 Today, Mayor Jacob Frey and the City of Minneapolis’ Regulatory Services Director Enrique Velazquez joined Minneapolis Animal Care and Control (MACC) to highlight the mayor’s 2024 investments in the shelter and encourage residents to adopt a pet as shelters reach capacity.
MACC has recently lowered adoption fees ($0 for Minneapolis residents) with the goal of increasing adoptions.
To help support MACC and its ongoing operations, Mayor Frey invested more than $600,000 in MACC in 2024. The money will help the shelter renovate and expand, hire additional staff, and purchase necessary food and supplies for animals.
“About 9 years ago, my life changed when I brought home my cat Ronda from MACC,” said Mayor Jacob Frey. “I know firsthand the life-changing impact animal shelters can have on the pets they serve and the families they go home with. MACC does an incredible job taking care of our furry and very loveable residents. I’m proud to support their ongoing efforts with more than $600,000 in additional funding this year.”
Mayor Frey has proclaimed February as Black History Month in the City of Minneapolis, and the City has planned several events to celebrate Black History Month 2024. This year's theme is "African Americans & the Arts" and will showcase the creative contributions of our Black friends and neighbors. The event suite is the culmination of year-round planning by the Minneapolis Black Employee Network (MBEN).
Throughout the year, MBEN creates a space to grow, invest, and thrive here at the City of Minneapolis by offering Black city employees peer support, mentoring, professional development, career counseling, and wellbeing supportive services.
Excited is an understatement when it comes to announcing that Minneapolis will host the 2029 Rotary International Convention — bringing together over 15,000 leaders and volunteers from 150 different countries. We stand ready to make this convention a reality and look forward to working alongside our state and local partners over the next several years.
Recently, Mayor Frey, Interim Public Works Director Brette Hjelle, and Public Works staff announced a historic number of potholes filled in Minneapolis in 2023. Last year, the City filled 9,359 potholes – three times the amount in 2022 and nearly 4,000 more than ever recorded.
Minneapolis saw its third snowiest winter on record last year with close to 90 inches of snow. The City’s Public Works department worked around the clock to ensure streets and alleyways were plowed and safe for residents to travel on. Once the snow began to melt, they shifted their efforts to potholes.
In his 2024 budget, Mayor Frey invested $470,000 for new Public Works equipment to increase the lifespan of pothole repairs and continue efficient and effective snow clearance -- as well as $500,000 in investments for a permanent snow removal and storage site.
"Our incredible city crews managed to fill 9,359 potholes," says Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. "How many pothole complaints did we have alerting us of another pothole that we needed to fill? You guessed it, 9,359. Every single time that somebody called into the city of Minneapolis to have a pothole filled, our incredible team was out there making sure that it happened."
The City of Minneapolis and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) have selected Effective Law Enforcement for ALL (ELEFA) as the Independent Evaluator to monitor compliance with the City’s court enforceable settlement agreement with MDHR. The settlement agreement includes policy, budgetary, and training requirements that the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) and City enterprise must undertake.
The Independent Evaluator evaluates and reports on the City’s compliance with the terms of the settlement agreement and provides the City with technical assistance on things like policy drafting and training content.
“By now you’ve heard us talk about the ‘roadmap for change,’ and today is another critical stop along the way,” said Mayor Jacob Frey. “The ongoing work to reform and rebuild the Minneapolis Police Department will demand a wholesale commitment to collaboration, accountability, and transparency from across this local government. With the selection of an Independent Evaluator, we’re continuing to advance the years-long work to build a more just approach to safety in our city.”
It was a warmer than usual Luminary Loppet this year around Lake of the Isles... but us Minnesotans know how to adapt. Even if on land, the event didn’t disappoint. Minneapolis showed up for an evening of candlelit camaraderie to celebrate the (somewhat) frozen tundra!
Last week, Community Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette gave the first update on the Community Safety Center planning and implementation since the Mayor's Safety Center/Third Precinct proposal was advanced by Council late last year.
“Our vision for comprehensive community safety is moving full speed ahead,” said Mayor Jacob Frey. “This space will encompass several different safety services under one roof – a one-stop shop for our residents and staff to collaborate. A big thank you to Commissioner Barnette and the Office of Community Safety for continuing to drive on the critical infrastructure behind our ongoing safety work.”
The Safety Center Design and Implementation team initially convened in November 2023. As recommended in the Safe & Thriving Communities Report, the team has concurrently been working to:
- Create a collaborative practice model, draft the mission, vision, and values of the design and implementation work, and institute management structures to implement the vision.
- Begin gathering data for an asset and gaps analysis which was also recommended by the Safe & Thriving Communities Report.
- Ensure services related to prevention, response, and restoration are included in the community safety center.
- Create smaller workgroups, which will meet the first week of February, to focus on services and resources, community engagement and communication, and infrastructure.
The goal is to open the new Community Safety Center in early 2025. Periodic updates on the progress will be provided in the coming weeks and months. A webpage on the City’s website providing information about the Community Safety Center and outlining the progress of its development can be found here.
The City will offer 1,000 low-cost shade and evergreen trees this year to help grow the city’s tree canopy. We are especially focused on adding trees in the Green Zones as those areas have some of the lowest tree cover in the city. We encourage anyone who owns property in the Green Zones to enter the lottery.
Sign up by March 31 to enter the lottery. Limit one entry per Minneapolis address. Rental property owners may enter the lottery for each planting address.
Learn more and register for the lottery online here.
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