Finding a Green Way to Govern

This Star and Tribune editorial comes pretty close to reflecting my view on what may have been one of the more disconcerting and disturbing votes I took in 2017 as a Minneapolis City Council Member. Moving forward I will be proposing and pushing for a new ordinance that will require future Council and Mayoral salary increases to go through a formal and public committee process. This will likely include the establishment of an appointed commission, similar to that set up for the state legislature, to make recommendations. For now, though, I would like to share some of my thoughts about the Mayor and Council Member salary vote taken this December. First let me say that I have always felt that my compensation for working as a Council Member has been fair and generous.  I am grateful for the opportunity to do this work and have always felt that I was, and am, well compensated for it. The increase that was approved this year was not my idea or my initiative. This came fro...

In September I received a very disturbing letter dated September 21 from the Hennepin County Sheriff, Richard W. Stanek outlining the County's close cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security and its Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division. It appears to confirm some of our worst fears about what has been happening at the County Jail for decades now and I believe it should give us cause to reconsider, renegotiate and potentially terminate the contract we, the City of Minneapolis, has with them to serve as our jail. ===================== September 21, 2017 City Hall, Room 331 350 South 5th Street Minneapolis, MN 55415 Dear Mayor Hodges and Councilmembers, A number of representatives from cities in Hennepin County have made inquiries about immigration issues and about proposed sanctuary city resolutions. I welcome the opportunity to address these issues and write to provide information ...

The City Council has unanimously approved Mayor Betsy Hodges’ nomination of Medaria “Rondo” Arradondo as our new Chief of Police, our first African American police chief. Arradondo joined MPD in 1989 as a patrol officer in the 3 rd Precinct. He has served as a school resource officer, a northside beat officer, internal affairs investigator and property-crime investigation experience. More recently he has served as 1st Precinct inspector, deputy chief and chief of staff.   Following the vote, Rondo made this statement to the Council: Statement by Chief Medaria Arradondo Confirmation vote by Minneapolis City Council Friday, August 18, 2017 “Madam Chair, Council Members, Mayor: I’m humbled and I’m also honored on this day to be before all of you; community; the wonderful, talented, professional men and women—both sworn and civilian—that make the Minneapolis Police Department truly one of the greatest in the country. I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about the ...