On July 29 the Pioneer Press reported on two recent lawsuits resolved by the office of Attorney General Keith Ellison. In both cases, Minnesota landlords failed to provide basic utilities to their tenants. These complaints are reported to be amongst nearly 1,000 since the onset of Covid19 in Minnesota, in which landlords disregarded Gov. Walz’s peacetime emergency executive orders protecting tenants.
The death of George Floyd propelled the people of Minnesota to confront systemic racism in the Minneapolis Police Department and demand something better. We must continue to demand justice and confront other systems of inequity and oppression in our communities. Housing injustice is one area of immediate concern.
In the words of Attorney General Keith Ellison, “Having a safe, affordable roof over your head is essential to living with dignity and respect.” It is through living with dignity and respect that we can best raise our families, attend to our education, contribute to our communities and participate in the occupations that bring meaning to our lives.
As a community of Minnesotans, it is nothing but the insistence of our raised voices that will make change. We must use our voices to demand protections for those who lack secure and safe housing.
Jill Olson Moser, Eagan
Do you have to be conservative to …
I ask myself, do you have to be conservative to want a stop to the violent protesting? Do you have to be conservative to resist a government that piles on laws, regulations and taxes? Do you have to be conservative to hate the idea of socialism? Do you have to be conservative for questioning some of motives of people in higher education? Do you have to be conservative to believe when life really begins … I hope not.
Phil Hove, Cottage Grove
The president did it
Actions speak. I found out that President Trump voted by absentee ballot. His home address is in Florida where he voted by mail. If you don’t have a computer then phone our secretary of state’s office (1-800-600-8683) to find out how you can act like our president.
Susan Harding, Falcon Heights
