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Dear Neighbors,
I hope this message finds you well and thriving. As we step further into 2024, I want to share with you the recent developments and legislative actions that have taken place at the city council in the last couple weeks. A lot has taken place between the last couple City Council Meetings.
The City Council introduced and referred 26 different legislative actions to our standing committees and introduced this Four of those are authored by me: Safe Outdoor Spaces ordinance, Humane Encampment Response ordinance, Encampment Removal Reporting ordinance, and Labor Standards Board ordinance.
Yesterday the City Council took action on 38 items forwarded from our committees, gave notice for introducing 3 new ordinances, and referred another ordinance to committee. We approved our Budget Committee's workplan, passed legislative directives to study the state of childcare and around supporting displaced populations in Minneapolis, we approved business district support grants.
I also want to highlight that we approved $2,120,376, from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), to provide sexual and reproductive health services at Edison, FAIR, South, Wellstone, and Longfellow SBCs for the period of Jan 1, 2024, to Dec 31, 2027. I am a proud advocate for school based clinics in our community, that often times if the only form of healthcare our students are able to access.
I share all of that with you because you don't often hear about the majority of the work of City Council because it doesn't typically make headlines. One item that did make a lot of headlines was our vote to override Mayor Frey’s veto of the resolution expressing the City Council’s support for a permanent ceasefire and preventing loss of human life in the Middle East. I really appreciate everyone who reached out to my office about this issue. From the beginning it has been my priority to make sure the resolution went through our committee process so that all of my colleagues and the public had a chance to weigh in and make amendments in a transparent way. I was proud to be and author and ensure that the resolution went through a public process. Since we referred that item through our committee process there has been extensive community input and outreach. In total my office received over 160+ emails and calls from Ward 12 residents the overwhelming majority asking me to support the resolution. The resolution initially passed with a super majority of 9 votes and those votes held for the override of the veto which I think is reflective of the process it went through and is part of why I was proud to support it. The next step is our resolution will be senate to our Federal and State delegations.
In other news, I had my first community office hours at Sister's Sludge and will be sharing more info on future community office hours and townhalls. I spent time meeting with representatives from 3 labor unions, I spent time with Minneapolis Federation of Teachers to talk about shared goals and priorities for the families, educators, and kids in our city. I met with representatives and workers from AFSCME to learn more about how we can better support City workers. Finally, I joined members of SEIU Local 26 at their bargaining over lunch to share my support and solidarity for the workers who make our Downtown and whole city run.
Community Updates
Approving the 2024 Great Streets Grants: The Council voted to approve grant agreements funding business district revitalization activities with several community business organizations, including a $50,000 grant for the Lake Street Council, and a $11,050 grant for the Longfellow Business Association! This is the 16th year of the city approving business district support grants, and this year’s funding supported 18 proposals from across the city.
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Community Safety Center: on February 4th, Commissioner Todd Barnette and Director Amanda Harrington presented an update on the progress on the Community Safety Center, which remains a priority of mine to ensure services to our ward, and other communities reliant on the 3rd Precinct. On the 26th of January, a purchase agreement was signed for 2633 Minnehaha Avenue.
There is a due diligence period of approximately 90 days during which the City will perform property inspections, complete environmental testing and any other necessary actions to ensure the viability of the location. By April 15, the City will decide whether to move forward with the purchase based on the findings. It is anticipated at this time that the Community Safety Center will be opened in early 2025. Our Office of Community Safety has committed to keeping a detailed timeline up to date on their city webpage, which can be found here.
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Deadlines for Early Voting: Early voting has begun for the March 5 presidential primary. Voters can cast their ballots by mail or in person at the Early Vote Center, 980 East Hennepin Ave.
All mail-in ballots need to be received by March 5 to count. Anyone who requested a mail ballot should allow up to seven days. The City recommends all requests for mail ballots be made no later than Tuesday, Feb. 27, and completed ballots should be mailed no later than Friday, March 1.
If voters choose to deliver their ballot in-person to the Elections & Voter Services office, it must be returned by 8 p.m. on primary day, March 5. Mail ballots cannot be dropped off at polling places on Election Day.
Find more information about voting by mail on the City website.
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