Finding a Green Way to Govern

  In April, I authored a resolution calling for Minneapolis police to stop using certain "less lethal" weapons against protesters (the resolution is here: https://lims.minneapolismn.gov/Download/MetaData/21120/Council%20Acts%20-%20Resolution%20No.%202021R-114_Id_21120.pdf ). I took that action in response to a report we heard from an interdisciplinary team from the U of M ( https://lims.minneapolismn.gov/File/2021-00275 ) which made clear just how dangerous weapons like "rubber bullets" truly are, and how much harm they have done to people in Minneapolis. That resolution also directed the City Attorney's Office to "formally state by May 14, 2021, whether an ordinance passed by the Minneapolis City Council to prohibit or constrain the use of 'less lethal' weapons by all Minneapolis employees would, under the existing Minneapolis Charter, prohibit or constrain the use of these weapons by the Minneapolis Police Department." The City Attorney's...

  News from Cam Gordon  Council Member, Second Ward  www2.minneapolismn.gov/ward2/     secondward.blogspot.com    facebook.com/MinneapolisWard2   2021 City Budget Revisions . In early July, the City Council approved $102 million for the first round of spending from the federal government’s American Rescue Plan Act allocation to the City. This was a compromise budget that included most of the Mayor’s recommendations as well as several amendments by the Council. The majority of this first phase will go towards work in the Community Planning and Economic Development department, including helping businesses recover from the pandemic and rebuild after the unrest of the last year. It includes significant funding for economic recovery ($37 million), affordable housing ($28 million), public safety ($13.7 million), and a new Minneapolis Guaranteed Basic Income program pilot ($3 million). I was glad ...

  Second Ward May 2021 E-newsletter     News from Cam Gordon   Council Member, Second Ward   www2.minneapolismn.gov/ward2/     secondward.blogspot.com    facebook.com/MinneapolisWard2   Ward 2 Police Oversight Forum. Please join me for a Ward 2 Forum on Police Oversight on June 14 at 6:30pm . I have been working on amendments to the Police Oversight Ordinance and recently released a framework for changes to this ordinance that covers civilian oversight, police complaint investigations, and the Police Conduct Oversight Commission. The proposal would elevate the Commission and connect them more purposefully and directly with the review of complaints. It would remove the police from doing complaint investigations and serving on misconduct review panels, returning and strengthening the focus on non-police oversight, through a resident commission supported by Civil Rights department staff. It also calls on defining d...