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Dear Community,
Last week, the Frey administration repeatedly evicted hundreds of vulnerable residents from Camp Nenookaasi. These evictions are cruel and ineffective. Neighbors worked together to protect Camp Nenookaasi residents, and housed and unhoused residents continue to call on the city to invest in humane and effective solutions to homelessness.
In between evictions, Mayor Frey vetoed the resolution passed by a supermajority of Council supporting an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to US military aid to Israel. Sixty-one percent of voters nationwide support a ceasefire, including over 75% of Democrats.
I am committed to being responsive to residents who have called, emailed, and attended Council meetings aksing us to a humane response to the genocide in Gaza and to our unhoused communities. Council must use our full legislative, oversight, and budgetary authority to hold the Frey administration accountable to the needs and priorities of working class residents.
Sincerely,
Council Member Robin Wonsley
Mayor Frey vetoed the resolution passed by a supermajority of Council supporting an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to US military aid to Israel. Council will vote on whether to override the veto at the next meeting of the City Council on February 8th at 9:30am. Council Members may vote yes to override or no to sustain the veto. There is no debate, discussion, substitute motions, or amendments permitted. I am hopeful that all nine Council Members who authored and/or voted in support of the resolution remain steadfast in supporting the resolution.
Key votes: Council will vote on whether to override the Mayor’s veto at the Council Meeting on February 8th at 9:30am. Nine votes are required to override the veto.
Despite overwhelming community opposition, the Frey administration evicted Camp Nenookaasi, an encampment of unhoused people in East Phillips. The Public Health and Safety Committee had a presentation by administration leaders who were involved in the eviction, including City Operations Officer Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Director of Regulatory Services Enrique Velazquez, and Commissioner of Public Safety Toddrick Barnette. Over a hundred residents showed up to express solidarity with Camp Nenookaasi and demand that the city make good on our commitment to treat unsheltered homelessness as a public health emergency.
The staff presentation failed to address some of the key questions around how evicting encampments contributes to ending unsheltered homelessness or advancing dignified housing for those without it.
Committee members asked many questions. Some of the outcomes of those questions:
- The city is supposed to give 72 hours’ notice before an eviction. The Nenookaasi eviction notice was posted with far less than 72 hours by a self-identified pastor rather than a city staff member. Community members were confused about why someone other than a city official would provide the city’s notice on an eviction and questioned if this was a legitimate source of information. Council was not informed that a non-city official would be delivering the city’s notice, and COO Margaret Anderson Kelliher told Council this would not become a regular practice.
- Staff was unable to share the outcomes of the “contacts” made by the city’s Homeless Response Team beyond distributing snacks, Narcan, and socks. It has been unclear if the Homeless Response Team has had any positive impacts into getting unhoused people into permanent housing. In the last two years, staff turnover on the Homeless Response Team has been incredibly high, with former staff reaching out to Council about their concerns with the city’s willingness to invest in any practice outside of evictions.
- The city received over 100 calls regarding the encampment in January of 2023 between 311, 911, and the Mayor’s Office. However, there was no clarity on what these calls included (for example, a request for services, a request for eviction, a request to not evict, etc). Council Members also received a significant volume of correspondence regarding this specific encampment, but these calls and emails were not included in the figures shared by city staff.
- Approximately 160 MPD officers were involved in the evictions. For context, this is approximately the entire staff on one precinct. In St. Paul, it is not uncommon to have a total of two police officers present at similar closures.
Since Tuesday, Camp Nenookaasi has relocated and been evicted twice more. This underscores that the evictions are not accomplishing anything except traumatizing residents and wasting taxpayer dollars. The image below was included in a Sahan Journal article recently.
 According to the Frey’s administration's own data, closure activities range between $40,000 to $265,000 in total cost depending on conditions, with factors requiring police presence being the clearest contributor to cost. This means that in less than one month, the city has spent nearly $1 million dollars evicting residents and shifting them to new sites all within blocks of each other. Besides the cruelty, this ineffective practice is a waste of taxpayer money.
Council has repeatedly asked this administration to stop doubling down on a failed strategy and work with us on policy solutions and strategies that can actually support our unhoused residents in a meaningful way with the long term goal of ending homelessness, not just trying to hide it. In the coming weeks, the Budget Committee will have an opportunity to reallocate unspent dollars from 2023. I look forward to working with my colleagues to allocate funds to get more people into permanent housing, as well as on the three encampment response policies being advanced through the legislative process.
Key votes: No votes taken.
The Public Health and Safety Committee heard updates by the Commission of the Office of Community Safety Toddrick Barnette regarding the 3rd Precinct/Community Safety Center at 2633 Minnehaha.
In October of 2023, the Mayor asked the Council to vote to approve the purchase of 2633 Minnehaha to turn it into a 3rd Precinct and Community Safety Center. During these discussions, it became very clear that the administration had no plan for this building outside of a status quo police precinct. This was confirmed in Mayor’s Frey Community Safety Center memo where the $10 million acquisition cost and $4 million modification cost that the administration had shared publicly for the property only accounted for the law enforcement component of the center. The additional unspecified “community safety functions and services” were revealed to cost an additional $7-8.5 million, which was not included in the administration’s public portrayal of the center (page 4).
Council Members and residents were deeply concerned about what appeared to be the administration’s intention to spend tens of millions of dollars on a new building for the police without investing in the Safe and Thriving Communities model for comprehensive public safety beyond policing.
Due to these concerns, Council Members Osman and Koski authored a successful resolution expressing a commitment to include both the comprehensive safety functions and 3rd Precinct functions, to involve the community in the further development of the center, and to host the ceremonial Grand Opening of the Community Safety Center and 3rd Precinct on the same day at the same time.
In addition to the resolution, I brought forward a successful legislative directive to exercise Council’s oversight authority and ensure the administration makes progress towards the commitments expressed in the resolution before completing the multimillion dollar purchase of the building.
This week, the Mayor’s administration gave the first presentation on the legislative directive. Commissioner Barnette shared that there is an intention for multiple work groups and staff tables, but so far there is still no plan. The administration has made minimal progress towards fulfilling the commitments outlined in the resolution. There are a number of very serious outstanding questions regarding 2633 Minnehaha including how the Office of Community Safety plans to engage residents, invest in comprehensive public safety services, how those services can co-locate with MPD given their current behaviors, and how much all of this costs.
During the Committee meeting, Commission Barnette confirmed that the administration plans to complete the multimillion dollar purchase agreement for 2633 Minnehaha in June, but they will not have a full plan for the building for Council and the public to make an informed decision about the purchase.
I was disappointed by the timeline and lack of specificity that Commissioner Barnette was able to offer about the path towards a plan for the building beyond a status quo 3rd Precinct police station. I know that residents are beyond ready for the administration to deliver a new model of public safety, rather than continuing to replicate our history.
Key votes: No votes taken.
The Public Health and Safety Committee received a presentation on the legislative directive I authored last year regarding Pollution Control Annual Registration (PCAR) fees. My office submitted this legislative directive after hundreds of residents organized around the People’s Climate and Equity Plan and specifically asked Council to look into expanding the PCAR program to include carbon dioxide as a pollutant on the PCAR list.
The presentation and report clarified that the city does not have the legal grounds to raise fees on the current PCAR pollutants in 2025. It also confirmed that the city is currently not recouping the costs of CO2 mitigation and that we have the legal grounds to do so. Given this information, I brought forward a motion for the Legislative Department to evaluate the costs of a CO2 PCAR program so that the city can calculate the fee level that is appropriate within our municipal fee authority.
This winter we are feeling the impacts of climate change more than ever. There is no snow and it’s unseasonably warm. Residents consistently tell the Council that they want to see the city taking bold action that reflects the climate emergency we are in. The motion I brought forward will move us one step closer towards recouping the costs of CO2 mitigation programs starting in 2025.
Key votes: Public Health and Safety Committee unanimously approves a motion to take the next steps towards implementing a PCAR fee on CO2 in 2025. Council will vote on whether to approve the motion at City Council meeting at February 8th
The Administration and Enterprise Oversight (AEO) Committee heard a short presentation on the city’s syringe and needle cleanup services. I requested this presentation because residents reach out fairly frequently with concerns about needles.
If you see a syringe or needle on the ground, please call 311 and request cleanup. The city has contracts with professionals who can safely dispose of needles specifically for this purpose, but we need residents to report needles so we can dispatch these professionals to the appropriate location.
Key votes: Administration and Enterprise Oversight Committee (AEO) approves syringe cleanup services. Contract goes for final approval at the Council meeting on February 8th.
3rd Precinct residents continue to organize around ideas and proposals for community purposes at the Former 3rd Precinct building at 3000 Minnehaha. This week I attended two different community-hosted sessions where ideas and proposals were discussed.
Any future use of the building would be subject to a vote of the City Council. At the end of last year, the Frey administration discussed a proposal to move the city’s elections center to 3000 Minnehaha, but did not move that forward for a vote. There are currently not any other city-centered proposals that are being brought forward for Council approval. The city has created a website about the site and committed to hosting a community engagement session in early March.
My priority is that there is a robust community engagement process behind any future proposal, and that the building remains in public ownership.
Key votes: No votes taken.
The Business, Housing and Zoning Committee was scheduled to receive a presentation on a comparative analysis of three possible compensation models for rideshare drivers. The presentation was delayed to Tuesday due to time constraints after other items on the agenda ran over.
Prior to the Committee meeting, Uber and Lyft drivers hosted a press conference renewing their call on the City Council to pass the ordinance that would guarantee drivers make at least $15/hour. Drivers spoke about how they continue to earn subminimum wages despite working long hours to serve residents.
Key votes: No votes taken. Compensation analysis presentation delayed to the Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting on 2/6 at 1:30pm.
This week I had the pleasure of visiting the Carlson Impact Lab, where students will be partnering with my office and the University administration on the Dinkytown Chronic Vacancy Solutions Collaborative. Students will be conducting research and market analysis to help the city and University fill empty storefronts in Dinkytown with small businesses and other purposes that contribute to a safe, vibrant, and welcoming commercial corridor. We are modeling this project off the successes of the Downtown Council’s Chameleon Shoppes initiative, and excited about the possibilities that the Collaborative can bring to Dinkytown.
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Save the date! There will be a Prospect Park Community Meeting on February 26th from 6:30-8pm. The meeting is co-hosted by the Ward 2 Office, Prospect Park Association, and BF50 Indigenous Health, and will include updates from Council Member Robin Wonsley, Park Commissioner Billy Menz, 2nd Precinct Inspector Nick Torborg, 2nd Precinct Crime Prevention Specialist Teila Zoller, and the Prospect Park Association Board. Look out for a flyer and meeting agenda coming soon.
Save the date: February 26th, 6:30-8pm at Luxton Recreation Center
Hennepin County Expungement Clinic & Community Fair is a collaborative initiative hosted by the Twin Cities Urban League in partnership with organizations dedicated to justice and community empowerment, including Second Chance Coalition, Minnesota Justice Research Center, Minneapolis NAACP, and The New Justice Project. Their unique prosecutor-initiated expungement service aims to expedite the process for those with adult felony convictions originating in Hennepin County. In conjunction with the expungement services, they are hosting a Community Fair where non-profit organizations will provide valuable information and services.
 Event Details:
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Date: February 28, 2024
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Time: 12:00 PM - 8:00 PM
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Location: Twin Cities Urban League, 2100 Plymouth Ave N, Minneapolis, MN 55411
Email Council Member Wonsley and her staff at ward2@minneapolismn.gov
Or contact staff directly:
Policy Aide Celeste Robinson
Policy Aide Qannani Omar
Share your opinion or address an issue, use the Ward 2 contact form
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