Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Elections - City Councils and Commissions - Policies
xandrex
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1384
Joined: January 30th, 2013, 11:14 am

Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby xandrex » November 12th, 2019, 11:42 am

The 2021 Minneapolis city council race will be for a two-year term (and then in 2023 become decoupled from the mayoral race) without changes to Minnesota law: https://www.minnpost.com/state-governme ... s-in-2021/

Don't think I remember this bit from Phyllis Kahn.

twincitizen
Moderator
Posts: 6368
Joined: May 31st, 2012, 7:27 pm
Location: Standish-Ericsson

Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby twincitizen » November 12th, 2019, 9:02 pm

This definitely went under the radar at the time, but it is 100% needed. Not using the new ward boundaries (based on the 2020 Census) until the 2025 election is really bad and undemocratic. Especially in a time of massive (but also massively unequal) population growth across the city in 2010-2020, it is super important to use those boundaries in the soonest possible election. Unfortunately, it isn't possible for the new boundaries to be drawn up in time for the 2021 election - that would be everyone's preference and there would be no reason for Kahn's law to exist. The only flaw in Kahn's law is that it doesn't include a provision for back-to-back 2 year terms, in order to keep Council and Mayor synced up in 2025 and beyond. The article calls this the "double up" solution. Essentially a 2-2-4-4-4-4 pattern every 20 years. I think that's the right move if people think it's important to keep Mayor and Council synced up on the same election years.

Without a change from the legislature, it will just be the single 2-year term in 2021-23, then a 4-year Council term in 2023-27. But the mayor will be elected to a 4-year term in 2021, and would next show up on the 2025 ballot alone, with no Council election that year (basically, St. Paul style). This out-of-sync pattern would continue until two censuses later, when Kahn's law would again call for a 2-year Council term. So from here on out, we could have a 20-year batch of "St. Paul style" city elections in Minneapolis, then reverting to "Minneapolis style" city elections for the next 20 years. This doesn't seem like a huge/bad deal to me, but clearly a number of the current council are against the idea of getting out of sync with the mayoral election, and they want to implement a version of the article's "double up" solution. Currently I'd have to side with Mayor Frey's position over Lisa Bender's, based on the information given in the article. She doesn't make a strong enough case for why the Mayor ought to be included on the 2023 ballot, when the Mayor will have won a 4-year term in 2021 - districts don't matter citywide. If the "double up" change is approved, the Council would be alone on a ballot just once every 20 years, syncing back up with the Mayor the following election. That really doesn't seem like a big enough deal to warrant making the mayor run for a pair of 2-year terms - stability of 4-year terms for the mayor is more important than whatever Bender thinks would be gained by forcing the mayor to compete in 2023 as well.

EOst
Capella Tower
Posts: 2424
Joined: March 19th, 2014, 8:05 pm
Location: Saint Paul

Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby EOst » November 14th, 2019, 8:13 am

I would argue whether it's necessary or not, but either way, this is 100% not something that the Legislature should be micromanaging for only certain types of home rule cities. If the people of Minneapolis feel this is a problem, it is a problem that should be addressed in the city charter, not at a legislative level. Statutes like this completely defeat the purpose and intention of home rule, especially for a question that is so fundamentally about the structure of a local government. It's not fair to the people of Minneapolis--or Saint Paul, for that matter--to impose this on them without recourse.

The logic behind this statute is not fundamentally different from any of the preemption bills that people in the Legislature have proposed to block local minimum wages, sick & safe time ordinances, etc. It's just something that a different side of the aisle feels somewhat sympathetic to. The problems of good government are the same in both.

LakeCharles
Foshay Tower
Posts: 898
Joined: January 16th, 2014, 8:34 am
Location: Kingfield

Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby LakeCharles » March 30th, 2020, 2:20 pm

Abdi Warsame resigns to take role as leader of Minneapolis Public Housing Authority. The earliest an election would be held for his replacement would be Aug 21.

https://www.startribune.com/warsame-res ... 569223952/

twincitizen
Moderator
Posts: 6368
Joined: May 31st, 2012, 7:27 pm
Location: Standish-Ericsson

Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby twincitizen » April 7th, 2020, 11:51 am

AK Hassan (current park board commissioner) is running for the recently vacated Ward 6 Council seat: https://www.startribune.com/park-commis ... 569440252/

"The period to file for candidacy for the Sixth Ward seat runs from May 19 to June 2. The special election [ranked choice] will be held Aug. 11."

twincitizen
Moderator
Posts: 6368
Joined: May 31st, 2012, 7:27 pm
Location: Standish-Ericsson

Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby twincitizen » April 14th, 2020, 7:49 pm

Due to projected revenue drops, City of Minneapolis is in "dire financial position": https://www.southwestjournal.com/news/c ... -position/

Minneapolis, perhaps more than any other city in the state besides St. Paul, gets a sizable percentage of its revenue from sales taxes, hotel taxes, liquor taxes, event/ticket taxes and other city-level fees. The drop in economic activity, most acute in hotels & events, is blowing a big hole in those revenue streams. Every city budget in the state will be impacted by COVID-19 in some way, but none as dramatically as the handful of cities with lots of empty hotel rooms and big events being canceled.

alexschief
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1140
Joined: November 12th, 2015, 11:35 am
Location: Minneapolis

Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby alexschief » April 15th, 2020, 8:52 am

Horrifyingly, Minneapolis is probably in a much better position than other big cites.

Losing that sales tax revenue is a huge hit, but it's even worse when you take a plurality or more of your budget from sales taxes. Minneapolis' forecasted shortfall of 7-15% is rough, but it could be worse.

twincitizen
Moderator
Posts: 6368
Joined: May 31st, 2012, 7:27 pm
Location: Standish-Ericsson

Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby twincitizen » April 29th, 2021, 8:56 am

I split the 2021 Election topic into its own thing: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=4657

This thread is for more issue-based stuff, city actions, budget decisions, redistricting, etc.

alexschief
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1140
Joined: November 12th, 2015, 11:35 am
Location: Minneapolis

Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby alexschief » September 24th, 2021, 9:11 am

There's a fun website where you can draw all kinds of new districts, including for Minneapolis City Council. Here's my effort: https://districtr.org/plan/53179

I didn't have a political goal in mind, I was just trying to create wards with boundaries that are as legible as possible. So wards are mostly split by rivers, lakes, highways, and major streets, with only a few deviations to make the numbers work.

I think the results are sort of interesting, especially in the implications of having one Greater Longfellow ward and one big East Bank ward.

twincitizen
Moderator
Posts: 6368
Joined: May 31st, 2012, 7:27 pm
Location: Standish-Ericsson

Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby twincitizen » September 24th, 2021, 1:23 pm

There's a fun website where you can draw all kinds of new districts, including for Minneapolis City Council. Here's my effort: https://districtr.org/plan/53179

I didn't have a political goal in mind, I was just trying to create wards with boundaries that are as legible as possible. So wards are mostly split by rivers, lakes, highways, and major streets, with only a few deviations to make the numbers work.

I think the results are sort of interesting, especially in the implications of having one Greater Longfellow ward and one big East Bank ward.
Oh man, this is really good (and very aesthetically pleasing). Nicely done.

EOst
Capella Tower
Posts: 2424
Joined: March 19th, 2014, 8:05 pm
Location: Saint Paul

Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby EOst » September 24th, 2021, 2:14 pm

I don't think splitting Cedar-Riverside in half would be a good look, though.

lordmoke
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1331
Joined: June 8th, 2012, 1:39 pm
Location: George Floyd Square

Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby lordmoke » October 1st, 2021, 3:33 pm

Neat tool, and nice work!

I took a crack at one as well. Not quite as aesthetically pleasant, but I'm happy with how tight I was able to get the population deviations, while also trying to keep people in their existing wards. https://districtr.org/plan/57170

LiamG
Block E
Posts: 5
Joined: October 12th, 2021, 8:00 am

Language on Minneapolis Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot

Postby LiamG » December 9th, 2021, 2:17 pm

I was scrolling today, and came upon a notice about the Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot. I was reading through it, and came across the below copy within their website - that kind of made me pause;
  • Long-term investment examples: tuition, college savings, vehicle repairs
Why would the city choose to include 'Vehicle Repairs' in the list of long-term investment examples? Obviously recipients of the Basic Income can and should do whatever they need to with the extra income including repairing or maintaining their form of transportation.

However including a reference to vehicle repairs comes across as short-sighted and against the goal of reducing vehicle travel in Minneapolis. I feel like there are many other example of long-term investments that could have been included here that wouldn't come across as supporting everyone owning a car/deepening our car-dependency.

Source: https://www.minneapolismn.gov/governmen ... 9jA1976_Uo

Anondson
IDS Center
Posts: 4646
Joined: July 21st, 2013, 8:57 pm
Location: Where West Minneapolis Once Was

Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby Anondson » December 9th, 2021, 2:41 pm

As long as there are law enforcement departments around the metro area who use vehicle deficiencies as pretext for pull overs, I think helping cover vehicle repairs is overall worth it.

LiamG
Block E
Posts: 5
Joined: October 12th, 2021, 8:00 am

Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby LiamG » December 9th, 2021, 4:09 pm

As long as there are law enforcement departments around the metro area who use vehicle deficiencies as pretext for pull overs, I think helping cover vehicle repairs is overall worth it.
Of course the money can be used for vehicle repairs - it is unrestricted money.

But if the city is really trying to reduce vehicle usage and confront climate change - why they explicitly call out climate negative private vehicles - especially since these generally contribute to maintaining people in poverty.

twincitizen
Moderator
Posts: 6368
Joined: May 31st, 2012, 7:27 pm
Location: Standish-Ericsson

Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby twincitizen » December 16th, 2021, 10:20 am

Neat tool, and nice work!

I took a crack at one as well. Not quite as aesthetically pleasant, but I'm happy with how tight I was able to get the population deviations, while also trying to keep people in their existing wards. https://districtr.org/plan/57170
I really like this one! Starting with yours as a baseline, I did some tinkering between Wards 7 and 10 (and a little bit of 6) to produce more compact wards. It's fairly radical as far as reconstituting 7 and 10, but I think the current state of Ward 7 needs an intervention on compactness. My changes push Ward 10 further north to put Whittier, Stevens Square, and Loring Park all in a single ward, while Ward 7 is removed from downtown entirely, keeping it west of Lyndale.

Check it out: https://districtr.org/plan/94085

mplsjaromir
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1138
Joined: June 1st, 2012, 8:03 am

Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby mplsjaromir » July 8th, 2022, 9:43 am

I starting to think the Mayor might be a bad guy:

https://sahanjournal.com/democracy-poli ... nnovation/

Bakken2016
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1019
Joined: September 20th, 2017, 12:40 pm
Location: North Loop

Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby Bakken2016 » July 8th, 2022, 12:33 pm

I starting to think the Mayor might be a bad guy:

https://sahanjournal.com/democracy-poli ... nnovation/
On top of Rainville being racist and Islamophobic today.....

mplsjaromir
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1138
Joined: June 1st, 2012, 8:03 am

Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby mplsjaromir » July 11th, 2022, 10:26 am

I starting to think the Mayor might be a bad guy:

https://sahanjournal.com/democracy-poli ... nnovation/
On top of Rainville being racist and Islamophobic today.....
The Frey/MAK/Radinovich/Melin/Rainville extended universe is pretty gross and getting more gross every day. They are just gonna grift for anti muslim cash and not do anything for the city aren't they?

thespeedmccool
Union Depot
Posts: 347
Joined: January 29th, 2021, 1:02 pm

Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby thespeedmccool » July 11th, 2022, 5:29 pm

I doubt Frey personally cares for Rainville's islamophobia, but he also knows his political future relies on playing nice with the city's conservative forces.

He's picked his side, and right now, it looks like he picked right if his only goal is staying in office.


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests