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Dear Community,
I wanted to share a few updates about what the Ward 2 office has been up to as the year wraps up.
All Council offices will be working remotely until January. My office is still available to serve you during the break. All of our contact information can be found at the bottom of this newsletter. Council meetings resume on January 8th. City Hall will be under renovation next year, so Council will be physically moving to a new temporary location across the street at the Public Service Center, 250 S 4th St, Minneapolis, MN 55415. Council meetings there will still be open to the public.
Wishing everyone a safe and peaceful holiday season and a happy New Year,
Council Member Robin Wonsley
In the final meeting of the year, the City Council unanimously passed a resolution declaring unsheltered homelessness a public health emergency. Following the meeting, I and the majority of my colleagues formally requested that Mayor Frey delay the administration’s announced plan to evict Camp Nenookaasi, an Indigenous-run healing encampment located in the Ventura Village neighborhood of Ward 6 at 13th Avenue South and East 23rd Street, on December 14. We also requested the Mayor pursue all efforts to address public health needs at Camp Nenookaasi and the surrounding community, and work with Council Members to collaborate on short-term, medium-term, and long-term solutions to reduce homelessness.
Council took these actions because residents have demanded an alternative to the city’s current inhumane and ineffective practices around encampments. Residents have reached out to my office directly, come to public meetings, and organized to demand humane and effective responses to encampments. Camp Nenookaasi has been effective at meeting the public health needs of some unhoused residents.
Resident organizing and Council’s actions succeeded in first delaying the eviction until December 19th, then an indefinite delay while permanent housing options are secured for Nenookaasi residents. Encampments are not an acceptable long-term solution to homelessness, but the city’s practices have exacerbated the problem by evicting one encampment only to create two more. I have been a vocal supporter of a Housing First model, where we invest in housing and social services for the residents who need it. I am committed to working with unsheltered residents, housing and service providers, neighbors, the County, my colleagues, and the Mayor’s office on suitable long-term housing for all unsheltered residents at Camp Nenookaasi.
My ordinance protecting renters who sign pre-leases was signed into law by Mayor Frey and takes effect immediately. The ordinance guarantees that any landlord who signs a pre-lease that the renter is unable to occupy by the start of the lease must offer the renter three options: alternative housing until the unit is ready, reimbursement of the rent until the unit is ready, or to exit the lease with all fees and deposits refunded.
I was proud to work with impacted students and families, the University administration, University regents, and organized labor to write a policy to protect the rights of renters who sign pre-leases. We built a coalition that drafted, passed and signed an ordinance in about 10 weeks. This is the urgency we should expect from our city leadership to address crises in our community.
I look forward to working with this coalition in the coming years to pass more policies that protect renters and strengthen enforcement of the city’s existing policies.
Muslim-led and Jewish-led community organizations have called on the Minneapolis City Council to support a ceasefire in Gaza. On the last night of Hanukkah, hundreds of residents gathered in front of City Hall at a Jewish-led rally calling for a ceasefire.
I will be bringing forward a resolution in January for Minneapolis to join dozens of cities across the country calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire. I will also be bringing forward an amendment for the city to formally support repealing state level policies that limit Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS), a nonviolent Palestinian-led campaign to use economic leverage to support Palestinian sovereignty and worldwide human rights.
While we are separated from the violence in Gaza by thousands of miles, we understand that this has had an immediate, visceral and deep impact on many Ward 2 residents. My office released a statement that contains a list of community resources in October. All those impacted by the ongoing genocide continue to be in my thoughts.
I was honored to speak on a panel at the Towerside Innovation District holiday breakfast. The panel was a conversation between representatives from the city, Park Board, neighbors, developers, and financing experts about the future of the Towerside area of Prospect Park. It was a great opportunity to discuss how each entity brings unique and important resources to the table to ensure equitable and environmentally healthy outcomes in development.
The Twin Cities Urban Leagues and Powerhouse co-hosted an amazing event honoring Black women elected officials. Thank you to the organizers for creating such a meaningful and intentional event to uphold and celebrate Black women’s leadership in office.
Thank you to the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation (MRLF) for bringing together labor leaders from across the community to celebrate the many victories of the year. I have been proud to use my seat in City Hall to support both unionized and nonunionized workers in diverse sectors in 2023 and look forward to continuing to build labor power in 2024 and beyond. Solidarity!
I had a great time at the end-of-year celebration hosted by Congresswoman Ilhan Omar at Memory Lanes, a beloved bowling alley located right here in Ward 2.
Email Council Member Wonsley and her staff at ward2@minneapolismn.gov
Or contact staff directly:
Policy Aide Celeste Robinson
Policy Aide Qannani Omar
Share your opinion or address an issue, use the Ward 2 contact form
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