 This week, Minneapolis is hosting the USA Gymnastics Olympic trials for the 2024 Paris Games. Mayor Frey was celebrating all week long. On Monday, he joined Gov. Walz, Sen. Klobuchar, USA Gymnastics President Li Li Leung, and Minnesota Sports and Events CEO Wendy Blackshaw at Target Plaza to welcome athletes and thousands of fans, families, and spectators to “Gymnastics City USA.”
On Thursday, Mayor Frey helped kick off the Promenade du Nord -- a Parisian street fair on Nicollet Mall, featuring food, entertainment, and shopping. He also helped launch the Flip Zone outside of Target Field which lets fans of all ages try their hand at gymnastics.
As someone who competed in the Olympic trials for the 2008 USA marathon team, Mayor Frey knows how important this week is for so many athletes. He wishes everyone participating the best of luck!
"For a huge chunk of them, this is the culmination of a whole lot of work," Mayor Frey said. "They might never ever go to Paris, but they are going to be competing here and they will have trained, in some cases, for 10-12 years to get to the place where they are now.”
After more than nine months of negotiations, the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis and the City reached a historic agreement earlier this month that would increase pay for police officers and include several reforms. While the contract has enthusiastic support from the Mayor, MPD leadership, City officials, rank-and-file police officers, and community members, the City Council—who must approve the contract—has further delayed the vote that was originally set to take place as early as June 13. The vote to approve the contract is now slated for July 18.
The 21.7 percent pay increase over the three years of the contract would make the MPD among the highest-paying departments in Minnesota by 2025. The contract also includes reforms that would enhance transparency, strengthen managerial oversight, and equip MPD management with essential tools to better deploy limited resources and run the department.
“It is a good contract,” Mayor Frey said. “It is filled with some really important changes that give the chief the managerial oversight to actually make the change that we all have talked about.”
 The V3 Center is officially open in north Minneapolis! Mayor Frey joined community leaders to celebrate the grand opening of phase one on Saturday. The health and wellness center has an Olympic-sized swimming pool, fitness center, and daycare.
“So many people worked together to make this day happen and now north Minneapolis has a state-of-the-art health and wellness facility with an Olympic-sized swimming pool,” said Mayor Frey. “This is a day we will be celebrating for a while.”
 Mayor Frey joined Council Member Aurin Chowdhury, State legislators, developers, and housing advocates to celebrate the 2040 Plan moving forward. After being stuck in a years-long court battle, state lawmakers passed a bill that resolved the legal challenge under the 2040 Plan that gave rise to the lawsuit. The legislation allows the City of Minneapolis to move forward with permitting long-stalled multi-unit housing projects.
“Minneapolis’ nation-leading affordable housing work has been made possible in large part due to the 2040 Plan—and thanks to our state lawmakers, we get to keep that historic work going,” said Mayor Frey. “The 2040 Plan has always been about more than development; it’s a testament to our City’s commitment to having diverse housing options in every neighborhood, equitable growth, and the dismantling of generations of intentional segregation.”
 U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen met with Mayor Frey, Sen. Tina Smith, Minneapolis Public Housing Authority Executive Director Abdi Warsame, and others in Minneapolis on Monday to announce new federal investments in affordable housing. The Secretary hosted a roundtable discussion and toured a new apartment building made possible through the MPHA’s Family Housing Expansion Program, City funding, and the 2040 Plan.
Secretary Yellen lauded local efforts to provide affordable housing and stabilize rent while citing Minneapolis as an example for other American cities. Between 2018 and 2024, Minneapolis produced 4,679 total units of affordable housing—an average of 780 total units each year. That’s more than double the average between 2011 and 2017.
“What we pushed for was this 2040 Comprehensive Plan, which allowed for a diversity of housing options and therefore a diversity of people throughout Minneapolis,” said Mayor Frey.
 Minneapolis is proud of its nation-leading affordable housing, and it was on full display this week. Mayor Frey attended two groundbreaking events for housing projects in Minneapolis.
The first is a new shelter and housing project through Agate and Trellis. With more than 100 shelter beds and affordable housing units, the project recognizes emergency shelter spaces are necessary, but they are not the end goal—the end goal is getting people into permanent housing they can afford and call their own. The City invested millions from Affordable Housing Trust Fund and Housing Tax Credits into this work.
The mayor also attended the groundbreaking of Opportunity Crossing on Thursday. The six-story mixed-use development on Lake and Nicollet will include deeply affordable housing units, commercial condos for BIPOC business owners, and a Wells Fargo bank. The City invested close to $34 million in the project.
“The beautiful thing is that you don’t get this work done overnight. You get this work done at times, through multiple council members, through multiple administrations,” said Mayor Frey.
Twin Cities Pride wraps up this weekend, but we saved the best for last. With the Pride parties at The Saloon and Bryant Lake Bowl, a beer dabbler in the Sculpture Garden, the Twin Cities Pride Festival in Loring Park this weekend, and the Twin Cities Pride Parade on Sunday, there are still plenty of ways for people to get out and celebrate our LGBTQIA+ community!
Check out the events on the Twin Cities Pride website.
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