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I want to share some devastating news. On April 29, 2025, a shooting left three people dead and two others injured in the Midtown Phillips neighborhood near E. 25th St. and Bloomington Ave. This has left our community grieving alongside the victims’ families and friends, and I want to send to them my deepest condolences.
I struggle to find the words to express my sadness and frustration when senseless violence harms our community. We are all affected when tragedy strikes, none more so than the families and loved ones who are directly impacted, including members of our Native community, who were the victims of these crimes. It’s important that we stand together with them in their time of mourning.
There is an ongoing investigation and many questions remain unanswered. If anyone has any information on the shooting, please report it so that the perpetrators are held accountable. That being said, an individual has been arrested and MPD believes this person was responsible for the mass shooting.
I also want to acknowledge that another person was shot on the 3000 block of 15th Ave S on April 29, 2025 and on April 30, 2025, another person was shot and killed on the same block.
Anyone with information is encouraged to email policetips@minneapolismn.gov or leave a voicemail at 612-673-5845. You can provide information anonymously by calling CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Tips may be submitted anonymously and electronically at www.CrimeStoppersMN.org.
In February and March 2025, the Minneapolis City Council approved contracts for our Violence Interrupter, Group Violence Intervention, and Youth Group Violence Intervention programs with the expectation they would begin on April 1, 2025. These programs are meant to reduce violence, address community safety issues and they are a part of us taking community safety issues seriously.
Unfortunately, since April 1, 2025, we have been without violence interrupters in our neighborhoods, including some locations where these incidents of gun violence are occurring, and we do not have these gun violence intervention programs in place meant to reduce gun violence. The lack of contract execution is now impacting our communities tremendously. I hope the Commissioner of Public Safety works to resolve these issues immediately to prevent this gap in services.
My office also made a request for patrols in the area, community violence prevention, and consistent beats to support our residents during these difficult times yesterday. I have not heard back yet on this request but MPD has added extra patrols and technical resources in the Phillips area, and the Office of Community Safety is working to identify potential community needs for trauma response that the City could support.
Additionally, the City and MPD are working closely with local and federal partners in response to this violence. The Neighborhood Community Relations department is working with the Office of Community Safety and our Native community.
As I mentioned in a previous newsletter, data demonstrates that safety incidents in the City of Minneapolis typically rise during the summer months each year. In advance of this expected rise, I co-authored a legislative directive seeking information to better understand safety plans for 2025. As a result, the Mayor’s Administration presented their plan to the Public Health and Safety Committee last week. You can find it here. I believe that a more robust and comprehensive summer safety plan will be needed as we approach summer and my office is committed to working on shared solutions.
An execution of contracts council approved in February and March would be a good start in addressing these issues.
I am also here for feedback on community needs as of this moment.
Jason Chavez
At today’s City Council meeting, we approved a Comprehensive Civil Rights Ordinance authored by my office and Council Member Wonsley. The last time the Civil Rights Ordinance was amended was in 2017. Since then, we have seen our world drastically change. We are living in a time when the rights of people are being stripped away. I am proud that we took action at the local level to protect and expand people’s rights.
Here is what’s included:
- We added new protected classes to the Civil Rights ordinance, including justice-impacted, housing status, and height and weight.
- Required accommodation for religious observance
- Expanded jurisdiction to investigate pay inequity
- Added a definition of race that includes skin color, certain physical features and hair texture and style
- Provided protections mirroring the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
- Added language explicitly allowing for the investigation of intersectional discrimination, which is discrimination based upon multiple protected classes
- Expanded the definition of familial status to include those residing with and caring for adults who are unable to care for themselves.
I want to highlight the amount of collaboration that went into this ordinance. We worked closely with the City Attorney’s Office and Civil Rights Department.
We also worked with justice-impacted advocates, criminal justice reform organizations, organizations who advocate against size discrimination, and housing justice advocates. I am glad this passed with a 13-0 vote.
During last fall’s budget amendment process, I co-authored an amendment to increase the funds available to the pool of immigration legal service providers to offer free immigration legal services to City residents. Legal services include, but are not limited to, guidance regarding immigration court and the asylum process, assistance in obtaining employment authorization, help filing documents and forms correctly, facilitated referrals to other legal providers and wraparound services, direct representation in immigration proceedings, and public outreach and informational programs.
This work is even more critical now, considering the Trump administration’s discriminatory, cruel attacks on immigrant communities. At today’s Council meeting, we authorized the following contracts:
- $80,000 with Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid
- $25,000 with the International Institute of Minnesota
- $70,000 with the Volunteer Lawyers Network
- $20,000 with the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, and
- $80,000 with Advocates for Human Rights
These contracts allow for the continuation of immigration legal service delivery through December 31, 2025.
A public meeting was scheduled on Monday, April 28 from 5:00-6:30 at Powderhorn Recreation Center. Due to the severe weather we recently experienced, however, the meeting was postponed. The meeting will now be held on Wednesday May 7, 5:00 – 6:30 p.m., at the Powderhorn Recreation Center, 3400 15th Ave. S. Please join staff for a public meeting to learn more about the process, ask questions, and provide input on traffic calming projects in your neighborhood.
Through the Neighborhood Traffic Calming process, Minneapolis Public Works seeks to make our neighborhood streets safer and eliminate risky driving behaviors. Staff have identified several areas for traffic calming treatments to be implemented in 2025, including eleven applications within nine projects in Ward 9 have been selected for the neighborhood traffic calming program:
- 11th Ave S between 24th St E and 26th St E
- 13th Ave S between 36th St E and 38th St E
- 13th Ave S between 24th St E and 36th St E
- 16th Ave S between 26th St E and 28th St E
- 17th Ave S between Lake St E and 32nd St E
- 18th Ave S between 26th St E and 28th St E
- 21st St E between 11th Ave S and Bloomington Ave
- 23rd Ave S between 31st St E and 33rd St E
- 27th Ave S between 28th St E and Lake St E
- 35th St E between 31st Ave S and 36th Ave S
- Andersen Ln between 10th Ave S and 12th Ave S
For updates and additional information please visit the traffic calming website here. If you have any feedback or questions, please contact Safety Group staff at: traffic.calming@minneapolismn.gov
 The City of Minneapolis is building a comprehensive community safety ecosystem, and we need your voice. We are recruiting community members to join a workgroup that will advise the City in its efforts to improve safety services in a comprehensive way. The work group will also work on engagement opportunities to connect with community members. As a member of the work group, you will provide feedback as the City develops its community safety ecosystem, which includes:
- Prevention services
- Non-police response services
- Restoration services
- Safety processes and procedures
- Community safety centers
Further, the workgroup will track how the city implements the Safe and Thriving Communities Plan; help identify gaps in the plan and how to improve it; advise on recommendations related to policy, budget, implementation and oversight of the plan; bring information from the work group back to the community, and; support organization of community engagement opportunities.
We are looking for people who:
- Bring diverse life experiences and perspectives
- Are connected to and trusted by community groups
- Understand or have lived experience with systems like health, housing, justice, or education
- People who are subject matter experts in OR have lived experience in:
- Violence prevention services
- Unarmed violence intervention services
- Restorative justice and healing services
- Criminal justice system
In addition, we are seeking specific qualities like:
- Youth perspective by a person aged 16-24 or is an advocate for youth.
- Personal experiences with social, health or other issues.
- Experience with the strategies and systems that seek to fix those issues.
Applications will be accepted until May 18. More information, including a link to apply, can be found here at this link.
Property owners of a building on the Vacant Building Registration (VBR) will soon receive notice that the VBR fee will soon change to $7,228.70 as a scheduled inflationary adjustment.
What to know:
- The City’s Inspection Services will start applying the new fee on June 1, 2025.
- The fee will apply to VBR properties that are up for their annual renewal or new to the program at that time.
- If your vacant property’s registration renewal comes before June 1, you will still owe the current fee of $7087.
The City of Minneapolis annually adjusts its fees to account for inflation based on the Minneapolis Code of Ordinances, Section 91.100. While the VBR fee should have been adjusted over the past several years, the City held it at the same amount since 2018. The new fee reflects the scheduled adjustment for 2025.
As a reminder, owners of vacant properties must register and pay an annual fee to help cover some of the City’s costs related to unmaintained buildings. The City recently passed an ordinance that created a new program called Prolonged Vacancy Enforcement (PVE), which allows vacant properties to remain in the traditional VBR program for up to two years. After that, vacant property owners will no longer be charged an annual fee; they’ll instead receive monthly citations of up to $2,000 until the property no longer qualifies as a vacant building.
Inspection Services are happy to work with you to get your property up to code. It’s the City’s vision that every vacant property be transformed into a building that supports our community and contributes to neighborhood livability and safety.
Please feel free to contact 311 (or 612-673-3000 for those outside of Minneapolis) with any questions, and an Inspections Services staff member will get back to you. You can learn more about the VBR program here or by visiting minneapolismn.gov and searching “Vacant Building Registration.”
 I want to congratulate Hayat, Marruf, and their family for the grand opening of the Hayat Beauty Salon on Lake Street at the Historic Coliseum Building. They are going to be a great asset for the community, and we are lucky to have them in the Longfellow neighborhood. I was honored to share a few words with community, family and friends at their grand opening.
 The City of Minneapolis will celebrate Bike To Work Day Friday, May 16. There’s no better time than the present to make your daily commute healthier, greener and more fun.
Four group rides to downtown will meet up at 7:30 a.m. across the city. Meet at:
- Farview Park (intersection of Lyndale Avenue and 26th Avenue North)
- Great Northern Greenway (intersection of Fifth Street and 18th Avenue Northeast)
- 38th Street Station (intersection of Hiawatha Avenue and East 38th Street)
- Lyndale Farmstead Park (intersection of Bryant Avenue South and West 40th Street)
Join elected officials, public works leaders and fellow bike commuters for free coffee, donuts, and more on the Hennepin County Government Center Plaza from 7:00-9:00 a.m.
Minneapolis has been investing in infrastructure to make bicycling easier, safer and more comfortable for all trips. Through our Transportation Action Plan, the City has committed to a safe, modern and convenient transportation landscape. A key component of the plan is to encourage drivers to shift away from personal vehicle trips and have 60 percent of trips taken by walking, rolling, biking or transit by 2030.
Bike To Work Day and our campaign As You Go MPLS are helping travelers around the city make this switch by highlighting improved infrastructure and providing information and resources.
A new citywide student dance program is bringing dance education to students in all 13 wards. After the closure of the Cowles Center for Dance Education in 2024, the city’s dance community rallied for something new, something bold. This program is the response.
The program will include:
- Dance classes in every Minneapolis Public Schools elementary school
- Dance companies in residence at Minneapolis Public Schools secondary schools
- Dance programming at every Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board recreation center
Dance education improves physical health, builds confidence, sparks creativity, and helps students express themselves emotionally and artistically. When offered in schools and rec centers, these classes can be a lifeline for students seeking connection, belonging and a safe outlet for self-expression. Read more on the City website.
For the first time, all residents in Minneapolis are represented by a neighborhood organization. Come celebrate at Neighborhood Day Saturday, May 3.
Neighborhood Day is an annual day set across the city to increase resident participation in local civic engagement through one of the city’s 68 recognized neighborhood organizations. It’s a chance to come together in community, find the neighborhood organization that represents you and get to know your neighbors.
Participating neighborhood organizations host their own events from board officer elections, recycling and clothing drives to food trucks, potlucks and tool swaps. There’s something for everyone.
Your voice is important
Neighborhood organizations are the most local, smallest form of government. It’s an easy way for residents to be involved at the most grassroots level in their own neighborhood, on their own street.
Organizations act as their own nonprofit and have volunteer boards of directors. The organizations communicate to residents – share City news and awareness of topics such as housing and environmental concerns – and engage with one another.
Local neighborhood boards review, respond and participate in City projects at the local level and participate in conversations on everything from stop signs to development projects.
Learn more about Neighborhood Day and which organization represents you. There’s also a map of neighborhoods engaged with the day and details on their events.
The Community Commission on Police Oversight is hosting a public hearing May 13, and you're invited to share your thoughts.
This is a space for community members to give input on Minneapolis Police Department policies, rules, practices and special orders. We hold these hearings to make sure community voices are part of shaping how public safety works in our city.
The commission will be soliciting feedback for the three policies below. Please review the policies ahead of May 13 and provide your feedback at the public hearing or send a written comment.
Public hearing
Those who are interested in speaking in the public hearing may register.
Written comments
Written comments may also be submitted for the record of this public hearing either:
Community Commission on Police Oversight public hearing
6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 13Public Service Building, Room 100, 505 Fourth Ave. S.
Learn how to participate in a public hearing.
 Public Works crews are sweeping away what accumulated in the streets over the winter. Drivers should watch for hot pink temporary “No Parking” signs to avoid a ticket and tow.
For about four weeks, sweeping crews are taking care of more than 1,000 miles of city streets. To make sure the crews can do the most complete job possible, temporary “No Parking” signs will be posted at least 24 hours in advance to make sure streets are clear of parked vehicles. Drivers need to follow street sweeping parking rules or they may have their cars ticketed and towed to the Minneapolis Impound Lot.
Find your street on the schedule
You can see when your street is scheduled to be swept by visiting the interactive street sweeping map. Learn more about street sweeping.
Doors Open Minneapolis 2025 is May 17-18. This annual event invites the public to several locations throughout the city where all the magic happens. This year, Doors Open will be a great chance to highlight work at City Hall, connect with the community, and showcase the newly remodeled and upgraded space.
This event will mark the first public tour of City Hall since recent upgrades were completed. These upgrades include remodeled offices for the Mayor’s Office, as well as significant improvements to the building’s mechanical, heating and cooling systems.
Doors Open Minneapolis
- 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, May 17, and Sunday, May 18
Volunteer
Help us engage with the public and bring attention to the City’s ongoing work to keep government accessible and transparent. Volunteer at this year’s Doors Open Minneapolis to help guide visitors on tours, welcome them to City Hall, help with logistics, and make sure everything runs smoothly. Volunteers will get a look at the new spaces, and it’s a wonderful chance to contribute to an important community event.
- Shift 1: 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (arrive at 9:30 a.m.)
- Shift 2: 1:30-5 p.m. (arrive at 1 p.m.)
If you’re interested in volunteering, email the Municipal Building Commission by May 1 with your preferred date and shift.
If you have any questions, contact Ally Peters or Erin Delaney.
Read more about this year’s Doors Open Minneapolis.
Contact the Ward 9 Office
Email: jason.chavez@minneapolismn.gov
Phone: 612-673-2209
We've moved while work is being done in City Hall. Our office is in:
Room 100, Public Service Center
450 South 4th St.
Get directions
For reasonable accommodations or alternative format 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. |
