The next round of anti-displacement work to prepare the community for the METRO Blue Line Extension is beginning, with a longtime community activist in a key leadership position.
Ricardo Perez, organizer for the Blue Line Coalition, has been chosen as chair of the next iteration of the Blue Line Anti-Displacement Work Group, a new 26-member board.
“The corridor is extremely vibrant. The METRO Blue Line Extension can be the catalyst to unleash the economic power in the communities in the corridor so residents and businesses can stay in place and thrive,” Perez said.
The board that Perez will chair was established as part of the Anti-displacement Community Prosperity Program, passed in the most recent session of the Minnesota legislature. The program allocates $10 million in state funding to minimize disruption and stabilize neighborhoods along the route.
The board will seek matching funds from public and philanthropic sources to maximize that investment and determine how the funds will be spent.
When completed in 2030, the new light rail line is expected to bring new prosperity to the corridor as well as affordable, reliable public transit.
“What we are doing shines a light on people, including the most vulnerable people. If we work together I believe we can protect communities that are usually displaced,” Perez said. ”Anti-displacement is a tool to help us survive construction and thrive through the smart allocation of dollars.”
Perez was a frequent visitor and a persistent voice at the Capitol during the last session, lobbying lawmakers to ensure passage of the bill that established the Anti-displacement Community Prosperity Program. The 26-member board he now chairs will oversee strategic funding aimed at minimizing community disruption before, during, and after construction of the $3 billion project.
Perez said the board, which will meet monthly, will be composed of six community members, six representatives of nonprofits in the corridor, six representatives of local government and three philanthropy partners. Some of the board members will be people who previously served on the anti-displacement work group that made the previous round of recommendations.
Perez joined city officials and community leaders from cities along the proposed 13 mile route of the METRO Blue Line Extension—Minneapolis, Robbinsdale, Crystal and Brooklyn Park—to push for adoption of state funding for the program.
“It was great to see government people and community folks come together to make this happen. It was cool to see very different communities—Lao, Latino, Black business owners, collaborate to work for an anti displacement deal.”
As part of his work with the Blue Line Coalition, Perez has been involved in anti-displacement work for a decade. He said the work moving forward will be historic because it will include voices from communities that have historically been left out when large infrastructure projects are built.
“This is a big win. We celebrate the funding but we also celebrate the precedent that anti-displacement is a transit expense,” Perez said. “Our state is acknowledging when you build a mega-development, Black, indigenous, low income and immigrant communities are impacted. We must employ anti-displacement strategies so they will benefit from the investment.”
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