-racism, and to practice what we can do (right now, today) to develop ally-ship skills. Join your neighbors in these important discussions. Attend one or all three of these FREE sessions!

• October 25—1.0 Let’s Get Uncomfortable: A Place to Start is a supportive, safe space to get people (particularly white people) to talk about racism and how we share the responsibility to work for change. Danger Boat's facilitators are trained improvisers who encourage an improv mindset through the skills of listening first, being curious and harnessing our imaginations.

• November 1—1.5 Let’s Get Uncomfortable: Now 60% More Uncomfortable takes the conversation farther and pushes participants to confront their own biases and privileges, honestly. Having attended a previous “Let’s Get Uncomfortable” session is not required to sign up, but attendees should be prepared to talk openly about their own past shortcomings on race, reflect on the ways they benefit from a white-centered society, and what sacrifices or changes they are willing to make to address these issues.

• November 8—2.0 Let’s Get Uncomfortable: How to Be a Better Ally is a training with tools to identify the racism participants see in their communities and to better understand the traits and tactics of a constructive ally, and to practice promoting safe environments for all. 

Register now for any or all of these FREE discussions:
https://dangerboat.net/lgu-summit-hill

Additional events

Let’s Get Uncomfortable is one of a series of events organized by SHA’s Racial Dialogue & Action committee. Additional events include:

• November 17 and November 23: Book Club, How to be an Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi. Click for details.

• Renters’ & Landlords’ Forum (date TBD)

• Jim Crow of the North screening & discussion (date TBD)

• Mapping Prejudice training (date TBD)

Oct. 22, 7:00pm via Zoom

Make your voice heard!

It is time for the Summit Hill District to develop a Neighborhood Plan that sets the overall direction for the area for the next 10 years. The Plan will include topics such as parks and green space, aesthetics, the Grand Ave. Mixed-Use Corridor, transportation, land use and housing. Whenever the city is making a day-to-day decision about our neighborhood—where to invest, whether to allow or deny a certain development—the neighborhood plan carries weight in that decision-making process.

Community engagement is essential to this process: It ensures that our plan is shaped by and reflects the views of everyone, not just a few loud voices. That in turn helps us build a neighborhood that we can all be proud of.

If you live, own property, work, worship, attend school, or spend time in Summit Hill, you are invited to join us as we discuss our shared vision for the Summit Hill neighborhood on October 22. ZOOM LINK BELOW.

Stay up-to-date with progress on the Neighborhood Plan throughout the process at our webpage SummitHillAssociation.org/plan.

======ZOOM LINK======

Summit Hill Association Neighborhood Plan Kick Off Event
Time: Oct 22, 2020 07:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87957620052?pwd=cGhUc2EwU3lobUpOclZzVHRaZkE4UT09

Meeting ID: 879 5762 0052
Passcode: 683555
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Jason Koenig, Odd Couple Realty

Shane Montoya (left) and Jason Koenig (right) started their journey together in Saint Paul 19 years ago. They opened their Real Estate office on Grand Avenue in 2015. 

Both Shane and Jason have been involved with the Grand Avenue Business Association (GABA) over the years. Jason, Shane, and their team chaired and sponsored the Summit Hill House Tour in 2018. The countless hours they put in to make our most important fundraiser a huge success can not be overstated.

Their business has also supported community building events like National Night Out block parties, Neighborhood Shred Events, Grand Old Day, Grand Meander, Paws on Grand and more. Shane, Jason and their team support Ronald McDonald House at Children’s hospital by serving meals twice a month. Through the pandemic they replaced this event with a “Stock The Pantry Food Drive" benefiting RMH. Today through December 5th they are accepting coats for Joseph’s Coat on West 7th.

Jason says, “We get energy from serving the community that has taken such great care of us over the years.  It is our responsibility to give back.” 

Jason and Shane have been consistently good neighbors and the Summit Hill Association is pleased to honor their commitment to our neighborhood!!

BRIAN WAGNER, COLDWELL BANKER REALTY

Brian Wagner, works as a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Realty–Crocus Hill. He has a M.Ed. in Education Administration and Counseling from SDSU and a BA in Creative and Performing Arts from Grand View University. In his prior career, he worked in higher education at Walden University and Macalester College.  

Since 2018, he has served as an At-Large Business Representative for Mac-Groveland Community Council. He is the past chair and a current member of the MGCC Community Building Committee and a member of the MGCC Inclusivity Task Force. He served for the past two years as the MGCC liaison to the Grand Avenue Business Association (GABA) and a past Secretary of the GABA Board of Directors; he is currently the chair of the GABA Events Committee. Brian also served as a co-chair of the Future is Grand Task Force – a collaboration between the Summit Hill Association, GABA and MGCC. His contributions to the Grand Avenue Task Force fundamental to its success. 

This summer, Brian helped coordinate the fast response purchase and delivery of plywood boards to businesses across our neighborhoods from Highland Park to Summit Hill. He then helped coordinate dozens of volunteer “installers” to go around and help install them. 

Brian is constantly going out of his way to promote our neighborhood and is a helpful voice in every situation. Thank you, Brian, for being such a great neighbor!

Join your neighbors and the Summit Hill Association for a virtual community meeting with City and SPPD representatives regarding the recent criminal activity in the Summit Hill neighborhood

Two separate sessions will be held remotely. Links to both are below.

• Tuesday, October 6, 12:00 noon

• Thursday, October 15, 7:00pm

Confirmed participants are:

• Rebecca Noecker, City Council Representative Ward 2

• Steve Anderson, St. Paul Police Department Western District Senior Commander

• Kent Cleveland, St. Paul Police Department Western District Patrol Commander

• Ricardo Cervantes, DSI (Department of Safety & Inspections) Director

• Travis Bistodeau, DSI Deputy Director

The office of the Ramsey County Attorney has also been invited to send a representative.

Questions for the participants should be submitted in advance to info@SummitHillAssociation.org.

Discussions will be moderated by Summit Hill resident Katie Bergstrom, Esq.

........................................................................................................

***THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 7:00pm***

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83577971991?pwd=L250VDZiWllENThGTmp2WFE3REtqZz09

Meeting ID: 835 7797 1991
Passcode: 674537

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Meeting ID: 835 7797 1991
Passcode: 674537
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kmLPpReOp

..........................................................................................................

***TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 12:00 noon***

Join Skype Meeting

https://meet.ci.stpaul.mn.us/rebecca.noecker/DFZ4MSMK

Join by phone

(651) 267-3988,,48880127# (Saint Paul, MN) English (United States)

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Conference ID: 48880127

..........................................................................................................

The annual membership meeting of the Summit Hill Association (SHA) will be held on Thursday, October 8, and all residents of District 16 are invited to attend.

During the annual meeting, residents can take part in elections for SHA Board members and vote on any other matters before the organization. Anyone interested in running for a position on the Board can do so by visiting this link.

The SHA is a non-profit organization that represents everyone who lives in, owns property or operates a business in the city’s District 16. It is part of the larger Saint Paul Planning Council system that serves as a liaison between the neighborhood and the various City departments and entities. 

Governed by an all-volunteer Board of Directors, the organization was established to enhance effective communication between residents and the city; review and respond to zoning and land use issues; and encourage residents’ participation in community affairs.

This year's meeting will be held remotely. More information, including an agenda and instructions for logging into the meeting, will be available on the SHA's website and through this email notification channel.

We look forward to your attendance.  

For anyone who couldn’t attend, we are providing this replay of the Crime Prevention Meeting hosted by the City of St. Paul.

Listen to SCENE ON radio’s podcast called SEEING WHITE and meet for a conversation online. Feel free to join the conversation even if you don’t have time to listen to the podcast.

http://www.sceneonradio.org/seeing-white/

Events of the past few weeks have heightened the awareness of race inequities. What if we turn the spotlight on White people, and Whiteness, in the United States?

This series produced with the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University in Durham, NC. https://documentarystudies.duke.edu/

We will use the podcast to explore what it means to be White.  Produced by John Biewen (originally from Minnesota) with special guest Chenjerai Kumanyika.   

From the Study Guide:

The subject of whiteness is potentially uncomfortable for people of any race or ethnicity. People of color may react to the topic of whiteness by thinking: Really? We live in a world dominated and controlled by white people. Whiteness is our often-uncomfortable reality. Do we have to have a discussion about whiteness? For folks feeling that way, please understand: This is not about celebrating whiteness. We’re here to take a critical look at whiteness and how it functions in the life of our society, how it affects us all. Because it does, and we usually don’t talk about it directly.

White people, on the other hand, may react with unease: Am I about to be attacked? Is the point of this discussion that all white people are bad? To those people we can say: The point is not to attack every individual of European descent. None of us chose our “race,” nor did we create the society that we were all born into. In this class or discussion group, we’re in this together, trying to understand how we all got here. A conclusion of the Seeing White series is that white people must own and take responsibility for the advantages that come with whiteness, but that is not the same as saying that you as a white person are to blame and need to feel ashamed.

Join us on any or all of the following dates:

• Monday, June 15 at 7pm Episode 1 Turning the Lens

• Wednesday, June 17 at 7pm Episode 2  How Race Was Made

• Friday, June 19 at 7pm Episode 3 Made in America

• Sunday, June 21 at 7pm Episode 4 On Crazy we Built a Nation

• Wednesday, June 24 at 7pm Episode 5 Little War on the Prairie

• Friday, June 26 at 7pm Episode 6 That’s Not Us, So We’re Clean

• Sunday, June 28 at 7pm Episode 7 Chenjerai’s Challenge

The first 7 episodes of 14 will be scheduled and we can decide how to continue after June 28.

To participate, go to the SHA Calendar one hour prior to meeting time for the Zoom link.