Star Tribune
St. Paul mayor and city council meeting to reach budget compromise
The middle ground: a 7.2% increase.
In an interview Wednesday afternoon, Deputy Mayor Jamie Tincher said Carter, too, would like the levy to be lower. But proposing a 5% increase would mean an additional cut of $6 million from 2025 city services — a reduction that could increase fire response times, slow the processing of license applications and reduce parks and rec and library services.
“He doesn’t have a path to do that without reducing services that will be felt by the people who are currently getting them,” Tincher said.
If the two sides cannot agree on a tax levy for 2025, state law would require the city to institute this year’s levy. That, Tincher said, would lead to drastic cuts in city personnel and services, as costs go up every year because of things like health care, insurance and previously negotiated salary increases.
The gap between revenue and costs then, she said, would be $16 million.
Tincher was asked if this year’s negotiations felt “different.”
Star Tribune
Judge rules Minneapolis police ‘coaching’ records not public, sends narrow case to trial
Last year, in charging Minneapolis with a pattern of discriminatory policing, the U.S. Department of Justice criticized coaching as part of the city’s “fundamentally flawed” accountability system. Only one in four cases referred for coaching through a city oversight office ended up being coached, the charges say, and some allegations were “far from ‘low-level,’” including an officer who “smacked, kicked, and used a Taser on a teen accused of shoplifting.”
A series of court filings, made public as part of MNCOGI’s 2021 lawsuit, further opened a window into the city’s convoluted process of coaching officers and revealed that top Minneapolis officials have publicly misrepresented how they use coaching in recent years.
A 2021 lawsuit filed by MNCOGI, an all-volunteer organization made up of current and former journalists, attorneys, librarians and others interested in government transparency, alleged that Minneapolis willfully misinterpreted Minnesota public records laws by labeling coaching documents as private data. This practice promoted a culture of secrecy, allowing MPD to operate without accountability to the people it serves, according to the civil complaint.
That civil action opened a window into the city’s convoluted process of coaching officers, revealing through transcripts of under-oath depositions and newly uncovered documents that top Minneapolis officials have publicly misrepresented how they use coaching in recent years.
After the 2020 murder of George Floyd, under questioning about transparency in the coaching process, city and police officials claimed they only used coaching to handle minor policy violations — called A-category infractions — like not wearing a seatbelt or a problem in writing a report.
But court documents proved the MPD has used coaching in response to more serious violations, including excessive force complaints. The city has quietly coached officers for mishandling a gun and firing into the precinct wall, failing to report a colleague’s use of force and letting a K-9 off leash and allowing it to attack a civilian, according to court records.
Star Tribune
Hegseth faces senators' concerns not only about his behavior but also his views on women in combat
Pete Hegseth has spent the week on Capitol Hill trying to reassure Republican senators that he is fit to lead President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Defense in the wake of high-profile allegations about excessive drinking and sexual assault.
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Star Tribune
Minneapolis council fails to override Frey’s veto of labor board
Two council members supporting the override, Aurin Chowdhury and Jason Chavez, said after the vote that they believe Frey’s plan gives too much power to employers at the expense of workers.
Greg Nammacher, the President of SEIU Local 26, released a statement saying workers will continue to push for better conditions, saying it’s incredibly frustrating that despite advocacy from groups representing tens of thousands of residents, the mayor and some council members chose to side with “low-road employers” who said they’d refuse to come to the table.
“We have no interest in and will not accept any future board process that is further watered down by even more misinformation and fear from corporate-funded PR firms,” he said.
The override was supported by Council Members Chowdhury, Chavez, Emily Koski, Jeremiah Ellison Robin Wonsley and Katie Cashman, as well as Council Vice President Aisha Chughtai and Council President Elliott Payne.
It was opposed by Council Members Jenkins, Osman, Palmisano, Michael Rainville and LaTrisha Vetaw.