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It was great seeing some old public health friends this week!
Thank you to Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation for always showing up and fighting the good fight.
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Good news! On Friday, December 15, this year's reconstruction work on Osseo Road (County Road 152) in North Minneapolis will be complete. All lanes will reopen in the work area from just south of Victory Memorial Parkway to just north of the railroad bridge. Once the road reopens, you’ll notice:
• A smoother ride and new road pavement on Osseo Road and the bridge
• Improved and safer sidewalk and trail on both sides of Osseo Road • Upgraded drainage and signals on Osseo Road
• Please note: light pole installation and grass restoration along this section will be completed in spring
In 2024, crews will resume reconstruction. Next year's work will focus on the sections of Osseo Road just north and south of this year's work zone:
• North of the railroad bridge to 49th Avenue North
• Penn Avenue North to 45th Avenue North
Stay tuned in the coming months for more details.
Thank you for your patience as crews update and improve Osseo Road.
For more project information:
For questions about roadwork, email osseoroad@hennepin.us or contact the project manager, Amanda Shotton, at 612-384-8819.
City Council will vote on the 2024 Budget next Tuesday, December 5th. This year, my office brought forward 4 amendments.
Amendment #1 - Railroad Crossing Study
- $200,000 will be appropriated within the Public Works Department to conduct a study on the railroad crossings at Lyndale Ave N, Humboldt Ave N, and 45th Ave N. This will allow the City to pursue infrastructural solutions to excessive blockages.
Amendment #2 - Recruitment & Retention of 911 Operators
- $1,350,000 will be allocated to support 911 recruitment and retention efforts
Amendment #3 - Arts & Cultural Affairs Cultural Districts
- $120,000 of additional funding will be allocated to support festivals, cultural spaces, equity-based programs, creative projects, and relationships with partners/collaborators in Cultural Districts.
Amendment #4 - Interagency Coordinator in the Minneapolis Fire Department
- $118,732 will be allocated to the Minneapolis Fire Department for the position of Interagency Coordinator to serve as a liaison between MFD and other departments and agencies to anticipate and assist in identifying issues where coordination with the Minneapolis Fire Department will be required.
Please join us this Tuesday, December 5th at 6:05 pm in City Council Chambers for the last public hearing before the city council adopts the 2024 budget.
I brought forward a motion that would allocate $15.3 million out of a $19 million state-funded public safety grant to recruit and retain Minneapolis police officers.
Unfortunately, there was not enough support from my colleagues and so it failed.
This is incredibly disappointing since this would have helped repair MPD staffing levels. Officers are leaving the Minneapolis Police Department at a much faster rate than we are able to recruit them. This would have allowed us to keep outgoing police officers for 3 more years.
As a next step, I am committed to finding a way to increase pay for our police officers since MPD's pay is not as competitive for neighboring police departments as it should be.
If you want to schedule a meeting or phone call with me, reach out to Maggie Kohl via email maggie.kohl@minneapolismn.gov or leave a message at 612-673-2204
If you have questions, comments, or concerns please contact Betsy Brock via her email betsy.brock@minneapolismn.gov or cell 612-257-5242
You can also reach me directly at my email latrisha.vetaw@minneapolismn.gov or cell 612-322-1143
A public hearing will take place Dec. 5 for Mayor Frey’s nomination of Margaret Anderson Kelliher as the city operations officer. As city operations officer, Anderson Kelliher would oversee the Office of Public Service and its 17 departments. She would also lead thousands of employees Citywide to ensure high-quality, coordinated services.
Read more about the nomination and role on the City website.
Public hearing during Committee of the Whole meeting 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 5 City Hall, 350 S. Fifth St., Room 317
Learn how to participate in public hearings.
Are you looking to upgrade your windows, or improve your heating and cooling system? Minneapolis homeowners and property owners making energy-saving improvements can apply now for help.
Kosar’s story: From high bills to living in a paradise
Meet Kosar Mohamad, who, after years of high energy bills, went to the City for help weatherizing his home. After getting energy-efficient updates, Kosar describes living in his home as a “paradise.”
Watch Kosar’s story: Transforming Homes and Lives: The Green Cost Share Program in Minneapolis.
Apply now
Take the first step toward a more energy-efficient home, and help reduce climate change.
Visit the City website for more information, and apply for the City’s Green Cost Share programs.
In 2024, the minimum wage across the city of Minneapolis will rise to $15.57. First, on January 1, 2024, larger employers (more than 100 employees) and franchises start paying at least $15.57.
Next, on July 1, 2024, all other employers (100 or fewer employees) reach the same required minimum wage of $15.57. Find more information on the City’s website or email minwage@minneapolismn.gov.
Also in 2024, the State of Minnesota earned sick and safe time law is expanding paid sick leave protection to employees all across the state. It requires paid sick or equivalent leave (just like in Minneapolis) to be provided by all employers (of all sizes) to their employees. For more information, visit the MN Department of Labor and Industry’s website. Investment in people grows businesses and healthier communities.
No cost and risk-free (amnesty) compliance assistance for employers is available by contacting the Civil Rights Department at sicktimeinfo@minneapolismn.gov or through free business legal advice provided by the City’s business technical assistance program.
Celebrate with us Dec. 2 at an art viewing, artist presentation and reception for the completed John Biggers Seed Project. The project created an artistic railing on the Olson Memorial Highway bridge over Interstate 94. The railing includes more than 300 hand-painted, glass enamel panels visible to people both on the bridge and below it on I-94.
John Biggers Seed Project celebration on Dec. 2 2 p.m. Shuttle buses will bring passengers from the Capri Theater to see the artwork. 3-6 p.m. Artist presentations and reception. Tickets are free. Please make a reservation; seating is limited.
Seed honors John Biggers, a major 20th century African American artist. Biggers designed the “Celebration of Life” mural, which was on a nearby sound wall. Many of the artists now involved in the Seed project had painted the mural. The mural and sound wall were destroyed in 2000 for the construction of the Heritage Park housing project. Biggers died in 2002.
Seed is a collaborative design effort of 15 local black artists. Artists Ta-coumba T. Aiken and Seitu Jones lead Seed. The design was developed collectively with artists Mica Lee Anders, Sayge Carroll, Roger Cummings, Patrick Cunningham, Angela Davis, Loretta Day, Christopheraaron Deanes, Adrienne Doyle, Jeremiah Bey Ellison, Jordan Hamilton, Chris Harrison, Esther Osayande and Chris Scott. Willis Bing Davis and Jon Onye Lockard, colleagues of John Biggers, advised on the project. Lockard died in 2015.
Read more about the project on the Facebook event.
Request your free tickets online now. Space is limited.
From the villages of Afghanistan to the City of Minneapolis, Jim Doten’s work could reshape our city’s agricultural and forest future.
Doten, the Health Department’s Carbon Sequestration Program Manager, spent his life trying to improve the food system around the world. Now, he’s using his expertise to bring the benefits of biochar to our city. His dream is a decade in the making.
Biochar is a special type of charcoal produced by heating woodchips (or other organic material) at high temperatures. The process of making biochar turns the wood chips into a long-lasting form of carbon that won’t re-enter the atmosphere.
Learn more about City’s efforts on biochar.
Minneapolis Animal Care & Control hopes an act of kindness will help many animals find their forever families this holiday season. Best Friends Animal Society will cover adoption fees for animals at MACC through New Year’s.
Find more information about adopting animals, volunteering, and supporting Animal Care & Control on the City website.
The City has won a grant to help make walking and biking to school easier. A Bloomberg Asphalt Art grant will help the City improve traffic safety on 21st Avenue South for students attending South High, Folwell Community School and Transition Plus School.
In spring 2024, the artist or artist team will visit schools and develop designs for the asphalt art project with students. Students can also help paint the artwork. The mural will be installed for two years.
Learn more about the South-Folwell Safe Routes to School Project.
The City’s Health Department is partnering with NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center and Live Smoke Free to host a listening session about smoke-free housing Dec. 6.
We want to hear what Minneapolis residents, 18 and older who live in multi-unit housing (such apartments, condos, and townhomes), think about smoking in apartments/units and their opinions about secondhand smoke and smoke-free policies.
Smoke-free housing listening session
5-6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 6 NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center, 1256 Penn Ave. N. Register online or call 612-767-9163.
The City’s Civil Rights Department encourages those who believe they have been discriminated against to file a complaint. Complaints can be made by calling 311, filling out an online form (available in six languages), or in person at the Service Center in the Public Service Building or City Hall, Room 239.
The City’s Civil Rights Department’s Complaint Investigations Division works to prevent and prohibit discrimination in Minneapolis by investigating complaints of discrimination made by members of the public. The division investigates discrimination that occurs within the city limits of Minneapolis in the last year based on a person’s protected class (race, sex, disability, national origin and more) in areas including employment, housing, public accommodation and public services.
Protections include newly enforceable language protecting those with Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers from discrimination in housing. A full list of covered protected classes and areas where the division can investigate can be found under the Minneapolis Civil Rights Ordinance.
Successful mediations in 2023 so far have collected more than $200,000 in monetary damages for victims of discrimination.
Videos
These videos in four languages describe what is covered under the Minneapolis Civil Rights Ordinance, how to file a complaint and what to expect after filing.
Video 1: What is discrimination under the Minneapolis Civil Rights Ordinance?
Video 2: How do I file a Complaint of Discrimination and what happens after I file?
The website also includes information about discrimination complaints, the process of investigating discrimination charges and mediation.
Sign up now for a free two-day training to help make you more confident, prepared and secure in a natural or human-caused disaster.
In Ready Camp, you’ll learn about:
- Making an emergency preparedness kit.
- Emergency alerts.
- Severe weather.
- Planning for medical needs.
- Staying in contact with your family.
- Protecting your pets.
You will also learn ways to store water and emergency food supplies, create first aid and survival kits, make a list of affordable and recommended emergency items, and get examples of equipment and devices that can help in surviving a disaster.
Ready Camp will feature industry experts related to the fields of safety, health and wellness, and emergency preparedness. Food will be provided at no cost.
Plan to join both sessions:
Free two-day Ready Camp 4:45 p.m.-8 p.m. Jan. 23-24. Minneapolis Central Library, 300 Nicollet Mall. Registration opens Dec. 15. Register online.
The City of Minneapolis celebrates 40 years of curbside recycling.
Since 1983, recycling has become easier for Minneapolis customers. The City program evolved from paper and can drives to pickups. Schedules moved from once a month to every other week. Customers began by separating recyclables by material while now all recyclables go into one City-provided cart.
By the end of the year, more than 800,000 tons of paper, cans and bottles will have been recycled through the City’s curbside recycling program. Even with this huge milestone, a lot of recyclable bottles, cans and paper still end up in garbage carts.
Choices make the difference
We would love to see more of those recyclable bottles, cans and paper in the recycling instead. Your choices make the difference every time you decide what to do with recyclables when you’re done with them.
- Recycle these: beverage, food, laundry and bathroom containers and clean papers.
- Flatten all cardboard boxes.
- Leave all containers except boxes in their original three-dimensional shapes. They go through the sorting machines best that way.
- The City’s recycling contractor can recycle plastics numbered 1, 2 and 5. Other numbered plastics – even if they show the recycling symbol – go in the trash.
- Black plastic items have to go in the trash.
Recycling protects the environment by reducing the natural resources we use. It provides local green jobs and supports the economy. Recycling supports 78,000 jobs in Minnesota and adds $23.9 billion a year to Minnesota’s economy.
Check the City website to see if an item is recyclable.
Mayor Jacob Frey has nominated Erik Hansen as director of the City’s Community Planning & Economic Development Department. Hansen has served as its interim director since June. Before that, Hansen worked as the department’s director of Economic Policy & Development for five years and has served 12 years as a principal policy coordinator for the department.
As the City’s director of Economic Policy & Development, Hansen helped design and implement the City’s Ownership and Opportunity Fund. Throughout the pandemic and the aftermath of civil unrest after the murder of George Floyd, Hansen led economic recovery work and steered millions in emergency relief funds to residents and small businesses. Hansen served for more than three years as the Economic Development & Housing director for the City of Brooklyn Park. He oversaw tax base stabilization and growth through neighborhood preservation, housing programs, redevelopment, workforce development and real estate activities.
The Council’s Business, Inspections, Housing & Zoning Committee held a public hearing Nov. 28 on Hansen’s nomination. The full Council will vote on the nomination Dec. 7.
Read more about Hansen’s nomination on the City website.
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