January 30, 2025

A message from Council Member Chavez

Dear neighbor,

On December 10, 2024, there was a fire at an encampment on the 2400 block of 15th Ave. S. that displaced unhoused residents and at least eight renters who lived next to the encampment. On January 6, 2025, there were fires at two encampments, one located at Lake and Columbus and another on 29th St. and 14th Ave. S. This led to the displacement of over 230 residents who were unhoused and left many residents in the area feeling unsafe because of the fires.

Since then, community members have worked to address gaps that have not been fulfilled (temporary warming centers) and highlighted gaps missing in the City’s current approach, which includes the City’s response and role in keeping residents safe and warm.

Last week, I introduced a Legislative Directive requiring an update to the City Council by City staff relating to an overview of the winter plans for safety and well-being, including inter-jurisdictional services and resources for people experiencing homelessness and the surrounding community from inclement weather and community safety concerns. Additionally, it will provide public information on the Emergency Preparedness Plans relating to emergencies around unsheltered homelessness and any plan to mitigate risk faced by people who are unsheltered or unhoused during extreme weather. This information will be presented to the Public Health and Safety Committee on February 19, 2025. 

In a similar vein, earlier this month the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center (MIWRC) opened up a 24/7 emergency warming center in response to extreme cold weather events and with the help of volunteers and community. This warming center was opened through community-raised funding and was in response to the overwhelming need for additional warm spaces needed to support the unhoused community. During the extreme cold weather event, there was high demand for available warm and safe spaces that the available warming locations were not able to fulfill. The need for this warming center that serves predominantly Indigenous community members was only increased by fires that displaced multiple individuals during cold weather months. The MIWRC opened this center rapidly in addition to their regular programming. 

I was proud this week to author a Budget Appropriation alongside Council Member Aurin Chowdhury, Council Member Osman, and Council Vice-President Chughtai to appropriate $100,000 to address the urgent community need to help support sustainable operations for MIWRC's warming center through the cold winter months of 2025. The City Council voted unanimously to approve this funding at today’s meeting. 

MIWRC is a non-profit social and mental health services organization committed to traditional ways of being and support of Native women and their families. Founded in 1984, MIWRC provides a broad range of programs designed to educate and empower Native women and their families and to inform and assist those who work providing services to the community. Programs are developed to reflect the needs of our families and are tailored to address issues that significantly affect their well-being, such as family services, affordable housing, chemical dependency, mental health care, cultural resilience and healing, and other family and community issues.

Elsewhere, my office is continuing our work to update the City’s Civil Rights Ordinance, which was first passed in 1967 with the creation of the Department of Civil Rights as an administrative and investigative body. The Minneapolis Civil Rights Ordinance is one of the most comprehensive in the nation, prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, including sexual harassment, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, age, marital status, or status with regard to public assistance or familial status. Equally important, the ordinance establishes mechanisms for implementing and enforcing strict anti-discrimination provisions. The ordinance has managed to garner its progressive and extensive protections by keeping pace with the work of the Civil Rights department and commission but also the changing civil rights landscape. 

We know that discrimination adversely affects the health, welfare, peace, and safety of the community by, among other things, degrading individuals, fostering intolerance and hate, and creating and intensifying unemployment, substandard housing, under-education, ill health, lawlessness, and poverty, thereby injuring the public welfare. Therefore, it is the City’s policy and purpose to prevent and prohibit all discriminatory practices across a whole host of protected areas based on a whole host of classes, such as race, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, among others. 

Together with Council Member Robin Wonsley, I am leading the work to expand protections based on immigration status, housing status, height and weight, and justice-impact. We are working to bring this forward as a necessary update to ensure that the Department of Civil Rights continues to fulfill its duties to protect marginalized communities across the City. 

Lastly, at today’s City Council meeting we introduced a George Floyd Square Pedestrian Mall ordinance authored by Council Member Cashman. This will allow us to continue working and pursuing a Pedestrian Mall at George Floyd Square. 

Sincerely,

Jason Chavez

City Council unanimously approves fees on MPD off-duty work, the first significant regulation in decades

I was proud to stand with my colleagues to discuss the action we took today to approve an ordinance enabling the City to charge fees on off-duty work by MPD officers. This action was the first significant reform to the off-duty program in decades. MPD’s off-duty program allows officers to work private and largely unregulated side jobs using city cars, uniforms, materials, and liability coverage. The off-duty program is unique within the City enterprise.

I keep coming back to a rhetorical question asked by my colleague, Council Member Wonsley, who, along with Council President Elliott Payne, was the lead author on this ordinance: Imagine if we let Public Works staff take a road plow home with them after-hours to use as a side hustle and didn’t charge them for it?

MPD’s off-duty program has been recognized as fundamentally inequitable by the United States Department of Justice. The ordinance we passed allows the City to charge fees to recoup the costs of the materials used by officers when working off-duty, as well as offset the costs of administration liability coverage. Estimates using MPD data indicate that such fees could have recouped up to $1.4 million in 2024

For years, small business owners have raised concerns about the extreme lack of regulation on off-duty work and the possibility for corruption. City leaders have spoken publicly about their concerns with off-duty since at least 2019, when MPD officer Mohamed Noor shot and killed a resident named Justine Ruszczyk after working off-duty and starting his on-duty work with very little sleep. A 2019 internal audit of the off-duty program led to clear and actionable recommendations, which were never implemented. Mayor Frey convened an Off-duty Task Force in 2020, but the group ceased meeting without any outcomes.

Inequitable programs like off-duty are barriers to a citywide community safety system that serves all residents, regardless of race, income or neighborhood. This ordinance is one more step towards creating safe and thriving communities that residents deserve. We’re in a moment when the mayor is raising our residents’ property taxes while, at the same time, the City is doling out millions in overtime and worker’s comp payments to officers. With these dynamics at play, charging a small fee for the use of City resources can only be seen as reasonable.

A welcoming city: Resources for immigrants

Minneapolis is a welcoming city, one that fosters inclusivity, respect and safety for all, regardless of immigration status. The City works to connect neighbors and residents with services and opportunities so that everyone – including those born outside of the United States – feels a sense of belonging and can achieve their highest potential. This is and will remain the City’s goal and commitment.

The City does not participate in immigration enforcement. There are many important distinctions between local and federal government. The City stands with and in support of its residents, including those born outside the U.S.

The City of Minneapolis has an ordinance that states it will not operate programs for the purpose of enforcing federal immigration laws.

Below are links for residents to be aware of their rights and responsibilities:

• Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota Know Your Rights page: This page includes fact sheets and multilingual videos.  

• Volunteer Lawyers Network Family and Immigration Preparedness Resources: This page contains a compilation of resources and guides. It also includes forms such as Delegation of Parental Authority.  

• Creating safe and supportive schools for immigrant and English learner students: This resource, created by the Minnesota Education Equity partnership, is described as a toolkit for upholding the human and educational rights of Minnesota students.
• Welcoming America Preparation and Rapid Response Resource Collection: This collection of resources, compiled by Welcoming America, is a living document containing multilingual resources and will continue to be updated. 

In the City of Minneapolis, we know that many are impacted by immigration developments and many are committed to welcoming and fostering a sense of belonging for residents born outside of the United States. Working together has never been more important than now.

Please visit the City’s Office of Immigrant & Refugee Affairs webpage to learn more.

Park and Portland safety improvements: upcoming open house

Hennepin County is leading a project to bring roadway improvements to Park and Portland Avenues, between Interstate 94 and 46th St. 

• This project is a retrofit with goals to improve safety for people walking, rolling, biking and driving along these corridors. 
• Construction is expected to occur in 2027 and 2028. 
• The project team has developed a first draft of a concept layout for the project area, including a few high-level features: 
• Curb and parking protected bike lanes for the entire corridor;
• One-way streets with two travel lanes;
• Medians between the travel lanes to make pedestrian crossing easier and slow vehicle speeds; and
• Bulb-outs at select intersections that integrate bikeway crossings.

Upcoming Engagement: The county will be hosting a public open house on Thursday, February 13, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Park Ave United Methodist Church located at 3400 Park Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55407. Join the county to learn more and share your feedback on the project draft design concept. There will be a brief presentation at 5 p.m. followed by further discussion. Come anytime during the event to share your feedback. 

Visit Hennepin.us/park-portland for more project information.

Land sale of 3427 15th Ave. S. to the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board

At today’s Council meeting, we voted to approve the sale of the City-owned vacant lot across the street from Powderhorn Park. The sale was made within the context of the Garden Lease Program, which is a partnership between Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED), Public Works, and the Health Department’s Homegrown Minneapolis Initiative. Under the Garden Lease Program, some community garden groups, businesses, and nonprofits can lease vacant City-owned lots for garden space.

Currently there are 84 vacant lots in the Garden Lease Program.

In June 2024, the City Council authorized granting exclusive development rights to the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) for seven specific vacant lots in the City’s Garden Lease Program for permanent community garden use. 

MPRB was identified as a strong potential partner, due to the MPRB's existing community garden program and the interest in identifying a permanent steward for lots as green space. MPRB submitted offers to purchase three of the seven garden lots for their appraised value and is reimbursing the City for the cost of the Phase I Environmental analyses.

More information on the Garden Lease Program can be found on the City’s website. 

Meet the applicants for redeveloping the Peoples’ Way

The applicants for community partners to redevelop the Peoples’ Way site at George Floyd Square will give community presentations on their plans Feb. 26. Come hear their presentations and share your feedback. The City is looking for community input before advancing one of the groups to the mayor and City Council for approval.

Redeveloping the Peoples’ Way site for community use is a part of the City’s effort to work with the community on a new vision for George Floyd Square. Years of feedback from community members has informed a shared vision for the area.

Four applicants responded to the City’s request for a community partner to redevelop the Peoples’ Way site at 3744 Chicago Ave.:

• Minnesota Agape Movement
• P3 Foundation (David’s Place)
• Rise & Remember
• Urban League Twin Cities

Peoples’ Way applicant presentations

• 5-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26Sabathani Community Center, 310 E. 38th St.

Food and refreshments will be provided.

If you cannot come to the applicant presentations, you can choose from several events to meet with staff. Read more on the City website.

Flu hospitalizations spike; get your flu shot today

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.

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 healthcare provider.

Grants for sewer repairs

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.

Junauda Petrus selected as Minneapolis’ poet laureate

Junauda Petrus is the city’s new poet laureate for 2025-2026. Petrus succeeds Heid E. Erdrich in this prominent literary role. A multidisciplinary artist, Petrus spans stage, screen and page in her work. She blends ancestral storytelling, speculative fiction and poetic verse around themes of Blackness, queerness and womanhood.

The administration of the Poet Laureate Award is overseen by The Loft Literary Center. The Loft is hosting a public celebration in honor of Petrus Feb. 13 at its headquarters in downtown Minneapolis.

Co-founder of the experimental artist collection Free Black Dirt, Petrus is known for creating innovative performances. Her acclaimed debut novel, The Stars and the Blackness Between Them, received the 2020 Coretta Scott King Honor Book Award. In 2023 she released her first children’s book, Can We Please Give the Police Department to the Grandmothers? It is based on an abolitionist future and became a Minnesota Book Award finalist.

Deeply rooted in the cultural, social, and historic fabric of Minneapolis, Petrus will use her visionary voice as poet laureate to celebrate the city’s beauty, struggle and magic through poetry.

Read more about the City of Minneapolis and The Loft Literary Center’s Poet Laureate Award on the City website.

Help guide City policy: Speak your mind at the Community Connections Conference

We invite you to speak your mind and help guide future City policies at 2025 Community Connections Conference.

Join in a breakout session to share your stories and vision with the City of Minneapolis:

• Share your health story.
• Envision a food-focused future.
• Learn about having a seat at the table by joining a board or commission.
• Learn about the City Council.

See more breakout sessions on the City website.

See the full exhibit list on the City website.

Read more about the Community Connections Conference and register now.

Contact the Ward 9 Office

Email: jason.chavez@minneapolismn.gov
Phone: 612-673-2209

We've moved while work is being done in City Hall. Our office is in:

Room 100, Public Service Center
450 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.