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The city of Minneapolis is flush with racial justice promises, and from East Lake of the Isles to East Phillips, we believe in them. Yet, in East Phillips, the city is making a farce of them.

East Phillips is one of the city's poorest, most polluted, most BIPOC neighborhoods. Kids there have higher asthma rates.

The East Phillips Neighborhood Institute wants to redevelop an unused parcel of land to create a neighborhood resource, with a community-owned urban farm, job training and affordable housing.

But the city bought the land to expand its public works yard, adding more traffic and exhaust. Plus the site sits atop an old Superfund site — the city plan risks disturbing the arsenic in the ground.

The Public Works expansion fails to meet the city's mission statement "to dismantle institutional injustice and close disparities in health, housing ... and economic opportunities." It fails to meet the "Green Zone" promise to protect it from excess pollution. It fails to act on the City Council's unanimous declaration of racism as a "public health emergency."

The city offered EPNI a Sept. 16 meeting with consultants to learn about the arsenic mitigation plans. It's a meaningless concession. A council committee voted on Sept. 19 to move the project forward.

The city needs to work with East Phillips just as it would with a more white and affluent neighborhood.

It needs to stop its hypocrisy, meet its racial equity promises and support the neighborhood's plan. Minneapolis: Let's be the city we've promised.

Dean Dovolis, Minneapolis

The writer is president, East Phillips Neighborhood Institute.

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We are about to find out whether Minneapolis City Council members keep their racial justice commitments or not.

They are voting Thursday to seek bids to demolish the large building on the Roof Depot site in East Phillips.

The city wants to clear the site to expand its Public Works yard, bringing more traffic and air pollution to the neighborhood.

The East Phillips Neighborhood Institute wants to renovate the building to develop an indoor urban farm, affordable housing, cultural markets and other community assets.

East Phillips is one of the city's poorest neighborhoods. It's a food desert. It has some of the worst air quality in Minneapolis. Residents are disproportionately Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC).

The city has made several racial justice commitments. The Urban Farm meets them; the city plan does not.

The council has declared racism a "public health emergency," committing "to allocate funding, staff, and additional resources" to "name, reverse, and repair the harm done to BIPOC in this city ... ."

East Phillips is in the city-designated Southside Green Zone, where goals include improving air quality and creating healthy, affordable food access.

The city's mission statement says it will "dismantle institutional injustice and close disparities in health, housing, public safety and economic opportunities." (The city also commits to partnering with residents, which it failed to do in East Phillips.)

Council members who support the Public Works expansion need to explain how their vote is consistent with the city's racial justice commitments.

Scott Russell, Minneapolis

State Rep. Ruth Richardson's new job as the head of Planned Parenthood will not serve her constituents but will take her time and energies away from demanding legislative work ("Richardson says she can balance roles," Sept. 9). Richardson claims that her new role as CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States will not present a conflict of interest. It absolutely will. It is true that we have a citizen Legislature, and legislators often recuse themselves from votes that directly impact themselves or their employers. But being the CEO of one of the largest private-sector recipients of government grants and payments presents a conflict well beyond the norm for legislators.

Constituents need only look at Planned Parenthood's latest form 990 (which nonprofit organizations like Planned Parenthood must file). The person she is replacing has a compensation package in excess of $500,000. Does that sound like the kind of part-time work that would allow a legislator to serve her constituents? I have heard from many district residents that Richardson repeatedly fails to respond to correspondence. Clearly, she was already struggling to complete the minimum service we expect of a state legislator.

Her claims that she will not be lobbying or working on public policy for Planned Parenthood also ring hollow. Public policy work is inherent in the position of top executive of any organization that receives so much government funding. A quick check of lobbying records shows that her predecessor at Planned Parenthood is a registered lobbyist, indicating that it is really part of the position.

If Richardson wants to do the right thing by her constituents, she needs to make a choice between this high-paid executive position or serving as an elected official. She cannot competently do both. Nobody could.

Is this just a cynical attempt by an incumbent to hold the legislative seat for her partisan caucus, with the intent of resigning later and triggering a special election? A special election would ill-serve the people of this district, who would go months during session without representation. It would cost tens of thousands of dollars. Richardson must make her choice now, and put Minnesotans ahead of her party.

Cynthia Lonnquist, Mendota Heights

The writer is the Republican candidate running against Rep. Ruth Richardson for House District 52B.

I read with horror the recent article "GOP trend: No promise to accept '22 results" (Sept. 19). "When asked, six Trump-backed nominees for governor and the Senate ... would not commit to accepting this year's election results, and another five Republicans ignored or declined to answer a question about embracing the November outcome. ... [M]any have preemptively cast doubts on how their states count votes." All of the Democrats contacted "said, or have said publicly, that they would respect the November results." In addition, a GOP Arizona candidate for governor suggested that she would not concede if she was defeated in the upcoming election.

As a 70-year-old woman who, prior to Donald Trump's candidacy, had only voted for a Democratic candidate once in my life, I am appalled and terrified of the hold Trump has on the Republican Party — particularly as he continues to put forth the debunked myth of a stolen election. Many have noted the danger to our democracy if these false claims continue. So I appeal to my fellow citizens who are Republicans: Please find another champion for the causes you value; someone with integrity, wisdom and a goal to unite us rather than tear us apart. I will close by repeating the quote in this article from our President Joe Biden: "Democracy cannot survive when one side believes there are only two outcomes to an election: either they win or they were cheated." Ask yourself, what will you do to ensure that our democracy survives and thrives?

Cynthia N. Hart, Chanhassen

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Regarding "GOP trend: No promise to accept '22 results": So wait, does that mean that the GOP will not accept ANY election results? Even if they win? Or just the results if they don't win?

Jeanette Gadeberg, Edina