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Glendale Townhomes is a unique and historic area within Prospect Park and is home to more than 600 families.
This week, the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority hosted a community meeting at Luxton Park where they presented their proposal for the redevelopment of Glendale. MPHA has talked about renovating Glendale for over a decade, but this was the first time they have ever publicly shared a specific plan or proposal. MPHA shares publicly available documents from their meetings here.
The Ward 2 office has heard loud and clear about the fears and concerns related to the redevelopment of Glendale Townhomes. We have heard that top priorities for Glendale residents are improvements to units, preventing displacement during construction, guaranteeing every current resident the right to return, permanent affordability, and resisting all forms of privatization.
Some residents fear that MPHA will relocate them during construction and then not let them return. In response to these fears MPHA has committed to signing a relocation contract with every single household that guarantees them the right to return.
Many residents do want significant investment into their homes, which have tens of millions of deferred maintenance and improvement needs. However, residents rightfully fear that these investments could result in their homes shifting from public to private ownership which could jeopardize the long-term affordability of these homes. MPHA has stated that they plan to use RAD/Section 18 to finance the redevelopment of Glendale, which is a financial tool by HUD that opens the door to privatization. The federal government has undermined public housing for the last 70+ years by making tools like RAD/Section 18 far more financially viable than preserving and expanding Section 9 that maintains full public ownership.
MPHA will now attempt to develop a financing plan for their redevelopment proposal. MPHA has announced that they intend to request financial support from the City, which I and my colleagues will evaluate on a case-by-case basis in consultation with the community. My office will continue relaying updates regarding the pending redevelopment of Glendale.
Join your neighbors from 10am to noon this Sunday June 21 for a Family Friendly Buckthorn Workday at Tower Hill Park. What's that? It's Father's day, you say? How could there be a better way to celebrate Dad? Join him, Grandad, Opa, Papa, Grandpa, and any other dad in your life, along with other kinds and families from throughout the neighborhood to do our part in maintaining and managing the beauty of the park in our backyard. There's ways people of all ages and abilities can help out, so join us as we come together and celebrate one of our most beloved neighborhood amenities. Plus, we'll have free pizza and soft drinks for everyone!
Please RSVP Steve Brackett at brackett.steve@gmail.com to let us know how many in your group, so we know how many pizzas to order! Thank you.
Where: Tower Hill Park
When: Sunday June 21, 10am
What to bring: Gloves, clippers, loppers (Optional. Tools will also be provided)
What to wear: Long sleeves are helpful (buckthorn is pokey), and sturdy shoes. Sunscreen!
Questions?: Contact Steve Brackett 618-967-8036 or at brackett.steve@gmail.com
The Seward Garden Tour is an annual gathering that brings community on a tour through the beautiful gardens of the Seward Neighborhood, with an after-party in a backyard garden, featuring refreshments, light snacks, and door prizes. Proceeds from the event support community-led initiatives and beautification projects in the Seward neighborhood.
This year’s Garden Tour will be on Thursday, June 25th from 6-8:30pm. Buy your Garden Tour ticket here.
Equitable Law Enforcement For All (ELEFA) is the independent evaluator for the court-enforceable settlement agreement between the City of Minneapolis and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. The City is under a settlement agreement because of MPD’s pattern of violating human rights law. ELEFA is hosting a meeting at the Brian Coyle Neighborhood Center on June 24th. The Brian Coyle Neighborhood Center is located at 420 15th Ave. S, Minneapolis, MN 55454. The meeting will take place from 6:00 to 8:00 PM, and catering will be provided.
This meeting will focus on updates regarding the implementation of the Minneapolis police settlement agreement. The ELEFA team will share recent developments, outline upcoming milestones, and provide space for questions and discussion.
We hope you will join us for this important conversation.
ELEFA Community Meeting
June 24th, 6-8pm
Brian Coyle Center (420 15th Ave S)
Flyer for ELEFA Community Meeting
Seward is full of people doing incredible work.
SCCA exists to help connect those efforts, support local businesses, and create opportunities for the neighborhood to thrive.
We're currently looking for new board members to help lead that work.
SCCA is a nonprofit organization that works to support and strengthen the Seward business community. We bring together local businesses, organizations, and community members to promote economic vitality, advocate for neighborhood needs, organize events, and create opportunities for collaboration.
As a board member, you'll help guide the organization's priorities and initiatives. Board members attend monthly meetings, participate in projects that match their interests and skills, and serve as supporters for the Seward business community. Whether your background is in business, nonprofit work, or community organizing, we'd love to hear from you.
Interested in learning more before making a commitment?
Join us at our Annual Meeting on June 23 from 4:30-6:00 PM at Matthews Park. It's a great opportunity to meet current board members, learn about SCCA's work, hear about upcoming projects, and connect with fellow business owners and community members.
Add it to your calendar!
If you're interested in joining the board or would like more information, please email info@sewardbusiness.org.
Help us build a stronger Seward, together!
Flyer for Seward Civic & Commerce Annual Meeting
Summary: Council Members are bringing forward “Pride in Policy,” a package of ordinances that create a more welcoming, safe and inclusive city for 2SLGBTQIA+ residents.
Background: June is Pride Month. Pride is about more than parades and parties: it’s about action to build a world where our queer community is safe and thriving. That’s why members of the City Council, led by Council Members Chavez, Chughtai and Chowdhury, are authoring Pride in Policy– a package of ordinances that create a more welcoming, safe and inclusive city for 2SLGBTQIA+ residents. Pride in Policy includes:
- An ordinance to codify a safe haven for gender-affirming and intersex care. The policy bans City resources from being used to interfere with anyone’s ability to receive gender-affirming or intersex care, prohibits City employees from interfering with anyone’s ability to receive care, prohibits the City accepting or receiving grant funds that would interfere with anyone obtaining care, and prohibits data-sharing agreements that could be weaponized against 2SLGBTQIA+ people.
- An ordinance to change City policies to enable all genders to be recognized in the City Code using language that is inclusive of all gender identities.
- A staff direction to review the City Code to identify gender-specific references and develop a plan for the removal of gender-specific references wherever possible.
- A legislative directive asking the mayor’s administration for a report on gender-neutral restroom access, initiatives, and recommendations on actions the City can take to incentivize property owners to add all-gender restrooms.
- A resolution asking the Minnesota legislature to explicitly allow local governments to protect transgender, non-binary, and gender-expansive residents’ equal access to restroom facilities and requesting authority to explicitly authorize municipalities to enact building standards ensuring equal restroom access in places of public accommodation, regardless of gender identity.
- An ordinance to remove language to modernize and eliminate barriers to develop licenses for adult bathhouses in the future and develop a policy framework to reflect public health-centered safe sex practices.
The Public Health, Safety, and Equity Committee held a public hearing on these items and heard from dozens of residents. Many residents spoke specifically about how repealing the bathhouse ban would be a meaningful way to improve public health and foster community for our queer residents. I recommend that everyone listen to this testimony, especially those who may have questions about what bathhouses are and why they are a priority for residents.
Key votes: The Public Health, Safety, and Equity Committee (PHSE) voted to recommend the policies to the full City Council for approval. Repealing the bathhouse ban was recommended 6-1 with Council Member Rainville voting in opposition. The City Council will vote on the bathhouse ban and other Pride in Policy items on June 25th.
Summary: The Business, Housing and Zoning Committee held a public hearing on data center moratoriums and recommended it to the full City Council for approval.
Background: Big tech companies are attempting to build data centers in every city, suburb, and rural area across the country– including Minneapolis. These big corporations are not pushing data centers to improve the lives of everyday residents, they are building them for profit. Even a “small” or “medium sized” data center is tens of thousands of square footage that could be used for transit-oriented development, housing, public art, green space, or local businesses that build community wealth. A recent Gallup Poll that found 7 in 10 Americans oppose data centers.
The local government’s job is to protect our city from extractive development. It is our responsibility to make sure that our neighborhoods continue to become more affordable and walkable, make sure that our residents have clean water and reliable power, and champion the creation of healthy workplaces and living wage jobs.
Many Trump-aligned big tech companies have a documented history of successfully using their money to stop elected officials from passing regulations. I am hopeful that the Minneapolis City Council and Mayor Frey will stand up to big tech companies and implement a moratorium on data centers for a minimum of six months while we write responsible regulations to protect our residents and our city.
Key votes: The Business, Housing and Zoning Committee voted 5-1-1 to recommend the City Council approve a six-month moratorium on data centers with a carve-out for downtown. Council Member Shaffer voted in opposition and Council Member Rainville was absent. The full City Council will consider the moratorium on June 25th.
Summary: Council President Payne and I continue to lead the City Council to regulate MPD’s off-duty work, which creates significant financial, public safety, and equity problems.
Background: MPD off-duty work has been a consistent problem for decades, and has been noted by the United States Department of Justice as a system ripe for corruption and abuse. I have been working on off-duty reform since 2022.
Despite lawsuits and public outcry, Mayor Frey has never taken meaningful action to rein in off-duty. Most recently, an off-duty MPD officer named Ryan Calhoun allegedly harassed and discriminated against a transgender woman working at an event with him as a security guard. The security guard, Cathrine Doe, has initiated litigation against the City of Minneapolis. The City’s lack of serious off-duty regulation is what enables officers like Calhoun.
Despite Mayor Frey and MPD leadership’s claims that there have been changes within MPD to improve accountability and transparency in off-duty, it’s clear that issues persist. This week, I authored a legislative directive along with Council President Payne and Council Member Chavez to exercise oversight over the Frey administration's management of off-duty.
In the 1990s, the police union got an injunction that prevented the City from having full management authority over off-duty work. I have been clear with the City Attorney that I believe it would be in both the City’s and the public’s interest to take legal action to regain full management authority. For three years, I have made repeated requests for information on what legal options may be available for the city to pursue to end this problematic system. Despite repeated requests, the City Attorney has not offered any guidance on how to change the status quo. In order to make sure we are pursuing every opportunity to rein in off-duty, Council Member Chavez and I advanced a motion directing the City Attorney to produce a memo outlining all the legal pathways that the City can pursue to regain full management and oversight of off-duty work. Years of inaction by City leaders is why MPD off-duty work continues to be a huge problem. I am grateful that many of my colleagues seem very eager to break that inaction. This memo from the City Attorney will finally provide the council with critical information needed to take action.
I look forward to reportbacks on both of these actions to provide the public and the City Council with meaningful next steps to rein in off-duty, save taxpayer money, and create a more equitable public safety system.
Key votes: The Public Health, Safety and Equity Committee voted to recommend that the City Council approve the legislative directive and staff direction related to off-duty. The City Council will vote on both items on June 25th.
Summary: Council Members Warren, Chavez and I are leading the City Council to explore options to relocate MPD’s gun range out of the Fourth Precinct.
Background: MPD currently practices shooting at a gun range located in the Fourth Precinct. Neighbors oppose the gun range being in a residential area that is disproportionately affected by gun violence.
Earlier this year, Mayor Frey proposed spending at least $40 million on a “Public Safety Training and Wellness Facility,” which became known as Cop City. The Frey administration was not able to offer very many details on what kinds of programs and services would happen in this facility besides a new gun range for MPD. The City Council voted down the wasteful and necessary proposal for Cop City earlier this year. However, moving MPD’s gun range out of the Fourth Precinct is a legitimate request from the community, and I and several of my colleagues want to ensure that relocating the gun range is not abandoned with the larger Cop City proposal.
In light of that, I authored a legislative directive about alternative options for a gun range co-authored by Council Member Warren, who represents the area where the Fourth Precinct gun range is located, and Council Member Chavez, the chair of the Public Health, Safety and Equity Committee. The directive asks for options to relocate MPD’s training to existing gun ranges in the area that do not have the same equity and quality of life implications.
Key votes: The Public Health, Safety and Equity Committee voted to recommend that the City Council approve the legislative directive. The City Council will vote on the legislative directive on June 25th.
Summary: In response to several colleagues sharing concerns about the Office of Community Safety and its value, I proposed exploring options for potential restructuring of the Office of Community Safety.
Background: In 2020, residents organized around a ballot initiative to create a Department of Public Safety, which could include police but would expand investment in public safety programs beyond policing. This question appeared on the ballot in 2021 as Question 2, but was not approved by voters. However, under increasing pressure to present some kind of plan for public safety that was not the status quo, Mayor Frey created the Office of Community Safety (OCS) in 2022. Like the proposed Department of Public Safety, OCS creates formal coordination between police, 911, fire, violence prevention, and non-police public safety programs.
Unfortunately, under Mayor Frey’s leadership OCS has been largely ineffective for the last four years. Cedrick Alexander, the former Commissioner of OCS, publicly stated that he was unaware of and unprepared to execute his job duties and later resigned after writing inappropriate social media posts. The most recent Commissioner of OCS, Toddrick Barnette, has failed to gain Council approval for reappointment after allowing MPD to go $20 million over budget, repeated poor oversight of alternative public safety services, and numerous failures to implement the defined mission of OCS.
While OCS has not been an effective use of taxpayer resources under Mayor Frey’s leadership, I believe that there is value in continuing to coordinate public safety services within some kind of formal structure. To learn more, I authored a staff direction along with President Payne and Public Health, Safety and Equity Chair Chavez to explore options for a restructuring of the Office of Community Safety that can advance the stated mission of the office in a cost-effective way that reduces the opportunities for continued failure.
Key votes: The Public Health, Safety and Equity Committee voted to recommend that the City Council approve the staff direction. The City Council will vote on the staff direction on June 25th.
Summary: I met with the Mayor to share my priorities for the 2027 budget.
Background: It feels like 2026 just began, but it’s already time for the City to start working on the 2027 budget. Under the City Charter, the Mayor proposes a budget by August 15th, then the City Council amends the budget and adopts it.
Mayor Frey invited all Council Members to meet with him to share our priorities for the 2027 budget to inform his proposal ahead of August 15th. The City is facing extreme financial pressures. Operation Metro Surge is estimated to have caused $700 million in lost economic activity, corporate flight has contributed to lower property tax revenues, and MPD’s excessive overtime is estimated to create a $32 million budget deficit. Additionally, the City continues to face multi-million dollar liabilities each year created by MPD’s pattern and practice of racial bias and excessive force. In light of these pressures, I am approaching this budget process with a focus on protecting vulnerable residents from austerity and programs that can increase City revenue.
Here are the priorities I shared:
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No cuts to programs that serve marginalized communities. Minneapolis has amongst the highest racial inequities in the country. Our police force has a confirmed pattern of racially discriminatory policing. Our residents were just targeted by the federal government in a violent occupation. Cutting programs that serve residents of color and low-income residents will worsen these inequities and are a nonstarter.
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Implement off-duty fees to end taxpayer subsidy of MPD side gigs. Currently, taxpayers subsidize at least $1.4 million each year to MPD officers who work private security jobs. President Payne and I led the City Council to require the City to recoup these costs to bring down property taxes, but Mayor Frey has not implemented the policy. I urged Mayor Frey to simply implement the existing policy, which would save millions each year. Mayor Frey shared that he has no objection to implementing off-duty fees, and committed to follow up on implementation. I look forward to continuing this conversation and working in partnership with Mayor Frey to finally end this wasteful subsidy.
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Sustainable funding for Zero Waste programming. The City has aggressive goals to reduce trash. This is particularly important to support closure of the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC). The Climate and Infrastructure Committee recently received a report on sustainable funding mechanisms that could infuse significant resources into this important work. Implementing these mechanisms and then using the funds to reduce waste and support HERC closure is a top priority. I was encouraged to hear that Mayor Frey supports this priority and I look forward to partnering going forwards.
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Creating an Office of Enterprise Risk Management. Typically, large organizations have offices that assess and manage risks and work to reduce financial, legal, and reputational liabilities. The City of Minneapolis does not have a centralized risk management and mitigation plan. This has allowed massive financial and legal liabilities to continue with little improvement and cost taxpayers millions of dollars. A modest investment in Risk Management is a smart way to improve the City’s financial position and reputation in the long term.
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Social housing. The private market is failing to meet residents’ housing needs. The Minneapolis Public Housing Authority is doing nationally-recognized work to provide housing, but is heavily constrained by limitations by the federal government. To fill the gap and address the housing crisis, cities across the country are exploring social housing. Social housing is publicly owned and operated to meet public need, but outside the traditional frameworks and structures of public housing. The Minneapolis City Council has requested a study on opportunities and methods to implement social housing in our city, which we expect to receive back later this summer. Based on the recommendations from this study, I plan to partner with my colleagues to invest in exploring social housing in Minneapolis.
Key votes: No votes taken.
Contact Ward 2
Visit: minneapolismn.gov/ward2
Email: robin.wonsley@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. Para ayuda, llame al 311. Rau kev pab, hu 311. Hadii aad caawimaad u baahantahay, wac 311. |
