|
Summary: After a disinformation campaign by the Frey administration led to threats of violence against Council Members, Council re-centered the conversation on the need for oversight of the Neighborhood Safety Department’s violence prevention programs and voted unanimously to postpone the transition of programs continue using oversight authority to ensure violence prevention programs are administered effectively to keep residents safe.
Background: On Monday, I brought forward a proposal to temporarily move some of the city’s violence prevention programs to Hennepin County due to longstanding concerns with the Frey administration’s management of these programs. The proposal had the support of Public Health and Safety Chair Jason Chavez and Council President Elliott Payne, and was developed in consultation with the City Attorney's Office and Hennepin County.
Violence prevention programs have been able to reduce homicides by double-digit margins in cities across the country, including a 34% reduction in homicides in Indianapolis, a 63% reduction in youth homicide in Boston, and a 41% reduction in violence for participants in Cincinnati. Under former Mayor Betsy Hodges, Minneapolis violence prevention programs received national awards. But for the last two years, the Neighborhood Safety Department has not produced any data on their outcomes. In 2023, a national violence prevention organization gave Minneapolis a 39/100 rating on a violence prevention scorecard.
The Neighborhood Safety Department is not functional and that dysfunction has put our residents' safety at risk. In 2024, homicides decreased across the country while they increased here in Minneapolis.
I and my colleagues have raised these concerns dozens of times with the leadership of the Neighborhood Safety Department (NSD) and Office of Community Safety (OCS) and with the Mayor. These conversations happened in public in various committees and several meetings with leadership all of last year and into this year. Last April, I shared with residents that in response to these concerns, my colleagues and I requested an investigation for fraud, waste, and abuse by the City Auditor. Commissioner Barnette could have addressed these concerns at any time by providing evidence that his department could administer effective programs that could keep our residents safe. I would not have proposed moving programs to the county if there was evidence that they were working well at the city.
Given this context, I asked the County, which is a partner in this work, if they would be willing to temporarily oversee some of the more technically complex violence prevention programs held at the city while NSD got its house in order. In the shared interest of public safety, Hennepin County was willing to assist.
Unfortunately, rather than see this as a positive opportunity, the Frey administration leadership publicly spread baseless accusations that the proposal was motivated by corruption by Council Members. These claims caused confusion and anger amongst residents, which escalated to the point where a current contractor with the Neighborhood Safety Department made a threat to shoot members of the City Council in a live video on social media.
At full council yesterday, Council Members questioned Commissioner Barnette on these extremely serious allegations, but he offered no rationale or evidence of his claims that this proposal was connected to something sinister. Additionally at the meeting, a colleague was heckled and mocked for being gay by supporters of the individual who made death threats towards Council Members. Mayor Frey has not taken any accountability for his administration's misinformation campaign about Council Members that led to threats of violence.
I am very unsettled that the administration chose to spread false accusations about me and my colleagues rather than debate the merits of my proposal. That said, the misinformation by the Frey administration simply became a distraction from the issue at hand, which is the continued failure of the Neighborhood Safety Department to correctly administer programs and keep residents safe.
This week’s conversation around the proposal also unearthed several new questions about the management of the Neighborhood Safety Department and Office of Community Safety.
During Monday’s discussion at the Budget Committee, Council Members asked staff several questions. NSD staff stated publicly they were unable to respond to several of them due to contracts still being negotiated with potential contractors. Council Members learned later that in fact was untrue and that NSD and OCS leadership withheld that information for unclear reasons.
The committee discussion also led to several outstanding questions about the lack of budgetary transparency within NSD. Staff shared publicly that NSD’s entire budget is not broken down by program. Presentations from the department all last year lacked data on the outcomes of current programs, leaving many Council Members wondering how the department distributes its resources and based on what metrics. NSD also did not explain how they plan to transition clients working with current contractors over to the new contractors. They have not explained how they plan to operate with 50% vacancy in their department staffing, including no department director and program manager for the two programs that I was proposing to temporarily transition to the county (Group Violence Intervention). And most significant of all, NSD still has not articulated any metrics for their goals for their new contracts. We have no idea how many clients they intend to serve, what impact these services should have on homicide rates or gun violence, or any other quantifiable outcomes.
While some of my colleagues have been aware of problems within the department for months, others are catching up on this dysfunction in real time.
Given all of this context, I moved to indefinitely postpone the proposal to move the funds. This will create stability for the current contracts while still allowing Council to explore options for addressing the administration’s failure to execute these previously successful programs that supported keeping residents safe. This motion was unanimously approved.
I intend to continue using my full oversight authority to continue bringing needed scrutiny to the Neighborhood Safety Department, and many of my colleagues echoed this commitment yesterday.
This upcoming Tuesday, a new round of contracts for Youth/Group Violence Intervention is being brought forward for approval to the Administration and Enterprise Oversight Committee. I will be referring the item to the Committee of the Whole on February 25th so that the entire Council can get answers to the many serious questions that have surfaced during this conversation and have the information they need to make informed decisions.
I will be expecting NSD leadership to make public presentations on their plans to run these programs in a way that ensures safety to our residents. I want to be very clear that another year of dysfunction within this department is unacceptable. I want the department and these programs to be successful, but I also know that if issues continue to persist, Council has options for addressing the administration’s failure to keep residents safe.
Lastly, I want to share comments that a resident wrote to my office in the aftermath of the vote:
“Because the city is failing my neighborhood in providing safety services. If the Public Works Department was somehow temporarily unable to pick up our trash every week, we wouldn't expect to just not have trash service for a year while it got worked out. We would expect the city to find some other way to provide the services in the meantime. At today's council meeting, a council member asked why the city would pass this work over to the county when it seems like it should be the city's job. But when these programs fail, the county is already taking up the rest of the work: at the jail, probation, the county attorney's office, the HCMC ambulance and the county medical examiner that responds. Because when these city programs are failing, people are dying. And I'm not saying this to be hyperbolic. So many times, neighbors on my block have reached out to the city because we could tell that situations were escalating and becoming dangerous and we were afraid people would die. And every single time, we were right. I have seen the medical examiner twice on my block in the last week. Sometimes it seems like the city does a better job of picking up trash than making sure my neighbors don't die in terrible, violent ways.”
Key votes: Council voted unanimously in support of my motion to indefinitely postpone consideration of moving violence prevention programs to Hennepin County, so that we can continue to hold the administration accountable for their failures to keep residents safe.
Summary: Council unanimously approved a request for the City Auditor to conduct an independent After Action Review of the city’s actions related to the death of Allison Lussier, a 47-year-old Indigenous woman who died last year.
Background: Allison Lussier was a 47 year old Indigenous woman who was found dead in her North Loop apartment in February 2024. Since her death, family members, community members, and domestic violence advocates, have been demanding officials to look into the circumstances of her death and the role of the Minneapolis Police Department.
Community and family members have shared that Ms. Lussier was a victim of domestic violence and raised concerns as to whether actions or inactions of the Minneapolis Police Department contributed to her death or have negatively impacted her family’s ability to receive justice. The Community Commission of Police Oversight took a formal position and requested the Council pursue an After Action related to the city’s actions in relation to the circumstances of the death of Allison Lussier.
Calls from the community and Allison’s family cannot be ignored. Indigenous women disproportionately face violence in Minnesota. According to the 2019 Minnesota Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) Task Force, despite Indigenous people making up just 1% of the state’s population, 9% of all murdered girls and women from 2010 to 2019 were Native American.
MPD has a documented pattern and practice of failing to appropriately respond to domestic violence incidents. The city’s historic pattern and practice of ignoring community accountability is how we’ve ended up in two consent decrees. This makes the After Action Review of Allison’s case particularly important.
Allison’s family deserves to know if different actions by MPD and the city could have meant that Allison would have been alive today or that justice for her death could be served. At the Committee of the Whole the council unanimously approved a request to the auditor for an After Action Review led by myself, Council President Payne, and Council Member Chavez. We will next follow up with the City Auditor’s office to confirm whether they will execute the Action Review request from Council. The After Action Review will give Allison’s family, the public, and Council an independent assessment of those actions.
Key votes: Council voted unanimously in favor of the resolution.
Council Member Wonsley speaking at a press conference with family members and community leaders about the After Action Review on the death of Allison Lussier.
Summary: Council is moving forward with a pedestrian plaza at George Floyd Square.
Background: Council voted 8-5 to refer the flexible/open concept layout to the City Clerk. Council Member Cashman then introduced a legislative directive that will evaluate a pedestrian mall concept layout per Minn. Stat. § 430.011 and develop language for a corresponding City pedestrian mall that would be adjacent to 3744 Chicago Ave (aka The People’s Way), which Council approved with a 9-4 vote.
Together, these two actions are consistent with the resolution the City Council passed on December 5th, 2024 that expressed support for the pedestrian plaza, which allows for vehicular access to local residents and businesses only while maintaining access for emergency vehicles.
The action Council took to refer the flexible/open concept layout to the City Clerk ensures that the entire work done to-date on that plan is not lost but put “on pause.” It will allow the City to pursue the pedestrian plaza concept in compliance with the State Statute, without losing the work on the flexible/open concept. Public Works staff provided a support memo highlighting the work they’ll undertake towards pedestrianization and the timeline—accordingly, staff will present their legislative directive findings to the Climate & Infrastructure Committee on December 4, 2025.
Key votes: Council voted 8-5 to refer the flexible/open layout to the City Clerk, pausing its development. Council Members Rainville, Vetaw, Jenkins, Koski and Palmisano voted in opposition. Then Council voted 9-4 in support of a legislative directive to advance the pedestrian plaza at George Floyd Square. Council Members Rainville, Vetaw, Jenkins, and Palmisano voted in opposition.
Summary: I am advancing a staff direction to learn more about the impacts of autonomous food delivery robots on workers, so that Council can be proactive in regulating this new technology.
Background: Last year, the University of Minnesota decided to pilot using autonomous food delivery technology on campus, commonly known as delivery robots. This is the first use of delivery robots in Minneapolis. The University of Minnesota is funding and managing the use of robots independent of the city. The City Council authorized the creation of a personal delivery device permitting pilot program to begin developing permitting criteria to ensure that any long term use of delivery robots in the city was regulated.
I authored a staff direction asking for updates on the implementation at the University of Minnesota and any proposed adjustments to the permitting pilot as a result of the preliminary data, as well as a high level overview of the impacts that delivery robots have had on workers in other cities where they have been more widely implemented. University of Minnesota workers who are impacted by the robots raised concerns about how the technology could contribute to automation of their jobs and other harmful impacts on labor. I believe this staff direction will create the opportunity for a public conversation about the current and potential impacts of delivery robots on workers. It is better to have these conversations proactively before any widespread implementation, rather than trying to retroactively regulate a technology that has already been popularly adopted.
Key votes: Council voted unanimously in support of the staff direction. The report will be presented to the Public Health and Safety Committee along with a public comment period on April 9th at 1:30pm.
Summary: Council Member Chavez and I authored a legislative directive requesting a formal presentation from the Mayor’s administration about the plan to keep residents safe this summer.
Background: Minneapolis, like other major cities, typically experiences seasonal upticks in crime and violence during warmer weather. Last year, Council Member Chavez and I requested that the Mayor’s administration in the Office of Community Safety present their 2024 summer safety plans for keeping residents safe. The intent was for Council and the public to learn more about the Office’s plans around multijurisdictional partnerships, specialized assignments, and understand how the coordination between violence interrupters, police, safety ambassadors and other public safety programming were contributing to strategies to improve safety during the summer. The presentation did not demonstrate that a comprehensive plan was in place that was developed based on recent data, rising trends, and leveraging violence prevention strategies.
At the end of 2024, Minneapolis was one of few cities in that country where homicides increased rather than decreased.
With that context, we wanted to be even clearer with the administration that the Council and the public are expecting robust, data-backed plans for summer safety. We authored a legislative directive that, if approved, should be presented to Council and the public on April 23rd.
Key votes: Council votes unanimously in support of the legislative direction. The report will be presented to the Public Health and Safety Committee along with a public comment period on April 23rd at 1:30pm.
I am authoring an ordinance banning the use of rent algorithms by Minneapolis landlords. I and my co-authors Council Members Chavez and Ellison presented about our ordinance to the Minneapolis Housing Advisory Committee. It was a lively conversation and we appreciated the opportunity to work with a resident advisory body on policy development.
Council Members Wonsley, Chavez, and Ellison presenting to the Housing Advisory Committee.
I joined Mi Gente Latinx Student Center, Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS), and the University of Minnesota Young Democratic Socialists of America, and Falcon Heights Council Member Paula Mielke for a Keep Ice of Campus discussion. It is inspiring to see coalitions of students working together to protect each other from Trump’s racist and anti-immigrant attacks.
Council Member Wonsley presenting at the Keep ICE Off Campus Event.
In Minneapolis, all dogs, cats and ferrets four months or older must be current on rabies vaccinations, and owners must have a license. Pet licensing helps the City know where an animal lives and its vaccination status if lost.
License fees for nonsterilized pets have been cut in half. The move is one of many that make pet ownership more affordable while helping safeguard both pets and the community.
Sign up for vaccine appointments
We’re once again offering low-cost vaccinations by appointment every other Tuesday. Microchipping and one-year rabies and distemper vaccinations are $10 each. Vaccinations help stop easily prevented disease and illness in our community’s pets.
The next round of appointments will be Feb. 25 and are only open to Minneapolis residents. Make an appointment on the City website.
Minneapolis City government offices, including Minneapolis 311 and the Minneapolis Service Center at 505 Fourth Ave. S., are closed Monday, Feb. 17, in observance of Presidents Day. City offices resume regular business hours Tuesday, Feb. 18.
The City's metered parking spaces are not enforced on this day. Other metered parking restrictions in Minneapolis may be in effect and subject to enforcement, including the Park Board, University of Minnesota and private organizations that operate their own meters. Always read the information posted on the meter to be certain.
Minneapolis police and fire emergency services and 911 are not affected. Garbage and recycling pickup are not affected.
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. |
