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Dear neighbor,
After several months of receiving department presentations, combing through the Mayor’s proposed budget, holding public hearings, and conducting community engagement with residents, Council members have submitted amendments to the Mayor’s proposed 2025 Budget.
I’ve made it a habit in my time in office to communicate with all of you on what my office has submitted and worked on. My amendments will address housing and homelessness, community safety, economic development, public health, equity, environment and basic city services. These proposals have been developed through conversations with many of you and reflect the priorities of Ward 9 residents.
These budget amendments do not contribute to increasing the levy, as they reflect priorities for dollars that have already been budgeted. There are conversations happening with colleagues on what it would take to reduce the levy proposed by the Mayor, but not at the expense of services that our community needs.
Council Member Chavez’s 2025 Budget Amendments
Avivo Village Stabilization and Shelter Operations Grant
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Authors: Council Members; Ellison, Chavez, and Chowdhury
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Description: This will help stabilize the shelter operations of Avivo Village to prevent losing needed services meant to address homelessness. This shelter is a first-ever, indoor community of 100 secure, private dwellings or “tiny houses” that provides shelter and wraparound services to individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness. The program is designed to support each person, with a goal of moving into permanent housing in the community and/or taking next steps toward their well-being.
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Amount: $1.6 million one-time
Stable Homes Stable Schools Expansion Pilot Program
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Authors: Council Members; Chavez, Payne, and Chowdhury
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Description: Minneapolis Public Schools has seen a 30 percent increase in homelessness. This proposal will fund an expansion of the Stable Homes Stable School program with an Early Childhood Prevention Pilot Program and a Middle School Pilot Program to reduce homelessness. By funding these pilot expansions, Minneapolis Public Housing Authority estimates an additional 180-225 families (representing 440-565 children) could be served by the program.
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Amount: $830,500 one-time
Public Health Response to Unsheltered Homelessness
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Authors: Council Members; Chughtai, Chavez, and Chowdhury
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Description: This will help ensure there is an adequate public health approach to encampments. This will provide storage of items during evictions of encampments, handwashing stations near encampments to minimize and prevent the spread of infections, funding to provide portable bathrooms and funding for an agreement with Hennepin County for the continuum of care for shelter providers and warming shelters.
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Amount: $515,000 ongoing
Public Safety Improvement Low-Barrier Employment Pilot Program
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Authors: Council Members; Chavez, Osman, and Wonsley
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Description: This pilot program is designed to improve public safety by helping employ adults encountering homelessness or housing instability with sustainable low-barrier work and income and increasing the cleanliness and livability of the Southside Green Zone. The program will create teams of workers who will focus on cleaning up the Southside Green Zone. This area is disproportionately impacted by public safety, homelessness and cleanliness issues. This Includes the Phillips Neighborhoods, and Lake Street from the I-35W & Lake Street Station to the Lake St/Midtown Station.
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Amount: $285,000 one-time
Safe Outdoor Space Program (Safe Parking)
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Authors: Council Members; Chowdhury, Chughtai, and Chavez
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Description: This funding will help establish a program that will provide a secure overnight space for people living in their vehicles. Providing safe parking spaces for people living in vehicles may be an effective early intervention model, helping to prevent some people from sliding further into homelessness. This funding will help work with an organization(s) to establish a pilot in Minneapolis.
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Amount: $150,000 one-time
Syringe Clean-Up and Needle Disposal Specialist in the Southside Green Zone
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Authors: Council Members; Chavez and Osman
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Description: This proposal will fund a syringe clean-up and needle disposal specialist in the Health Department. The funding will cover salary, benefits, and the equipment needed to perform the program in the Southside Green Zone. My office heard of multiple examples where children are not allowed to use playgrounds or play outside due to the number of needles that are littering the area. This is meant to address the ongoing public health concerns in our neighborhoods that impact our residents and children.
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Amount: $117,900 ongoing
Social Housing Study
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Authors: Council Members; Payne, Ellison, Chowdhury, Wonsley, Chughtai, Osman and Chavez
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Description: Resources for a study by subject matter experts on how the City of Minneapolis could support the development of social housing, which is a form of public housing that is permanently and deeply affordable, under community control, and exists outside of the speculative real estate market.
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Amount: $50,000 one-time.
Safe and Thriving Communities Implementation and Pilot Programs
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Authors: Council Members; Wonsley and Chavez
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Description: Piloting new community safety programs in violence prevention, unarmed response, and/or healing and restorative services as outlined in the Safe and Thriving Communities Plan.
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Amount: $500,000 one-time.
Safe and Thriving Communities Work Group
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Authors: Council Members; Wonsley and Chavez
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Description: Budget to staff and support a community Work Group that will focus on supporting the implementation of the Safe and Thriving Communities Report and Plan, and will provide guidance on the new “Safety Center” model starting with the South Minneapolis Community Safety Center/3rd Precinct.
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Amount: $25,000 ongoing.
Let Everyone Advance with Dignity (LEAD) Program
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Authors: Council Members; Chavez and Chowdhury
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Description: This funding will continue the City of Minneapolis’s contract with Let Everyone Advance with Dignity (LEAD) into 2025. Focused on the East Lake Street corridor, LEAD Minneapolis is building a better approach to the crime, suffering, and harms that can stem from unmet behavioral health needs, homelessness, and/or extreme poverty. A national model replicated in dozens of communities across the country, LEAD seeks to strengthen communities by reorienting the systems that shape health and safety.
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Amount: $250,000 one-time.
Longfellow Neighborhood Safety Initiatives
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Authors: Council Members; Chavez
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Description: The purpose of this proposal is to combat crime and violence in the Longfellow neighborhood. This funding would bring more eyes on the ground to help improve safety conditions for the area. My office recently established a Lake and Minnehaha Area Safety Coalition group that meets monthly. Additionally, I meet monthly with Trinity High Rise Apartments in Longfellow. Community members agree that more eyes on the ground would help. The Neighborhood Safety Department could use these funds to expand safety programs into the area.
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Amount: $150,000 one-time.
Little Earth Area Community Outreach and Safety Program
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Authors: Council Members; Chavez
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Description: This funding will be allocated to a community-based organization(s) in Little Earth and the immediate surrounding area to hire local residents to work on safety strategies, which include outreach, neighborhood beautification, mediation, door-knocking, and referral to services for residents. This is intended to be a program that supports alternatives to policing by creating jobs for neighborhood residents so they can be trained to work in public safety fields, criminal justice, private security, or other related fields.
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Amount: $200,000 ongoing.
Midtown Phillips Violence Prevention and Safety Services
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Authors: Council Members; Chavez and Osman
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Description: This funding will help partner with an organization that will support programming for culturally relevant outreach programs for youth violence prevention and mentorship to support crime reduction around religious institutions in the Midtown Phillips neighborhood. There is a growing need in the Midtown Phillips neighborhood to support youth and address the ongoing challenges in the area surrounding the Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Center, where violence and Islamophobia has intensified. The second component will be for a one-time public health approach program to help reduce the impact of violence in the Midtown Phillips neighborhood to address the ongoing safety concerns with a public health approach.
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Amount: $200,000 one-time.
Neighborhood Safety Department Staff
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Authors: Council Members; Wonsley and Chavez
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Description: Adding one full-time contract administrator and one full-time business data analyst to the Neighborhood Safety Department to help the department have more capacity and produce more specific and measurable data for internal operations and public clarity.
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Amount: $271,798 ongoing for two full-time employees.
COPAL’s Center for Community Engagement Development Project (2905 East Lake Street)
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Authors: Council Members; Chavez and Chowdhury
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Description: This funding will support a 24,000 square foot building that was damaged during the 2020 civil unrest with capital costs for construction and development. This project represents a pivotal step in empowering the community and has a goal of building economic development on Lake Street. It is a return of land ownership to local residents and reinforces Latinos’ historical presence along Lake Street. The Latino Center for Community Engagement (LCCE) will build power with and fulfill the ambitions of a young and diverse community, fostering pride and belonging. This center will be a vibrant hub of unity, celebration, and cultural exchange.
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Amount: $350,000 one-time.
One Southside Clinic Project (1000 East Lake Street)
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Authors: Council Members; Chavez and Chughtai
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Description: Southside Clinic is embarking upon the construction of “One Southside,” a 30,950 sq. Ft. integrated health community clinic and wellness center located within the historically significant East Lake Street community of South Minneapolis. The funding will support capital costs for construction and development. The project is located within a Medically Underserved Area, allowing Southside to grow its patient base and extend hours of operations while expanding and delivering all services offerings under one roof to better meet the needs of patients and the community. New services will include a diagnostic laboratory, radiology, and a mammography suite. The project will also allow Southside to bring its administrative staff and staff operating in satellite offices under one roof. Nearly 100 percent of Southside patients are publicly insured or uninsured.
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Amount: $250,000 one-time.
Mercado Central Economic Development Project (1515 E. Lake St, Minneapolis)
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Authors: Council Members; Chavez
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Description: Minneapolis has scored among the worst cities for Hispanic entrepreneurs. Out of the 182 large cities in the United States, Minneapolis ranked at No. 163 for Hispanic entrepreneurs.(bottom of the list). It is a key priority to improve these disparities. Mercado Central is a marketplace of over 25 Latino/Hispanic businesses at the corner of Lake Street and Bloomington Ave. Although Mercado Central has been an engine for revitalization and economic development, they have suffered over the past few years and as a result of the pandemic, civil unrest, and safety and security challenges along our Lake Street cultural corridor. Sales and mall traffic are lower than 2019 levels, which is impacting its future and customer base. This proposal hopes to curb those disparities by addressing economic development challenges by improving the building to help bring back customers, support the entrepreneurs of the mall, and ensure the success of this important asset to the Latino community, the Lake Street corridor, and the City of Minneapolis.
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Amount: $300,000 one-time.
Bloomington Ave. Façade Improvements
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Authors: Council Members; Chavez
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Description: This proposal seeks to stimulate visible investment in businesses and buildings, supporting a healthy and attractive corridor on Bloomington Avenue South from Franklin Avenue East to East Lake Street, and provide a resource that administering organizations can offer businesses in their service area. Façade improvements can include, among others, new paint, signage, awnings, and murals. These improvements can be in the exterior of businesses and commercial buildings to enhance the appearance of commercial areas.
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Amount: $50,000 one-time.
Street Vendor Entrepreneur Grant and Compliance Program
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Authors: Council Members; Chavez and Chowdhury
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Description: This budget proposal seeks to provide a pathway for food vendors in the City of Minneapolis to legally operate, contribute to the local economy, and create a more inclusive and thriving street vending environment in Minneapolis. This proposal will directly assist food vendors by helping them with business start-up costs to acquire the necessary means to comply with City regulations and to operate their businesses lawfully. This ensures that vendors can continue to sell fresh food and snacks while adhering to health and safety standards to protect the community at large.
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Amount: $150,000 one-time.
Latino Business Week
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Authors: Chavez and Ellison
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Description: These funds will be used by the Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED) Department to support Minneapolis Latino Business Week. The CPED Department, Small Businesses Team will work with community stakeholders and Latino-owned businesses to develop and implement Minneapolis Latino Business Week in the fall of 2025 and beyond. This is a continuation of the successful inaugural Latino Business Week in 2024 and will also include a block party with small businesses.
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Amount: $70,000 ongoing
Traffic Calming Funding
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Authors: Council Members; Wonsley, Ellison, Cashman, Chavez, Koski, Chowdhury, and Chughtai.
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Description: Meeting the backlog of over 850 traffic calming projects to make streets safe for all.
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Amount: $1.5 million one-time
Urban Farm Program – Community Ownership and Operation
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Authors: Council Members; Chavez
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Description: This proposal will provide a loan or grant to an organization in an underserved area to purchase land with a goal to help local community growers decolonize food systems, address food insecurity and poverty, build cultural empowerment, and support youth employment initiatives.
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Amount: $100,000 one-time
LGBTQIA+ Mental Health Program
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Authors: Council Members; Chavez
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Description: This proposal will fund a contract with a community organization to establish an LGBTQIA+ Mental Health Program that will bring benefits for LGBTQIA+ community members and residents. LGBTQIA+ individuals are significantly more likely to experience mental health issues like depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts compared to non-LGBTQIA+ people.
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Amount: $25,000 one-time
Carbon Emissions Mitigation Staffing
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Authors: Council Members; Wonsley, Cashman, Chavez, Chowdhury, and Chughtai
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Description: Per the recommendation of sustainability staff, adding one full-time employee to support the implementation of a carbon emissions fee on the largest polluters in the city.
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Amount: $149,617 ongoing for one full-time employee, and $125,000 one-time.
Electric Wheelchair, Scooter, and Mobility Aid and Phone Charging Stations Feasibility Study
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Authors: Council Members; Chavez
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Description: This proposal will focus on research that includes evaluation of technology and collaboration with the disability community to see what it would take to implement an Electric Wheelchair, Scooter, and Mobility Aid and Phone Charging Stations programs across the city to improve disability justice.
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Amount: $15,000 one-time
Minneapolis Welcome and Labor Center
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Authors: Council Members; Chavez and Chughtai
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Description: This proposal will assist in conducting community engagement and research to meet the growing needs of newcomers, immigrants, refugees, and community members in Minneapolis by helping to implement the “Journey to Belonging in the Twin Cities Report.” This will set a pathway to establishing a comprehensive center that can help address the needs identified in the report.
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Amount: $50,000 one-time
Drivers License Education and Access Program
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Authors: Council Members; Chavez and Chughtai
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Description: This initiative will fund a program by working with an organization(s) to increase access to driver's licenses by providing classes on driver's education and preparing community members for the written and knowledge tests. The funding requested will enable a significant expansion of the driving knowledge program and could fund critical components, such as a program lead, driving instructors, community outreach, classroom space, and educational materials.
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Amount: $85,000 one-time
Immigration Legal Services Funding
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Authors: Council Members; Wonsley, Chavez and Chughtai
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Description: Supporting pro-bono legal services for individuals in the immigration legal system, with a priority for children and unaccompanied minors.
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Amount: $150,000 ongoing.
Remaining steps in the budget process
All Council Members have submitted their proposed budget amendments to the Budget Committee leadership, Vice President Chughtai and Council Member Koski. A packet of all Council Members’ budget amendments will be published on the legislative file for the 2025 Budget by 12pm on December 3, 2024.
Residents are invited to share comments for the public record on any aspect of the city’s proposed 2025 Budget:
Testify at the Budget Committee Public Hearing
- December 10, 2024 at 6:05pm
- Council Chambers of the Public Service Center (250 S 4th St., Room 350 Minneapolis, MN 55415)
Send in written testimony
- Residents can also send in written public testimony any time by emailing CouncilComment@minneapolismn.gov.
Sincerely,
Jason Chavez |
