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Voters, make your plan for the voting option that works best for you. You can vote early in person or by mail, or you can vote at your polling place on Election Day, Nov. 4. Thousands of voters in Minneapolis have already cast their ballot in person or by mail.
Vote early in person
- The Early Vote Center, 980 E. Hennepin Ave., is open for early voting in person 8 a.m.-6 p.m. through Oct. 24, and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday Oct. 25-26.
- Remaining one-day pop-ups:
- 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 24 Midtown Global Market
- 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 27 Webber Community Center
Vote early by mail
- There’s still time to request a vote-by-mail ballot. Request a ballot on the Secretary of State website.
- If you plan to mail your ballot through the U.S. Postal Service, mail it by Oct. 28.
- You drop off your mail ballot at Elections and Voter Services, 980 E. Hennepin.
- On Election Day Nov. 4, ballots can only be dropped off to Minneapolis Elections at 980 E. Hennepin, and they must be received by 5 p.m. They may not be returned to individual polling places on Election Day.
Find more details about voting on the City website.
I attended a meeting of the University of Minnesota Black Student Union (BSU). The meeting focused on a discussion about bridging differences amongst Black students on campus and how to promote positive change that uplifts the community both on and off campus. Thank you BSU for creating a space for this valuable conversation!
Black Student Union meeting and discussion.
You’re invited to the Annual Meeting of the East Bank Neighborhoods! The evening will begin with a social hour including catered appetizers and a cash bar. At the meeting, neighbors can hear from the candidates for the EBNP Board in advance of the vote. The meeting will also feature special guests, a recap of EBNP’s 2025 work and plans for 2026.
Tuesday, November 18, 2025
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Machine Shop- 300 2nd Street SE
Flyer for Annual Meeting of the East Bank Neighborhoods.
The Towerside Community Pulse Survey is live!
If you spend time in Stadium Village, Prospect Park, or Westgate, you’re part of Towerside! Share your ideas for this area’s parks, housing transportation, public spaces, and community life!
👉 Take the survey (link in bio)
🕒 15–20 minutes
🎉 Complete the survey and get a chance to win gift cards to local favorites like Surly Brewing, Malcolm Yards, and Fresh Thyme Market.
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞?
Towerside is a nonprofit working to create an equitable, vibrant, and sustainable neighborhood within the Twin Cities’ first innovation district, located around Stadium Village, Prospect Park, and the Westgate areas of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬
Your voice will help guide future projects in housing, parks, small businesses, and community spaces. A great neighborhood is built together and your voice matters!
📋 This survey is available in English / Daim ntawv tshawb fawb no muaj rau lus Hmoob / Encuesta disponible en español / Sahanka waxa lagu heli karaa Af-Soomaali
Flyer for Towerside Community Pulse Survey
Summary: Council voted unanimously to adopt an ordinance I authored to improve transparency and accountability in the Mayor’s administration’s contracting processes.
Background: Currently the City Council only approves City contracts that total $175,000 or above. Contracts above this threshold appear on public agendas and require a vote of Council, ensuring an opportunity for oversight and establishing a way for the public to track what vendors the City is doing business with.
Contracts under the $175,000 threshold do not require Council approval. Instead, the administration can execute these smaller contracts through department heads or other executive leaders. There is currently no formal oversight of these smaller contracts.
This term, the City Council has uncovered significant problems in the way of how some of these contracts have been handled. These have included questionable contracts to vendors who do not have professional expertise at the matter at hand– for example, Council learned that there was a contract awarded out of the Neighborhood Safety Department where the staff member overseeing the contract had a romantic relationship with the vendor. Even with questionable professional expertise, Commissioner Barnette then signed off on this contract. Residents and Council Members were also deeply concerned about the Frey administration’s contract awarded to OUR Rescue, an anti-human trafficking nonprofit that has an extremely controversial past including federal investigations.
Patterns of concerning contracts have led to lawsuits as well as overall reputational damage to the City, as well as damaging the credibility of the services the vendors provide while under contract with the City.
Earlier this year, in response to these concerns about the administration’s problematic contracting, Council Member Koski authored a legislative directive for the administration to release an account of all contracts the administration had entered into without Council approval for the last ten years.
During a review of those contracts, my office learned that work the administration told us they were doing to advance carbon fees actually never occurred. Leadership from the Health Department had stated that they were using a consultant to work on carbon fees, but the report of administration contracts revealed that no consultant was engaged to complete that work.
Health Department staff repeatedly pointed to their ongoing contract with a consultant as a reason to delay my legislative efforts around carbon fees. The contract that staff were referring to did not include anything about carbon fees.
Instead, I was only aware of what the Health Department actually contracted for due to Council Member Koski’s legislative directive.
In light of this, I authored an ordinance that requires the administration make quarterly disclosures of all contracts they enter into below the $175,000 threshold.
This ordinance is one way to demonstrate to the public that Council does not take taxpayer money for granted. It also helps ensure transparency to limit fraud, waste, and abuse in local government contracting. The public should feel confident in the City’s contract process, and now this ordinance will help bolster that confidence by maximizing transparency.
The ordinance can be a powerful tool of accountability for the administration. I was glad to earn the unanimous support of my colleagues.
Key votes: Council voted unanimously in support of my ordinance to improve transparency and accountability in contracts by the Mayor’s administration. Council Member Koski joined me as a co-author.
Summary: Council President Payne and I are moving to create an executive-level office to improve the City’s risk management and proactively combat fraud, waste, and abuse.
Background: Over the last several years, the Frey administration has made multiple decisions that create risk for the City’s reputation, and lead to financial burdens on taxpayers. The administration’s repeated failure to limit these risks led me to question whether there is a sufficient systemic risk analysis being done related to City operations.
The City Council is tasked with oversight of the Mayor’s administration. We have used every tool available to us to limit the risks that the Frey administration creates, but it’s clear we need a wider and more comprehensive response and solution.
Earlier this year, the City Council requested that the City Auditor conduct an audit of the Frey administration’s single-source contract to Helix Housing and Human Services after receiving concerns from the public about mismanagement and fraud. In the report on this audit, the City Auditor recommended that Council create an executive-level risk management to more closely advise the Mayor’s administration on risk mitigation.
I took this recommendation serious and Council President Payne and I are now authoring an ordinance to create an Enterprise Risk Management executive. This position will improve city services and programs, help restore the City’s credibility, and improve the responsible management of taxpayer dollars. I plan to bring a budget amendment to Council’s 2026 Budget Process to fund this position as well.
Key votes: Council votes to introduce the Enterprise Risk Management ordinance into the legislative process.
Summary: Council voted to approve a legislative directive formally requesting that the Mayor release a study on compensation levels at the City, which Council is legally entitled to and needs in order to responsibly fund the City budget.
Background: Earlier this year, Council approved a contract for $575,000 for an outside firm to conduct an independent study of the City’s salary and compensation levels.The study was intended to evaluate the City’s overall market position, internal equity, and competitive alignment across all job classifications. It is a powerful tool to assess pay competitiveness and support future workforce planning and budgeting decisions.
Unfortunately, Mayor Frey’s administration is withholding the results of this study from City Council, even though the City Attorney has affirmed that Council is legally entitled to it — making the mayor risk violating the city charter in the process.
Council Member Koski authored a legislative directive to formally and publicly request the Mayor give Council the information we are legally entitled to and which we need in order to fulfill our fiduciary duty during the 2026 Budget Process. Council voted to approve the directive.
Key votes: Council voted unanimously to request that the Mayor release the results of the compensation study.
These are the recent streetlight repair updates from Public Works for the weeks of October 15-22:
- New Theft
- In Progress
- Stinson Blvd, second round of repairs
- Next Steps
- Ridgway Parkway
- Midtown Greenway
- Continued coordination with Xcel for Bde Maka Ska (Xcel waiting on specific parts)
Additional Note - Another shipment of aluminum wire arrived this week.
2025 Summary (April 12 to Present): 8 weeks of no new theft, 13 weeks of theft or tampering
Contact Ward 2
Visit: minneapolismn.gov/ward2
Email: ward2@minneapolismn.gov
Phone: 612-673-2202
City Hall
350 S. Fifth St., Room 370
Minneapolis, MN 55415
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. |
