NoMi Homie Gang Rules These Parts

NoMi Homie Gang

North Minneapolis goes by its own rules and if you ain't a member of the NoMi Homie Gang... Why, you best keep-on passin' thru or there's gonna be trouble!
"What kind of trouble" ye ask?
Y'all ain't seen nuthin' yet. 'Ole Johnny Northside and his faithful dog, Megs plan on openin' up a can of whoop-ass and his pals Linda & Don ain't gonna say a thang!

Now you best get outta town!

Minneapolis City Council Votes to Cut Hawthorne Neighborhood Funding & Jeff Skrenes

Jeff Skrenes aka Hawthorne Hawkman

Jeff Skrenes aka the Hawthorne Hawkman, is facing the unemployment line. The Minneapolis City Council voted this week to cut neighborhood funding and that includes the Hawthorne Housing Director… Jeff Skrenes.


The cuts included giving pink slips to fire fighters and police officers but, three council members voted against the cuts. Surely Barb Johnson and Don Samuels who represent North Minneapolis voted against the cuts… Right?

Nope.

Barb & Don ignored the pleas of Jeff Skywalker and voted to make neighborhood funding go away. Jeff has been one of Samuels’ biggest supporters during his tenure so, it will be entertaining to watch the public display of displeasure Jeff and his pal, Johnny Northside unleash onto Samuels and the rest of the council now that they have effectively shown Jeff how much they appreciate his efforts to collect phone books, call 911, call 311 and blog continuously (even on company time) about the shit-hole they live in.



Don Samuels

Ain’t politics great!

Barb Johnson

Northside and Skrenes will never get the big picture. Its politics and their role is to get their buddies re-elected and when push comes to shove… People like Jeff Skrenes are insignificant and this week the city council (Samuels and Johnson to be exact) proved it.



Hypocrite Hoff At It Again!



John Hoff - America's # 1 Hypocrite

 'Ol Johnny Northside aka John Hoff, is back to his 2-faced ways again in Minneapolis. Recently John begged the judge presiding over the civil case Jerry Moore filed against him to delay the start of the trial. Yet, John spent the better part of two days sitting in a courtroom in support of his equity skimming pal, councilman Don Samuels. Samuels was in court as a result of a lawsuit filed by former Mayoral candidate, Al Flowers. John Hoff's blog, has been posting up a storm about Al Flowers in recent days and the latest post Click Here on the blog is nothing more than John taking another shot at someone (Flowers) who is against him or one of his pals (Samuels).

I have previously posted about the time when John lived in Seattle and was cited for sitting on a sidewalk during a time that was not allowed.
Did John not know about the no-sitting ordinance and his timing simply unlucky when he got the ticket? Hardly. Make no mistake about it, follks... John "the hypocrite" Hoff, knew full well about the ordinance (See text below in red) and was there to stir up trouble and after he was ticketed he wasted the courts time by appealing the lower courts ruling to the Washington State Court of Appeals. For SITTING ON A SIDEWALK!

Allow me to provide the readers with proof of John's frivolous court battle on the matter... Here is the link to see for yourself: http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19970603&slug=2542653
_________________________________________
June 3, 1997
Puget Sound Newswatch

Seattle's Sidewalk Ordinance Upheld

SEATTLE - The state Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of Seattle's sidewalk ordinance yesterday.

Sarah McConahy, a formerly homeless youth, and John Hoff, an advocate for Seattle's homeless, were cited in 1994 for sitting on the sidewalk in the University District. McConahy was sitting with friends, eating and sometimes panhandling, and wearing a button that said: "Sitting is not a crime." Hoff was sitting reading a book with leaflets in his lap advertising a protest against the ordinance.

The two had separate municipal court trials. Each was found to have violated the sidewalk ordinance.
McConahy and Hoff joined together to appeal the decision, alleging that the ordinance violated the state constitution, including their rights to free speech and due process.

The 1994 ordinance bans sitting or lying on public sidewalks in commercial areas from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
______________________________________________

Lets recap!

John bashes Al Flowers for filing frivolous lawsuits and proceeds to bash him in public on his Blog YET, John decided that an ordinance was stupid and goes and gets himself a ticket so he can make himself an attention whore in the press while he tries to prove the law itself was stupid.
Did anyone notice that John didn't make his case about the law to those who made the law rather, John violated the law on purpose so he could exploit the law AND get his name in the paper!

Pffttt! John Hoff himself is frivolous!

NoMi "Crack-tivist" Megan Goodmundson Feels Harassed & Includes Family

Earlier tonight I was writing the previous post and decided to send Megan Goodmundson a text message. In fact, it was the first time I had EVER tried any contact with her outside of her own crappy blog. That means I have never emailed her, called her or anything other than commented on her blog (none of those comments were ever approved though surprise surprise).

Megan didn't respond well to my text message and fired back a few of her own, even after she said she would not respond again. She responded again. And again.
In the letter that Megan sent to various politicians she stated she would "share" her disgust with neighbors if the politicians did not reply to her. Then she said she will "share" her disgust even if they don't. Translation: "I am going to bash you no matter what you say."

Megan and "Super-Stiff" boyfriend, John Hoff think nothing of other people's privacy and have proven such by posting personal emails on their blogs and have threatened people who have spoken out against them on thier own blogs as well as countless others run by neighborhood chums.
With that in mind, I decided to "Share" the petty shit (yes, I consider what she said to me to be shit) Megan said to me in the text message exchange earlier.

"Super-Citizen" revitalizer of NoMi or just a whacked out "Crack-tivist?" You decide.....
-------------------------------------------

Aug 21, 2010 8:39PM
From Jim TO Megan
“Hi Megs! Why bother commenting via ur blog when mpls gave me ur number & I can just text u!
Tune into Johnnynorthside.net tonight for a megan special report!”

Aug 21, 2010 8:58PM
FROM Megan to Jim
“Let me be very clear: Do not ever call or text me ever again. Do not call my house. Do not call any of my family members. Any future contact from you will be considered harassment and I will persue legal remedy. Do not reply. I am of course documenting this brief exchange.”

Aug 21, 2010 9:00PM
From Jim TO Megan
“You go right ahead megan. This is not harassment at all. Your number is of public record supplied by the city. I also did not threaten you at all. So go ahead.”

Aug 21, 2010 9:02PM
FROM Megan to Jim
“One more time: I’m telling you do not contact me or my family at all. Its not about public record or not. Its that I’m telling you I feel harassed and I’m telling you to stop. Do not reply. I will not reply again. Stop harassing me.”

Aug 21, 2010 9:04PM
From Jim TO Megan
“Whatever. I hope you do pursue this so, u will be laughed at when claiming you are being harassed. Maybe tell me a 3rd time? They will tell u to ignore me. Bye!”

Aug 21, 2010 9:05PM
FROM Megan to Jim
“You are sick. Third time do not call me or text me or any of my family members.”
---------------------------------------------------------

Entertaining stuff, huh folks? I thought it was interesting that she felt the need to "warn" me to not contact any of her family members in EVERY message she sent me. Not only have I never contacted any of her family, I don't even KNOW who anyone in her family IS outside of her parents. Me thinks Megs is a wee bit paranoid about her family finding out what a piece of fluff she really is.

(Anti-Johnny Note: Megans boyfriend, Johnny Northside made good on a threat to send threatening letters to my friends who are in a Duluth Federal Prison Camp. AND John sent letters to the prison administration in a feeble attempt to make life on my friends more difficult. Oh, John told me that it was his intention to make my friend's family hate me. As readers know, I have never pulled the sort of sadistic crap that John Hoff has with the intention of truly hurting people. Yet, Megs was adamant that I not contact her family. Ooo K!)

Lastly, there is a new blog out there that is devoted to... Me! You readers can Google around and find it but, it is set up so no one can figure out who is involved with it or owns it. Funny thing happened tonight though... The post (lone that is) has information about me contacting Megan by text messaging yet, I have only sent her mssgs ONCE... Earlier tonight!
I think it is pretty clear that John and/or Megan Goodmundson are responsible for that hate blog or else it would be pretty difficult for the post author to know about those messages since I had not posted either this or the last post online at that point.

It is funny though. Megan and all the northside haters comment all over the net that I and the JHG must be bored to keep after them like this for us to waste as much time as we do to with our anti-activist blogs. HAHAHA But, as I and others have said before... That group of slugs that claim they are revitalizers, have the mind set of "Do as I say! NOT as I do!"

Crack-tivist!

Hawthorne Community Council Powerless Against Cowboy Board Member & Housing Director

Leader of the Hawthorne Utopia, Hoff

Parody of Hoff as Dictator, Putin

Hoff with Minneapolis city councilman, Don Samuels

How can the members of a community council allow a fellow board member and their housing director to bad mouth residents, community leaders, community investors, business owners and even renters that live, work and play in their own neighborhood?
No one seems to know the answer to the question but, that doesn't stop John Hoff (board member) and Jeff Skrenes (housing director) from publicly attacking anyone they choose to by publishing their opionions on the blog, The Adventures of Johnny Northside.com.
Hoff, the owner of the blog does not seem to care if what he writes about people is true or what effects his words might have against those people. Jeff Skrenes is the housing director for the Hawthorne neighborhood and is employed by the community council. He is a regular contributor to the blog and his personal friendship with Hoff is no secret to anyone.

People who live in Hawthorne and do business there are taking notice of how John and Jeff seem to pick targets out of thin air and proceed to put their names, pictures of them and all sorts of opinions about them on the blog. John and Jeff aren't the only "cowboy bullies" that end up attacking people in Hawthorne. Once their opinions have been posted to the blog then the readers submit their comments as well. A lawsuit was filed last year against John Hoff after John slammed him on the site and encouraged readers to contact his employer. The person claims that he was fired as a result of Hoff posting un-true information about him on his website and several commenters jumped on the Hoff Hate Train and were named in the suit (anonymous).

Here is a partial list of acts against people in Hawthorne by Hoff and Skrenes:

Constant calls to 311 and 911 to report car repairs, loitering, removing trash from a house, over-grown lawns, houses & buildings painted with colors they don't like, signs in yards & on poles and the list goes on.
Landlords of houses in Hawthorne are constant targets and are referred to as "Slumlords." It makes no difference if they are landlords who follow the rules or not. Several months back, John launched a crusade against Level 3 Sex Offenders by publishing the names, pictures and addresses of as many L3SO's he could find. Those who challenged him by saying he was going too far... Yep, you guessed it. John simply attacked them by putting their names on the site and stated that they were supporters of L3SO's. Imagine what damage that could have on someone if they were fired because their employers saw what John wrote?
John recently accused someone of murder and plastered his name all over the Internet for weeks while the person was wanted on other non-related charges, John actually claimed he believed the person was responsible for the death of a Hawthorne resident. As of today, they have not been charged with anything regarding that murder.

Recently, there have been many concerned residents and business owners within the Hawthorne neighborhood with the conduct of the two "community leaders." What they are doing is installing the fear of God in people. I compare their actions to those of a Communist dictator where they rule with fear. Their approach to their targets and others in the neighborhood is, "Do as we say, not as we do and God help you if  you cross us."
How can they get away with such behavior against people in their own neighborhood? Can you imagine how intimidating it would be if your name was plastered all over the Internet in association with things that were not true? The Hawthorne Community Council is the governing body who are there to look out for the best interests of the neighborhood yet, one of the board members and the housing director takes matters into their own hands while the rest of the board members say and do nothing.
To make matters worse, John has not paid his property taxes since he bought his house in 2008. He recently had a restraining order filed against him by someone he rented a room in his house to and he is scheduled to be in court next week as the custody/child support case his ex-wife filed against him continues.
That is why I see him as a "cowboy" who is a authority figure in the neighborhood yet, he consistently breaks the rules that everyone else has to follow. The ironic part is that John see's nothing wrong with attacking people and accusing them of things he is guilty of himself.

Victims of the Bully Blog are constantly reminded that they have few options of who to turn to for help as John and Jeff routinely publish posts about Minneapolis city council members, Police of the 4th precinct, Mayor R.T. Rybak as well as other neighborhood association authorities... ALL of whom are friends with John and Jeff! Got a gripe with John Hoff? Go to the community council to report him. Wait, he is a board member. Ok, go to the police. Wait, John is buddies with all of them. So, go to the city council and complain. Sorry, that will only piss them off when councilman Samuels tells them that someone complained about them. Next thing the victim knows is their name is being bashed even harder and city inspectors are starting to show up at their houses and rental properties and place of business and  slapping them with any number of violations and fines.

I don't know how the community council can sit back and do nothing as they watch the constant attacks take place at the hands of their fellow board member and housing director is beyond me! You would think that any other governing board would simply fire a housing director who bullies people like that because, the housing director is not elected. Jeff Skrenes was hired and a lot of people in the area think he should be fired.
What about John Hoff? He was elected to the board so, he can't be fired like Jeff. This is not the first time John has been a political board member though. John was a member of the Grand Forks city council in North Dakota less than 10 years ago. His behavior was not appreciated by fellow board members or residents of Grand Forks. He was so out of control that a special recall election was held just months after being elected and he was removed from office.

There is some good news I am able to offer the good people of the Hawthorne neighborhood who have been targets of the Bully Bloggers.
In recent months, I have been contacted by many who have faced John & Jeff's wrath and we have all been working together to do what we can to alert people of the damage they have been causing and providing information about them so others can defend themselves when they become targets.
We are a tight group of people and we protect each other and those who contact us by not repeating what they tell us in public (unless permission is given) and keeping their names confidential.

I hope the good people in the Hawthorne neighborhood see this and realize how out of control John and Jeff are and decide to stand up and do their part in keeping their neighborhood from becoming an "Urban Utopia" where people are constantly in fear.
Please feel free to contact me by email and I look forward to continuing to do my part with reporting the antics and bullying of John Hoff and Jeff Skrenes.

Email address: AntiJNS@gmail.com

Anti-JNS Exclusive! Up Close & Personal With Johnny Northside's House!

I know the "Exclusive" in the title is really lame but, the point of this blog is to get the inside scoop on all the less-than-legal antics of Johnny Northside aka John Hoffman aka John Willard Hoff who lives at 2226 Bryant Ave. N. in Minneapolis.
A resident of NoMi who is not a fan of Johnny Northside was kind enough to email a few close-up pictures of John's house. I think it is great that people are starting to pay close attention to what he is up to or in some cases, NOT up to. Like... Not fixing his house as he agreed to do when he signed his Truth In Housing when he bought his house. NEWS FLASH!!! John has STILL not paid his 2008 OR 2009 property taxes. Isn't that typical John though? He will pound his chest on his blog and complain about "Tax Payers" in NoMi who have rights against L3SO's and all sorts of other crap he wants to attack and here the ENTIRE TIME, John has NOT PAID his own property taxes. That includes the County, the City of Minneapolis, Minneapolis schools taxes, etc..

He is a real class act. Too bad he can't afford to have simple luxuries like owning a lawn mower so, he doesn't have to ride on the bumper of his "Super-Citizen", mortgage fraudster and fellow Truth in Housing offender of a girlfriend, Megan Goodmundson's car while he literally drags her lawn mower over to his own house to cut his wild weed of a lawn.

Enjoy the nice pictures of his house and I am really happy to welcome all the "Anti-Johnny" northsiders to our growing group of members. Don Samuels, Jeff Skrenes aka Hawthorne Hawkman, Megan and other faithful JNS groupies are losing support quickly now that the MisAdventures of Johnny Northside blog has increased the amount of information about his group that the public doesn't like to hear about (taxes, crappy house, restraining order, etc.).

Johnny Northside Dumpster Dives to Humiliate Politicians

I am re-posting the following information that was previously posted on this site in 2008 as I think everyone in NoMi and beyond would like to see it. Maybe now even the most devoted Johnny lovers can connect the dots and see the patterns. I wonder what Don Samuels thinks of John diving for information to "humiliate politicians?"

This is one of the books that was written by John Hoffman AKA John Hoff AKA Johnny Northside. The publisher had the following comments listed on their site to describe the book.

Maybe after some of you see this, you will be happy he doesn't live by you right now lol.
My editorial comments are seen below in blue text.
___________________________________

Publisher Comments:
It's been 10 years since the publication of John Hoffman's cult classic of urban scavenging, The Art and Science of Dumpster Diving. Now the Garbage Guru is back with an advanced course in the unconventional economics of exploring the trash for fun and profit.

Just some of the lessons you will learn include:

the key secret to dealing with locked dumpsters; (Hey, writing about breaking into something that others wanted to keep people like Johnny, out. Good example though.)
how to dive for information and use it to humiliate corporations, politicians and other evil-doers;
(Oh my! In other words...Stay on his good side or face the 800 pound gorilla!

the unusual profitability of diving for movie and celebrity castoffs;
(It seems to have paid off big.... BWAHAHAHA. Well, he DOES say he DRIVES a Celebrity. Nice car.)

the BIG-bucks potential of industrial diving, including the top 10 most lucrative places to do it;
(I am guessing that N Minneapolis was not on that list?)
how to sell your dumpster-dived wares through the flea market of the 21st century - eBay;

how to parlay dumpster diving consciousness into finding cheap property, supporting radical causes, even landing political office; and much more!

(I don't think any dumpsters led to cheap properties on the northside. I doubt the book also covers how to be removed from political office. How does it support a radical cause? Other than Johnny Northside himself?)

Johnny Northside Should be Charged with "Obstruction of Legal Process"

John Hoff aka Johnny Northside, has been on a tear in recent weeks. John and his blog, The Adventures of Johnny Northside has been named in a civil complaint that was filed by an individual who is listed as a Level 3 Registered Sex Offender.
The blog has been publishing the home addresses of the sex offenders in north Minneapolis as well as the home address of the property owners who allegedly rent the houses to the offenders. John has called these landlords the "slum of the slumlords."

Last week John managed to avoid two Sheriff's deputies who were sent to serve him legal papers. John has since bragged about his vanishing act in public on his blog as well as other websites.
His "super-citizen" girlfriend, Megan Goodmundson also played a part with helping John avoid being served by confronting the deputies and telling them that John would not come out to where they were waiting. John was attending a hearing held by the city council for the re-appointment of the Chief of Police.

John Hoff abused his so-called, media stauts to persuade a Mayor's aide to allow John to use another exit which would allow him to avoid being served. He lied to the aide about why he wanted to enter into the council member chambers. He has stated he wanted to speak with certain council members when his intention was to obstruct the legal process by not allowing Sheriff deputies to serve him.

Here is the link to the Minnesota statute for Obstruction of Legal Process:
MN Statute

My question is simple...
WHY is Don Samuels, Mayor Rybak, various police personelle, County employee's and many others tolerating this type of behavior from a "trash-talking" blogger who also happens to be delinquent with his property taxes for 2008 and 2009? Not to mention the unfinished code work for his house located at 2226 Bryant Ave North.
Why hasn't anyone or any agency held John Hoff accountable (as well as his girlfriend, Megan Goodmundson) for Obstruction of Legal Process?

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=609.50

Note to Mayor Rybak, Council Members Samuels & Hofstede: Look Who Is Really Kissing Your Ass

This blog has never been shy to bring attention to information about Johnny Northside to the public. Johnny keeps on blogging away while kissing major ass to those listed in the title of this post.

I invite you to read other posts on this blog so you can see who Johnny Northside a.k.a. John Hoff really is. Be sure to get a good look at the pictures of him as well because, it is obvious you may not know what he looks like since he is always behind you, kissing your ass.

After reading this, have a look at what others have to say...

misadventures-of-johnny-northside-judge-not-lest-ye-be-judged&catid=34:local-news&Itemid=103

When Will Minneapolis People Wise Up To John Hoff a.k.a. Johnny Northside?

This blog is now over one year old and there is no plans to go away. Past posts have listed links, info, court records, pictures, audio and direct quotes of John Hoff. All of them paint a picture of a selfish, egotistical, defiant person who shows a blatant disregard for anything or anyone that conflicts with his opinions.
Anyone who challenges him face public scrutiny and often times, humiliation if John can find any information on the person as he exploits them online. He claims it is his right under the Constitution to do so.

His blog has made him a local celebrity in north Minneapolis (NoMi) and all it has done is driven him to push the limits of what he can get away with.
Recently, he crawled across a frozen lake to take pictures of Jon Helgason's house of TJ Waconia. He claimed it was his house even though the tax records show it is owned by an LLC. Neighbors witnessed him snooping around the house and notified the owner. (Check back soon for a full post dedicated to this topic.)
The MisAdventures of Johnny Northside blog will be posting pictures of John's house in north Minneapolis to see how he likes the public knowing where he lives. Oh, the address is: 2226 Bryant Ave. N. in Minneapolis. (Source: City of Appleton, MN.)
John continually posts articles on his blog without verifying the validity or accuracy of his opinions or statements he claims are fact.
Have a look at what was written just days ago about him disrupting a recent hearing about an unsecured house in the neighborhood...

"Other community members used harsher language. John Hoff, (otherwise known as Johnny Northside) was at first asked to leave the meeting for videotaping, but he ignored that request. Later, Hoff spoke , and said that people were telling "big fat lies." Hoff called for a criminal report. "The corbels were smashed!" Hoff said. "Pauline's trunk was smashed." After pronouncing a swear word, Hoff was again asked to leave, and this time he did, shouting "Pauline's House will be a rallying cry for preservationists everywhere!""
(Source: TCDailyPlanet.net) Click here to read the full article... http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2009/12/30/fjelde-house-gone-still-protected

Another website had a post from Jeff Skrenes who is the Hawthorne Neighborhood Housing Director and call himself the "Hawthorne Hawkman. Jeff is a personal friend of Hoff and is able to post articles on Hoff's blog, The Adventures of Johnny Northside.
Here is part of what Jeff posted on the matter.

"But it was John Hoff who made statements and was asked to leave.
I pretty much agreed with his statements, for the record, and my only issue was
that he blurred the line between himself as a media source and an activist."

The reason the last sentence was highlighted is because, John Hoff is currently being sued for comments made on his blog about an individual who was fired after Hoff slammed him on his blog. Hoff stands behind opinion that it is freedom of the press and therefore he can say what he wishes.

Make no mistake about John Hoff, better known as Johnny Northside. He is no journalist. John is nothing more than a trash talking, self serving extremist and activist. Check out some of his quotes on the net from one of his TWO books he authored on the topic of Dumpster Diving (Note: Published under his pen name of John Hoffman).
If I was a member of the Minneapolis City Council such as Don Samuels (whom Hoff boasts as his "friend"), I would do a little more research into the background of John Hoff.

John commented in a video clip in the trailer for the upcoming documentary movie, Johnny Northside Movie, that his father told him to stay close to his son. That advice has taken John to live in Seattle, Washington, Grand Forks, North Dakota and to his current home of Minneapolis. I wish John's ex-wife (Tina) would relocate again. It would be interesting to see if John could give up his celebrity status by moving to stay close to his son.
The people of Minneapolis would only be so lucky.

John Hoff v. City of Seattle: Minneapolis is next

Some readers think I spend too much time looking for negative information about John Hoff a.k.a. Johnny Northside of North Minneapolis. They are right but, I continue to find cases like the one posted below where John does something stupid and rather than either learn from it or take responsibility, he sues whoever holds him to the fire and plays the "victim" and in this case, he claimed his rights were violated again. Click here for the other law suit against the city of Seattle... more-dirt-on-john-hoff-uncovered
Folks let me remind all of you that Minneapolis councilman, Don Samuels is a good friend of John's.
_______________________________

Brutal police behavior was recorded on video


Tukwila officer investigated; complaints, claims filed
Thursday, December 9, 1999

By KIMBERLY A.C. WILSON and ELAINE PORTERFIELD
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER ...


"In the claim against the city, John Hoff of Seattle is seeking unspecified damages for being gassed at least twice by police, and hit at least once by a projectile during WTO protests. Hoff also claimed violations of his state and federal rights."

Johnny Northside Takes a Seat... To High Court!

Minneapolis City Councilman Don Samuels, may want to know what kind of ultra-liberal, nut-case he has in John Hoff and him kissing his ass all over the Internet and on his blog, The Adventures of Johnny Northside. Posted below is a copy of the court ruling in the case of the City of Seattle v. Hoff. It is just a matter of time before John gets irked at the city council and goes to court over something so stupid as the case below.
At least I don't have to worry about John Hoff of North Minneapolis, pulling a double standard on me like Don Samuels does.
_________________________

“SEATTLE SITTING ORDINANCE” UPHELD AGAINST CONSTITUTIONAL ATTACK -- In City of Seattle v. McConahy, City of Seattle v. Hoff, 86 Wn. App. 557 (Div. I, 1997), the Court of Appeals upholds the constitutionality of the “Seattle sitting ordinance.” Under that ordinance, it is a civil infraction for any person to sit or lie on the sidewalk in downtown Seattle and other neighborhood commercial zones between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. except in an emergency, or if he or she is in a wheelchair or on a bench or in a bus zone or patronizing a commercial establishment or attending a permitted event.


The facts in the two cases on review are described by the Court of Appeals as follows:

McConahy was cited while sitting on a street bulb with a group of friends, eating pizza, watching her friends play chess for change, and sometimes panhandling. Police officers approached the group and informed them that they were violating the ordinance. Her friends stood, but McConahy remained seated protesting the ordinance. McConahy wore an army jacket decorated with an American flag and a slogan that said, "Fuck your American dream." She also wore a button that said, "Sitting is not a crime." Hoff was cited while sitting reading a book and leaning against a building with leaflets advertising a protest against the ordinance in his lap. They had separate trials in municipal court. The Hoff court heard testimony and allowed extensive argument on his constitutional claims, and the McConahy court accepted much of this record. Both courts found that the defendants violated the ordinance and rejected their free expression and substantive due process claims.

The Court of Appeals rejects the defendants’ varied constitutional challenges to the sitting ordinance. However, the Court of Appeals warns that its ruling in this case is limited:
While we decline to invalidate the ordinance in this case, we wish to make clear what we are not deciding. First, we express no opinion about whether the ordinance is or is not good social policy. We hold only that the ordinance is constitutionally valid legislation. SMC 15.48.040 is quintessential legislative policy making, and we will not disturb the policy decisions made by legislative bodies unless they are unconstitutional or conflict with state law. We also hold that the City did not violate appellants' right to free expression because Hoff and McConahy were not involved in expressive activity when they were cited. But we do not decide whether, on different facts involving a protected activity or speech, SMC 15.48.040 would be a valid time, place, manner restriction. We also do not decide whether homeless residents could establish the requisite disparate impact to invoke the protection of the Privileges and Immunities Clause because these appellants have not done so.
Result: Affirmance of Seattle Municipal Court convictions for Sarah McConahy and John Hoff under sitting ordinance.

Johnny Northside Takes Aim at Multiple Property Owners

Note: This picture is a parody and is not to be taken literally.

This post is in response to the post on the JNS site titled, Gregge Johnson Rental Licenses Revoked. Click here to read that post. Gregge Johnson Rental Licenses Revoked

Another post Johnny Northside had put on his blog was about a property owner who should be on the radar of city officials. Click here for that post. Paul Bertelson
The comments that were made on that post were interesting. Someone posed the question of, "what percentage of multi-property owners have some sort of code violation or 311 report or something against at least one of their properties?"
What appears to be going on in North Minneapolis is that the city takes aim at individuals who own multiple properties and pull their right to use them as a rental property. Essentially that either forces the owner to sell or they lose the houses to foreclosure as they obviously can't keep paying the mortgages when they lose the ability to collect rental income.

This is actually scary when the city has the power to strip a person of their right to make money by pulling their rental licenses and thus, forcing the house to become vacant. That is EXACTLY what the city has been complaining about and attributes the increase in crime to. This sounds like the city operates as a Dictator would. The problem is, we are talking about an area that is mostly one hundred years old, give or take a few years. Things DO wear out.

Now the city, mainly Johnny's pal Don Samuels, has Johnny Northside in his hip pocket to do his dirty work for him by putting all of this information about multiple property owners on the Internet for all to see. Johnny would be quick to point out that he has not accused anyone of anything as he has merely made the public aware of these individuals. In other words, John Hoff is outing people on his blog and causing them increased hardship and I would go so far as to say that he is personally affecting their right as an American to pursue the American Dream.

It may have started out as a dream for these unfortunate property owners but, thanks to people like Barb Johnson, Don Samuels and John Hoff... The dream is quickly turning into a nightmare.

TJ Waconia: Minneapolis City Council paid HOW MUCH???

The City Settled Again for HOW MUCH??

The City of Minneapolis held a big press conference to announce a civil suit by going after TJ Waconia and then announce that they won! They told the public that they gained control of TJ Waconia's properties but... OOPS! TJ Waconia no longer owned those properties. SunTrust Mortgage owned them and the city failed to notify them of their lawsuit that they claim to have won. OOPS!
Enter SunTrust Mortgage.
Judge rules in favor of SunTrust but, the city didn't bother to tell the public. Why should they? They didn't bother to tell SunTrust about the lawsuit.
Finally, the city settles with SunTrust. The city buys a bunch of properties owned by SunTrust at a whopping 10% discount!
So... The city screws up. The city ends up buying SunTrusts' bad debt and neglects to tell the public!

Oooh! This hurts all the way around!

The Minneapolis City Council had their case against TJ Waconia dismissed but, it sure cost the tax-payers... A LOT!

HOW much did that lawsuit and settlement (yes, settlement) cost the citizens of Minneapolis? We are still adding up all the "sale prices" the city paid SunTrust Mortgage in the wake of the TJ Waconia fiasco.
Looks like Don Samuels, Barbara Johnson and Mayor R.T. Rybak will have the voters to answer to this time! As R.T. said last year at the press conference that announced the city's suit against TJ Waconia (that was DISMISSED), "This time its personal."

You bet it is!

Now... HOW MUCH did the city pay SunTrust Mortgage to settle???
Stay tuned because, it is A LOT!

Trumped Up Lawsuit: City of Minneapolis, Folwell, McKinley & Webber-Camden VS. T.J. Waconia... DISMISSED

Bogus Lawsuit Against TJ Waconia: DISMISSED!

Don Samuels - Minneapolis City Council

As a defender of TJ Waconia and knowing first-hand that the entire case was nothing more than a cruel stunt by the Minneapolis City Council (Barbara Johnson and Don Samuels) to grandstand on the publicity that was focused on TJ Waconia. The civil suit made the headlines and even Mayor R.T. Rybak got his share of publicity from the deal. They claimed they won when they gained control of the 160 TJ Waconia properties and were hard at work with the houses. The only problem is, TJ Waconia no longer owned those properties. SunTrust Mortgage did and they were not happy about NOT BEING NOTIFIED of the BS lawsuit the city had filed against TJ Waconia. The city's attorneys never bothered to do a proper title search on those houses because, that would simply cost too much money. Instead, they utilized the out-dated Hennepin County website that had not updated the database to say that TJ Waconia no longer owned the houses.
OOOPS!
How much money did THAT cost the taxpayers?

Any member of the media or candidates running for City Council or Mayor of Minneapolis, I offer you the following:
I have copies of the intervention SunTrust Mortgage filed against the City of Minneapolis which clearly details (.pdf file format) how the laywers for the Plaintiffs acted and proceeded without doing proper research and the result of which has cost the taxpayers of Minneapolis hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.
I am happy to share all documents and files related to this case with you. All documents were sent to me by one of the principal owners of TJ Waconia.
You my contact me at: thedfwmentor@aol.com (Jim Watkins)
Note: Minneapolis StarTribune writer Steve Brandt was contacted about this and was also told about how Minneapolis City Council President, Barbara Johnson perjured herself at the federal sentencing hearing. Mr. Brandt declined to pursue this story. Because of this refusal to report such neglect and mis-use of funds by the city council, I will not release any information or documents to the Minneapolis StarTribune.

_________________________________________

Here is the Register of Actions with the dismissed case.
Source: http://pa.courts.state.mn.us/

Register of ActionsCase No. 27-CV-08-7880City of Minneapolis; Family Housing Fund; Greater Metropolitan Housing Corporation; Folwell Neighborhood Association; McKinley Community; Webber-Camden Neighborhood Association; Joel Breeggemann; and Elandria Gilchrist vs TJ Waconia LLC; Thomas Balko; Jon Helgason; TJ Holdings LLC; Total Title LLC; Absolute Appraisal LLC; and CityWide Management LLC
Case Type: Civil Other/Misc.
Date Filed: 04/02/2008
Location: - Hennepin Civil
Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A.

Related Case InformationRelated Cases
27-CV-HC-08-2728 (Companion Case)

Party Information Lead Attorneys

Defendant Absolute Appraisal LLC
Rogers, MN 55374
SKOLNICK, WILLIAM RESS          Retained

Defendant Balko, Thomas
Duluth, MN 55184
SKOLNICK, WILLIAM RESS          Retained

Defendant CityWide Management LLC
Roseville, MN 55113
SKOLNICK, WILLIAM RESS          Retained
Defendant Helgason, Jon
Chisago City, MN 55013
SKOLNICK, WILLIAM RESS          Retained

Defendant TJ Holdings LLC
Roseville, MN 55113
SKOLNICK, WILLIAM RESS          Retained

Defendant TJ Waconia LLC
Roseville, MN 55113
SKOLNICK, WILLIAM RESS          Retained

Defendant Total Title LLC
Roseville, MN 55113
SKOLNICK, WILLIAM RESS          Retained

Intervenor SunTrust Mortgage Inc
PRATTE, ROBERT J                       Retained


Plaintiff Breeggemann, Joel
YEAGER, MARY CULLEN               Retained

Plaintiff City of Minneapolis
Minnepaolis, MN 55402
GINDER, PETER W                         Retained

Plaintiff FAMILY HOUSING FUND
YEAGER, MARY CULLEN               Retained

Plaintiff Folwell Neighborhood Association
YEAGER, MARY CULLEN               Retained

Plaintiff Gilchrist, Elandria
YEAGER, MARY CULLEN                Retained

Plaintiff GREATER METROPOLITAN HOUSING CORPORATION
YEAGER, MARY CULLEN                Retained

Plaintiff McKinley Community
YEAGER, MARY CULLEN                Retained

Plaintiff Webber-Camden Neighborhood Association
YEAGER, MARY CULLEN                Retained

____________________________________________
Events & Orders of the Court DISPOSITIONS


08/20/2009 CANCELED Hearing (8:30 AM) (Judicial Officer Blaeser, Robert A.)

Dismissed


OTHER EVENTS AND HEARINGS

04/02/2008 Summons and Complaint

04/02/2008 Certificate of Representation

04/02/2008 Affidavit-Other

04/02/2008 Other Document

04/02/2008 Other Document

04/07/2008 Notice of Case Assignment (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

04/16/2008 Hearing (10:30 AM) (Judicial Officer Blaeser, Robert A.) Result: Held

04/16/2008 Stipulation

04/16/2008 Order-Other (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

04/17/2008 Stipulation and Order

04/29/2008 Correspondence (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

05/08/2008 Correspondence (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

05/08/2008 Notice of Motion and Motion

05/12/2008 Notice of Motion and Motion

05/12/2008 Memorandum

05/12/2008 Affidavit-Other

05/14/2008 Affidavit-Other

05/15/2008 Hearing (3:30 PM) (Judicial Officer Blaeser, Robert A.) Result: Held

05/16/2008 Motion Hearing (2:00 PM) (Judicial Officer Blaeser, Robert A.) 05/13/2008 Reset by Court to 05/16/2008

05/29/2008 Reset by Court to 05/13/2008

Result: Held

05/16/2008 Other Document

05/16/2008 Affidavit-Other

05/16/2008 Order-Other (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

05/30/2008 Hearing (2:00 PM) (Judicial Officer Blaeser, Robert A.) Result: Held

05/30/2008 Correspondence (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

06/02/2008 Taken Under Advisement (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

06/02/2008 Memorandum

06/12/2008 Fnd of Fact Conclusions of Law; Order for Judg and Judg (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

06/13/2008 Non-Docketed Judgment Entered

06/13/2008 Notice of Entry of Judgment

06/18/2008 Correspondence (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

06/20/2008 Correspondence (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

06/23/2008 Correspondence (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

06/24/2008 Telephone Motion Hearing (8:30 AM) (Judicial Officer Blaeser, Robert A.) Result: Held

06/26/2008 Notice of Motion and Motion

06/30/2008 Order-Other (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

07/07/2008 Memorandum

07/07/2008 Affidavit-Other

07/11/2008 Memorandum

07/11/2008 Notice of Hearing

07/11/2008 Order-Other (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

07/14/2008 Correspondence (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

07/14/2008 Informational Statement

07/14/2008 Agreement

07/15/2008 Affidavit-Other

07/16/2008 Affidavit-Other

07/16/2008 Memorandum

07/16/2008 Affidavit-Other

07/17/2008 Motion Hearing (9:30 AM) (Judicial Officer Blaeser, Robert A.) 07/18/2008 Reset by Court to 07/17/2008

Result: Held

07/17/2008 Affidavit-Other

07/17/2008 Correspondence (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

07/17/2008 Order for Trial (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

07/17/2008 Scheduling Order (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

07/21/2008 Correspondence (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

07/21/2008 Correspondence (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

07/23/2008 Notice of Motion and Affidavit

07/23/2008 Memorandum

07/28/2008 Motion Hearing (10:00 AM) (Judicial Officer Blaeser, Robert A.) Result: Held

07/31/2008 Affidavit-Other

07/31/2008 Notice of Appeal

08/01/2008 Summons

08/01/2008 Complaint-Civil

08/01/2008 Memorandum

08/01/2008 Affidavit-Other

08/04/2008 Correspondence (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

08/04/2008 Affidavit-Other

08/04/2008 Memorandum

08/04/2008 Affidavit-Other

08/05/2008 Taken Under Advisement (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

08/08/2008 CANCELED Hearing (9:00 AM) (Judicial Officer Blaeser, Robert A.)

Other
08/11/2008 Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Order (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

08/12/2008 Notice of Case Filing

08/12/2008 Notice of Case Filing

08/19/2008 CANCELED Hearing (8:30 AM) (Judicial Officer Blaeser, Robert A.)

Other

08/08/2008 Reset by Court to 08/19/2008
08/19/2008 Other Document

08/20/2008 Order-Other (Judicial Officer: Toussaint, Edward, Jr. )

08/22/2008 Transcript

09/11/2008 Notice of Appeal

09/17/2008 Notice of Case Filing

10/29/2008 Stipulation and Order for Dismissal (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

10/29/2008 Notice of Dismissal with Prejudice

10/29/2008 Notice of Entry of Judgment

11/03/2008 Order-Other (Judicial Officer: Toussaint, Edward, Jr. )

12/15/2008 Order-Other (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

01/09/2009 Hearing (1:30 PM) (Judicial Officer Blaeser, Robert A.) Result: Held

01/13/2009 Notice of Motion and Motion

01/13/2009 Other Document

01/14/2009 Hearing (1:45 PM) (Judicial Officer Blaeser, Robert A.) Result: Held

01/15/2009 Order-Other (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

01/26/2009 Scheduling Order (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

02/03/2009 CANCELED Jury Trial (9:00 AM) (Judicial Officer Blaeser, Robert A.)

Other
02/17/2009 Correspondence (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

02/17/2009 Correspondence (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

03/24/2009 Correspondence (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

03/31/2009 Correspondence (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

04/02/2009 Order-Other (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

04/08/2009 Correspondence (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

04/10/2009 Correspondence (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

04/10/2009 Order-Other (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

04/17/2009 Correspondence (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

04/24/2009 Hearing (1:30 PM) (Judicial Officer Blaeser, Robert A.) Result: Held

04/24/2009 Order-Other (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

05/07/2009 Correspondence (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

05/13/2009 Order-Other (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

05/13/2009 Order-Other (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

05/20/2009 Order-Other (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

06/09/2009 Hearing (9:00 AM) (Judicial Officer Blaeser, Robert A.) Result: Held

06/15/2009 Order-Other (Judicial Officer: Blaeser, Robert A. )

06/15/2009 Non-Docketed Judgment Entered

06/15/2009 Notice of Entry of Judgment

08/20/2009 CANCELED Hearing (8:30 AM) (Judicial Officer Blaeser, Robert A.)

Dismissed

Johnny Northside Recorded!

On Monday, September 21, 2009... The Anti-Johnny called John Hoff as he had requested via text message. Johnny Northside had been informed that the Anti-Johnny had contacted Lennie Chism with information about the Minneapolis City Council (Don Samuels and Barbara Johnson) and Johnny Northside that could be of help to his campaign.

While the call lasted nearly 40 minutes, the following 15 minute audio clip was taken out and copied here.
What you will hear is funny, sad, disturbing and... You just need to hear it for yourself. Johnny Northside refers to himself as the "800 pound gorilla" and he voices his rather crude opinions of Lennie Chism, www.mplsmirror.com, Al Flowers, other city council candidates and at one point in the recording, Johnny confirms he supports DFL candidate Don Samuels, even though he is a member of the Green Party.
Johnny also claims that he is a "player" in the north Minneapolis political scene. Here is hoping that attorney Jill Clark hears this audio clip as it might help with the lawsuit she filed for Jerry Moore.

To listen to the 15-minute clip from the phone call, click below.
John Hoff Phone Call

Johnny Northside: Fair and Un-Biased? Hardly

Johnny Northside has been blogging away with defending city council member Don Samuels while claiming to be fair and un-biased.
In addition to John being on a "first name basis" with city inspectors, it's no wonder why he goes out of his way to buddy up to certain city and neighborhood leaders.
John Hoff is a member of Facebook.com and the following individuals have approved John to be added to their "Friends" list on the site:

Bryan Thao Worra - Hawthorne Community
Jeff Skrenes - Hawthorne Housing Director
Don Samuels- Minneapolis City Council Member
And let's not forget...
R.T. Rybak - Mayor, City of Minneapolis

I doubt you will see Johnny Northside saying anything negative about Don Samuels since he is "friends" with him. Oh, the Johnny Northside Blog reports on events that he claims are "newsworthy." Yeah, right.

For your entertainment, read about John and his experience as a city council member in North Dakota. It didn't go too well.
Note the quote where he said, "I am the city council now." Sound familiar?
http://www.seattleweekly.com/2000-08-09/news/leaving-las-seattle/