 CM Jenkins and CM Palmisano with advocates supporting Human Trafficking and Exploitation Awareness Month
Dear Neighbors,
Welcome to 2025! The Council just had our first meeting of the new year. I was proud to bring forth two resolutions co-authored by CM Palmisano: bringing awareness to human trafficking and stalking. Two incredibly pernicious issues that prey upon vulnerable and marginalized communities, including women, immigrants, youth, and LGBTQIA+ individuals. There are several local organizations that are addressing and responding to this crisis, as well as global NGO’s like Our Rescue. You can visit their website here to learn how to raise awareness.
This weekend the nation will celebrate and honor the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The message and advocacy that Dr. King delivered is, unfortunately, still as relevant today as it was during his shortened life. As we approach the inauguration of the next federal administration that focuses on vitriol, revenge, and hatred, I am moved by D. King’s focus on love. He stated, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” That is why, since January 2022, I have been signing off on my electronic communication, “Love, Andrea.” This is my attempt to spread a little bit of love into our political discourse. I hope that it inspires others to spread that message as well.
Lastly, the weather is forecasted to be extremely cold this coming weekend and into next week. Please check on vulnerable and elderly neighbors to ensure they are prepared with food, supplies and medication. Here some resources and tips to survive the cold snap:
Hennepin County offers warming station options throughout Minneapolis and the Twin Cities. Additional locations can be found at the Salvation Army and other organizations when temperatures drop below zero.
Love,
Andrea
 CM Jenkins and CM Palmisano with advocates supporting Stalking Awareness Month
Join this online event focused on reflection, connection and action. The National Day of Racial Healing is an opportunity to come together as a community, engage in courageous conversations, and work toward building a more inclusive and just society. Through healing conversations and collective efforts, we can break down barriers, strengthen bonds, and create a future of mutual respect and understanding. Together, we heal, grow and move forward.
Learn about the history of the National Day of Racial Healing.
Featured speaker
Featured speaker Anton Treuer (pronounced troy-er) is a professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University and an author of many books. He’s building an Ojibwe teacher training program at BSU and his equity, education and cultural work has put him on a path of service around the nation and the world.
The City of Minneapolis is a co-sponsor of this Hennepin County event.
National Day of Racial Healing 6:30-8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21 Register for this online event.
Anton Treuer
 Early voting begins Jan. 22 for the special general election following the death of Minnesota Sen. Kari Dziedzic. The City of Minneapolis is working closely with Hennepin County and the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office in coordinating the special election. Election Day is Jan. 28.
Minnesota Senate District 60 comprises all of Minneapolis Ward 1, most of Ward 2 and portions of Wards 3 and 6.
Find more including instructions for voters on the City website.
The City Council has voted to enter into a federal consent decree with the United States Department of Justice. The court enforceable agreement outlines policy, resource and training requirements. These will continue to help guide the City’s and Minneapolis Police Department’s reform efforts moving forward.
Highlights from the consent decree:
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Community engagement: Minneapolis Police Department strategies to address crime will develop deeper collaboration between police and the community.
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Use of force review: The Minneapolis Police Department will institute both a robust team and a board to review certain uses of force.
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First Amendment: The Minneapolis Police Department will adopt, train on, and sustain policies that facilitate the exercise of First Amendment rights of community members and journalists while enabling police to maintain public safety and order.
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Behavioral health response: The City will continue its behavioral crisis response with additional training, policies, protocols, review and coordination.
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Supervision: Changes to supervision requirements will facilitate more officer accountability and evaluations.
The federal consent decree will be in effect at the same time as a similar settlement agreement with the State of Minnesota Department of Human Rights. The reforms outlined in both agreements are expected to take several years to fully implement.
Learn more about the federal consent decree on the City website.
 The minimum wage across the city of Minneapolis is now $15.97 for all businesses. There is a higher minimum wage in Minneapolis than the rest of the state.
Coverage depends on the physical location (in the City of Minneapolis) of the employee while the employee is performing work, regardless of the employee’s age or training.
Read more about City of Minneapolis labor standards.
What: A walk audit is an event in which community members walk or roll a predetermined route to identify what is working and not working with respect to walking, biking, rolling, transit, and streetscape. A walk audit helps a community surface ideas for improvements and advocate to their local municipality to take action. As the City of Minneapolis is in the initial planning stages for a full reconstruction of 35th and 36th Streets between Blaisdell and Chicago, Lyndale area neighbor Chris Vaughan is leading a series of "walk audits" to help the communities that live, work, and play in that corridor surface the barriers and opportunities around walkability.
How:
- Dates: Walk audits were held in October and December 2024. The next walk audit will be on Saturday, January 25, from 1-3 pm. Since there is limited capacity, if you are interested in joining, please reach out to Chris at crvmail@gmail.com.
- Organizer: Chris Vaughan, a local resident and experienced safe walking-rolling advocate, is organizing the walk audits. Chris volunteers for the Lyndale Neighborhood Association (LNA) and is part of the Lyndale Community School’s (LCS) Safe Routes to School team, but is organizing the walk audits as community events not officially connected with either LNA or LCS.
- Participants: About 10-12 members of the community, ideally representing a range of ages, abilities, communities, and perspectives.
- Time: A typical walk audit will last two hours.
- Other Logistics: The walk audits begin and end at community gathering spaces. The walk audits begin with an overview and discussion of safety during the walk audit; proceed on the walk, with stops to observe and make notes; and conclude at the initial meeting gathering space with further discussion, reflection, and documenting observations and suggestions.
Want to Know More?
The Cities of Minneapolis and Seattle have been jointly awarded $14.8 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation. This new funding builds on $2 million that each of the cities received in 2023. The two cities are collaborating to address growing challenges that many cities face in managing limited curb space for competing needs such as deliveries, sidewalk use and street travel lanes.
Read more on the City website.
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 Help shape the future of bus routes through downtown Minneapolis. The City of Minneapolis is working to move transit off Nicollet Mall to create a more flexible and dynamic Nicollet Mall.
In collaboration with Metro Transit, the City of Minneapolis has developed three options for future transit service. Join us for a public meeting to share your priorities and help us weigh the benefits and trade-offs of each option. Your input will play a key role in deciding which plan moves forward.
Public open houses
Online Noon-1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21 Join on Microsoft Teams or watch any time on the project webpage starting Jan. 28.
Evening 4-6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 22 Minneapolis Central Library, 300 Nicollet Mall
Midday Noon-1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28 IDS Crystal Court, 717 Nicollet Mall
Take the survey and learn more on the City website.
Being a welcoming city means we support and connect our neighbors and residents with the services they need and the opportunities they strive for. The City’s Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs will continue to engage with our immigrant communities, providing information and resources for legal assistance, food, shelter, transportation, healthcare, victim services and more.
We stay committed to limiting the City’s role in federal immigration enforcement. Minneapolis already has a local law in place that limits City employees from inquiring about immigration status or participating in civil immigration enforcement.
 It’s not too late in the season to get your flu shot. Minnesota is seeing its highest flu hospitalizations since the Minnesota Department of Health started tracking hospitalization data. Getting the flu vaccine can lower your chances of getting very sick and help protect others by keeping the virus from spreading.
Video
Minneapolis firefighter Mark DeLude knows this too well after losing his father to the flu. DeLude’s father, also a Minneapolis firefighter, was not vaccinated. Watch DeLude’s story: Fighting the Flu: Minneapolis Firefighter Saving Lives in Father’s Memory.
Protect yourself and your loved ones by getting the flu vaccine at a free flu clinic or with your health care provider.
The Minneapolis Health Department is giving away free radon test kits to encourage people to test their homes for radon. Radon is an invisible, odorless gas that’s the second leading cause of lung cancer, and two in five homes in Minnesota test high for radon.
Radon comes from the soil and rock around a home. It enters through cracks and holes in the basement floor.
Learn more about free radon test kits and the City’s grant funding for mitigation systems on the City website.
Video: A Minneapolis neighbor protects his family from radon
Gregory Wheeler, a Minneapolis homeowner, called the City of Minneapolis to help keep his family safe and healthy when his home tested high for radon levels. Watch the video.
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From Feb. 3-24, the City plans to accept grant applications to help pay for repairing failing private sewer pipes and connections to the public sewer. Homeowners can receive grants between $5,000 to $10,000 and may need a match to receive the funds. Funding will be awarded on a lottery-based system. This year’s funding is expected to provide grants to 32-38 property owners. You can look at information now to get ready with bids and then apply when applications open.
Find eligibility and more information on the City website.
After months of community engagement, the City of Minneapolis is moving forward to redevelop the City-owned building at 3000 Minnehaha Ave. Sixty-three percent of the respondents favor a mixed-use democracy center proposal. The center would house the City’s Elections & Voter Services, allowing a large ground-floor space for community use. The City is now looking for a tenant to lease that part of the center for community-focused space.
Democracy center proposal
Throughout the summer, the City conducted open houses, conversations and surveys. The most residents favored the democracy center proposal and also showed interest in several uses for the community space, including:
- Social services
- Community-based cultural programs
- Business or commercial uses
Next steps
The City has requested proposals for a tenant who will program the community space. Proposals are due March 14.
The City will proceed with design and renovation plans. The City intends to include the selected tenant in the planning, design and build-out of the community space.
To learn more, visit the City website.
Come get a progress update on the South Minneapolis Community Safety Center and Lake Street Safety Center. Hear about services and resources in the centers and how your feedback is being used to shape plans.
There is one more update session left of this series. We encourage residents in Ward 2 to attend, but any Minneapolis community member is welcome.
In person 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 5 Matthews Park, 2318 29th Ave. S.
City staff will be available for a Q&A after the presentation. Community members can also learn more about other safety programs in the city.
Learn more on the event flyer in English, Español, Af-Soomaali, Hmoob and Oromo.
Visit the City website to:
- Watch a previously recorded online session.
- Read a summary of frequently asked questions from previous sessions.
- Find more information on the safety centers.
 The City of Minneapolis is organizing the Feb. 8 Community Connections Conference around the power of participating in your community and local decision-making. The theme is Participation is Power: Speak, Act, Grow. The annual free conference connects Minneapolis residents, community groups, neighborhoods and local government.
You can register early now.
Community Connections Conference 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8 Exhibitor check-in 8 a.m. Minneapolis Convention Center, first floor, Hall E 1301 Second Ave. S.
Theme
The theme this year – Participation is Power: Speak, Act, Grow – invites people to:
- Speak: Voice their opinion about important upcoming projects and decision-making.
- Act: Take action by voting, joining a neighborhood organization board or a City appointed board.
- Grow: Learn skills and information they can use to improve their neighborhood, community and lives.
Not just any event
We believe:
- People from all communities should feel welcome in City spaces.
- It should be easy for everyone to get involved and influence important decisions.
- People from all communities should get information about programs and policies in language they understand.
Learn more and sign up online.
 Applications are open now for Step Up internships. For more than 20 years, the City’s Step Up program has provided summer employment for Minneapolis residents 14-21. Youths are placed in internships at public, private, nonprofit and community organizations.
Applications for summer are open until Feb. 14.
Moody’s credit rating business recently upgraded the City of Minneapolis credit rating to AAA in addition to the same high ratings given in September by S&P Global and Fitch Ratings. This means Minneapolis is one of only a handful of cities in the United States to have received the highest marks from all three major ratings agencies at one time.
A report released by Moody’s says the upgraded rating reflects the “continued strength in the city’s economic and demographic trends, a consistently strong financial profile and declining long-term liabilities.” It also notes the City’s strong fund balance that typically sits at 45% to 50%, as well as the solid position to absorb any increased costs related to employee compensation and public safety staffing.
Read more on the City website.
Council Member Jenkins holds weekly office hours on Monday's from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Sabathani Community Center. To book an appointment, please reach out to the Ward 8 office. |
