City of Minneapolis sent this bulletin at 05/23/2025 04:27 PM CDT
Council Member Linea Palmisano
May 23, 2025
Dear Neighbors,
This year, we commemorate the five-year remembrance of George Floyd's murder. This was a pivotal moment in the history of our city and our nation, and each year it is an opportunity for remembrance and reflection.
On Monday, City offices will be closed in observance of Memorial Day. I will be remembering and honoring those who gave their life while serving and protecting our nation and our democracy, including my late Poppy, a WWII veteran who passed in October at age 103. Thank you to the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.
Yours in Service, Linea
P.S. This is one of the six holidays where our City garbage services are delayed one day throughout the week. Collection moves back a day, but everyone has their regular collection for that week. Please have your carts out accordingly.
Mural of George Floyd by community artists Cadex Herrera, Greta McLain, and Xena Goldman.
The murder of George Floyd and the events of 2020 ignited a movement and changed Minneapolis forever. Five years later, the City of Minneapolis reflects on its path of reform and racial healing.
We understand that progress requires both accountability and deep community engagement. We invite you to learn more about our progress, our challenges and our commitment to doing better for the people of our city:
Hear from City leaders about police reform, comprehensive community safety, the future of public spaces, and our journey to end systemic racism in Minneapolis. Watch the video.
At the most recent MPD Awards Ceremony, Andy Hersey was honored with the Citizen's Lifesaving Award. Andy grew up in the 13th Ward. He and his parents, Keith and Marion Hersey, are the people behind the beloved Paperback Exchange at 50th and Penn.
Assistant Chief of Community Trust Christopher Gaiters read the background for the award: Following a serious single vehicle crash near Hiawatha Avenue and East 54th Street, the vehicle began to catch fire, with the unresponsive driver still inside. Hersey, who witnessed the crash, ran to the scene and attempted to pull the driver to safety. Another resident and recipient of the Citizen's Lifesaving Award, Molly Bradley, who had called 911, quickly joined him. Together they risked their lives, their own safety, and removed the driver from the burning vehicle.
By the time first responders arrived, the vehicle was fully engulfed in flames, but the driver had been successfully rescued and was receiving medical care. Both Bradley and Hersey sustained minor injuries during the rescue. The quick thinking, bravery and selflessness undoubtedly saved the driver’s life, making them deserving recipients of the Citizen’s Lifesaving award.
The City of Minneapolis will continue police reform work already underway, despite the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) motion to dismiss the consent decree case more than four months after reaching an agreement and just days before the five-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd.
On January 6, the City entered into a proposed federal consent decree with the DOJ, outlining policy, resource and training requirements that would, together with the settlement agreement with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR), continue to guide the City’s and Minneapolis Police Department’s (MPD) reform efforts over the next several years. The DOJ and the City jointly filed the agreement in federal court, seeking court approval. Since that time, DOJ requested and was granted three consecutive 30-day stays of the court proceedings.
This week, the DOJ filed a motion to dismiss the case. The decision on whether to dismiss the case now lies with the federal judge. No matter the outcome, the City of Minneapolis’ path remains clear – to continue to implement the reforms, apparently without support from the White House.
The City has already begun to implement the reforms listed in the federal agreement and will continue to do so. You can find more police reform updates on the City’s website
Join me for the next 13th Ward Neighborhood Safety Walk around Lake Harriet where lights are out due to copper wire theft. This walk spans four different neighborhoods and will take about 60 minutes.
13th Ward Neighborhood Safety Walk Lake Harriet Parkway | Meet at Bandshell Tuesday, May 27 | 7:00-8:30 PM
Join your neighbors for a community planting event along Bryant Avenue! On Saturday, June 7 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., the City is hosting a morning of planting native flowers in rain gardens to help support pollinators and keep our rainwater clean.
🦋 Tools and snacks provided – just bring mud-friendly shoes. 🦋 Staff will be there to guide you. 🦋 No green thumb needed! Everyone is welcome!
The city assessing team began work in Kenny last week. This is part of the statutorily required quintile review and inspections. The State of Minnesota requires us to review all City properties once every five years. This is known as a quintile review. That means we need to review about 26,000 properties each year to:
See if and how the property has changed in the last five years
Record those changes
Update the property's estimated market value to reflect those changes
Assessing staff wear neon vests and carry city identification and their field device. They will move through the neighborhood as a team. They do not drive city vehicles.
The MPRB is expanding restricted no parking hours of parking lots and parking bays on the west and south sides of Bde Maka Ska from 10 pm - 6 am to 8 pm - 6 am, with an effective date of May 22. The expanded restricted no parking hours of 8 pm - 6 am will be in effect until further notice to address safety issues from large groups of unruly people, mostly teens and young adults, who are engaging in disruptive, illegal, and sometimes violent conduct.
The new parking hours of 6 am – 8 pm, with expanded restricted no parking hours of 8 pm – 6 am, will impact parking bays on the west and south side of Bde Maka Ska Parkway from West 32nd Street to Richfield Road. It also impacts the Bde Maka Ska Thomas Beach Pay Parking Lot, the Bde Maka Ska Richfield Road Pay Parking Lot and the Bde Maka Ska 36th Street Pay Parking Lot.
Parkway and parking signs have been updated and meters at the impacted pay lots have been reprogrammed to no longer accept payment after 8 pm.
A new report from an independent evaluator shows that the City is making strong progress in police reform. The report from Effective Law Enforcement For All (ELEFA) comes in as Minneapolis approaches five years since George Floyd’s murder. According to ELEFA, the City has made more progress in the first year of monitoring than most other cities have under similar agreements.
The report highlights better policies, more effective training plans, stronger officer wellness programs, and a near elimination of complaint backlogs.
Key progress includes:
Near elimination of OPCR and IA historical misconduct complaint backlog – all are now in process with 30 complaints closed as of March 31.
Completing a comprehensive training needs assessment and developing a highly regarded annual training plan that ELEFA notes could serve as a model for other law enforcement agencies.
Developing and updating key policies around Use of Force, mission/vision/values/goals, crisis intervention, and other areas.
Incorporating significant resident feedback and input into new and revised policies.
Expanding officer training programs.
Laying groundwork for improvements to facilities and data systems.
Designating 21 officers to serve as peer support members, providing mentorship, outreach and emotional support to officers who may need assistance.
The report evaluates the work done by the City and Minneapolis Police Department from October 2024 through March 2025. It marks ELEFA’s first full-year review of how Minneapolis is following the court-ordered settlement agreement with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, signed in 2023.
One of the best parts of my job is getting to meet with my constituents, learn more about you and hear your questions, concerns, hopes and dreams for our shared community.
If you'd like to schedule a time to meet with me, send me an e-mailand my staff will help get it scheduled. Please let me know what you'd like to talk about and a convenient place to meet—a coffee shop, a park, your home, my office, etc. I try to reserve Fridays for constituent meetings, but can work them in other times, as necessary, too.
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 formats 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.
