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Divided We Fail

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  Divided We Fail Election Reveals Two Minneapolises November 3 was election eve. Minneapolis was wrapping up one of its most expensive and divisive campaign seasons in recent history. The city was on the cusp of possibly electing its first male Black mayor as Omar Fateh, DeWayne Davis and Jazz Hampton had all run credible campaigns. Many Southsiders were hoping for change in the leadership at city hall following sometimes intense and offensive campaigning, that included accusations of racism and xenophobia. The next day, however, a majority of voters chose the incumbent, Jacob Frey, to continue as the city’s 38 th White male mayor, out of the 40 mayors in the city’s history.   Minneapolis voters picked the candidate who chose not to make racial justice a top priority. As a council member, he voted to cut funding from the racial equity division. When he was mayor, city staff issued statements outlining a “toxic, anti-Black work culture” under his leadership as mayor...
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Imbalance of Power

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  Frey Budget Further Tips the Scale The power struggle in city hall continues in the 2026 budget. Not only with the usual disputes over the police budget, but now Mayor Jacob Frey’s recommendation to cut funds to the City Auditor has both staff and council members raising concerns.   The Minneapolis City Auditor is one of only two department heads that the mayor doesn’t appoint and can’t fire. Under the new government structure established after the so-called strong mayor charter amended passed, the city auditor and city clerk are the only two departments left that do not answer to the mayor. All the other 18-some departments are under the mayor’s authority. The clerk’s office reports to the council directly. The city auditor formally reports to neither the mayor nor the city council. They report to the audit committee that appoints them and is made up of two council members, a park board commissioner, and four community members. In 2022, the auditor was presented...
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Park Board Candidate Info

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This year’s election will bring new faces to the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB). Four of the current commissioners (Billy Menz, Becky Alper, Elizabeth Schaffer, and Becka Thompson) are not running again, and other incumbents face serious challengers. Seven candidates are running for the three at-large city-wide seats, including two incumbents, Meg Forney and Tom Olsen. Olsen, Michael Wilson and Amber Frederick secured the Democratic Farmer Labor (DFL) endorsement in July and will be running along with the Green Party’s Adam Schneider. Forney, Mary McKelvey, and Matthew Dowgwillo are running without party endorsement. You can learn some more about the at-large, southside and southwest candidates from these articles I wrote this summer for a few neighborhood papers.  You can find an article on the hotly contested district 5 and uncontested district 3 park board races here:    https://www.longfellownokomismessenger.com/stories/sep-2025-messenger,122203 The So...
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Mill city Hall Podcast on Park Board and BET Candidates

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  Mill City Hall: Big Change Ahead for the Park Board, and the BET Has Real Policy Disputes? Big Change Ahead for the Park Board, and the BET Has Real Policy Disputes? September 30, 2025 Two less-visible boards are up for election in November, and there's a lot more change brewing than you might think. The Park Board could see a dramatic change in composition, with a lot of labor- and youth-fueled energy in a bunch of races. Meanwhile the Board of Estimate and Taxation has on the table an actual policy idea of substance and contention. We walk through the key races and candidates, and introduce where both of these boards sit in city governance and history. We recorded this episode on 9/24/25. Don't forget to check out: Parks and Power Park Board Forums Schedule : check out upcoming events on Oct 9 and 23 Our new Instagram account  for clips that are easy to browse and share Sogn Valley Art Fair - Oct 4-5  where Robin will be exhibiting works Cam's columns in Southside Pri...
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The Board of Estimate and Taxation Election Is This Year Too

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This November the voters of Minneapolis will elect two people to represent them on the city’s Board of Estimate and Taxation (BET) for the next 4 years.  They will join the mayor, two city council members, and a park board commissioner to serve on the official government body that sets the limit on property tax increases, authorizes city borrowing and monitors city finances.  Three people have filed for office to compete for the two seats. They are incumbent Steve Brandt, former park board member Bob Fine, and newcomer to local politics, Eric Harris Bernstein. Brandt and Fine were endorsed in July by the Minneapolis Democratic Farmer Labor (DFL) party.  What is the BET and Why Should We Care About It?    The BET, as established by the city charter, is required to meet at least monthly and is an independent governing entity within the city’s government structure. It holds at least one hearing before approving the maximum total levies that the city may collect for...
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