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Minneapolis council members may delay police contract
Some Minneapolis City Council members want to push final vote to July 18.
MINNEAPOLIS — A final vote on the new Minneapolis Police contract had been set for June 27, but some city council members are pressing to push that out to July 18 so that more community groups will have a chance to weigh in on it.
Ward 2 Council Member Robin Wonsley told reporters Tuesday she had originally pledged to hold two public hearings on the new contract with the Minneapolis Police Federation, and she wanted to stick with that.
“My intention in this process is for there to be clear communication to the residents about what is and what is not included in this contract, the implications of any proposed changes or the lack thereof,” Wonsley explained.
The Administration and Enterprise Oversight Committee that Wonsley chairs was already set to hold a public hearing Tuesday night. She proposed holding a second public meeting on the contract July 8 leading up to a final council vote July 18.
“This gives the public about three weeks to sit with the contract, sit with the information that’s presented, and to provide public comment.”
Council President Elliott Payne, appearing with Wonsley, noted that the Minneapolis City Council can’t negotiate different contract language.
“We don’t get to negotiate the details of the contract. It’s an up or down vote,” Payne told reporters.
“If we vote it up that means it gets enacted and we put it in play. If we vote it down, it goes back to negotiation.”
Mayor Jacob Frey told reporters there’s no need to postpone action, noting that the process has been the very transparent and the terms of the deal were published June 7.
“A delay is not the right move, especially right now. There has been time. Council members have been able to weigh in,” Frey remarked.
“We have 136 officers who could retire at any moment. The police officers have already waited, now a year for this new contract.”
The mayor was flanked by Ward 3 Council Member Michael Rainwater and Ward 13 Council Member Linnea Palmisano, who said there’s no need slow things down this far into the process.
“I’m eager to get started. I’m eager to get those management rights back. I’m eager to have the opportunity to have competitive wages for our law enforcement, for their recruitment efforts,” Palmisano said.
The contract calls for a 21 percent increase in base pay across three years, which would be retroactive to January of 2023 when last contract expired.
By July of 2025, starting pay would range from $41 per hour for new recruits — $85,000 per year — all the way to $72 per hour for veterans at the very top of the pay scale.
The contract would also give Chief Brian O’Hara new management powers previous chiefs have lacked, specifically more control over staffing decisions.
“The chief has the ability to place officers where he needs them, and when he needs them there,” Frey said.
“Most people would’ve thought that’s an authority the chief already had. It wasn’t.”
The mayor was flanked by Ward 3 Council Member Michael Rainwater and Ward 13 Council Member Linnea Palmisano, who said there’s no need slow things down this far into the process.
“I’m eager to get started. I’m eager to get those management rights back. I’m eager to have the opportunity to have competitive wages for our law enforcement, for their recruitment efforts,” Palmisano said.
The city is down more than 300 officers from where it was before the pandemic and the murder of George Floyd.
Ward 5 Council Member Jeremiah Ellison said there are many unanswered questions about how the city budget will absorb the new costs, and what the impact will be in the long run on the city’s property taxpayers.
“It’s not a matter of do these officers deserve increased pay. It’s more a matter of, is it fair to every worker in the city, is it on pace with that, and how do we pay for that? How do we afford it.”
The city is down more than 300 officers from where it was before the pandemic and the murder of George Floyd.
Some council members want more specific language around policing reforms inside the contract, but Frey those are part of processes in place outside of the agreement with the police union.
For decades the area sat idle, polluted by heavy metals from the U.S. Steel Plant. Now, it has a new life and the process took a lot of effort and collaboration.
DULUTH, Minn. — From polluted to pristine. This is a story of a new waterfront recreation area in Duluth that opened, or rather reopened, this summer.
It took millions of dollars, coordinated efforts, and lots of hard work to help it come back to life.
“I think we’re all proud of what this has become,” said Cliff Knettel with Duluth Parks and Recreation.
Cliff is talking about Spirit Lake in the St. Louis River area of Duluth. It’s likely you haven’t visited before, because there wasn’t much to see. Long ago it was a stopping point for the Anishinaabe people. It became a central part of trading and led to the industrialization of the city of Duluth.
Along with that came U.S. Steel. The company operated a plant there until 1981. However, decades of production contaminated the water and land with heavy metals, putting the St. Louis River on the EPA’s area of concern list.
In 2010, through the Great Lakes Legacy Act, a plan was hatched to clean it up.
“All in, it was $185 million to get through all those phases of design, investigation, feasibility, actually implementing, so it’s a very large investment from EPA and US steel, those are the two entities that were contributing financially,” said Mark Loomis, with the U.S. EPA – Great Lakes National Program Office.
Remediation started in 2020. Dredging, capping and restoring habitat all while maintaining water depth for the fisheries. Loomis said the work was nearly 24/7 for 38 months.
“We built over two miles of trails, ADA accessible, dedicated fishing areas, pause points, there’s a landing area for kayaks,” he said. “There was a large area, actually a mud flat, that we actually excavated, removed material to create open water. It’s a very unique part of this project.”
The city of Duluth owns much of the shoreline and this project has opened up access for many people who didn’t have it before. If you’re not familiar with the area, this is on the west side of town, not near the lakefront.
“We’re actually working with the St. Louis River alliance and our own parks and rec staff to offer programs that we couldn’t offer before like fishing, like paddling, like nature hikes, like educational opportunities, so those are happening right now and we’re super excited about that,” said Knettel.
The cleanup will eventually lead to the St. Louis River being delisted as an area of concern, but the biggest win for those involved is seeing the space go back to what it should be.
“Watching the people come back to the site, kind of breathing life into it and the river is there and wildlife is responding. Those are the things that really kind of drive me professionally and personally,” said Loomis.
The E.P.A. said it worked closely with tribal communities to preserve the cultural significance during the project. Signage that explains the history and process of the project will go up next summer.
A package delivered to the St. Paul office prompted an evacuation on Friday afternoon.
ST PAUL, Minn. — A day after a “suspicious mailing” forced the office of the Minnesota secretary of state to evacuate, officials released information about what was inside the box.
According to information from the office of Steve Simon, a nonhazardous white powdered substance was inside the package. The substance was tested by both the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). It was ruled nonhazardous.
MDH is running additional tests.
Multiple agencies, including the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Minnesota State Patrol, are investigating.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon issued the following statement on Saturday:
“We are thankful for the quick response by our law enforcement partners to ensure the staff members working in our office were safe. We are also grateful to the Minnesota Department of Health, which completed the initial analysis late into the evening on September 27.
Fear and intimidation of election workers will not be tolerated. New laws enacted in 2023 make it very clear that it is a crime to intimidate election workers and interfere with the administration of an election. Our focus remains on delivering a free, fair, accurate, and secure election for Minnesotans.”
On Friday, around two dozen people were evacuated from the building around noon. According to a news release, the package was addressed to the office with a return address to the “United States Traitor Elimination Army.”
The Minnesota Secretary of State is responsible for overseeing the state’s elections. State officials said several other Secretaries of State and state election officials received similar suspicious packages earlier this month.
The Royals snapped a 29-game losing streak earlier this season.
HOPKINS, Minn. — Things have been hard for the Hopkins football team.
“I was still having fun, it’s just the winning aspect of football wasn’t there,” said senior offensive lineman Chase Vagle.
“We worked really hard on instilling a good culture,” said Hopkins head coach Chauncy Williams-Barefield.
Hard is something he’s never shied away from, in fact hard is the foundation of his program.
“Our team philosophy is go hard. Honest, accountable, relentless and disciplined,” said Williams-Barefield.
Those pillars have led to a shift this fall for the Royals.
“Coach Chauncy is a great coach. I feel like I’ve learned a lot. With him being my coach, he’s a great man, teaching me a lot of valuable life lessons,” said junior safety Ignacio Cisneros.
“We feel we have a really talented coaching staff this year, and players. So we knew we could win,”
The Hopkins program entered the season having not won a varsity game since Nov. 11, 2020, with 29 consecutive losses by an average margin of defeat of 42 points.
“For you to put in all of that work, blood, sweat, tears, energy into something and not be able to taste the reward of it with a win for three-plus years, it’s tough,” said Williams-Barefield.
On Sept. 13, 1,402 days after their last varsity win, the Royals beat Eastview in overtime.
“I saw my friend Tanner, who’s also a senior captain, and he was crying, so we hugged each other and cried for five minutes. I don’t think I’ll ever have a greater sports experience than that in my life,” said Vagle.
Two key aspects of the turnaround include star basketball player Jayden Moore playing this fall. He entered this week leading the state in receiving yards this season, joining his freshman brother Tre, who starts at QB for the Royals.
“He’s special. Athletically, there’s not many kids that are as athletic as he is,” said Williams-Barefield.
“It’s been amazing. It’s been great. That brother-to-brother connection has been great. Experiencing this is cool, we used to do this back in our neighborhood, we’d play all the time,” said junior wide receiver Jayden Moore.
Scheming up the dynamic Moore duo is former Gophers QB Bryan Cupito, the Royals’ first-year offensive coordinator.
“He’s been amazing. He’s helped me sleep well at night knowing that I don’t have to worry about the offense,” said Williams-Barefield.
Those ingredients all help propel the Royals to new heights this fall, including a new type of streak.
“I’ve been a part of a lot of teams, and this team is different, this is special,” said Vagle.
“I’m just really happy to be a part of history. Finally breaking the streak, and the best part about it is we just started a new streak,” said Cisneros.
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