Each year, the District 10 Como Community Council recognizes three deserving neighbors who have shown a sustained commitment to making the Como Park neighborhood a better place with a place on the City of St. Paul’s Neighborhood Honor Roll.
Honor Roll recipients will be recognized by Mayor Chris Coleman at a citywide event to be held on Friday, Jan. 31. This year’s Honor Roll recipients and a description of their activities are listed below:
Hubert Humphrey Job Corps Center
For more than 30 years, the Hubert H. Humphrey Job Corps Center has been a part of the Como Park neighborhood. Unlike many large institutions that just happen to be located in a neighborhood, the center and its students have become an important part of the fabric of our neighborhood.
Each year, dozens of Job Corps students donate hundreds of volunteer hours to projects right here in the neighborhood. From being a large part of the muscle that built the new Chelsea Heights school playground (in the snow!) to setting up and taking down tables and tents for Como Fest, from Zoo Boo at Como Regional Park to the annual Neighborhood Cleanup, young people proudly wearing the bright yellow “Job Corps Volunteer” T-shirts are an important part of many neighborhood events.
Without their volunteer commitment, many of these events would not be possible.
Chris Harkness
In the past, Chris Harkness has served as chair of the Land Use Committee, during which time she supervised the work of the Lexington-Larpenteur ad hoc committee. In this capacity, she effectively handled several contentious community discussions between neighbors and commercial development interests.
She has been the chair of the District Plan Revision ad hoc committee for the past few years. In that capacity she has hosted several events, which were designed to garner the input of the community. She is now overseeing the drafting of the District Plan. Concurrently, she was elected as vice chair of the Community Council, where she competently serves on the executive committee, overseeing the work of the board.
In addition to these official duties, Harkness regularly participates in other community events just because she is interested in making this neighborhood a wonderful place to live. Harkness achieves this with a quiet grace and impressive organizational skills. She has tirelessly worked to make the neighborhood a better place to live, work and play.
Pete Bolstad
Pete Bolstad is a dedicated member of the Como Park community: a youth soccer coach, volunteer for the Bike Rodeo and other community building events, and District 10 board member.
Bolstad has served on the council’s Neighborhood Relations and Safety committees and on the Como Regional Park Advisory Committee. As the district faced the challenge of expanding to represent the South Como neighborhood, Bolstad helped guide an inclusive process that adjusted subdistrict boundaries and revised bylaws to provide fair representation while maintaining a proven framework for successful governance.
