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Summary: The Renters Rights Mandatory Disclosure ordinance receives near unanimous passage by Full Council.
Background: Last Thursday, the Council voted to fully adopt the Renters Rights Mandatory Disclosure Ordinance authored by me and Council Member Ellison. Council Members Jenkins (Ward 8) and Vetaw (Ward 4) voted to abstain, while the rest of the Council voted in support. This ordinance requires landlords to disclose basic information about the property to all prospective tenants, and to provide all new tenants with basic information about their rights. This is a basic, commonsense regulation to ensure that tenants can make informed decisions about their housing options, advocate for themselves, and take action if needed.
During the Council meeting, there was lively discussion on the ordinance. Some of my colleagues raised concerns regarding how this will impact landlords, with one citing that they actually found landlords in need of greater protections due to the substantial number of problematic renters in their ward. Some also shared that they weren’t quite sure how this ordinance could be enforced.
Many of these questions and concerns were addressed via a FAQ sheet my office developed and sent out to Council on July 31st. Additionally, the Director of Regulatory Services, Enrique Velazquez, spoke at the Council meeting regarding the various enforcement and outreach efforts his office will take over the coming months to ensure that both tenants and property owners are made aware about the protections afforded through this ordinance and the requirements that property owners must fulfill.
Council Member Chowdhury (Ward 12) also brought forward a friendly amendment that would ensure that tenants will be able to access non-personal contact information of their property owner. I supported this amendment, which is aligned with state statute, because it would support renters in situations when a landlord is not being transparent or in some cases purposely misleading or ignoring tenants. In conversations with community groups during the development of this policy, renters who reside in single family homes alerted my office that the property owner or agent will list the address of the property they are renting as the contact for any concerns. This leaves the renter with the responsibility of doing research to track down an accurate address for how to reach the property owner, which can be stressful and often requires professional support from agencies like HOMELine and Mid-MN Legal Aid. This loophole is particularly problematic in neighborhoods with a large proportion of rental single-family homes and duplexes, and in particular in Como in Ward 2. I am hopeful the Chowdhury amendment will get more renters the information they need and give Regulatory Services more tools to enforce the ordinance.
This ordinance helps demonstrate that the city is serious about compliance with renter protections. It is also just one of many my office is working on that comes from our Policy and Research (PAR) Division Anti-Displacement and Eviction Prevention Report, and I look forward to further conversations as those policies advance and we move to strengthen renter protections in our majority-renter city.
You can watch Council’s full discussion of the ordinance here.
Key votes: Full Council amends and approves the ordinance in a 10-0-2 vote. Mayor Frey now has 2 more days to approve the ordinance or veto it.
Summary: Council Members are working with the Frey administration on exploring options for an independent third party evaluation of the impacts of ShotSpotter technology. Council will consider a contract extension on September 9th.
Background: Last week, the city’s ShotSpotter contract, which expired in March, was brought before the Administration and Enterprise Oversight Committee (AEO) for consideration. After an extensive period of discussion and questions to staff, the committee voted to delay consideration of the item for an additional cycle to allow time for committee leadership and members to meet with the Commissioner of the Office of Community Safety and Chief O’Hara to discuss concerns and to identify agreeable action steps. Those meetings took place last week, and the Office of Community Safety and MPD have agreed to bring forward an amended contract that lasts for a shorter period of time and has a limited geographic expansion. This allows the city to continue using ShotSpotter while a full evaluation is conducted. I am hopeful that this will allow us to enter future conversations about ShotSpotter with more grounding in data and objective analysis. At today’s AEO meeting, I and Council Member Ellison are bringing forward a motion to fund this independent evaluation.
Key votes: After meeting with the Mayor's administration, Office of Community Safety leadership has agreed to bring forward a modified ShotSpotter contract to the AEO Committee on September 9th. I and Council Member Ellison are bringing a motion to the AEO Committee today (8/19), to initiate the process of an independent evaluation of the program.
Summary: Full Council voted to authorize the creation of a one-year pilot program for issuing permits to operators of Personal Delivery Devices
Background: A few weeks ago, Public Works asked Council to support the authorization of piloting a new food delivery service. The vendor they are looking at working with is Starship Technologies, which has service sites throughout the U.S. Last week, Council voted to approve the creation of a one-year pilot program for issuing permits to operators of Personal Delivery Devices.
Since this pilot is taking place in Ward 2 at the University of Minnesota, I have had several meetings with Public Works staff who have been receptive to the concerns that my office has had regarding this contract proposal. More specifically, I have heard a lot of concerns from workers and accessibility advocates regarding robotic personal delivery devices. While getting a pizza delivered by a toy robot may sound fun, there are real impacts and I want to make sure we as a city are having robust conversations with our labor and other community members who are raising concerns about this technology and its impacts to public access as these robots will be traveling in public right of ways.
I look forward to learning more through this pilot. I also look forward to engaging other cities who maybe have already learned a lot about these services and the impacts to shape a policy here in Minneapolis. Similarly to what happened with Uber and Lyft and scooter services, technology companies drop into cities that have unregulated markets and the city is forced to respond reactively when negative impacts occur. I would like to avoid that pattern and be proactive. That said, I plan to ensure that this pilot effort is used to inform the creation of formal legislative action which will put binding conditions on companies that want to use robot delivery technology in our city. I look forward to working with labor and community groups, my colleagues, and city staff to shape a policy that does not negatively impact resident’s livelihoods, and is considerate of labor and accessibility safety.
Key votes: Council votes unanimously to approve the contract. My office will work on developing legislative and regulatory actions. I will also be working with city staff and the Climate and Infrastructure Committee leadership to schedule an update presentation on the pilot for next year.
Summary: Council Members received a report on Council’s legislative output, which confirmed that this Council has been more productive than previous Councils. I have been an author on 40% of all legislative actions taken by the Council.
Background: The City Clerk’s office presented an update on the Council’s legislative actions so far this year. The Council has taken final action on 23 ordinances and has another 25 ordinances under development for a total of 48 active ordinances. This is compared to 22 ordinances in the same period in 2023 and 28 ordinances in the same period in 2022.
I have been an author on 3 ordinances that have passed, 4 ordinances in progress, 3 resolutions setting city policy, and 11 legislative directives. This comprises 40% of all actions taken by Council. I am so proud of what my team has accomplished and excited to continue to be a highly productive office that moves forward policy to make Minneapolis better for everyone.
Key votes: No votes taken.
Summary: Council Members passed a resolution celebrating the shutdown of big polluter Smith Foundry.
Background: Smith Foundry has been a polluter in the East Phillips neighborhood and contributed to decades of environmental injustice and racism. Local residents have organized for years to shut down Smith Foundry, and have finally prevailed in their fight. We celebrated this victory last week with an Honorary Resolution.
I was proud to stand in solidarity with the organizers who led the successful charge to oust the incredibly harmful Smith Foundry from the East Phillips neighborhood. Below, I share Ward 9 Council Member Chavez's beautiful statement regarding the significance of these efforts and why this resolution was so warranted.
After a century of operation in East Phillips, Smith Foundry recently shut down its operations. This came after a recent settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency after they uncovered excessive pollutants around the plant and ordered the Foundry’s owners to pay an $80,000 fine. In the end, though, it was years and decades of organizing by individuals and organizations that led to this victory for our community.
And that is why I introduced a resolution to honor the individuals and organizations who put in the work to improve Phillips and the City of Minneapolis. The reason we did this is because many of the organizers in Phillips, South Minneapolis, and the City as a whole have been advocating for clean air and water in Phillips for too long. There may have been some government action to try and close down Smith Foundry, but ultimately that wasn’t what made it happen. It was the organizing efforts of the people on the ground advocating for change. Advocating for the right to breathe clean air in Phillips.
We all owe a debt of gratitude to the organizers who took on this fight and made our community a healthier, safer place.
Key votes: Council unanimously passes Honorary Resolution.
Residents and Council Members celebrate Smith Foundry shutdown
The Minnesota Justice Research Center is hosting…
Bail, Jail, and Pretrial Policy: A Community Conversation
Fianza, Cárcel, y Políticas Previas ál Juicio: Una Conversación comunal
This event is an opportunity for community members to share their experiences with and views on bail and pretrial policy in Minnesota. All community members are encouraged to attend, but especially those who have been directly impacted by the pretrial system in Minnesota.
Jail, Bail, and Pretrial Policy: A Community Conversation
Contact Ward 2
Visit: minneapolismn.gov/ward2
Email: ward2@minneapolismn.gov
Phone: 612-673-2202
We've moved while work is being done in City Hall. Our office is in:
Room 100, Public Service Center
250 South 4th St.
Get directions
For reasonable accommodations or alternative format please contact 311. People who are deaf or hard of hearing can use a relay service to call 311 at 612-673-3000. TTY users call 612-263-6850. Para ayuda, llame al 311. Rau kev pab, hu 311. Hadii aad caawimaad u baahantahay, wac 311. |
