2013 St Paul DFL Platform
The resolutions that pass by 60% in the 2013 St Paul DFL convention are considered the platform of the DFL. DFL elected officials are supposed to ensure that platform becomes policy or law.
Content
Saint Paul DFL 2013 Platform
The values and vision of the Saint Paul DFL
The St. Paul DFL: Be it resolved that…
• The St. Paul DFL embrace the values of interculturalism and join in a shared vision of a city for all, in which everyone has the opportunity to co-create a shared political, social, economic, and cultural life. We call for the Mayor, City Council, and a strong coalition of leaders from elected institutions, civil society, businesses, media, academia, and the arts to help consolidate and propagate the intercultural vision for St. Paul. • The St. Paul DFL support and facilitate an open community forum(s) for all candidates running for positions for School Board • The St. Paul DFL supports equal testing requirements for all students in any school that receives state funding, including charter schools. • The St. Paul DFL asks that the Minnesota Legislature to fully fund Special Education costs for all public school districts at the appropriate level designated by statute. • The St. Paul DFL supports full funding for Early Childhood Education. • The St Paul DFL encourages our elected officials to support the expansion of Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) in our great city, because smart babies grow up to be smart adults. • The St. Paul DFL reaffirms its support of the Public School system and opposes all efforts to weaken and replace public schools with privately run and operated schools, such as charter schools, or any other privately run and operated school systems. • The St Paul DFL endorses bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform that makes sense and reflects our values and ethics. • The St. Paul DFL supports the conversion to single-payer, universal health care in Minnesota by urging the legislature to name the Minnesota Health Plan as the only provider in the Minnesota Health Exchange by the year 2017. • The St. Paul DFL requests the City of St. Paul expand quantified sustainability measures to reduce our community’s energy and water use. Identified areas include, but are not limited to replacing lawns with indigenous grasses and plants, and flower and food gardens. • The St. Paul DFL requests that the City of St. Paul require planning and development actions that support alternative commuting modes of transportation, including but not limited to, walking and buses. • The St. Paul DFL does not support the mining in St. Paul of sand used for hydraulic fracturing until proper ecological measures are in place to protect the economy, soil, and environment.
• The St. Paul DFL support the work of the Minnesota Arms Spending Project in keeping awareness in the public eye of excessive military expenditures constantly draining local resources. • The St. Paul DFL supports responsible gun ownership by requiring the registration of all firearms and eliminating gun owner anonymity; by requiring the registration of rifle and handgun “rifling” (a firearm’s “fingerprint”); removing the anonymity of individual firearms; and by requiring universal background checks for all firearm sales in the State of Minnesota. • The St. Paul DFL supports responsible gun ownership by banning assault-style firearms and limiting firearm capacity, including all magazines, to less than 10 rounds. • The St. Paul DFL supports marriage equality. • The St. Paul DFL supports our commitment to free accessible public schools for all, which offer a fair, substantive opportunity to learn from educators who have the right to be represented by their unions, bargain collectively and have a voice in the policies which affect their schools, classrooms and their students. • The St. Paul DFL send this resolution to all elected Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party leaders in Minnesota, to publicize the corporate and Republican funding of schools by corporate groups* and work with classroom educators to dispel the untested, unproven, false reforms and to support the real needs of the classroom: trained teachers, adequate funding, safe and clean facilities, diverse and stimulating curriculum and access to preschool and higher education. *Such as Tech for America, Students First, Democrats for Education Reform, Students for Education Reform, MinnCAN, Educators 4 Excellence, Better Ed, and various other groups.
The City of St. Paul: Be it resolved that…
• The City of St. Paul enforce its living wage ordinance and not bargain it away during negotiations with business entities. • The City of St. Paul bans private possession of firearms in all public gathering places and all areas where children congregate, including parks, recreation centers and community centers. • The St. Paul DFL requests that the Mayor and City Council of St. Paul petition the Governor, Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Minnesota to reinstate funding for transit, mental health, property tax refunds and rent credits. • Where tree planting is required to meet “green space” requirements at commercial or public developments in areas of concrete of nonporous pavement, that the area under the projected crown of the tree when mature will be paved with porous material.
• That the City of St. Paul place a trash bin at or near bus stop to keep street clean at Minnehaha and Grotto. • The City of St. Paul consider first the children of a neighborhood in designing parks. That places for children to gather with friends and family on a daily basis with places to run, fly kites, sled and exercise in play outdoors be the number-one priority. That fences be limited and league play be a secondary consideration. Neighborhood children and families first. • The City of St. Paul develop a composting system to encourage residents to compost more and reduce waste, similar to that of Mac-Groveland. • The City of St. Paul actively support the principles of the international “Transition Town” movement, ( reduction of use of fossil fuels, favoring use of local products and services, support of robust community, supporting and endorsing efforts coming from neighborhoods to these ends). • The City of St. Paul prioritize supportive housing and services that will help unaccompanied youth become successful adults. • The City of St. Paul join the “Move to Amend” movement, supporting a constitutional amendment affirming that only people are people and taking away corporations’ unlimited ability to fund and influence our elections.
Board of Education: Be it resolved that…
• The St. Paul Public Schools support a comprehensive program of instruction for all children, including vocal and instrumental music, English and foreign languages and the arts. • The St. Paul School Board establish a Technical High School, which will prepare students for a highly competitive, technical, and complex world. • The St. Paul School District take all necessary steps to reinstate the St. Paul Connections Program, which has offered many wonderful higher-ed learning opportunities to students.
The values and vision of the Saint Paul DFL
The St. Paul DFL: Be it resolved that…
• The St. Paul DFL embrace the values of interculturalism and join in a shared vision of a city for all, in which everyone has the opportunity to co-create a shared political, social, economic, and cultural life. We call for the Mayor, City Council, and a strong coalition of leaders from elected institutions, civil society, businesses, media, academia, and the arts to help consolidate and propagate the intercultural vision for St. Paul. • The St. Paul DFL support and facilitate an open community forum(s) for all candidates running for positions for School Board • The St. Paul DFL supports equal testing requirements for all students in any school that receives state funding, including charter schools. • The St. Paul DFL asks that the Minnesota Legislature to fully fund Special Education costs for all public school districts at the appropriate level designated by statute. • The St. Paul DFL supports full funding for Early Childhood Education. • The St Paul DFL encourages our elected officials to support the expansion of Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) in our great city, because smart babies grow up to be smart adults. • The St. Paul DFL reaffirms its support of the Public School system and opposes all efforts to weaken and replace public schools with privately run and operated schools, such as charter schools, or any other privately run and operated school systems. • The St Paul DFL endorses bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform that makes sense and reflects our values and ethics. • The St. Paul DFL supports the conversion to single-payer, universal health care in Minnesota by urging the legislature to name the Minnesota Health Plan as the only provider in the Minnesota Health Exchange by the year 2017. • The St. Paul DFL requests the City of St. Paul expand quantified sustainability measures to reduce our community’s energy and water use. Identified areas include, but are not limited to replacing lawns with indigenous grasses and plants, and flower and food gardens. • The St. Paul DFL requests that the City of St. Paul require planning and development actions that support alternative commuting modes of transportation, including but not limited to, walking and buses. • The St. Paul DFL does not support the mining in St. Paul of sand used for hydraulic fracturing until proper ecological measures are in place to protect the economy, soil, and environment.
• The St. Paul DFL support the work of the Minnesota Arms Spending Project in keeping awareness in the public eye of excessive military expenditures constantly draining local resources. • The St. Paul DFL supports responsible gun ownership by requiring the registration of all firearms and eliminating gun owner anonymity; by requiring the registration of rifle and handgun “rifling” (a firearm’s “fingerprint”); removing the anonymity of individual firearms; and by requiring universal background checks for all firearm sales in the State of Minnesota. • The St. Paul DFL supports responsible gun ownership by banning assault-style firearms and limiting firearm capacity, including all magazines, to less than 10 rounds. • The St. Paul DFL supports marriage equality. • The St. Paul DFL supports our commitment to free accessible public schools for all, which offer a fair, substantive opportunity to learn from educators who have the right to be represented by their unions, bargain collectively and have a voice in the policies which affect their schools, classrooms and their students. • The St. Paul DFL send this resolution to all elected Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party leaders in Minnesota, to publicize the corporate and Republican funding of schools by corporate groups* and work with classroom educators to dispel the untested, unproven, false reforms and to support the real needs of the classroom: trained teachers, adequate funding, safe and clean facilities, diverse and stimulating curriculum and access to preschool and higher education. *Such as Tech for America, Students First, Democrats for Education Reform, Students for Education Reform, MinnCAN, Educators 4 Excellence, Better Ed, and various other groups.
The City of St. Paul: Be it resolved that…
• The City of St. Paul enforce its living wage ordinance and not bargain it away during negotiations with business entities. • The City of St. Paul bans private possession of firearms in all public gathering places and all areas where children congregate, including parks, recreation centers and community centers. • The St. Paul DFL requests that the Mayor and City Council of St. Paul petition the Governor, Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Minnesota to reinstate funding for transit, mental health, property tax refunds and rent credits. • Where tree planting is required to meet “green space” requirements at commercial or public developments in areas of concrete of nonporous pavement, that the area under the projected crown of the tree when mature will be paved with porous material.
• That the City of St. Paul place a trash bin at or near bus stop to keep street clean at Minnehaha and Grotto. • The City of St. Paul consider first the children of a neighborhood in designing parks. That places for children to gather with friends and family on a daily basis with places to run, fly kites, sled and exercise in play outdoors be the number-one priority. That fences be limited and league play be a secondary consideration. Neighborhood children and families first. • The City of St. Paul develop a composting system to encourage residents to compost more and reduce waste, similar to that of Mac-Groveland. • The City of St. Paul actively support the principles of the international “Transition Town” movement, ( reduction of use of fossil fuels, favoring use of local products and services, support of robust community, supporting and endorsing efforts coming from neighborhoods to these ends). • The City of St. Paul prioritize supportive housing and services that will help unaccompanied youth become successful adults. • The City of St. Paul join the “Move to Amend” movement, supporting a constitutional amendment affirming that only people are people and taking away corporations’ unlimited ability to fund and influence our elections.
Board of Education: Be it resolved that…
• The St. Paul Public Schools support a comprehensive program of instruction for all children, including vocal and instrumental music, English and foreign languages and the arts. • The St. Paul School Board establish a Technical High School, which will prepare students for a highly competitive, technical, and complex world. • The St. Paul School District take all necessary steps to reinstate the St. Paul Connections Program, which has offered many wonderful higher-ed learning opportunities to students.
