Violence interruption contracts update

Dear community,

This morning, the Office of Community Safety (OCS) has requested that I pull the MinneapolUS contracts for violence interruption services from today’s Administration and Enterprise Oversight (AEO) agenda, to allow OCS leadership the time to resubmit a updated contract proposal without Salem Inc, to the Committee of the Whole which will take place on Tuesday, March 25th.  

I highlighted in last week’s newsletter that the Frey administration had requested Council approval on a set of proposed contracts for violence interruption services. These contracts included the group Salem Inc, which is run by Reverend McAfee, an individual who last month made public homophobic comments and death threats against myself and several other Council Members. 

When the Frey administration’s proposal to contract with Reverend McAfee for over $600,000 went public at the end of last week, Council Members and residents expressed serious concerns about why the Mayor thought it was appropriate to offer a violence prevention contract to an individual who has made public threats of violence. On Friday, the Commissioner of the Office of Community Safety dismissed these concerns and reaffirmed that the administration would be moving forward with the contract. It was immediately obvious to me, many of my colleagues, and many members of the community that the proposal to contract with someone who had recently made homophobic comments and violent threats would raise major concerns with the public on whether they were the appropriate person to administer violence prevention services. 

It is deeply concerning that the Frey administration continues to be unable or unwilling to provide leadership and execute public safety and services in a way that keeps all of our residents safe and rebuilds trust with the community. I am committed to continuing to exercise active oversight of the administration in partnership with my colleagues and the community. 

The Frey administration’s actions regarding the Salem, Inc contract echoes the events that took place just a few weeks ago, when the Frey administration was forced to withdraw another proposed public safety contract due to public outcry. The Office of Community Safety had planned to contract with OUR Rescue, a group that had a significant problematic past that included allegations of trafficking as well as federal lawsuits. Much like the Salem, Inc contract, the administration attempted to use the Request For Proposals (RFP) process as a shield from commonsense questions they were unable to answer. Similarly, they withdrew the proposed contract without taking any accountability of their role in how the problem occurred. 

To ensure that Council and the public have more transparency around OCS’s proposed withdrawal of the Salem Inc MinneapolUS contract, I have requested that OCS leadership and staff be present at the AEO committee today at 1:30pm to answer questions from the committee.  

Sincerely, 

Council Member Robin Wonsley