South Mudug +Galgaduud + Hiiraan + Middle Shabelle = A south central State that fulfills the federal criteria... Hiiraan + Middle Shabelle = a full state. However Galgaduddu + South Mudug is still short.

BY DREW KERR Community leaders working to engage citizens in redistricting process The once-in-a-decade effort to redraw the city’s ward and park board boundaries is now underway, a process that will serve as an important first test of the Charter Commission’s ability to strip politics from the initiative. * The redistricting process, which follows each new U.S. Census, is intended to create equitable wards and park districts that reflect the city’s most recent population figures. According to the new Census, each of the city’s 13 wards should have between 27,958 and 30,900 people, while each of the city’s six park board districts should have between 60,575 and 66,951 people. With their current boundaries, wards two and seven, which include growing downtown neighborhoods, have too many residents, while wards four, five and six, have too few people. Until this year, a group of party leaders and city officials had decided how to change ward and park board boundaries to accommodate such population shifts. * But a 2010 charter amendment reassigned the task to the city’s Charter Commission amid concerns over transparency and partisanship. An advisory group appointed by the Charter Commission is also assisting in the process. Though he acknowledged there is likely to be pressure from political groups, Barry Clegg, who chairs the Charter Commission and is leading the redistricting effort, said the group is making genuine efforts to remove political considerations from the process. “There will be people who will be unhappy and there will be people are thrilled,” he said. “But it can’t be about the council member —*it has to be about what’s required in the charter and what’s fair to the most people.” Clegg’s group has already begun to consider draft proposals, but residents are being encouraged to get involved in the process so that community interests can be better reflected in the revised maps. ** * Residents can submit comments, speak at public hearings or create a map of their own through a website created by the non-partisan government watchdog group Common Cause Minnesota. The mapping tool is available at drawminneapolis.org. Mike Dean, the executive director at Common Cause Minnesota, said the map-drawing effort is based on the belief that residents know their communities best, and should have a say in how they are represented at City Hall. “What we see is when citizens draw these maps, they tend to be much better than the ones that come out of the government,” he said. One goal, Dean said, is to unite groups with shared ambitions so that they have a better chance to elect members that reflect those interests. “We want to create homogeneous districts so that we can have a heterogeneous council and a majority doesn’t dominate,” Dean said. One group that has already submitted a proposal with that idea in mind is the Citizens Committee for Fair Redistricting, a coalition of groups who represent the Somali and East African communities in South Minneapolis. The sitting City Council has just one minority member, despite having a 40 percent minority population and, in a letter to the redistricting group, the committee said that “minority populations have been divided at the expense of the majority populations.” “If there was proportional representation on the Minneapolis City Council, five of the thirteen wards would be represented by people from the minority population,” the letter said. “We think this lack of representation in elected offices in Minneapolis City Hall is grossly unfair.” To help, the group suggested reshaping two downtown wards and creating a “minority opportunity ward” in the Seward, Elliot Park, Cedar-Riverside and Phillips neighborhoods, which are now divided into three separate wards. A “minority opportunity ward” includes at least 30 percent of a particular minority group. The ward suggested by the Citizens Committee for Fair Redistricting would have 40 percent African Americans, 33 percent white, 20 percent Hispanics and 7 percent Native Americans, according to group leaders. City Council Member Cam Gordon, whose ward includes the Cedar-Riverside and Seward neighborhoods, said he expects some changes, but that he has grown fond of the communities he represents and that he believes he can represent all who live in his area. “I don’t think the quality of your service is determined by how similar or different you are to the people you represent,” he said. “My goal is to make sure everyone feels like their voice is heard at City Hall.” Clegg, the Charter Commission chair, said he is hoping the group can do a better job of uniting common groups, however. “We want to do what’s fair and equitable and that’s going to include moving some lines,” he said. Another area that will also likely see changes is North Minneapolis. The Jordan and Hawthorne neighborhoods each lost more than 1,700 residents between the 2000 and 2010 censuses, while the North Loop grew more than any other neighborhood. David Frank, the president of the North Loop Neighborhood Association, declined to comment on the potential changes because, he said, the issue is “too controversial.” The Charter Commission is expected to put draft maps up for consideration at the end of this month and to finalize new ward and park board maps no later than April 3. Public hearings on draft maps will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 29 at the Webber Community Center, 4400 Dupont Ave. N., and from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 1 at the Hosmer Library, 347 E. 36th St. Two additional public hearings will be held after the final maps have been created. Those meetings have not been scheduled, and will be held in neighborhoods expected to see the most dramatic changes.

AYOUB;800934 wrote: Lol, nah mate. Imaam Faroole waa nin gob ah oo xididka ixtiraama. Ahh secessionists were always the most opportunistic of all Somali's. As soon as they heard about Oil, hey start heaping praise on the brother.

I was laughing at the secessionist for getting upset.

Showqi;800929 wrote: Ayoub, ma Bosaaso ayey kaa soo tarxiileen........ Lool,

Loool. You make a valid point there.

It's hot but not hotter than parts of Arizona or New Mexico.

Armo is quite cool compared to Bossaso and it's growing fast.

Armo or Carmo is one of the places I would like to visit one day insha Allah.

Until now, the tiny desert town of Armo in Somalia’s northern Bari province was little more than a truck stop between the major regional hubs of Qardho and Bosaso. And the only thing keeping the town relevant was the Armo Military and Police Academy that served both regional and national security training purposes. The town, which lies a mere 28km from the Dharoor valley basin, is now experiencing the first benefits of oil exploration in Somalia. It can be said in Bari today that you can experience the benefits of oil there without so much as even sniffing the substance. Roads are being improved, and some even built from scratch to serve the growing demand of emerging investors. Hotels are popping up left and right across the town’s main highway to serve contractors. And real estate is booming for families looking to settle permanently in the area. The biggest benefit has been to the value of the local currency. The Somali shilling went from exchanging at rates of 32,000 to the dollar to now 23,000 to the dollar–among the strongest rates ever experienced by the Somali shilling. This is entirely due to the influx of foreign contractors creating a demand for local goods and raising the value of items. Locals are rightfully optimistic about exploration and expressed a desire to see Somalia, or at least their hometown, get out of poverty. This surge of optimism and confidence has led to less reliance on foreign aid, and outright rejection of it in favor of propping up local enterprise and natural growth. Regional leaders have strongly reiterated that the prospective wealth of Puntland is not going to stay in one pocket of the country, but that it will work to lift the entire nation out of poverty on equal terms. It is a sentiment that the ordinary people of Armo and Puntland in general share.

These people are just haters. The worse ones are those who later on will claim that they are actually part of Puntland and they love it. Yet at every opportunity will insult the people and institutions. One can not stand these clowns.

The drilling is going real well, there is already excitement on the ground, locals and those working in the drilling site have been in a jubilant mood.

Carafat is upset the clan he hates the most is being praised by his favorite singer. Lol

Aside from weak insults directed at Puntland no one here has presented a coherent argument against the action of the State. The Central government has not even responded to the current changes of the market and Puntland has to to take action. Again Garowe is protecting the people as it always has done.

There were many gullible people who thought this criminal terrorist organization was the best thing since slice bread.

Nonsense. Puntland has an army, police force and even coast guard. It has institutions it build from scratch, it has even brought investment to exploit it's natural resource without a penny from a central government or any other Somali regions clans. Yet it wants to be part of a Federal Somalia it recognizes the national government and has even hosted Somalia's first national games, Somali women conference and the political consultative conference. Some here who always hated it, point to its State flag, it's Police, it's army as a problem. They would like it to be poor and on it's knees. As for printing the money, it's another gap that a central government ought to fill but can not. I don't agree with this but to compare Puntland to the warlord of Mogadishu is yet another example of hateful envy. Puntland State of Somalia is a reality, if you like it or not it's here to stay by the grace of Allah.

It's not Faroole who lost the plot but Amiin Amir. He was well respected in Puntland, now he is seen as a tool.

Qandalawi;800508 wrote: Timir lafbaa kujidha. Marakan waa in la iska cafiyaa Wasiirka malaha Xamaasad ayaa qaaday balse he must be cautioned not to do it again. I think he should be given the benefit of the doubt. He erred but we are all human and we all make mistakes.

His recent attacks are troubling to say the least.

NASSIR;800512 wrote: Wrong saxib. Not Every Somali agrees with one clan aggrandizing on another territory at the expense of the native clan. What of "its stability"? Which region's stability is endangered and who is actually carrying out acts of tribal aggression? Are you arrogating ownership claims to the secessionists? Hold your horses son. I don't agree with secession and my record on it's opposition is as clear as day. What I am saying is that here are easier ways for people to deal with the secessionists. One is to deal with all the puppets the likes of Xabsade, Cadami and Kayser Abdi. Also there needs to be a coherent argument. All this wailing and cyber lobbying is absurd.

I think this is just an extension of recent clannish attacks on Puntland leadership. Also I don't think all these clannish attacks will have any impact on Puntland. The people are wholeheartedly supporting the exploration it has actually united them all, more so than at any time in our history.

I think the Ministers words regarding Somaliland are important. He states that it's stability should not be ruined and every Somali agrees with this. I think some people on both sides of the argument are losing their minds due to clans. Let everyone build his or her region without hate and envy.

So Amiin now can see the future and what Faroole & son will do? Yet the President of Puntland Stated clearly that he Oil belongs to all the people and no Somali will be left out.

What Puntland does with it's Oil is none of your secessionist business.