This transcript is from the Minneapolis City Council's "Truth in Taxation" budget hearing held on December 5, 2023. Based on the context provided and the proceedings of the meeting, I have identified the speakers. [0:01] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Good evening. My name is Andrea Jenkins, and I am the president of the Minneapolis City Council. I will now call this adjourned meeting for December 5th to order and ask the clerk to call the roll. [0:15] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chowdhury. [0:19] **Council Member Aurin Chowdhury**: Present. [0:19] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Osman, is absent. Council Member Payne. [0:22] **Council Member Elliott Payne**: Present. [0:23] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Koski. [0:24] **Council Member Emily Koski**: Present. [0:25] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chughtai. [0:26] **Council Member Aisha Chughtai**: Present. [0:27] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chavez. [0:28] **Council Member Jason Chavez**: Present. [0:29] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Ellison. [0:30] **Council Member Jeremiah Ellison**: Here. [0:31] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Vetaw. [0:32] **Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw**: Present. [0:36] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Rainville. [0:37] **Council Member Michael Rainville**: Present. [0:38] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Goodman. [0:39] **Council Member Lisa Goodman**: Present. [0:40] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Wonsley. [0:41] **Council Member Robin Wonsley**: Present. [0:42] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Vice President Palmisano. [0:43] **Council Vice President Linea Palmisano**: Present. [0:44] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: President Jenkins. [0:45] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Present. [0:46] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Also noting Council Member Osman is with us. There are 13 members present. [0:52] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Let the record reflect that we do have a quorum. [0:55] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Next we have the adoption of our agenda. Colleagues, the agenda for today's meeting is before us, and I will entertain a motion to adopt the agenda as presented. [1:05] **Council Member Emily Koski**: So moved. [1:06] **Council Member Michael Rainville**: Second. [1:07] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Clerk, please call the roll. [1:09] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chowdhury. [1:11] **Council Member Aurin Chowdhury**: Aye. [1:12] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Osman. [1:13] **Council Member Jamal Osman**: Aye. [1:14] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Payne. [1:15] **Council Member Elliott Payne**: Aye. [1:16] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Koski. [1:17] **Council Member Emily Koski**: Aye. [1:18] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chughtai. [1:19] **Council Member Aisha Chughtai**: Aye. [1:20] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chavez. [1:21] **Council Member Jason Chavez**: Aye. [1:22] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Ellison. [1:23] **Council Member Jeremiah Ellison**: Aye. [1:24] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Vetaw. [1:25] **Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw**: Aye. [1:26] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Rainville. [1:27] **Council Member Michael Rainville**: Aye. [1:28] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Goodman. [1:29] **Council Member Lisa Goodman**: Aye. [1:30] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Wonsley. [1:31] **Council Member Robin Wonsley**: Aye. [1:32] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Vice President Palmisano. [1:33] **Council Vice President Linea Palmisano**: Aye. [1:34] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: President Jenkins. [1:35] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Aye. [1:36] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: There are 13 ayes. [1:38] **President Andrea Jenkins**: That carries, and the agenda is adopted. I do want to just note that we have some special guests in the audience, that I think might be in the audience, but I don't see many of them, but potentially we will be joined by some of our Park Board commissioners as well as Mayor Frey, and I will introduce them when they arrive. Tonight's hearing is the third and final opportunity for the community to provide input on the city's 23 24 recommended budget. Mayor Frey presented his budget on August 15th providing a proposed fiscal plan for the city's operation in 2024 totaling $1.8 billion, with an increase to the city's property tax levy of about 6.2 percent. A copy of the mayor's recommended budget is posted on the city's website which is available at MinneapolisMN.gov/budget. Since that time, the City Council through its Budget Committee under exemplary leadership of Council Member Koski has conducted a series of hearings to examine the details of each department's budget request. All of those meetings were broadcast on public access television and on the city's website, and on demand access by those broadcasts are still available from the city's YouTube channel. [3:27] **President Andrea Jenkins**: This past week the Budget Committee conducted a mark up of the mayor's budget proposal. A total of 46 amendments, including a series of technical amendments, were approved during the mark up session. All of those amendments have been forwarded as part of the complete budget package to be considered tonight. In addition to those amendments, a resolution setting compensation for council members for the next two year term and one legislative directive were also forwarded for consideration. If you plan to address the council as part of tonight's hearing, please note that we will be taking speakers in the order they have registered. Speakers can register with the clerks at the table outside in the hallway. If you prefer to submit written comments, the clerk will have forms that you may use to do so as well. So if you haven't already done so and you do want to speak as part of tonight's public hearing, I invite you to step outside and register now. [4:43] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Before we open the floor to public comments, I do want to recognize our budget director, Ms. Jayne Discenza, who will provide a brief summary of the proposed budget. Hello, Ms. Discenza. And I do want to just note that we have been joined by a few of our Park Board members as well as BET member, Meg Forney and Cathy Abene, and we will introduce other elected officials as well. Welcome, Ms. Discenza. [5:26] **Jayne Discenza (Budget Director)**: Thank you, council president, council vice president, members of the City Council, my name is Jayne Discenza. I'm the budget director, and I'll just be giving a brief introduction before we hear from the public this evening. This is just an overview of the budget process, of where we are in that calendar. So I'll share some very high level city spending and revenue information and certainly encourage people to take a look at all the budget documentation on the city's website for more detail. [5:57] **Jayne Discenza**: The budget and both the budget documents that we produce are for the benefit both for residents and for policymakers. This slide shows just a bit of a breakdown of how that information is organized. So program narratives are where you can go to understand the services and the intended outcomes for residents. Those are presented for each department. Budget proposal narratives allow for transparency in decision making, so what are the changes being made, how will they impact residents and how will they impact city goals. And then finally, we have a number of planning sections, financial overview. We look at a five year picture when we're designing the budget, and so we have multiyear plans to reflect that. The next two slides are a timeline. [6:45] **Jayne Discenza**: The budget process annually we begin in January, so we'll start the 2025 budget in just a few weeks here. We'll begin calculating the current service level. Departments will work with us to understand their current funds available and how they're using them. They will propose changes to the mayor in May and then the mayor has the summer to consider their presentations, make some decisions, and then recommend a budget to all of you by August 15th. The Board of Estimate and Taxation sets that maximum levy in September. And then we had two months of Budget Committee meetings where you all heard from departments about their existing budgets and proposed changes. We've had two of three public hearings, the third being tonight. And just last week the council was able to vote on your amendments. And here we are at the Truth and Taxation Hearing, the final public hearing. [7:38] **Jayne Discenza**: The mayor's budget calls for $1.8 billion in spending across all funds. So this was a 6.2 percent levy in accordance with the biennial budget plan considered in December of 2022. So that recommends a $60 million increase from the 2023 adopted budget. This includes increases in personnel costs and other inflationary measures that we always include as well as some new investments. [8:13] **Jayne Discenza**: So this slide you'll note is from the mayor's recommended, so it does not incorporate the changes that council recently made, but overall we saw about $48 million in new investments proposed on this budget. The vast majority of those are in the city's general fund. The budget book splits these out into the city's priority areas, so that's a great resource to look at if you're trying to get a sense of how the city is spending in terms of economic conclusion, climate, housing, et cetera. For revenue, we have to have a balanced budget, so we have a $1.8 billion revenue plan here as well. $1.76 billion of that is new funds flowing in, and $58 million of that is accumulated use of fund balance. [9:06] **Jayne Discenza**: As council president said, we do have a 6.2 percent levy for 2024. So that raises the total amount levied by about $27.7 million. Property taxes are based on the property's market value. So in Minneapolis we saw growth both in commercial and residential markets in 2023. So even if the city were not raising taxes at all, homeowners would still likely see a small increase to their taxes. The assessor's office, since this is a truth and taxation hearing, they are here tonight to be available to folks if they have questions about their taxes, but the fourth bullet here indicates that for a medium homeowner you'll see about $150 to $160 increase to your taxes. We also encourage folks to use the levy impact estimator to understand the impact on their home, on their neighborhood. You can split it out by ward, just to sort of get an estimate of what you're looking at when the city is talking about the new services that we are looking to fund. So that is also available on the city website. With that, I will turn it back to you, council president. [10:24] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, so much, Ms. Discenza. I do want to just welcome everyone here. Thank you for participating in your city government. Before I go over some general rules, I do want to just recognize Council Member Payne. [10:52] **Council Member Elliott Payne**: Thank you, Madam President. [10:54] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Do you have a question for Ms. Discenza? [10:57] **Council Member Elliott Payne**: I have a question for the chair. I'm wondering what the possibility is for letting more folks in for standing room or not, or maybe this is a question for the clerk. Just, I see a whole lot of folks outside. [11:11] **President Andrea Jenkins**: We have really taken great pains to make sure that we are staying in compliance with our capacity. We do have an overflow room in Room 319 which has access for viewing, seating, et cetera. It's our fire code regulations that are governing this reality. So does that help? [11:51] **Council Member Elliott Payne**: Thank you. [11:53] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you. And so before I open the public hearing, I do want to just review and go over some general rules. As I mentioned earlier, we will be taking speakers in the order that they are registered. If you would like to testify, I do invite you to register your name with the clerks at the table in the hallway outside this chamber. Every speaker will have an assigned number. We will be calling speakers by number. Because we have limited seating available in this room, there is an overflow room across the hall, Room 319, where the public can monitor this meeting. Each registered speaker will be given two minutes to address the council. We will have a timer available to help speakers monitor their use of time. We ask that you wrap up your comments when your time has expired so that we can accommodate the many speakers that we have today. [12:51] **President Andrea Jenkins**: We also ask that everyone be respectful of all speakers and of all opinions offered. If you have written comments or materials to submit, please give those to the clerks at the registration table. We also have printed comment forms available at the registration table if you'd like to submit a comment on this proposal and have that included in the public record of this matter. I would also encourage everyone to take advantage of submitting your comments about the budget in other ways. The easiest way to submit your comments and ensure that they are added to the public record is to send those from the city's website at MinneapolisMN.gov/publiccomment. All submitted comments will be included in the public record related to the 2024 budget, which is accessible via the city's Legislative Information Management System, or LIMS. File 2023-00739. [14:04] **President Andrea Jenkins**: We have arranged for interpretation for those who may need that assistance to participate in tonight's hearing. If you require assistance, please let us know, and we'll have interpreters available for those who speak Spanish, Somali, Aromo and/or Hmong, and [14:28] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Madam President, just to build off your last comment—this is my fault I forgot to remind you—that the interpreters are available in 319. So if folks need interpretation assistance to participate, those interpreters, our neighborhood and community relations department have made that available, and they're all in Room 319. [14:52] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Mr. Clerk. I'll just reiterate that if you do need interpretation assistance, it can be provided in Room 319. With that, we are ready to beginning our public hearing. So far we have a total of about 46 speakers registered for tonight's hearing, and I will call on those speakers in groups of five by their registered number. The first five speakers who are registered to provide public comment are: Joe Olgrin. Number 2, Scott Yar. Number 3, Eric Solder. Number 4, Scott Zimmer. And Number 5, Josh Faulkner. And I'll welcome Joe Olgrin. [15:48] **Joe Olgrin**: Thank you, Madam President, council members. I am Joe Olgrin. I reside at 215 South 9th Street, and I am employed by the city in the solid waste and recycling division. We hear often about the obscene shortage of police officers in this city, but we do not often hear about the shortage of employees in the Public Works departments. Yesterday, I was picking up scrap metal and appliances in the Seward neighborhood that had been at a residence collection point since November 17th. Why were those items picked up so late? Well, it's because my division is ridiculously short staffed. Now, stagnant wages are one reason for this, but if you look at the city's website, under job opportunities, there's no listing for Public Works service orders. I'm sorry. I lost my spot here. [16:42] **Joe Olgrin**: I'm told by leadership in my division that human resources is too short staffed to post these jobs on an open ended basis. However, they are not too short staffed to hire people from a different labor pool at any given time of the year and pay them $10 more per hour to work side by side with me and some of my coworkers here. The times have changed, obviously, and there's no longer hundreds of people applying for a handful of civil service jobs with the city. The current practice of one or two time restricted, mass hiring events per year for Public Works jobs is archaic and no longer effective. I think these jobs should be posted for people with a CDL on an open ended basis until all the positions are filled, just like the city has managed to do for the hiring of law enforcement officers. I live, work, play, and spend my money in this city. I love this city. It's my home, and I love being a civil servant. So let's get back to providing quality, timely services to the taxpayers. Post these jobs and pay us a competitive wage. Thank you. [17:58] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Mr. Olgrin. The next speaker in queue is Scott Yar. [18:07] **Scott Yar**: Good evening council persons. I'm a resident of Ward 10, 223 Franklin Avenue West. Good evening. I am 106505. That is my number that the city assigned me when I was first hired in 2004. Sometimes I believe that that is all I really am to the city, is just another number. Sometimes I feel like all of my coworkers are only numbers to this city. We all have one working here. But when the city needs something done, it's all about the numbers, the number of workers we can get to tackle whatever problem is at hand, and I work side by side with all of these numbers every day. [18:42] **Scott Yar**: The difference between me and the labor relations team of the upper management of the city is I know the names of the people I work with. I know they are more than just numbers. They are my friends, neighbors, moms, dads, residents of this city. They are also one of the most diverse workforces in this entire city. They are human beings whom I trust with my life. I am asking this council to see us as more than numbers. See us as human beings with dignity, so please treat us as such. Please deliver a fair contract so we will not feel like just numbers. Thank you. I am Scott Yar, resident of the 10th ward, enrolled member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe. Thank you. [19:28] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Mr. Yar. Number 3, Eric Solder. [19:40] **Eric Solder**: Hello, my name is Eric Solder. I'm in Andrea's ward. I think I coached Emily's daughter a time or two. I've worked for the city since 2018. I'm going to take you on a trip down memory lane. Everybody remembers COVID, right? First it was COVID. Sent everybody home, not us. We stayed. So it was us, EMTs, fire department, police. Then it was George Floyd. So after that, it was us, EMTs, and the fire department. We had a contract up at the end of 2020. We had weak leadership. Didn't get what we deserved. Settled. We were told to settle for I think it was 6 and a half percent over three years. When you're already behind in the pay scale, that doesn't go very far. So now here we are, continuing to do the things that nobody else wants to do, like going to—who was going to George Floyd Square? It was us. Who was going to the encampments? It was us. Anything that nobody else wants to do, it's Public Works that does it. The city likes to talk like they value us, but they wouldn't even meet with us. So we just need a fair deal. I'm just asking for you to include us in your budget and pay us enough so we can live in the city, afford to live in the city. I was lucky enough to buy a house back when they were affordable 20 years ago. Thank you. [21:13] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you very much. Speaker Number 4, Scott Zimmer. [21:26] **Scott Zimmer**: Hi. My name is Scott Zimmer. I live in the city of Shakopee. I was born and raised in a small, 25-head dairy farm. I had a sheltered upbringing with no family vacations. The work is priority that needed to get done first and then fun. I helped milk the cows before and after school, manually pitched silage out of the silo, helped bale hay and pick up rocks in the harvesting fields and other duties. We were the working poor. My parents received government cheese, butter, and other essentials. My meals at school were free and paid by taxpayers. My mother is my inspiration. She worked her tail off to provide a good, loving life for us. She did the chores on the farm, cooked, cleaned and clothed all six of us, gardened and canned the fresh produce. Later when we got older, she got a full time job in town as a nursing assistant taking care of the elderly. I have gained a strong work ethic from my childhood, and it resonates in me to this day. [22:48] **Scott Zimmer**: None of my siblings followed parent's dream of being a dairy farmer. I knew that going to big city had more job opportunities and higher pay. I have a working family, and I travel every workday, 56 miles round trip to work for solid waste and recycling department, for eight and a half years and counting. Depend upon how this contract goes. I've been feeling anxiety of providing a good life for my family that my parents felt some 40 years ago when I hear the low ball offers and losing tasks the city has given us after sacrificing our well being in the last few years. We have faced a COVID pandemic, and we were being confined to work with a coworker in a small truck cab, feeling paranoid that we might lose your life with all the unknowns. People like myself who have a strong work ethic, who want to be kept—we want to be kept around. We're an asset to the city, not a liability. Thank you. [23:51] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, John. If you want to submit your written comments, we can take those and put them in the record. Thank you very much. Speaker Number 5 is Josh Faulkner. [24:12] **Josh Faulkner**: Good afternoon, council. My name is Josh Faulkner. I've been with the City of Minneapolis for almost eight years now, with sanitation. And you've got to agree, the city is probably the best city in the state, right? Is that agreed? It's the major leagues of cities, right? You guys are making major league decisions, budget, public service, public safety. And we see that. We see that down on the streets. We're there working for you guys, for every resident in this town, but you guys are making these major league decisions, and you make the major league salaries, which you deserve, because those are big decisions. We're down on the streets, boots in the sand, hands getting dirty, plowing the streets, keeping that water going. But we're making minor league pay. Towns all around us, little ones that don't have to make the decisions, that don't have to deal with the situations that we have to make, they're making $10, $15 more an hour than us. That's not fair. This city is great. It's got the best workers. We just want to be paid equally. That's all we're asking. We give good product. We just want to receive it. And I appreciate your time. [25:48] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Mr. Faulkner. Thank you. Our next five speakers are: David Evinger, Eileen Johnson, Janet Court, Tim Peterson, and Andre Korsine. Welcome, Mr. Evinger. [26:08] **David Evinger**: Thank you. President Jenkins, council members, ladies and gentlemen, my name is David Evinger. I live in the Loring Park neighborhood. Last Thursday, November 30th, the first agenda item that this committee took up dealt with the compensation level of you, the Minneapolis council members. The public learned at that time that there were 12 comparable cities that were researched to evaluate your income levels. Each of you receive a few dollars less than $110,000 a year. We also learned that the median compensation level of council members in those 12 other cities is $81,000. We learned that the Minneapolis City Council members' compensation is 135 percent higher than those comparable markets. No upward compensation was recommended. No motion was made to reduce that $110,000 level of compensation. Contrast this with the compensation given paid to the Minneapolis MPD. But first I want to point out that the number of sworn officers in Minneapolis is less than 600. The charter requires at this time over 730. Now focusing just on our metro area. Starting and experienced MPD officers are paid less, less than officers in more than 12 other metro places. Why should good people join the MPD? The Minneapolis City Council has not adequately or fairly funded the MPD. It is deceptive. It is false to claim... [28:15] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Mr. Evinger. Can you please submit your comments for the public record. Thank you. Speaker Number 7, Eileen Johnson. [28:46] **Eileen Johnson**: Good evening, President Jenkins and council members. My name is Eileen Johnson, and I'm a resident of North Loop. I want to speak this evening about the importance of pay raises and bonuses for MPD from my own lived experience. My late husband, Charlie Herzog, was a parole officer in the Fifth Precinct for 21 years. When Charlie and I were a young couple starting out, we did not have a lot of money. We were paying off our student loans, supporting my widowed mother in law, and working to one day buy a home in Minneapolis. We were highly motivated to contribute to the vitality of our beloved city. As do many officers, Charlie worked extra off duty hours to offset his low salary and help us buy our home. [29:30] **Eileen Johnson**: Back in the day, all police departments paid poorly. Therefore, the low MPD salary was not a disincentive. Today, most apartments have substantially increased police pay. Blaine PD is number one starting pay in the metro. MPD is Number 18. Inver Grove Heights PD is number one for experienced officer pay. MPD ranks 21st. Metro Transit Police, U of M Police, and Airport Police all pay higher than MPD. Given the choice, many officers understandably prefer to work at a higher salary. Hiring and retention bonuses are the new standard in police departments. They uplift officers and help them feel that their cities value them. I know that Charlie would have appreciated one. I know this because I recall how happy he was one year when officers were given an additional $40 for their annual uniform allowance. I remember him saying they are taking good care of us. I ask the City Council to take good care of the men and women of MPD. They are members of your team, and you have a responsibility to them. Please ensure that they are given substantial pay increases and bonuses. Thank you for your consideration. [30:20] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Ms. Johnson. Speaker Number 8, Janet Court. [30:30] **Janet Court**: Hello. My name is Janet Court, and I live at 1216 Powderhorn Terrace, which is Ward 9. I want to thank the council for the budget amendments that you recently passed that are of help to those who have the least resources among us, specifically: Domestic violence navigators, the funding of opioid recovery and harm reduction, coordinated social services, safety ambassadors, and also I want to thank you for the sidewalk shoveling which the Council On Aging, which I'm a part of, has been advocating for a number of years. I'm also here begging you to delay the closing of Camp Nenookaasi. I'd like to ask for a seven week extension for the camp. The camp has been successful in preventing overdoses, helping people get off of drugs, and getting people into treatment and housing. When people feel safe, they can make good decisions. When they stay in one place, the workers that serve them can find them. It's very difficult when someone finally, after three months, gets housing and then their worker can't find them. Thank you so much. [32:18] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you. Our next speaker is Number 9, Tim Peterson. [32:30] **Tim Peterson**: Madam council vice president and president, thank you for having me here today and for the rest of council members and for the guests. I'm Tim Peterson, Ward 13, speaking on behalf of supporting rooting, recruiting, and retention bonuses for the MPD. I served 15 years in the Minnesota National Guard and the United States Air Force. This is one of the many awards I received for setting records recruiting for them. What I learned many times recruiting next to the Minneapolis Police force, that large signing bonuses were the number one tool to recruit new people to service. I grew up in the Third Precinct watching my friends be beat more times than I'd like to remember. We were small and weak, but my service community started at a young age, protesting in front of the Third Precinct when they did not live up to the core values of my black mother. [33:13] **Tim Peterson**: I don't believe my brothers and sisters in arms gave so much to defend our constitution so that we would have a lack of police officers or not enough good police officers serving on our streets. I suggest that everybody on City Council who votes against measures not to address our lack of officers that uphold our constitution take notice. I swore an oath to support and defend the constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. I never thought I'd have to do that as a politician. Authoritarian expansionist propaganda regimes are watching and using the chaos that you are responsible for, that you have created to so doubt a democracy here and all over the world. It is our obligation to guard against this with all of our hearts and minds so that our children can grow and succeed together. I believe that when the core values of our police department match the core values of the beautiful people of our community we will be a bright, shining star for the state and the nation to follow. Great setbacks set the stage for great comebacks. God willing, I'm going to lead that comeback. Thank you for the time. Godspeed. [34:26] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Mr. Peterson. Speaker Number 10 is Andre Korsine. [34:40] **Andrea Corbin**: Andrea Corbin. Thank you, council president. We are a democracy where our elected officials make important critical decisions for their constituents. They have a responsibility to supervise how the funds of taxpayers are being utilized. When we have the tax base to pay for programs like low income family assistance, affordable housing and mental health programs everyone wins. Our small businesses are the foundation of that income source and vibrancy. Our Streets Minneapolis advocating for walking and biking has now morphed into a mega lobbying firm advocating for the removal of parking on commercial corridors killing businesses. Clear examples of lobbying are an email from Our Streets: We are teaming up with DSA to door knock. Join us as we ask neighbors to fill out postcards directed at elected officials. Their website on advocacy. Municipal sidewalk plowing. Ask Minneapolis decision makers to plow the sidewalks. They have directed 37,000 letters to council members as of this morning. [35:42] **Andrea Corbin**: Under IRS rules, only 10 percent or less of activities under 501(c)(3) can be used for purposes of lobbying. Our Streets are clearly violating that. Verbiage from their contract with the City of Minneapolis reads: Prohibition against lobbying. The sub or contractor is prohibited from using funds provided herein for political activities, lobbying, or political patronage. There is a reason that anti lobbying clauses are part of our governmental contracts. They protect our citizens from an unbalanced advantage with the use of governmental funds to push their agenda, however well intentioned it may be. A holistic approach is needed. The impacts of our new roadway design should be studied after they're implemented. Directing our inner city residents to travel to outer city business with lack of parking and asking our employees who work who walk to our workplaces to find a job outside our beloved city... [36:45] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Ms. Corbin. You can submit your written comments to the clerk, and we will make sure they get included in the record. Thank you. Our next speaker is Number 11, and that is Ann Corbin. Is Ann Corbin available? We will move on to Speaker Number 12, which is Jim Sherman. And if Ann shows up, we will then allow her to speak. Are you Ann Corbin? Yes, ma'am. All right. [37:29] **Ann Corbin**: Apologies. Council members, my name is Ann Corbin. I am a college student who is deeply invested in the well being of our community. The safety of our families is a concern that has permeated, leaving us with a sense of fear and uncertainty in our day to day lives. The events at the U of M campus this past weekend is disheartening, and we are witnessing the inexcusable circumstances that have unfolded, leading us to question the security of our city. This is the reality we live in today. As our city's population shows a current decline, we are at 418,000 from 429,000 in 2020. I understand that every department faces challenges unique to them in addressing solutions together as a community showing unity and love for our city. There is hope for change, fostering good principles working together to create a safer and more inclusive community. The recent ballot initiative that took place on November 2nd, 2021 echoes our community's voices, resulting in only 60,000 votes who wanted to replace our police department with a department of public safety initiative. As elected officials, there is a fiduciary duty to represent the constituents appropriately, prioritizing the well being of the majority over personal or political agendas. The City of Minneapolis have spoken, and they have expressed a clear desire for a police presence. I implore you to consider the will of the people and provide the necessary funding to support our dedicated, committed, and hardworking police department. They have undergone significant changes in policies and personnel, and with your support they can continue working towards making Minneapolis a safer place for everyone. Thank you for your time. God bless. [39:43] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Ms. Corbin. Speaker Number 12, Jim Sherman. [40:03] **Jim Sherman**: Council President Jenkins and council members, my name is Jim Sherman. I have a family business, and I have worked in the uptown area for the past 50 years. We have seen so many changes in the city during that time. I've been tracking the City Council budget meetings closely, listening intensely to the programs that are proposed. I am disappointed to see that the crimes that are most severe in our city are getting the least of our attention. We need better response times for emergency calls, violent crimes rampant that are in our city right now. We are talking about prioritizing community workers, mental health facilities, and to protect the city. While I think there is a need for them, they will never replace trained, armed citizens, also known as police officers, to handle difficult situations. Our police officers are in fact our citizens. Their kids go to our same schools that ours go to. They shop in the same places. They frequent the same establishments. They live here too. They are trained to handle the most complex and dangerous scenarios. Our tax dollars pay for that training and adequate pay for those officers not only to comply with the orders that the city is given from the Supreme Court but to give our citizens the necessary response in life threatening emergencies. We are looking for a holistic approach, an inclusion approach where everybody department is in and no one is out. We must right our wrongs, fix what is not working, and keep adjusting as we go. We cannot continue to ignore the scenarios, the serious crimes in the city that are affecting the vitality, quiet enjoyment, and safety of our citizens that they have a right to. Thank you. [41:23] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Mr. Sherman. The next speaker, Speaker Number 13, Nicholas Corbin. [41:35] **Nicholas Corbin**: Council members, my name is Nicholas Corbin, and I have been a victim of violence on Hiawatha Avenue just last year. Myself and two others had ordered an Uber as we were leaving a friend's house. Right as we were getting into the vehicle, it was ambushed. A group of young men held us at gunpoint. They forcefully took our phones, passports, and wallets. All three of us were beaten and pistol whipped, left with severe bruises and injuries. The detective that took our report told us that there were eight other similar incidents that same night. I am lucky to be standing here alive today. Just this past Sunday was my mother's birthday. Myself and my fiancée had just arrived at her house for dinner when my fiancée got a call. It was her sister. Her parents were just aggressively attacked during a robbery while walking to the orchestra hall for a St. Thomas concert for their daughter who attends college there, using a pistol to rob or hit her mother so hard on the back of the head that she collapsed onto the sidewalk, she needed immediate medical attention and was rushed to the hospital. We were not able to stay and celebrate my mother's birthday. We spent the evening at the emergency room as my fiancée's mother went into shock from a severe injury due to this robbery. The crime in our city is serious, it is real, and it is happening every day to citizens just like us here before you. To make matters worse, the lack of consequences in our city is emboldening our criminals, and we are seeing unprecedented crime. We are upset about the lack of action the council is taking in getting our beloved police department to a level it should be for adequate civilian protection. To think that untrained civilians equipped with nothing but the shirt on their back picking up garbage, assisting with wayfinding or a station where lost and found can be turned, police reports made is going to bring this city back to the safety levels we once enjoyed is naive. Our taxpayers and residents deserve... [43:39] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Mr. Corbin. Mr. Corbin, you can submit your written comments to the clerk. Thank you so much, Mr. Corbin. The next speaker in queue, Speaker Number 14, A.J Lang. [44:12] **A.J. Lang**: Thank you, President Jenkins, council members. First, I just wanted to acknowledge the work that the council has done on this amended budget. There's certainly many commendable aspects in it. Unfortunately, it doesn't go far enough to meet the needs of your workforce or address our members' concerns. In our negotiations, the city's current offer remains significantly below market rates and will not address its ongoing retention and recruitment crisis. You've heard about the challenges we face every day at work, tonight, past public hearings, meetings. Minneapolis is the most challenging city in Minnesota to be a public worker. Yet, it's also one of the lowest paying cities, but we show up every day to serve this community with compassion and dedication. During our negotiations, the city is trying to undermine our members' union rights, they're demanding concessions and refusing to seriously consider our proposals for improved health and safety protections for your workforce. I feel it's necessary to remind you that during negotiations, labor relations and its staff represents the council, so they speak for you. I'm asking you to use your authority to direct labor relations, to offer us a fair contract that reflects the value of our work. I implore you to take a close look at your budget again, take whatever steps are required to make the necessary investment in your core frontline workforce and ensure that the residents of Minneapolis receive the consistent high quality public services that they deserve. Thank you. [46:11] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you so much. Speaker Number 15 is Sean Gosiewski. [46:21] **Sean Gosiewski**: Hello, everyone, Sean Gosiewski, Ward 9, 3132 22nd. Just congratulations on putting the budget together. Great job on the $10 million for the Climate Legacy for Climate Solutions. Let's make sure to not fund other things. So like for our streets Public Works should put in the 50 grand for our streets to have Open Streets. I think it's a great investment for moving our city beyond cars. I'm very excited about the climate action plan. We really want to make sure that all the departments are doing their part in the climate action plan, so make sure you're going to have a coordinated team between all the divisions. I also would love to see community teams for each strategy in the climate action plan so we can work on, for example, how to weatherize each block. It would be great to see Little Earth as one of the first investments. They're redoing Little Earth right now, so it would be great to have that weatherized as well. Also, I'm promoting in the handout for you that we work on maximizing the federal grants. For example, the EPA carbon pollution reduction grants for $500 million. Minneapolis should really be front and center on that grant as a justice supported community. Let's make sure community based groups that are doing work are included in these federal grants, and then let's also support the community groups to go after these big other grants, like the EPA community change grants. We also need funding for the neighborhood groups. There's all these tax credits for people to put in pumps and to get electric bikes and electric cars. So I think we can really get this plan done, but it's going to take coordinated action between the city, the county, and the state agencies. So I really want the city to make sure that the state climate committees from the state agencies do their part to wind up all this federal money in good ways so that we can make sure that our buildings are getting weatherized. Thank you. [48:36] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Mr. Gosiewski. Thank you so much. Speaker Number 16 is Lee Samuelson. [48:47] **Lee Samuelson**: President Jenkins, members of the council, Lee Samuelson, Ward 12. I congratulate you on achieving a historic budget process with unified support for so many transformative investments, including funding to continue Open Streets, though I wish it would come from Public Works rather than setting a precedent and drawing from the Climate Legacy Initiative Funds going forward. Also, I want to ask if the amendment for the communications coordinator position includes someone who is accountable for fixing technical glitches in the city's website. For example, not only has the Minneapolis Clean Energy Partnership been down for at least a week or maybe two, but a number of the links on the two past monthly sustainability newsletters led me to blank pages, and in order to build implementation teams for the Climate Equity Plan we need a dedicated staff person for keeping this info available as well as updating the websites with a link on how to get involved, something which was not done last year. [49:40] **Lee Samuelson**: And the Minneapolis Clean Energy Partnership documents both promises made and wisdom earned. For example, this puzzle diagram on Pages 5 and 6 of their Q4 2022 meeting documents when the partnership promised us to piece together the various financing options together to approximate the equity and access benefits that the inclusive financing pilot project would have brought us. And I'm really wanting a completed puzzle in time for the $4.7 million weatherization pilot as well as some other reports that give crucial wisdom and guidance on past communication of pilot projects so that we don't have to reinvent the wheel on learning the same lessons that you've already learned before. So get lit, Minneapolis. [50:40] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Mr. Samuelson. Speaker Number 17 is John Williamson. [50:51] **John Williamson**: I would like to start by—should I begin? Yes. I would like to start by sending my solidarity to Local 363. I have seen the crap you people put them through, and you need to give them a fair contract. So earlier this year the city was asked for a financial analysis of the camp enclosures, and they basically came back and said we haven't been counting. You know, they made some assumptions, and one of those assumptions was that they had done eight encampment closures between 2020 and earlier this year. That's a bad assumption. You are derelict in your responsibilities to do financial oversight. We deserve to know how our city is spending money, and we deserve to be able to say that this is not how we want our money spent. We want our money spent on our neighbors, not removing them. If you can't figure that out, that drumming is going to continue. Thank you. [51:56] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you. Speaker Number 18. Kate Lisbon. [52:04] **Kate Lisbon**: Hi, my name is Kate. I'm here as a service provider who is troubled by the use of city funds for the removal of the Healing Camp on 13th Avenue. Because they provide shelter, medical attention, food, water, overdose reverse and response and sanitation on city property, camps should also be considered contracted service providers with the city. I am against the forced removal of service providers using city funds. The Healing Camp should be considered a service provider, and Nicole Mason should be considered a service provider. Please do not use city funds to gut this valuable partnership. Instead, reinvest the money spent forcibly removing camp residents in more housing, more shelters, more daytime drop in centers, more healthcare, and more dignity for our unhoused neighbors. [52:51] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you. Speaker Number 19, Eric Willis. [53:03] **Eric Willis**: Thank you for listening to the workers and our funding co enforcement. Before CTUL, I didn't know that I had rights as a worker. I was recently convicted as being a felon and faced many challenges. After being educated, I was a more powerful leader and able to organize others. Another impact of co enforcement can be seen in the two recent workers I organized myself personally. Instead of being confronted by their boss and facing retaliation, within the two weeks of their next paycheck, the next paycheck reflected earned sick and saved time. We in the organized community realize that the work is never done, but I would like to personally thank Council Members Payne, Koski, and Chowdhury for coauthoring the amendment and prioritizing worker voice. I would just like to with my last minute uplift the fact that I've heard several members of the community talk about police funding, and I've always stood against some of the police funding, and I know that Mayor Frey's new budget actually fully funds the police department, so to ask for more money seems to be absurd to me, especially when I've seen personally what the Minneapolis Police Department has done and the Department of Justice itself has come down itself on the City of Minneapolis about the acts of the Minneapolis Police Department. So I thank you for the work that you've done, and I thank you for your continued diligence to the community. [54:34] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you. Speaker Number 20 is Carol Becker. [54:43] **Carol Becker**: Hi, guys. So Minneapolis has had a tradition of clean government, but I hate to say that that's coming to an end. The city, in your budget, you have $850,000 set up for Open Streets. Where did the $850,000 come from? Council member Wonsley, that came from Our Streets, a lobbying firm. In fact, the write up is exactly their language. You didn't even bother to change the pronouns. So you have said in your budget that you're going to give $850,000 to a lobbying firm. Not that that firm is the right place to do this project, not that you've gone through a bidding process to find out what the appropriate spending amount is. You have simply set aside money to give to a lobbying firm. And what do they do with that money? Oh, wait. They come back and lobby you. That's what we think of this corruption that's called graft. We're used to seeing that in New York City. We're used to seeing that in Chicago. We're not used to seeing that here and now in my city. But that's what this budget does. It's immoral, it's unethical, and it shouldn't be happening. I'm asking you today to take that out. Instead, go through a bidding process, find real, live vendors who can actually do this work, multiple of them, do a bidding process, and find out what an appropriate amount of money is, not just take what they give you and submit it as if that's the right thing to do. It's unethical, it's immoral, and it's graft, and I expect better of you. Thank you very much. [56:17] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you. [56:22] **Council Member Lisa Goodman**: Madam Chair. Madam Chair. I'm sorry, Madam Chair. [56:26] **President Andrea Jenkins**: The chair will recognize Council Member Goodman. [56:29] **Council Member Lisa Goodman**: Madam Chair, I feel the need to clarify the record that this budget does not include $850,000 for Our Streets. It doesn't even include $850,000 for any Open Streets event. And so I just want to clarify that is the truth. And I know the speaker is aware that I am not someone who would have supported that. And I don't want any of my colleagues painted with that either. That is just simply not true. And I think it's sad that everyone clapped as though they believed it. And I felt the need to speak up. [57:07] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, council member. Next in queue is Speaker Number 21. Ma'am, Ms. Becker, we need to move on. Thank you. Speaker Number 21, Jared Kasten. [57:24] **Jared Kasten**: Hello, I'm Jared. I'm here from the Lynlake area. I come here just after work. Recently I heard that there is a rapid eviction of Camp Nenookaasi, a healing space, a space that reduces crime within this city. It gets people clean. We have all these people talking about crime and being worried about crime, and then whenever we have a space that doesn't cost the city any money to maintain, that actually helps people, helps people and gets them housed, gets them in a less desperate situation, y'all want to shut it down rapidly. And this isn't the first time of course that it's been shut down. It's a periodic revelation. It's something that really appalls me, and it's very interesting to see because Camp Nenookaasi is nationally recognized for its success, and it's also internationally recognized. This is an indigenous space, and this is a continuation of a genocide against indigenous people. And this isn't something that isn't well known. This is something that's very, very easily well known, very easily seen. It's right in front of our faces, and whenever you do something like this, especially right as it's getting cold and you're trying to kick people out of a space that is warm and safe, it's really just a big scrooge move. All I see is just a bunch of scrooges. You see how much support is for this camp, how much support, how many people turned out, people who are not from this camp but form around the whole city, the whole Twin Cities. We need this camp. But why shut it down so explicitly, rapidly too? Why not at least, at the very least give an extension? We heard great things about maybe providing funding for this camp since it's such a great space and it's such a healing and productive and successful space. What else is there to say. [59:44] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Jared. Speaker Number 22, Russ Adams. Speaker Number 22, Russ Adams. [1:00:05] **Russ Adams**: Thank you, Madam President, members of the City Council. I want to thank you and the city staff, the mayor's office for crafting a budget that I think is going to be very rejuvenating to a lot of our neighborhoods. I'm with the Lake Street Council. I live in beautiful Powderhorn Park neighborhood. As you know, during the civil unrest there was quite a bit of damage done to businesses along our corridor and other corridors in the city. We tracked the amendments that were offered, all 49. I watched every minute of your Budget Committee hearings. I think the compromising that you did was laudable. There is a conventional wisdom that this City Council is deeply divided over political and ideological lines from middle left to far left. I didn't see that in your very civil and respectful debate and occasional disagreement. I thought that was a model, and I think that the media doesn't always report that, and so I'm taking a point of personal privilege. I've been watching this City Council for many years. I go pretty far back with Council Member Goodman. I just want to say as a citizen but also on behalf of the 2,000 businesses and nonprofit partners along Lake Street, we appreciate the effort that you put in. I'm not going to name every piece that you passed. There was so much I don't have time to do that, but I did want to point out that you really rose to the occasion, and I thank Chair Koski for running an incredible process for this very complicated budget. So thank you for that. [1:01:54] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Mr. Adams. Speaker Number 23 is Magina Miller. Speaker Number 23, Magina Miller. If Ms. Miller, or if Magina shows up, we will return back to them. Now we'll move on to Caspian Worth Petrick. Speaker Number 24, Caspian Worth Petrick. If Speaker Number 24 returns, we will return back to them. Hello, I am Caspian Worth Petrick. [1:02:45] **Caspian Worth Petrick**: I am in Ward 1, and I want to start off by saying just echoing so many powerful voices that police do not keep us safe, and you've been hearing what does keep people safe, and that's the Healing Camp, Camp Nenookaasi. I love the ideas of like instead of the money to evict all those people, use that money to support the camp. I want to echo what people have said, that the camp prevents missing indigenous relatives, indigenous women. It is a healing camp, and to evict the people is a continuation of genocide. I also want to encourage Minneapolis to divest from any companies connected to apartheid Israel. That is also committing genocide. Lockheed Martin is a weapons manufacturer company here in Minneapolis. Albit has surveillance that is tested in Palestine and then is used with ICE. Please support Camp Nenookaasi. Please support indigenous relatives. Throwing people out when it's getting this cold is murder, and we need to be stronger together and divest from apartheid Israel. Thank you so much. [1:04:06] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you. The next speaker, Number 25, is Lacey Gagliano. [1:04:14] **Lacey Gagliano**: Hi, I'm here in support of all the relatives you hear out in the hallway in ceremony right now, asking you to stop putting the budget toward evicting people into where. I'd like to call Adult Shelter Connect right now and let you hear what I heard when I called earlier today, a couple hours ago. I'll let you know how many beds are available if I don't get through in my allotted time, but there's no way you can send 180 people out into the cold with nowhere to go, because what you're going to learn is there's nowhere to go in this city. We're having meetings about a budget that includes anything and everything but our unhoused relatives. When do you step up for the unhoused relatives, our neighbors? They are our neighbors. If I got through, you would have heard that there are zero beds for men and three beds for women. There are some options for people with families, with kids, that are also few and far between. When I talked to the county earlier, all we were able to do was lament. This person I had talked to had been working in this kind of work for 25 years. All we did was lament about how abysmal it is that the City of Minneapolis has nothing, nothing to offer. I've never felt safer and more supported and more a part of a community than when I have been on the ground at Camp Nenookaasi, working, helping. Nicole has done more work than any number of people in the city government alone. There's not a lot to say. I don't know how you wake up in the morning knowing that you're sending all these people into the cold, and that's just not just Nenookaasi. That's every encampment. You send people around in circles. It's genocide. Call it what it is. [1:06:12] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you. Speaker Number 26 is Scarlotte Johnson. [1:06:22] **Scarlotte Johnson**: Hello, I'm Scarlotte Johnson. I'm also here in support of camp. So when it comes to being homeless, you can call that number all day long, but you have to find a bed every day, so you have to call that number by 10:00 a.m. every day to reserve your bed, and then you have to check in. I called for four days, and I could not get a bed. I walked up and down Lake Street, and I was assaulted by the train by two men. And I found the camp and Nicole. She basically saved me and took me in. That camp is my family, and it needs more support. We're not just a bunch of people just living in a camp doing drugs. That's not what it is. Nicole took me in and got me help. I work now at the camp. I live there. I work in the sober tent. I have found recovery. They've got me sober. They found me a job. I got a routine now. I got a family. I have people that support me. We actually have security at our camp. We don't let visitors after dark time. We are basically a family. You know, we take care of each other, and we invite our neighbors to come to brunches and all the time, and we want them to come and see our camp and see that it's not just a bunch of people having a great big party. That's not what we are. But we can't get housed. We can't go to homeless shelters. We have nowhere else to go. So if you sweep us, you're just going to move us to another place, and we're going to lose our possessions in the meantime, you know, to find another place to move to. So instead of keep moving us, find us a permanent solution to the problem. We are humans too. We are people too. You can't just silence us and put us in a corner and say, here, be quiet. There's a lot of homeless people out here, and we need help. But at camp, our camp, we have routine. We have jobs. We help people get back on their feet. We help people get sober. We have a sober tent. We help people. We meet them where they're at, and we help bring them up instead of tear them down further. [1:08:42] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Scarlotte. Moving on to Speaker Number 27, William Mattrey. [1:09:17] **William Mattrey**: Awesome. I am from Ward 10. I'd first like to urge you to fully fund the ask from Open Streets, as the $250,000 is insufficient for their event and to continue supporting methods other than cars. Secondly, I would like to state my strong opposition to the use of city funds and resources to dismantle encampments, especially given the planned eviction on the 14th. It costs more. It scatters our unhoused neighbors around the city. It increases the challenges facing those helping them with medical and other resources, especially harm reduction efforts that are critical for the community. It's disgusting to evict members of our indigenous community in the middle of the winter. Where are they supposed to go? Thirdly, I would like to strongly oppose increasing any amount of funding to the MPD and focus funding and efforts on alternatives to our current policing force. Also, please divest our city from the apartheid system in Palestine and demand a permanent cease fire. Thank you. [1:10:15] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you. Speaker Number 28, Audua Pugh. [1:10:28] **Michelle Shaw**: Hi, my name is Michelle Shaw. Audua is moving me up in line. So I am in Ward 1, and I am just here to talk a little bit about the Green Zone Task Force. So this is my second term on the Green Zone Task Force. We were very alarmed when we saw that $50,000 was going to be taken out for Open Streets. We all love Open Streets. We were able to talk with a couple of the council members this week, and it sounds like that money is actually going to be put back tonight. And we were also, at least for myself, also wanting to make sure that there isn't a precedent set where money is taken out of the Health Department for events like this. The Health Department obviously affects all of our health, and so hopefully you can be thinking about that in the future so that we're not taking from sustainability and health. [1:11:13] **Michelle Shaw**: I just wanted to let you know for people who don't know about the Green Zones, these are the areas where our environmental injustices and health disparities are the worst in the state, and we really want to be thinking about how can we make these areas not the worst, how can we be making them healthier. You know, we've got Little Earth there. We've got our North Side areas. We want them to be thriving, and we want to provide wealth to these neighborhoods, wealth and health. And we have people in here on those Green Zone Task Forces who don't just go to the meetings and talk and then leave. They do these things for their actual jobs and for volunteering all the time. Audua Pugh has Rusty and the crew. We have Roxanne O'Brien who has community members for environmental justice. Leslie Jackson does air monitoring in schools. I have Minneapolis sentinel boulevards. So this is not something and the list goes on. This is something that means something to all of us. We hope you'll consider that. [1:12:42] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you so much. Speaker Number 29. Speaker Number 29 is Howard Dodson. [1:12:50] **Howard Dodson**: Good evening, council president, council members. September of '22. I learned that there's 14 overdoses in one parking lot at Merwin Liquor at Lyndale and Broadway. I've been to Ukraine four times, but my focus shifted to my hometown after I saw the crisis that is before us with the opioid epidemic. MPD has shared wherever there's fentanyl there's gun violence, a strong correlation. We're not going to get ahead of this until we take away the demand. You take away the demand, you reduce the supply. I appreciate that you've invested more in addressing the opioid epidemic, that $1 million grant, but it's taking forever for us to get the Narcan dispenser outside the Fire Station 21. People are dropping like flies. The coroner has to divert autopsies. Women recovering from pregnancy are OD-ing. Babies are OD-ing. We're finding babies with fentanyl dust on their onesies. The stigma of addiction, everyone thinks it's just these kids with blue pills out there. It took out Prince. If it could take use Prince, imagine what it could do for the average citizen. So I'm hoping to see a greater sense of urgency from the city and the county because this is a crisis. It's a moral crisis. Humana, Health Partners both got dinged for violating the mental health parity law, Senator Wellstone's legacy bill. They were fined $185,000. We've got to address this crisis because there's too many people dying. So please save lives. [1:14:40] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Mr. Dodson. Speaker Number 30, Alex Rodriguez. [1:14:52] **Alex Rodriguez**: My name is Alex Rodriguez. I live in Ward 3. I am in stern opposition to the eviction of Camp Nenookaasi. City of Minneapolis, how dare you, as an authority on the stolen land tell people where they can and cannot live. Your posture and land acknowledgments fool nobody. Your actions speak louder. Merely posting contact information for inadequate public resources is an insult, not a solution. The solution is community efforts like the one you seek to destroy. If you have a soul in your cold body, we expect you to do everything physically possible to stop this disgusting eviction. If you do not, you are no better than the jack rooted pigs who are slated to throw our neighbors and our relatives into the deadly Minneapolis cold. People will freeze to death if this eviction goes through. In addressing what other people in this community have been saying, do not give another penny to the MPD, the most murderous and tyrannic gang of pigs in America. Read the FBI report. They do not support constitutional rights. They give protesters severe brain damage. They shoot jaywalkers. They killed George Floyd and countless other people. Don't give them any more money. I yield my time. [1:16:30] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you. Speaker Number 31, Wa be gon ee Quay. [1:16:44] **Wa be gon ee Quay**: [speaking non-English] My name is Wa be gon e Quay. I'm Crane Clan. I'm from Lac Courte Oreilles, Band of Lake Superior, but I grew up here in Minneapolis. At different points in my youth I was homeless for reasons that were out of my control. When I was unable to stay with friends, I went to different shelters in Minneapolis and St. Paul. If I had not had the opportunity to stay in shelters, I don't know where I would be today. Because of this, I can empathize with my relatives at Nenookaasi, except many of them have been waiting for housing for months in the sweltering heat and bitter cold. They don't have the guarantee of having a place to go back to every day that will still be there when they return. Indigenous people in this city have been made strangers in the place we were supposed to call home. What we are demanding is not much. So when you go home, I hope you think of the people at Nenookaasi who want you to give us more time so that they can get into housing and know where they are going to go next, instead of removing them and forcing them into the cold. Evicting houseless people is violent, and the fences that are put up around the city to keep them out disgust me. [1:18:08] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you. Speaker Number 32 is Sarah Sawyer. [1:18:13] **Sarah Sawyer**: Hello. I'm a waiver case manager contracted through Hennepin County. I'm here to show my support for Camp Nenookaasi. Through the waiver, I offer employment services. I connect people with housing services, mental health, medical supplies, and a range of other services. I can even find them supportive living environments. But for all those services to come in place, there needs to be a permanent location to find my clients. It is so incredibly scary when I get off the phone with a client and I don't know if I'll be able to reach them again. I deeply wish that I could point my clients to Camp Nenookaasi, but with the pending eviction and with their capacity, it's not possible. I have clients in shelters. I visit them. I hear about their situations, and I've been to Camp Nenookaasi. It's incredibly warm. It's safe. It's welcoming. There's community and connection that so many of my clients lack, particularly the ones that are homeless. It is so difficult to maintain connection and community, but this camp offers healing, it offers support. And once again, I will be billing and my colleagues will be billing for the additional time it takes to find our clients. This will cost you money in the long run because housing workers, employment workers, they'll be calling dead phones, phones that aren't activated. They will be going on visits that don't end up with any meetings. These services will not be able to work unless there's a permanent location for these people. And Camp Nenookaasi is the safest place available. I really urge you to remove this eviction. It's genocidal. It's violent. It's going to be deadly. [1:20:00] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Speaker Number 33. [1:20:30] **Nicole Mason**: She gave me her number, so obviously I'm not Anastasia. I'm Nicole Mason. I'm the camp organizer at Camp Nenookaasi. Today I took a nap and I woke up, and I woke up to an eviction paper for the 14th. We still have about 186 people living at the camp. We need more time. It's not anything that I've asked for this camp to be a forever thing. It's only to get enough people housed, to keep them safe for the meantime and let streets of housing people, Helix, Agate. We just need more time. In two weeks, there is no way. If we have been there 111 days and we have only gotten 74 people housed and we still have 180-some left, you tell me where are they supposed to go. It's cold. At least we're able to provide some warmth. There's not shelter beds for them. Even at the moment, if you were to put them in hotel rooms, that money could be used towards housing that person. Don't misallocate money. Keep them where they're at. We've been... I also want to say thank you for the porta potties. We really appreciate them. Really appreciate them. It's been really nice for our elders and our disabled to be able to use the bathrooms in a dignified way. We really just need more time in order for people to get housed. Crime will go up, disease will spread. Women and our relatives will come up missing. And where are they going to go? Franklin Avenue? We all know what that was like. Do we want to see another car wash on Nicollet? That's your neighborhood, right? Or is that yours? Do we want to see that in East Phillips as well? We don't want to see that. Right now we are keeping it safe, as safe as we can. Provide us more resources or more support. [1:22:42] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Nicole. Thank you so much. Speaker Number 34, Angela Athias. [1:23:05] **Angela Athias**: Hi. My name is Angela Athias. I live on 40th and Columbus, so it's just two blocks from George Floyd Square. I am a new homeowner, so I'm not represented or have a posse of other people with me here, but I want to be here to let you know that as a new homeowner, I'm guessing that all these programs are coming out of my property taxes. I don't know how else they are being funded, and so as a new homeowner I'm just here to say keep me in mind. I work three jobs as a single mom, and I am proud that I was able to save up enough money to be able to own a home in South Minneapolis, but it's my dream. And your budget, either it helps me keep that dream or takes it away from me. Thank you. [1:24:20] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Angela. Thank you. Speaker Number 35, Omari Thomas. [1:24:34] **Omari Thomas**: Good evening, council members. My name is Omari Thomas. I live in Ward 5, and I am the future of work organizer with the New Justice Project Minnesota. First we want to thank the City Council for increasing the funding, for the co-enforcement in 2024, also for hearing us and responding with real action, not just words, by prioritizing workers in this budget. The leadership of Council Members Koski, Chowdhury, and Payne got us here. So special thanks to them. This work is personal for me because it allows me to educate workers in a community that a lot of the time are operating in survival mode and living paycheck to paycheck. And a lot of the people I work with don't always know their rights, and when they do, they fear standing up for them. The co-enforcement work gives them that courage and the knowledge they need to stand up for themselves and their coworkers. We are here to thank you for the funding, but I'll have to note that the issue of wage theft in industries where the vulnerable workers get exploited the most will only get worse over the next few years if the program does not receive ongoing funding. So we are looking forward to continuing working with the City Council next year to ensure sustainable funding for the program in 2025 and beyond. Thank you again, and God bless you all. [1:25:52] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you. Speaker Number 36, Jermale Kling. [1:26:00] **Jermale Kling**: Hello. My name is Jermale Kling. I'm a member of New Justice Project Minnesota as well as Twin Cities Recovery Project. I was one of the workers that came before you last month to talk about my story of losing my job in the middle of a global pandemic all because I was sick and my employer did not care enough to tell me about the benefits that I had. Workers showed up, and you listened. Thank you. So first and foremost, we want to thank the entire City Council, especially Council Members Chowdhury, Koski, and Payne leadership and authorizing of the co-enforcement amendment for the New Justice Project, CTUL and ROC United. We appreciate your continued support for black workers all over the City of Minneapolis and North Minneapolis specifically. [1:26:42] **Jermale Kling**: This work is important because sometimes our voices are drowned out by the corporate interest of those who could care less about black workers having their wages stolen and losing their job because they don't know what benefits they are owed. This is a step in the right direction for all workers and the City of Minneapolis. So thank you. Also, I am here representing Twin Cities Recovery Project, which is a recovery organization that same to address substance use disorder to support individuals in their journey towards recovery while promoting community awareness. The Twin Cities region has witnessed an alarming increase in SUDS cases. This prevents a significant opportunity for the city's budget to fill the gap in services and meet the overwhelming demand for recovery support. We understand that your budget does have some of these initiatives funded, but I hope in next year's budget you consider doubling the amount of funding needed to stop our communities from dying from opioids and substance use disorder. Thank you very much. [1:27:54] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Mr. Kling. Speaker Number 37, Tiana Crane. [1:28:03] **Tiana Crane**: I've been told that capacity is around 100, and I was coming to ask if you could let some more people in, please. There's a lot of people waiting. I have a two part question. First I'd like to address the public funding of evictions. I'd like to know who is profiting off of the constant sweeps of our unhoused neighbors, who is profiting off of the anti homeless architecture that we see shooting up under bridges, down Franklin, Lake Street. I don't know a single person in my work or personal life whose values align with this incredible misuse of funds. Stop the sweeps. As a second and related portion, I would urge you to stop pointing millions into faith based organizations like Salvation Army whose shelters are reported by our neighbors to be filled with prejudice as well as increased risk of assault and theft. Our neighbors need and have asked for the stability of their encampments. Please listen to them. Stop funding the continuation of state violence. Protect Camp Nenookaasi and all others like it. Change the course of the city, and turn the shame into supporting something beautiful. Fund the protection of our neighbors. I speak personally as a coordinator for a drop in center for homeless adults and those at risk of homelessness, so this is my work every day in Northeast Minneapolis. [1:29:12] **Tiana Crane**: Minneapolis did not increase our funding for our RFP and continues to give RFPs to establish faith based organizations who cannot serve every one equally. They do not serve LGBTQ folks equally. They turn away families that don't have marriage certificates or don't have birth certificates with both parents listed. Our shelters are full. We are calling every day, and if you don't get in in time you do not get a bed, even in those locations that are not safe. This isn't a sustainable solution, and you need to fund things that are working, like the camp. So again, please stop funding the sweeps. Please stop funding and pouring money into anti homeless architecture. I know that's expensive. And lastly, it's always a good time to stop funding genocide. [1:30:10] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you. Speaker Number 38, Jeremy Winter. [1:30:38] **Jeremy Winter**: Hi, my name is Jeremy Winter. I'm from Ward 9. Next year, Hennepin Avenue and Uptown is going to be reconstructed. Two years after that, the same will happen with Lyndale Avenue. With each reconstruction project, a war is fought between business owners and local transportation advocates over on-street parking. With each step that we make towards having a more safe, walkable bikeable, and transit friendly city hones backlash from shop owners who rely on suburbanites driving in. It's tough to argue with these people because of course their customer base is largely drivers. Why would anyone bike on a busy street with no protected bike infrastructure? Have you tried biking down Hennepin Avenue in Uptown? It's no wonder none of these businesses get any customers coming in on bikes. Studies have shown that when quality bike infrastructure is added, once it's complete, business increases, but our local businesses they can't wait for construction to finish. [1:31:30] **Jeremy Winter**: That's why we need a support system at the city level to keep businesses afloat while they wait for construction projects to finish, so our shops can smoothly transition from a suburb largely driver customer base to one of those local, urban, and multimodal. Let's plan for the long term and cover our local businesses in the short term so they can gracefully make that transition. No one wants to bike along a street filled with closed shops. On another note, why is the city evicting Camp Nenookaasi? It doesn't make any sense to me that my taxpayer dollars are going towards making the homelessness crisis worse. I've been to the camp. I've seen what it does. It stabilizes people. When you take away these people's place to live and you shut them out onto the street, you only end up increasing the street crime that inevitably follows desperation. Truly being tough on crimes means leaving Camp Nenookaasi alone. Thank you. [1:32:40] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you. Speaker Number 39, Matthew Hiller. [1:32:48] **Matthew Hiller**: Hello. I'm a resident of South Minneapolis and a neighbor of Camp Nenookaasi, and I am here to speak against the imminent eviction. This eviction is violent. It will lead to displacement, death, and overdose. And I would invite any of you to actually see, go there and watch the eviction to see the reality of dumpsters being filled at gunpoint with the belongings of our most vulnerable neighbors. There's folks here who have faced that violence time and time again, and they're better equipped to speak on that than I am, but I can talk numbers. Specifically, city officials have cited an eviction such as this can cost up to $265,000, depending on the conditions of the camp. Let's be clear here, Nenookaasi is not only a large camp, but it's a very well established camp. The community over a dozen yurts with their own time, money, and labor. More importantly than that, the residents have built a real community, a community that helps folks stay warm, helps them get housed and helps them get clean. And you want to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to destroy that. It's unconscionable. And as others have said, where do you expect these folks to go? They'll go rebuild somewhere else, and we'll be here a couple months from now having the same conversation except they will have died in the meantime. I don't know how you justify not only the material costs, the number on your budget sheet, but the human cost of going out of your way to terrorize our most vulnerable populations. Stop the evictions. [1:34:04] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Roxanne O'Brien. [1:34:08] **Roxanne O'Brien**: Hi. Good evening, everyone. So I came here for numerous issues, and now I feel like I'm just like in support of the whole community out there, because it started out I was going to come and talk about the Green Zones and how I just didn't understand how we've done a lot of good environmental justice work here. I know the city is getting a lot of benefits and environment to money. There shouldn't be any reason why the Green Zones is begging for $50,000, or really should have way more than that, but I just was here to make sure that we address that, but that's been addressed. I want to move to the next thing. I'm here to also support the union, because I've had the pleasure to be able to meet a lot of them who have done good things in our community, and we're going to continue to work together, so I just wanted to let you all know that it seems like a lot of people are joining forces together out here, and so we really need you to listen to the voices out here before I think it escalates. [1:35:10] **Roxanne O'Brien**: The next thing I want to say is I also have been feeling a lot of feelings about like the encampments and overdosing. I lost a few people this year. So it impacts me as well as I live in Uptown right now. Most of you know me as a Northsider, which I will be back as soon as I can find housing that works for me and my family. I had to move, unfortunately, because I didn't have police to protect me in my home. I've called—I did call 911 numerous times trying to get support for domestic violence. I ended up having to get my own gun. I actually had police in my windows stalking my kids children's rooms. So as we're talking about giving more money to these people, I was also on the committee for the Park Board to oversee the park police committee, and that was destroyed after George Floyd. We were given no reason for that other than we should take a rest. So I just want to say, last night I went to the ER room, and I noticed something very sad. I went for myself. I crossed a homeless man who was covered. Looked like a statue. Just real quick, give me 20 seconds, because this was super sad, Andrea. I went to the ER room. I had to leave because I couldn't get seen. There was an eight hour wait. So I didn't any sleep. I actually got home at 5:00 a.m. this morning, but I wanted to say that they were kicking people out. [1:36:45] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Ms. O'Brien, I've got to ask you... [1:36:52] **Roxanne O'Brien**: I know. It was super sad. People had nowhere to go. They were in the emergency room. They were trying to sleep. They had nowhere to go. [1:37:05] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you. Speaker Number 41, Michelle Shaw. [1:37:12] **Leslie Jackson**: We switched. So I'm Leslie Jackson, North Side Green Zones. All I want to say is thank you for supporting us. I hope that we can continue to work together to grow to embetterment our community and beautify it. Thank you for the extra money—well, it wasn't. But anyway, thank you very much for your support, and hope to see you guys at a Green Zone meeting, and please, please invite us to yours. Thank you. Safe journey home, people. Yes, I like to clap for my community. Okay, everybody. [1:37:45] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you. Speaker Number 43, C. Bowler. Speaker Number 43, C. Bowler. Speaker Number 46, Lauren Moore. Is Lauren Moore here? Speaker Number 46, Lauren Moore. Hello, Ms. Moore. [1:38:18] **Lauren Moore**: Hi there. Albert Einstein once said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Time is time again, the city has tried scattering people to the wind, and it has not solved the problem. Why would this time be any different? Homelessness is a symptom, not the disease. In truth, there are many reasons for being homeless as there are people that are homeless. Mental illness drove one to the street. Another was fleeing domestic violence, while a third was struck by hard times, losing what they had to begin with. Choosing to scatter our neighbors to the wind because you do not like the sight of them, because you do not like the smell of them makes no more sense than removing a bandage from a bullet hole because the bandage is getting blood on it. While we all wish the residents of Camp Nenookaasi were not homeless, we cannot wish them out of existence by scattering them from the wind and vanishing them from our sight. This is the logic of the child hiding under a blanket. We, your community, demand more of you. [1:39:25] **Lauren Moore**: As Eleanor Roosevelt said, it's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness, and I wish I knew how to light that candle, but I do know that there are those working in the community that hold that spark, but while I am too ignorant to know how to light that candle, your common sense and basic human dignity, I can tell you that your actions are merely cursing the darkness. Perhaps rather than follow the same well worn failed path we could choose a new one. So tonight when you return home, having potentially made a terrible decision, you will search for some salve to soothe the pain of what you've done. That may be drink or weep in the arms of a loved one, but more than likely not. You will tell yourself the lie that this had to be done, but deep down you know that this is not true, that this did not and does not need to be done. It is not hard to know what's right, and it takes courage to do what's right. Please show that courage. [1:40:24] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you so much, Ms. Moore. Speaker Number 47, Katie Jones. Speaker Number 47, Katie Jones. Speaker Number 48—I'm sorry. Hi, Katie. [1:40:48] **Katie Jones**: Hello. Thank you so much, council members, council president, for having me here today. My name is Katie Jones, and I live at 2219 Bryant Avenue South, in Minneapolis. I know this is a budget meeting, but I'm here to talk about future budgets, and I'm here to plant a seed for a future budget. I'm the daughter of a family of small business owners. My parents owned a software company, my granddad an ophthalmology shop, and my uncle a chocolate shop, a retail business. And every Saturday while I was growing up, my grandmother would bring lunch to that chocolate shop, and we would have lunch there as a family. And so there I got to experience what it was like being in a retail shop, what it was like to help customers, what it was like for small business operations and to survive as a retail shop. And that's why I stand before you today, because for small businesses, road reconstructions are a big deal. Two major roads are going to be reconstructed near my home in the next few years: Hennepin Avenue in 2024, and Lyndale in 2026. [1:41:53] **Katie Jones**: I love living in uptown because of the small independent businesses that exist around me, and I'm really excited about the improvements to walking, biking, and transit that are coming to Hennepin Avenue thanks to the layouts that you all approved, and I'm hoping that something similar will come to the county's reconstruction of Lyndale Avenue, but during that road reconstruction it's important that our businesses survive, and it's difficult during that reconstruction for customers to get to businesses. So, you know, I'm with a group called Livable Lyndale. We're a volunteer organization of neighbors, and we've been having conversations with business owners, and during that we've heard about their angst to survive during road reconstructions. Luckily, there are models being developed to help with that. I've heard of anti displacement frameworks being developed for the Blue Line extension, and I hope that we'll think about such things for Lyndale and Hennepin and things like that going forward. Thank you. [1:43:08] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you so much. The next speaker is Speaker Number 48, Nathan Sites. [1:43:24] **Nathan Sites**: My name is Nathan Sites. I live on Elliott Avenue in Ward 9 with Jamal Osman. I own a home just four blocks away from Camp Nenookaasi. They are my neighbors. They are my relatives. I have spent time being welcomed into their home, sharing a meal, hearing their stories. I have seen the beautiful, healing work being done there. They are reducing harm. They are being good neighbors. They are working hard to secure housing. I have brought them food and coffee and sleeping bags. I have spent hours of my free time working hard to bring them firewood to help them stay warm. I've done these things and will continue to do these things to support the camp because they should not have to be a privileged, white homeowner like myself to feel safe, to have their basic needs met, to be treated with respect, to have a place to call home, and they should not have to be afraid of being violently kicked out of their homes in the Minnesota winter. I want to put my personal resources and time towards taking care of my neighbors, and I want this council to put my tax dollars towards taking care of my neighbors, not evicting them. [1:44:18] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you. Speaker Number 49 is T. Casey. [1:44:42] **T. Casey**: Hello. I have been a public health nurse in Minneapolis for ten years. This budget is perpetuating the ongoing genocide that's been going on in the settler colony for over 500 years. I've cared for people throughout the process of not having housing, finding housing, losing that housing, and I've seen the health impacts, the chronic health impacts of not having housing for small periods of time, long periods of time. This is something that impacts the entirety of our community. And if you're narrow minded enough to be focused on capitalist priorities and money, this costs the city money. This is about oppression and not safety, and that's why this budget has a proformative $1 million going to anti homelessness, $5 million going to public housing, when and $17 million for community safety. Wait lists for housing have been years long. Shelters are consistently full. Nenookaasi, the iterations of Nenookaasi that have existed over the years have been healing, a space for people to come together, and I just want to talk about what happens to our collective social health when we treat people as disposable. It shows up in all of our—it shows up in parenting, how we educate our kids, how healthcare is administered. This is the impact of colonialism on our country. We need to stop making these colonizing choices. Keep Nenookaasi. [1:46:32] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you. Speaker Number 50, Jackie. [1:46:44] **Jackie**: Hello. I'm here with allyship with the camp. This colonial mindset, when is it going to stop. Trying to—I can't talk, I'm just so angry, but all I can say is that this is not right, this is unethical. To take people out of their homes, children, to starve, to be in the cold weather, doesn't this remind you of a certain timeline? It wasn't so long ago. We—you guys are on stolen land. And this is just—I just can't—I'm really so mad, I can't talk. All I can express is my anger, and I'm standing here to speak for the people that can't talk and can't use their voice or are too angry or too sad or too heartbroken with the news that you guys have given them. Please give them more time. If not time, more funding. These are home—these are children. They do not deserve it. And if you guys haven't awoken, have you seen the world lately? The genocides that are happening all across the world, when is it going to stop? Minnesota does not stand for this, and we should not represent ourselves by doing this to other families, children. And like they said, all of the speakers before me, there is nowhere to go. There is—there are hours of wait lists. You have to be there at 10:00 if there's not 200 people on the line. What's going to happen? What are you guys going to do when you're tucked away in your nice warm homes with your coffee and your cars? What are you going to do then when they show up at your house protesting? That's all I have to say. [1:48:30] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you. Speaker Number 51, Zach Kay. [1:48:42] **Zach Kay**: Hi, y'all. My name is Zach, and I live in Ward 9. I am here to speak in opposition to the planned eviction of Camp Nenookaasi. It is heartless. It's inhumane to evict this camp of my loved unhoused neighbors who are speaking shelter and stability and this is the only place that they can find it. I find it especially disgusting that this is happening in the holiday season where a lot of people of all religions are celebrating spiritual events. Also, it's Minnesota, in the winter. These people—I love the camp. It's so wonderful there, and it's so warm, both emotionally and also physically. I've split wood there, and they have so much wood, and everyone—I never worry about anyone that lives there because they found safety. They found community. If you evict this camp, more people will go missing, and people will die. If you evict this camp, people will die. That's murder. Let the camp be. It's given people stability. It's given them a place to find the medical help they need, the treatment, the housing, but most importantly, the community, their family, their relations. The alternative to eviction is just to leave them alone. You can just do that. They're taking—we're taking care of ourselves. We're staying safe. We're staying—we're peaceful. Just leave us alone. Save the money for the city, and let us get through the winter alive. Thank you. [1:50:12] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Speaker Number 52. [1:50:18] **Nicole Mason**: People are out there with frozen Narcan or no light to save lives. With no Narcan in the streets. At least there we have them preloaded and thought out and we're saving them lives. [1:50:30] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Nicole. Nicole. Can we hear from the other people who have signed up? Speaker Number 52, Meeren. [1:50:40] **Meeren**: Hi, my name is Meeren, and I have been doing this for some years now, and I can say that most of the people, the majority of the people in Camp Nenookaasi I have come to know as good friends. I have listened to their dreams, of their many struggles. I have listened to them pray. I have heard about their faith in the future, despite them being moved every couple of months, and just in the last—and I've watched many of them die before my eyes. In the last few months, for the first time in years, I have been able to go to sleep each night knowing that my people are safe in the arms of Camp Nenookaasi. And then the eviction notice came. And then the next day in my Facebook memories, a year ago we saw the aftermath of an eviction that happened during very, very high winds, creating a ground blizzard. People were being treated for frostbite, if they ever got to the hospital. The police were chasing them all over, and we outreach people were looking for the over 100 people all night. We found about 12, and it took us hours to help them get tents set up in the blockage of some abandoned buildings because the tents were flying all over. The rest of them were trying to hide under tarps or use concrete barriers as shelter, and the police and security cars kept chasing them away, and this is the way they spent the night. I do not want our relatives to go back to this inhumane and horrible video that I watched on my memories the other day. Please consider and research the housing first model which will save the city money. Thank you. [1:52:54] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you. Speaker Number 53, Paul McCluskey. [1:53:02] **Paul McCluskey**: Paul McCluskey, Powderhorn Park. Yes, my good friend Meeren and I have been helping at a number of camps over the last two or three years. Nenookaasi has put something together that's just miraculous. It is so well organized. They've got a huge kitchen. They keep people fed. People are actually well fed. They got the yurts and all the supplies for everybody. It's just a miraculous thing. I can't think of any single reason why they would be evicted—why—or any time in the near future. It's harming no one. It's helping a great many people. If nothing else, it's a model. It's a model. If the city could find a place, a sanctioned place for people to set up and do what Nenookaasi does, keep them safe, get them housed, get them into treatment and just show the love, compassion, let volunteers come and help them, the city do the minimal that they do, the trash collection is wonderful, the porta potties, it took months, but thank you. It's a very good thing. It's a model. It's a way to have people stay safe and find safety and security until the next thing can come along to make it better for them. Thank you very much. [1:54:24] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you. Speaker Number 54, Marcus Mills. [1:54:36] **Marcus Mills**: Hello. My name is Marcus Mills, from Ward 3, Marcy-Holmes neighborhood. We all think of ourselves as public servants, trying to help the people that we care about, our fellow citizens here in Minneapolis. You've heard thousands of times, a few times from me that a budget is a moral document. Where is it better—how can we better serve people with the money that has been given to us as stewards of the people's well being? Serving folks who are at the lowest rung of our socioeconomic ladder is the duty of public servants. We should be serving these folks. We shouldn't be attacking them. So that's one point. And because I'm not the expert on that particular point, I'm going to move on to what I came for. We've been dealing over the past week with a number of points on environmental justice, another justice issue. We've been dealing with a circumstance that was supposed to be secured, that was supposed to be dedicated funding to serve the environmental justice interests of our people. The program was designed to be dedicated, and we've had over the past five days a bit of a game, shell game, where are we going to pull money out of environmental justice. I believe we've settled on the green cost share program at the current moment. Folks, in a climate crisis after the hottest summer in history, this is not a place where you should be pulling money either. On both of these issues, you should all know better. And I'll leave it at that. Thank you. [1:56:45] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you. Speaker Number 55, Serena. [1:56:55] **Serena**: Hello. My name is Serena. Before I speak, I just want you guys all to remember that you are human and no different than everyone else who's here today. I work at a hospital as a community health worker. As someone who has worked closely with homeless patients who have to suffer at the hands of the City of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, it is deplorable to see every day the lack of follow through when it comes to them actually receiving housing and being forced to discharge back to the streets because there are no open shelters or access to any form of housing. Having to constantly play phone tag with city and county case workers, there is only so much I and the rest of the community health workers and social workers can do when the systems in place are working against the most vulnerable and marginalized people in our city. Camp Nenookaasi is set to be evicted on December 14th. And for the city to continuously evict, displace, and abuse our community members who have found healing, love, and a family with each other is essentially murder, and you all wake up every day with evil bleeding more and more into your heart and in the essence of your soul. The increasing numbers of those who must endure agony under your so called leadership should make you feel extremely disgusted with yourselves. You must leave Camp Nenookaasi alone. Do not evict our fellow community members to further ruin and suffering. And for our family across the sea in Palestine, divest from further funding of genocide that continues to mass murder under the guise of self defense. Thank you. [1:58:20] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you. Speaker Number 56, Juliette. [1:58:30] **Melissa**: Hello. My name is Melissa, and I'm here on behalf of my 15 year old daughter who did not want to come tonight, and I'm reading her letter. Juliette is her name. Hi, I'm a 15 year old who was robbed at gunpoint in a high school parking lot with my best friend. I feared for my life. We were listening to music, doing nothing wrong. They chose to traumatize us, and they did a hell of a job. This happened in my own neighborhood, blocks from my home. Nobody, nobody should live in fear for their safety, no matter the neighborhood they live in. After three years of these disrespectful kids terrorizing good people, I cannot believe it continues. The police do not have the support of the judicial system, nor do they have the staff. However, police is the organization who we call when we are scared and when we fear for our lives. Those people who are voting to defund have never been robbed in a car with three guns pointing at your head, pistol whipped. The only individuals who have suffered consequences is my friend and myself. The cost of this crime is more than $10,000. The City Council hasn't reimbursed us, and my many, many calls to victim advocacy have never been returned. Moreover, the nightmares keep me from going to school. Where are the consequences for the kids who violated us? Oh, yeah. The criminals have developing brains, are the only brains the DA's office care about. It is obvious my friend and I are of no consequence to the city, but our parents' $12,000 in property taxes is certainly valued, valued only to pay for your pet projects. Enough is enough. The police whose horrific actions took the life of George Floyd are held accountable. The police are citizens... [2:00:43] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, ma'am. Thank you so much. If you have it in writing, you can email it to us, MinneapolisMN.councilcomment. Speaker Number 57, Marcus Rogers. [2:01:05] **Marcus Rogers**: Hello, my name is Marcus Rogers, and I am from Ward 7. I am here in support of Camp Nenookaasi. As a community member for kitchen, I have the privilege of being housed despite plain violence from home state of Texas and being from the most conservative areas of one of the most conservative states in this imperialist country. The actions of this city are more abhorrent and inexcusable compared to that same city of Amarillo, Texas. This violence here in Minneapolis is worse than Texas. This violence is evicting our neighbors in winter no less is a policy choice of a so called progressive city. I have been at encampment sweeps, and we all see what's called the deadly exchange where U.S. law enforcement and Israeli occupation forces trade violent resources. It's important to link the ties that this illegitimate state has with another illegitimate state. What's going on in Occupy Palestine is the same thing going on here in Occupy Dakota and in Nishnaabeg Land. This is genocide, and I pray that all of those who support these violent actions, like the absent coward, our mayor, and my own Council Member Goodman, will see the light one day. [2:02:19] **Marcus Rogers**: We see all perpetuating U.S. imperialism and colonialism in 2023, coming into 2024 since 1492. This camp is not asking for anything large or even small, except for this fascist, colonial state to respect their autonomy. This state loves champion its autonomy rights for white career people like myself. But what about our indigenous and our black unhoused relatives, our neighbors that are facing this inexcusable violence? The only thing I have left to say for anyone that excuses the openings is shame. Stop the sweeps. Stop genocide. I excuse my time. [2:03:00] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Our next speaker, Number 58 is LaTonya Reeves. [2:03:09] **LaTonya Reeves**: Thank you, council president, council members. I just want to say I appreciate the amendments that came forward. I got a chance to read some of them, and I thought they were pretty expansive but did have a lot questions, but I'll send those separately because we'll be here all day. I do want to speak of the union president in solidarity for the employees that were here, and I also want to speak as a probation officer in solidarity with community that works with resources so that people don't come to my office, whatever that looks like. But I'm here to speak about the police and the money that was not provided for incentives, bonuses. As a union president, it doesn't make sense to me that City Council is not finding ways to get money to increase good police officers in Minneapolis. Just this past weekend, I was out of town, and my son called me in tears, my grown son, because two of his friends were murdered at Dinkytown. There was a video on Twitter that he saw, and he was devastated that he saw the video before he even heard that they died. He didn't know how to process it. I hope that none of you have had to deal with murder and violent crime, but it's quite clear that you cannot discount those who have. Police officers, while we may have difference of agreement about police officers, whether we have them, have more of them, whatever, at the end of the day, the community that I live in, the community that I have, my son has lost 47 of his friends to murder, 47. At the end of the day, they deserved to have police officers that will police the community to hopefully try to keep them safe. It's not perfect. You have alternatives to policing. That works too. We need to have all options. [2:04:44] **LaTonya Reeves**: But I urge you guys to stop using your personal agendas when you talk about police, because I hear a lot about personal agendas. You don't look at my children who's lost 47 friends. You don't look at my son who's calling me crying because two people have been murdered in a damn tobacco shop and I got the video sent to my phone. These people are out here dying. You've got to look at everyone. Everyone in this community matters, not just your personal ideology about the police. Everyone matters. I can't discount and tell you how many times I've lost someone or how many times I've had someone be victims. I urge you guys to stop looking at it like getting rid of the police and not getting them what they need to have adequate police in Minneapolis. It's just some sort of political ideology, because we're out here dying while you guys sit up here with your $110,000 salary. You make more than everybody in this room. Everybody in this room. I urge you guys to put your personal agenda out of it and think about the victims and the community, everyone, not just one, because we all matter. Workers, no matter who they are, you can't just count them out because you don't like them. Police officers are workers. These people are workers, whoever. We're all workers, and so are you. We all matter. So I ask you guys to, please, these personal agendas that I see online, please stop, because it's so irritating. Thank you. [2:06:10] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Ms. Reeves. Thank you. Our last registered speaker is Speaker Number 59, Sandy Bolton. My apologies. [2:06:24] **Sandy Bolton**: Hello. My name is Sandy Bolton. I live in the Seward neighborhood, and I am speaking in favor of Camp Nenookaasi and against the violent evictions. First, I want to thank the drummers and singers out in the hallway right now. Their music really helped me find the courage to come up here and speak. I've lived in Minneapolis my whole life. I'm a student of the University of Minnesota, and I'm a debate coach at South High School, which is located very close to Camp Nenookaasi. This encampment is undeniably a part of my students' communities. We have spent the entire year researching solutions to poverty and economic inequality. After months of facilitating these conversations by young people, I can confidently say that we have concluded that the mutual aide networks like Camp Nenookaasi are highly successful and deeply meaningful to the health and well being of our community. The city's budget currently fails to take care of our vulnerable neighbors and relatives, and so the community has taken it upon themselves to take care of themselves. Evicting this camp would put people out on the streets in dangerous conditions and even more vulnerable to crime and violence. The numbers are evident. At this point I'm emphasizing what's already been said, but I'll just lay it out again. This camp has had zero overdoses. They have helped get 74 people clean. They have taken care of our most vulnerable community members who are otherwise discarded by the system, as we've seen with the current resources offered by the city to our houseless neighbors. Young women, anyone, but especially young women turn up missing and dead after eviction sweeps, and most importantly for you all, it is expensive. As someone else mentioned, $265,000. That is a poor use of money. We have to make long term fiscal investments towards the health of our community, not expensive police sweeps that harm our people. Giving the encampment more time before the sweep is the bare minimum for the health and well being of that community. Show our neighbors that they deserve support, healing, and compassion. For Minneapolis to Palestine, we must stand against colonial displacement. Your evictions kill the most vulnerable residents of your city, and I urge you to stop the sweeps. [2:08:32] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you so much. Speaker Number 60, Claire Glenn. [2:08:44] **Claire Glenn**: Good evening, everyone. My name is Claire Glenn. I live on the 38th block of 11th Avenue in Ward 8. I grew up in the Twin Cities, and after graduating law school I spent five years working as public defender including in Hennepin County. I am a property owner, if such a thing can be true on stolen lands. I, too, gained the courage to speak because of the singing and the drumming and outrage that I felt in hearing the perverse narrative that pits people who have the privilege of housing against our unhoused neighbors. Why? Because first and foremost it is simply immoral and disgusting to evict a native healing camp when people have nowhere to go and we are on the verge of winter. And second, because Nenookaasi is doing the work I wish my tax dollars were going to, keeping my neighbors warm, keeping my neighbors safe. Missing and murdered indigenous women is a real epidemic. Nenookaasi is keeping people safe. More than 70 people have gotten into housing. No one has overdosed. Not one death. As a public defender, I can tell you there is an outcome worse than guilty for my clients, and it is abated by death. I have had clients murdered. I have had clients overdose. Nenookaasi is keeping people safe. I also want to note that Nenookaasi has hosted events. I have had the privilege to share in community meals, to gather with my neighbors around the fire, to listen to singing and drumming like we are hearing tonight, and I have not seen one of you there, these events you are all invited to. And I would ask that before you evict our unhoused neighbors at Camp Nenookaasi you attend one of these events, you share a meal, you get to know your neighbors. Thank you. [2:10:48] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you so much. Speaker Number 61, Syloria Hobbs. Speaker Number 61, Syloria Hobbs. If Syloria shows up, we will hear from them, but the next speaker is Speaker Number 62, Aaron Johnson. [2:11:15] **Aaron Johnson**: Hi, all. How are you doing. I think pretty much most of you recognize me by now, but for those of who you don't, my name is Aaron Johnson. I live in Ward 8. I grew up in South Minneapolis. I am filming a lot of documentary content related to encampments in Minneapolis. The reason is, is because I grew up here, and I've been homeless on and off many times, and I just see—I see these evictions as sort of like, you know, you read stories about like the king terrorizing the peasants and burning down the village. And with all the, like, shootings and crime and fires that happened in Minneapolis, like, you know, you use that to justify this violence. Why are you bulldozing uptown? Minneapolis already bulldozed 30 blocks of downtown. So, like, why does Minneapolis keep destroying itself? And that's what you're doing to these people. I became disabled from a stroke caused by COVID December 9th, 2019. I just got my first check from disabilities today, coincidentally. It took four years. Okay? And I haven't had any income. I don't have any life savings. I don't have family with money. My mom lives out of state. My dad's passed away. I'm just lucky that I have a landlord that happens to be one of the two people that the state refers disabled people to when they're being evicted. That's coincidence also. So that's the only reason I'm not living in the camp. So would you all kill me? And can you look me in the eyes? I just want you to think about who are you displacing. It's disabled people. And we have no help. [2:13:30] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Mr. Johnson, and thank you to everyone who came down today to share your stories surrounding the encampments, surrounding employer and workers' rights and wages. We heard about wage theft and climate change and so many of the challenges that are facing our communities, and that's the work that the City Council, the city staff and other government agencies are here to help us resolve. This is work that we all have to do together. And so the fact that neighbors are standing up and supporting neighbors is the kind of community that we all should be proud to live in. [2:14:35] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Madam President, there's at least one other person who has indicated a address the council as part of the public hearing. We are taking sign ups here at the dais next to me if there are more. Those are the last. The last sheet I sent you is the last of the people who had registered, but I know that there's at least one other person in the audience who has expressed a desire to address the council. [2:14:54] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you. And who is that person? [2:15:00] **Unidentified Speaker**: Sure. So I hate public speaking. I was not planning to do this at all. I was just listening to everyone. So I wrote it down. I just wanted to come up here as a sociologist, as a case worker and working youth employment. Displacing people will only strengthen the possibility of lifelong homelessness. That's when your sidewalks start to reek of urine and having sleepers in the doorways, as best. The fact that they housed 70 people in under four months without any funding is beyond my comprehension. For my youth, everyone I see as difficult to sustain themselves and their children. My kids have kids. And they're not easily employable. It's not that they're currently unhoused or technically unhoused, whether it be living in some sort of group home or something like that. It's that they grew up in shelters. That's not a great experience for a lot of different people, for many different reasons. I have not heard a different answer for youth homelessness yet, outside of a loss of a guardian in some way, shape, or form. And then—I'm so sorry. I hate this. I have to enter—oh. I have to enter an alternate contact on top of an emergency contact, because I should expect not to be able to find my kids? And then there's this theory that no one wants to work in our society, but I believe that we've built a society that prevents people from getting there. Healthcare is the baseline of employment. I hope that people stop trashing people's property, because they need state IDs for employment. Lastly, no one wants to work in housing anymore, and those who do are the real heros, and once you get housing, you have to be a perfect person to maintain it and public housing unvouchers and in subsidized housing, and if people are expected to be perfect to deserve housing, then none of us would be housed. Maintaining an encampment isn't the solution to all institutional problems but certainly isn't the cause. That's it. [2:17:05] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you so much. Thank you. Are there any other folks that would like to speak? I would. Can you please state your name and then sign in with the clerk after your comments. [2:17:15] **Kristin Crabtree**: Hi. My name is Kristin Crabtree. I live in Ward 9. I am one of the organizers at Camp Nenookaasi. I appreciate those of you who listened today to the residents of our camp who were brave enough and courageous to speak. It is intimidating to speak here, and it means a lot to see you guys listen to them, and I appreciate that. I want to name that lots of people were afraid to come in this room and were not welcomed in this room by security, and I'm not sure what that was about, when there were open seats. That is a violation of open meeting law. They are residents too. These are residents of our city, and you are public servants. You work for us. You work for them. And I want to name that. I understand whose decision it is to make this eviction, and he's not sitting in this room, but I'm asking all of you to hold him accountable and to have the courage and integrity to stand with this community. We are literally saving lives. I love these people. I talk to them every day on the phone. Nicole and I and so many others are exhausted. We're doing this for free. I have a full time job, and I'm a single mother, and yet I find myself at Nenookaasi day and night. Where are you? Where are you? A couple of you have come through. Thank you to those of you who have. [2:18:40] **Kristin Crabtree**: But I am tired. I have less money than you. I struggle to pay my own rent, and so does Nicole. And we're doing this because we have survived these kind of conditions ourselves, and I learned from the people who helped me that it is my job to go in and find healing justice for survivors of sexual and domestic violence, which are many of the people in our camp. I saw you at the domestic abuse project before. Thank you for coming. Those are the people that need to be in the center of our work. When we take care of each other, we are all better off. Thank you. [2:19:24] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, again, to everyone who has spoken before this body today. As has been stated, it is intimidating to come before this body and to speak your piece, and so thank you, all. That does complete the list of registered speakers as well as those who found themselves brave enough to come and share their thoughts. I assure you that all of the comments that we've heard today are a part of our public record as well as a part of our decision making process. We do appreciate your engagement in this important work that helps move our communities forward. Colleagues, before we proceed to the business portion of tonight's agenda, I do want to take a slight—a short recess of about ten minutes so that we can take care of our bodily functions, et cetera. The time now is 8:28, and so we will reconvene in this room at 8:38. This meeting is now recessed. [2:33:42] **President Andrea Jenkins**: This meeting is now back in order. The time is now 8:41, and we have reconvened our public meeting. I'll ask the clerk to call the roll to verify the presence of a quorum. [2:33:55] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chowdhury. [2:34:01] **Council Member Aurin Chowdhury**: Present. [2:34:01] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Osman. [2:34:02] **Council Member Jamal Osman**: Present. [2:34:03] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Payne. [2:34:04] **Council Member Elliott Payne**: Present. [2:34:05] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Koski. [2:34:06] **Council Member Emily Koski**: Present. [2:34:07] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chughtai. [2:34:08] **Council Member Aisha Chughtai**: Present. [2:34:09] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chavez. [2:34:10] **Council Member Jason Chavez**: Present. [2:34:11] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Ellison. [2:34:12] **Council Member Jeremiah Ellison**: Here. [2:34:13] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Vetaw. [2:34:14] **Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw**: Present. [2:34:15] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Rainville. [2:34:16] **Council Member Michael Rainville**: Present. [2:34:17] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Goodman. [2:34:18] **Council Member Lisa Goodman**: Present. [2:34:19] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Wonsley. [2:34:20] **Council Member Robin Wonsley**: Present. [2:34:21] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Vice President Palmisano. [2:34:22] **Council Vice President Linea Palmisano**: Present. [2:34:23] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: President Jenkins. [2:34:24] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Present. [2:34:25] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: There are 13 members present. [2:34:32] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Let the record reflect that we do have a quorum. Colleagues, before we begin, I just want to—this is my first time chairing this council meeting with Council Member Chowdhury present. And so I just want to say welcome to the Minneapolis City Council. We will now proceed to the business outline or our agenda. The first item is a series of resolutions relating to the 2024 budget. First is proposed 2023 property tax levies payable in 2024, and I'll recognize Council Member Koski to present the report to the Budget Committee. [2:35:36] **Council Member Emily Koski**: Madam President, on behalf of the Budget Committee, I move adoption of a resolution approving the 2023 property tax levies to be paid in 2024. [2:35:46] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Council Member Koski has moved the adoption of a resolution approving the 2023 property tax levy to be paid in 2024. Is there any discussion? And I'm trying to get to speaker management to see if there's anyone in queue. Seeing none, I will ask the clerk to call—I'm sorry, is there a second? We don't need a second. It's on behalf of the committee. Clerk, please call the roll. [2:36:03] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chowdhury. [2:36:05] **Council Member Aurin Chowdhury**: Aye. [2:36:06] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Osman. [2:36:07] **Council Member Jamal Osman**: Aye. [2:36:08] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Payne. [2:36:09] **Council Member Elliott Payne**: Aye. [2:36:10] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Koski. [2:36:11] **Council Member Emily Koski**: Aye. [2:36:12] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chughtai. [2:36:13] **Council Member Aisha Chughtai**: Aye. [2:36:14] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chavez. [2:36:15] **Council Member Jason Chavez**: Aye. [2:36:16] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Ellison. [2:36:17] **Council Member Jeremiah Ellison**: Aye. [2:36:18] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Vetaw. [2:36:19] **Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw**: Aye. [2:36:20] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Rainville. [2:36:21] **Council Member Michael Rainville**: Aye. [2:36:22] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Goodman. [2:36:23] **Council Member Lisa Goodman**: Aye. [2:36:24] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Wonsley. [2:36:25] **Council Member Robin Wonsley**: Aye. [2:36:26] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Vice President Palmisano. [2:36:27] **Council Vice President Linea Palmisano**: Aye. [2:36:28] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: President Jenkins. [2:36:29] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Aye. [2:36:30] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: There are 13 ayes. [2:36:32] **President Andrea Jenkins**: That motion carries, and that resolution is adopted. The next item is the proposed 2024 General Appropriation Resolution which funds the city's operating department. Council Member Koski, will you present that report? [2:36:45] **Council Member Emily Koski**: Thank you, Madam President. On behalf of the Budget Committee adoption of a resolution establishing operating budgets for city departments under the City Council and fixing the maximum amounts to be expended in fiscal year 2024. [2:36:57] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Council Member Koski. Council Member Koski has moved adoption of the 2024 General Appropriation Resolution which establishes operating budgets for city departments. Is there any discussion on that motion? The chair will recognize Council Member Ellison. [2:37:25] **Council Member Jeremiah Ellison**: Thank you, Madam President. I've got two motions, one I'll be moving, but one Council Member Wonsley will be moving. The first one is for an item that we already passed, but I wanted to change the account that we were sourcing from. You know, there was a lot of discussion after the budget about Green Zones and Green Zones funding being taken away from the Green Zones or defunded as a matter of our action, and what we found was that even though that was not true, there was actually no Green Zones funding at all, and so we saw that that was a problem, and so this first item is to change the source to a different source. It's still coming from sustainability, but it's in an account that has, my understanding, a lot more money and a lot more grant funding available to backfill this small amount being taken out, and so it's almost clerical, but I wanted to give some of that context. And obviously in the future we're going to be looking for a more regular dedicated source for a lot of these things. Council Member Wonsley will be making a motion, as well, in a moment about the Green Zone specifically. So between these two motions we clarify that. We're able to maintain the integrity of the original motion to make sure that we have funding for Open Streets programming, and we're going to make sure that we have funding dedicated to the Green Zones. With that, I'll move the substitute motion which should be in front of you as Item 23. [2:39:10] **Council Member Robin Wonsley**: Second. [2:39:14] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Council Member Ellison has moved substitute motion labeled Item Number 23. Is there any discussion? Seeing no discussion on the substitute motion offered by Council Member Ellison and Wonsley, I will ask the clerk to call the roll. [2:39:58] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chowdhury. [2:39:59] **Council Member Aurin Chowdhury**: Aye. [2:40:00] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Osman. [2:40:01] **Council Member Jamal Osman**: Aye. [2:40:02] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Payne. [2:40:03] **Council Member Elliott Payne**: Aye. [2:40:04] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Koski. [2:40:05] **Council Member Emily Koski**: Aye. [2:40:06] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chughtai. [2:40:07] **Council Member Aisha Chughtai**: Aye. [2:40:08] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chavez. [2:40:09] **Council Member Jason Chavez**: Aye. [2:40:10] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Ellison. [2:40:11] **Council Member Jeremiah Ellison**: Aye. [2:40:12] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Vetaw. [2:40:13] **Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw**: Aye. [2:40:14] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Rainville. [2:40:15] **Council Member Michael Rainville**: Aye. [2:40:16] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Goodman. [2:40:17] **Council Member Lisa Goodman**: Aye. [2:40:18] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Wonsley. [2:40:19] **Council Member Robin Wonsley**: Aye. [2:40:20] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Vice President Palmisano. [2:40:21] **Council Vice President Linea Palmisano**: Aye. [2:40:22] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: President Jenkins. [2:40:23] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Aye. [2:40:24] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: There are 13 ayes. [2:40:26] **President Andrea Jenkins**: That carries, and that motion is adopted. Next, the chair will recognize Council Member Wonsley. [2:40:40] **Council Member Robin Wonsley**: Thank you, Madam President. Council Member Ellison also spoke to the intention of the motion before you. It's labeled as 50, where we're appropriating $100,000 within the Health Department, specifically the sustainability division, for support for the Green Zones. As Council Member Ellison highlighted, we heard a lot from our Green Zone leaders this past weekend. We had a chance to meet with them upon them being nervous that we were taking money from sustainability, specifically the Climate Legacy Initiative to fund Open Streets, and I'm going to name in no world will we ever try to pit Open World and Green Zones against each other. These are two shared priorities, and Council Member Ellison and I was also very intentional around how we supported and fund those two priorities. Also, in having conversations with the Green Zone leaders, we were able to provide some clarification, one about the open funding sources but also this idea that the Climate Legacy initiative, while it has been framed publicly as a dedicated source, many of our Green Zone members had interpreted that to see to kind of be like what we've done with the community safety pilots or the public safety aid where we placed a hold on those respective items so that you have to go through a council process in order to access those dollars. That is not the case here. [2:42:11] **Council Member Robin Wonsley**: Council Member Ellison in those meetings actually clarified that it's pretty much similar to the affordable housing trust, where we have a certain allocation that we appropriate as a council each year, but when it comes to budget processes it does not mean those funds are off limits. Unless there is a hold placed on them as what we've done, again, the community safety pilots and the public safety aid where we're relegating them to a specific hold source within finance, then they are up for grabs, unfortunately, and I think our Green Zones leaders they're looking forward to working with us to really figure out how we can restructure that, so those are protected dollars. But also in light of all those conversations, Council Member Ellison also highlights this, we found out that the Green Zonings are not appropriated or reflected in the budget in general. In fact, they sent a letter to the mayor at the beginning of the year asking for $100,000 to be appropriated to support their work and had assumed that that had been automatically allocating, and when they heard about the Open Streets... I don't know how that misinformation got shared, around us taking from one source to fund that, we came to learn in this process that actually that appropriation never happened. [2:43:30] **Council Member Robin Wonsley**: So this amendment is to reflect an intention of supporting our Green Zones, honoring the commitment that we made directly with the Green Zone leaders, to say, you will be reflected in our budget, sorry you didn't get caught up with the mayor's initial proposal, but council got you, and we're going to work with you all next year to make sure that there is ongoing support, which has not been there. So we're very thankful that in the midst of all this confusion we were able to actually find out that Green Zones were not allocated within our budget. We are fixing that with this amendment, and then there's going to be a lot of work next year to really think through, as Roxanne named, we're allocating more than just $100,000. Also, just clarification again, the funding that we're using for these two sources are not coming from the Climate Legacy Initiative Fund. I just want to make sure our EJ partners are assured in that, but just wanted to clarify the context before you about this new motion, Number 50. So with that, I will move the motion for approval. [2:44:30] **Council Member Jeremiah Ellison**: Second. Sorry. I just realized that I had forgot something I was going to say, but Council Member Wonsley stated it. Thank you. [2:44:40] **Council Vice President Linea Palmisano**: Thank you, Madam Chair. I will be supporting this motion, and I appreciate it. The way that I understood this, and maybe some of the difference between the way I spoke about this amendment last week and Council Member Wonsley spoke about this amendment last week is that it's not about something being off limits or on a hold. That's not what we should be doing with budgets year to year, but it is about a public promise, in this case one made before Council Member Wonsley's time here and I think perhaps even Council Member Ellison's time here, because I think it was done in the year 2017, but it is one that I'm glad that has been corrected, and I appreciate your work to make sure that we have money for these Green Zones programming, and while those are not in my own area of representation, I'm really energized and interested in working on them with the rest of you who do represent these areas. So thank you. [2:45:45] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Council Member Palmisano. Is there any further discussion? Seeing none, clerk please call the roll. [2:45:55] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chowdhury. [2:45:56] **Council Member Aurin Chowdhury**: Aye. [2:45:57] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Osman. [2:45:58] **Council Member Jamal Osman**: Aye. [2:45:59] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Payne. [2:46:00] **Council Member Elliott Payne**: Aye. [2:46:01] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Koski. [2:46:02] **Council Member Emily Koski**: Aye. [2:46:03] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chughtai. [2:46:04] **Council Member Aisha Chughtai**: Aye. [2:46:05] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chavez. [2:46:06] **Council Member Jason Chavez**: Aye. [2:46:07] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Ellison. [2:46:08] **Council Member Jeremiah Ellison**: Aye. [2:46:09] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Vetaw. [2:46:10] **Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw**: Aye. [2:46:11] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Rainville. [2:46:12] **Council Member Michael Rainville**: Aye. [2:46:13] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Goodman. [2:46:14] **Council Member Lisa Goodman**: Aye. [2:46:15] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Wonsley. [2:46:16] **Council Member Robin Wonsley**: Aye. [2:46:17] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Vice President Palmisano. [2:46:18] **Council Vice President Linea Palmisano**: Aye. [2:46:19] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: President Jenkins. [2:46:20] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Aye. [2:46:21] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: There are 13 ayes. [2:46:22] **President Andrea Jenkins**: That carries, and that motion is adopted. Next in queue is Council Member Koski. [2:46:44] **Council Member Emily Koski**: Thank you, Madam President. Before you you all have a motion to amend our financial policies. This has been written by our city attorney, and I just will quickly note this will increase transparency for all of us. So I will move this motion. [2:47:05] **Council Member Elliott Payne**: Second. [2:47:08] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Council Member Koski has moved a motion related to financial policies. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, clerk please call the roll. [2:47:20] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chowdhury. [2:47:21] **Council Member Aurin Chowdhury**: Aye. [2:47:22] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Osman. [2:47:23] **Council Member Jamal Osman**: Aye. [2:47:24] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Payne. [2:47:25] **Council Member Elliott Payne**: Aye. [2:47:26] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Koski. [2:47:27] **Council Member Emily Koski**: Aye. [2:47:28] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chughtai. [2:47:29] **Council Member Aisha Chughtai**: Aye. [2:47:30] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chavez. [2:47:31] **Council Member Jason Chavez**: Aye. [2:47:32] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Ellison. [2:47:33] **Council Member Jeremiah Ellison**: Aye. [2:47:34] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Vetaw. [2:47:35] **Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw**: Aye. [2:47:36] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Rainville. [2:47:37] **Council Member Michael Rainville**: Aye. [2:47:38] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Goodman. [2:47:39] **Council Member Lisa Goodman**: Aye. [2:47:40] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Wonsley. [2:47:41] **Council Member Robin Wonsley**: Aye. [2:47:42] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Vice President Palmisano. [2:47:43] **Council Vice President Linea Palmisano**: Aye. [2:47:44] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: President Jenkins. [2:47:45] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Aye. [2:47:46] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: There are 13 ayes. [2:47:47] **President Andrea Jenkins**: That carries, and that motion is adopted. Next in queue is Council Member Chavez. [2:47:50] **Council Member Jason Chavez**: Thank you, President Jenkins. I sent everyone an email about this earlier today. We are making this technical amendment and update to the Budget Amendment Number 5 authored by myself, Council Member Koski, and Council Member Chowdhury regarding Lake Street Community Safety Center. The updated language clarifies that this is not a substation or the Third Precinct and that it will be on Lake Street. We tried to make that very clear at the first hearing along with the city attorney, but we figured that this would help clear clarify that. I move this for approval. [2:48:26] **Council Member Aurin Chowdhury**: Second. [2:48:30] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Council Member Chavez has moved this amendment for approval. Is there any discussion? Council Member Chowdhury. [2:48:35] **Council Member Aurin Chowdhury**: I would just like to state for the public record, when it comes to the public safety aid dollars and allegation for this Lake Street Safety Center that we're using, we are not able to use this funding for anything that would recreate anything that resembles a police precinct or substation. So that funding will be finally used, and our city attorney will help advise as it is spent. Is that correct in saying so, City Attorney? Wonderful. Thank you. [2:49:00] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, council member. Any further discussion? Seeing none, clerk please call the roll. [2:49:07] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chowdhury. [2:49:08] **Council Member Aurin Chowdhury**: Aye. [2:49:09] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Osman. [2:49:10] **Council Member Jamal Osman**: Aye. [2:49:11] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Payne. [2:49:12] **Council Member Elliott Payne**: Aye. [2:49:13] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Koski. [2:49:14] **Council Member Emily Koski**: Aye. [2:49:15] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chughtai. [2:49:16] **Council Member Aisha Chughtai**: Aye. [2:49:17] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chavez. [2:49:18] **Council Member Jason Chavez**: Aye. [2:49:19] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Ellison. [2:49:20] **Council Member Jeremiah Ellison**: Aye. [2:49:21] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Vetaw. [2:49:22] **Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw**: Aye. [2:49:23] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Rainville. [2:49:24] **Council Member Michael Rainville**: Aye. [2:49:25] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Goodman. [2:49:26] **Council Member Lisa Goodman**: Aye. [2:49:27] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Wonsley. [2:49:28] **Council Member Robin Wonsley**: Aye. [2:49:29] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Vice President Palmisano. [2:49:30] **Council Vice President Linea Palmisano**: Aye. [2:49:31] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: President Jenkins. [2:49:32] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Aye. [2:49:33] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: There are 13 ayes. [2:49:35] **President Andrea Jenkins**: That carries, and that motion is adopted. Finally, we return to the original motion moved by Council Member Koski, the adoption of the 2024 General Appropriation resolution which establishes operating budgets for city departments. Is there any further discussion? Seeing none, clerk please call the roll. [2:50:00] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chowdhury. [2:50:01] **Council Member Aurin Chowdhury**: Aye. [2:50:02] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Osman. [2:50:03] **Council Member Jamal Osman**: Aye. [2:50:04] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Payne. [2:50:05] **Council Member Elliott Payne**: Aye. [2:50:06] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Koski. [2:50:07] **Council Member Emily Koski**: Aye. [2:50:08] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chughtai. [2:50:09] **Council Member Aisha Chughtai**: Aye. [2:50:10] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chavez. [2:50:11] **Council Member Jason Chavez**: Aye. [2:50:12] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Ellison. [2:50:13] **Council Member Jeremiah Ellison**: Aye. [2:50:14] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Vetaw. [2:50:15] **Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw**: Aye. [2:50:16] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Rainville. [2:50:17] **Council Member Michael Rainville**: Aye. [2:50:18] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Goodman. [2:50:19] **Council Member Lisa Goodman**: Aye. [2:50:20] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Wonsley. [2:50:21] **Council Member Robin Wonsley**: Aye. [2:50:22] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Vice President Palmisano. [2:50:23] **Council Vice President Linea Palmisano**: Aye. [2:50:24] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: President Jenkins. [2:50:25] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Aye. [2:50:26] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: There are 13 ayes. [2:50:28] **President Andrea Jenkins**: That carries, and that resolution is adopted. The next item is the proposed Six Year Capital Improvement Program for years 2024 through 2029. Council Member Koski, will you present that report? [2:50:45] **Council Member Emily Koski**: Madam President, I move adoption of a resolution adopting the city's Six Year Capital Improvement Program covering fiscal years 2024 to 2029 and fixing the maximum amounts of 2024 to be expended under the various funds under the City Council. [2:50:57] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Council Member Koski has moved the adoption of the 2024-2029 Capital Improvement Program. Is there any discussion on this motion? Seeing none, clerk please call the roll. [2:51:10] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chowdhury. [2:51:11] **Council Member Aurin Chowdhury**: Aye. [2:51:12] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Osman. [2:51:13] **Council Member Jamal Osman**: Aye. [2:51:14] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Payne. [2:51:15] **Council Member Elliott Payne**: Aye. [2:51:16] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Koski. [2:51:17] **Council Member Emily Koski**: Aye. [2:51:18] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chughtai. [2:51:19] **Council Member Aisha Chughtai**: Aye. [2:51:20] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chavez. [2:51:21] **Council Member Jason Chavez**: Aye. [2:51:22] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Ellison. [2:51:23] **Council Member Jeremiah Ellison**: Aye. [2:51:24] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Vetaw. [2:51:25] **Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw**: Aye. [2:51:26] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Rainville. [2:51:27] **Council Member Michael Rainville**: Aye. [2:51:28] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Goodman. [2:51:29] **Council Member Lisa Goodman**: Aye. [2:51:30] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Wonsley. [2:51:31] **Council Member Robin Wonsley**: Aye. [2:51:32] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Vice President Palmisano. [2:51:33] **Council Vice President Linea Palmisano**: Aye. [2:51:34] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: President Jenkins. [2:51:35] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Aye. [2:51:36] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: There are 13 ayes. [2:51:38] **President Andrea Jenkins**: That carries, and the Six Year Capital Improvement Program is adopted. Then we have a series of three bonding resolutions that total over $161 million. All reflected in agenda Items 4 through 6. Each of these actions request that the Board of Estimate and Taxation authorize the city to incur indebtedness to issue bonds for those specific purposes, all tied to the approved 2024 Capital Improvement Program. Council Member Koski, would you please give us that committee's report? [2:52:15] **Council Member Emily Koski**: Madam President, as you noted, the Budget Committee is forwarding three resolutions requesting the issuance and sale of city bonds by the Board of Estimate and Taxation and total amount of $161,637,395 which are tied to the 2024 capital program and within the six year capital bonding period of 2024 to 2029. I move approval of all resolutions reflective of Items 4, 5, 6 on the meeting agenda. [2:52:45] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Council Member Koski has moved the adoption of all bonding resolutions. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, clerk please call the roll. [2:52:55] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chowdhury. [2:52:56] **Council Member Aurin Chowdhury**: Aye. [2:52:57] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Osman. [2:52:58] **Council Member Jamal Osman**: Aye. [2:52:59] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Payne. [2:53:00] **Council Member Elliott Payne**: Aye. [2:53:01] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Koski. [2:53:02] **Council Member Emily Koski**: Aye. [2:53:03] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chughtai. [2:53:04] **Council Member Aisha Chughtai**: Aye. [2:53:05] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chavez. [2:53:06] **Council Member Jason Chavez**: Aye. [2:53:07] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Ellison. [2:53:08] **Council Member Jeremiah Ellison**: Aye. [2:53:09] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Vetaw. [2:53:10] **Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw**: Aye. [2:53:11] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Rainville. [2:53:12] **Council Member Michael Rainville**: Aye. [2:53:13] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Goodman. [2:53:14] **Council Member Lisa Goodman**: Aye. [2:53:15] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Wonsley. [2:53:16] **Council Member Robin Wonsley**: Aye. [2:53:17] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Vice President Palmisano. [2:53:18] **Council Vice President Linea Palmisano**: Aye. [2:53:19] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: President Jenkins. [2:53:20] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Aye. [2:53:21] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: There are 13 ayes. [2:53:23] **President Andrea Jenkins**: That carries, and all of those bond resolutions have been moved and been adopted. The last item relates to utility rates to be effective January 1st, 2024, and I'll recognize once again Council Member Koski for that committee's report. [2:53:45] **Council Member Emily Koski**: Madam President, I move adoption of a resolution setting rates for municipal utilities services, including water, sewer, stormwater, and solid waste, all of which become effective January 1st, 2024. [2:53:55] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Council Member Koski. Council Member Koski has moved to adopt the resolution designating utility rates for municipal services to become effective January 1, 2024. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, clerk please call the roll. [2:54:10] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chowdhury. [2:54:11] **Council Member Aurin Chowdhury**: Aye. [2:54:12] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Osman. [2:54:13] **Council Member Jamal Osman**: Aye. [2:54:14] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Payne. [2:54:15] **Council Member Elliott Payne**: Aye. [2:54:16] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Koski. [2:54:17] **Council Member Emily Koski**: Aye. [2:54:18] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chughtai. [2:54:19] **Council Member Aisha Chughtai**: Aye. [2:54:20] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chavez. [2:54:21] **Council Member Jason Chavez**: Aye. [2:54:22] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Ellison. [2:54:23] **Council Member Jeremiah Ellison**: Aye. [2:54:24] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Vetaw. [2:54:25] **Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw**: Aye. [2:54:26] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Rainville. [2:54:27] **Council Member Michael Rainville**: Aye. [2:54:28] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Goodman. [2:54:29] **Council Member Lisa Goodman**: Aye. [2:54:30] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Wonsley. [2:54:31] **Council Member Robin Wonsley**: Aye. [2:54:32] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Vice President Palmisano. [2:54:33] **Council Vice President Linea Palmisano**: Aye. [2:54:34] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: President Jenkins. [2:54:35] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Aye. [2:54:36] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: There are 13 ayes. [2:54:38] **President Andrea Jenkins**: That carries, and the rates for municipal services have been established, to become effective January 1, 2024. The next item is a resolution related to the annual salary for council members for the next two year term, and I'll recognize once again Council Member Koski for that committee's report. [2:55:00] **Council Member Emily Koski**: Madam President, I move approval of a resolution setting the annual salary for council members for the 2024-2025 term, at the rate of $109,846 per year beginning January 1st, 2024 through January 5th, 2026. [2:55:10] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Council Member Koski. Council Member Koski has moved the approval of the resolution. Is there any discussion on that motion? Just to be clear, that is the same salary as council has been operating with for the past two years. Seeing no further discussion, clerk please call the roll. [2:55:40] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chowdhury. [2:55:41] **Council Member Aurin Chowdhury**: Aye. [2:55:42] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Osman. [2:55:43] **Council Member Jamal Osman**: Aye. [2:55:44] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Payne. [2:55:45] **Council Member Elliott Payne**: Aye. [2:55:46] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Koski. [2:55:47] **Council Member Emily Koski**: Aye. [2:55:48] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chughtai. [2:55:49] **Council Member Aisha Chughtai**: Aye. [2:55:50] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chavez. [2:55:51] **Council Member Jason Chavez**: Aye. [2:55:52] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Ellison. [2:55:53] **Council Member Jeremiah Ellison**: Aye. [2:55:54] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Vetaw. [2:55:55] **Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw**: Aye. [2:55:56] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Rainville. [2:55:57] **Council Member Michael Rainville**: Aye. [2:55:58] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Goodman. [2:55:59] **Council Member Lisa Goodman**: Aye. [2:56:00] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Wonsley. [2:56:01] **Council Member Robin Wonsley**: Aye. [2:56:02] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Vice President Palmisano. [2:56:03] **Council Vice President Linea Palmisano**: Aye. [2:56:04] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: President Jenkins. [2:56:05] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Aye. [2:56:06] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: There are 13 ayes. [2:56:08] **President Andrea Jenkins**: That carries, and the resolution has been adopted. The next item is the legislative directive related to supplemental co-enforcement funding. I will recognize Council Member Koski for the committee's report. [2:56:27] **Council Member Emily Koski**: Thank you, Madam President. I move approval of a legislative directive requesting research analysis and recommendations for establishing fees as part of the business licensing and construction permitting process to create ongoing funding associated with the city's co enforcement program within the labor standards enforcement division of the civil rights division starting in calendar year 2025. This directive includes necessary testing that may be required with a report to be presented to the City Council no later that May 31st, 2024. [2:56:55] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you. Council Member Koski has moved approval of the legislative directive. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, clerk please call the roll. [2:57:05] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chowdhury. [2:57:06] **Council Member Aurin Chowdhury**: Aye. [2:57:07] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Osman. [2:57:08] **Council Member Jamal Osman**: Aye. [2:57:09] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Payne. [2:57:10] **Council Member Elliott Payne**: Aye. [2:57:11] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Koski. [2:57:12] **Council Member Emily Koski**: Aye. [2:57:13] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chughtai. [2:57:14] **Council Member Aisha Chughtai**: Aye. [2:57:15] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Chavez. [2:57:16] **Council Member Jason Chavez**: Aye. [2:57:17] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Ellison. [2:57:18] **Council Member Jeremiah Ellison**: Aye. [2:57:19] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Vetaw. [2:57:20] **Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw**: Aye. [2:57:21] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Rainville. [2:57:22] **Council Member Michael Rainville**: Aye. [2:57:23] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Goodman. [2:57:24] **Council Member Lisa Goodman**: Aye. [2:57:25] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Council Member Wonsley. [2:57:26] **Council Member Robin Wonsley**: Aye. [2:57:27] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: Vice President Palmisano. [2:57:28] **Council Vice President Linea Palmisano**: Aye. [2:57:29] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: President Jenkins. [2:57:30] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Aye. [2:57:31] **City Clerk Casey Carl**: There are 13 ayes. [2:57:33] **President Andrea Jenkins**: That carries. And the legislative directive has been adopted. With that, we have completed the formal actions/items on our agenda related to the 2024 budget. Are there any announcements from council members? Council Member Ellison. [2:58:00] **Council Member Jeremiah Ellison**: Thank you, Madam President. I'm going to keep it short, and we're going to have a lot of time on the 7th to congratulate each other, which we should, because there's a lot of good work that was done. I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge that all throughout the night, even though it wasn't always tied strictly to the budget, we've heard a lot from our neighbor residents at the Nenookaasi camp, and I would be remiss if we didn't acknowledge them and thank them for coming and addressing the council. I'm not going to sit here and make declarations. We've had a lot of discussions about how to deal with encampments. I'm not going to sit here and make promises that I can't keep, but I do want to say that I hear you, and I see you. I'm here to be in touch, to listen, and to do what I can, and so I just wanted to say that here. And thank you, all, for the time and energy that you've put into spending your time, your precious time, with us here tonight. So thank you. [2:58:54] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, Council Member Ellison. Council Member Chavez. [2:58:59] **Council Member Jason Chavez**: Thank you, President Jenkins. I did want to address the concerns that many of my residents came to today along with our city employees. I'm appreciative of the workers who are here today, some that are probably still outside. You are all correct. You deserve a contract that is reflective of city values, and our investments need to make sure that are being paid your worth, and that is something my office is committed to doing to making sure that you are being prioritized in our upcoming contracts. I also want to thank my residents who came out today to testify about Camp Nenookaasi Healing Camp. There are 180 people at this Healing Camp. They've had zero overdoses, overdose deaths, and have helped over 74 people find housing. The city needs them in addressing this housing crisis. [2:59:42] **Council Member Jason Chavez**: They were served with an eviction notice on December 14th, 2023, that is going to disrupt many lives. Organizers have called numbers that the city has posted at this eviction. The numbers posted by the city at this Healing Camp led to concerning results. There were zero beds for men, three beds for women at the Adult Shelter Connect. They could not get ahold of anybody on two separate phone numbers that were provided. They left a voicemail with the county, and were on hold for 30 minutes at the after hours shelter team. Where are people supposed to go? I stand with my residents against this eviction. I am committed to doing my part on the council to shed light to alternatives. We can work towards bringing the navigation center back to Phillips. We can pass a safe upper space early next year when we come back to council, and we can organize preventative measures to stop displacing our natives, our residents who are majority Native American, and we can actually work with our residents to address these community solutions. [3:00:39] **Council Member Jason Chavez**: I hope our neighbors are given that extension of time that they came here and testified about. Besides that, I also want to take some time to thank my staff, Dylan, for his hard work in addressing this budget process. He worked hard to make sure the voices of Ward 9 residents were heard and that were reflected in this budget. Without his work, this would not have been possible. And I want to thank Council Member Koski for her dedication to improving the budget process, guiding us, and ensuring us that this council and this body was heard. Thank you to Melissa, Corinne, the clerks, our council staff, the budget team, and city employees for making this possible. Thanks. [3:01:25] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Council Member Koski. [3:01:28] **Council Member Emily Koski**: Thank you, Madam President. I just wanted to also extend my deepest gratitude through this process to a few people. First, Melissa Hill and Corinne Horowitz from my team, and Jayne Discenza and Dushani Dye of our finance and budget teams, Andrea Inouye in the mayor's office, Vice Chair Palmisano, our CEO Margaret Anderson Kelliher. We spent many, many hours, all of us together working on this. A shout out to Casey Carl, our city clerk, for all of us behind the scenes, constant work to keep us organized and the entire clerk staff. I also want to thank the community members who came here tonight but also we had two our public hearings and to Ward 11 residents who showed up at my community meetings. All the countless emails and phone calls that I've had regarding the budget. I'm grateful to the community for expressing their concerns, ideas, and thoughts. And to all my colleagues here, for the collaborative and collective work that we did to be able to get here today. I also just want to note—I believe, Council Member Goodman, is this budget Number 26 for you? Am I doing my math right? [3:02:40] **Council Member Lisa Goodman**: I voted for this one. [3:02:42] **Council Member Emily Koski**: Maybe I should say, how many of you voted for. We stayed here only 30 minutes here. I just want to say thank you. This is your last budget, and I'm grateful that you are here to vote for it, and I'm grateful for your guidance through it today. I just wanted to note that as well. Thank you. [3:03:00] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you. Council Member Osman. [3:03:02] **Council Member Jamal Osman**: Thank you. Thank you, council president. I want to take the time to acknowledge the folks that came today that are advocating for Camp Nenookaasi. Camp Nenookaasi is located in Ward 6, and it's surrounded by low income housing and poor families. I have visited the encampment and council member, and someone who had many encampment in my district, this encampment was well run encampment. Thanks to Nicole and others who have shown me what they do, who have kept in touch with me. It's mostly Native American women that are living there. I'm glad we have provided trash pickup through this week and finally delivery of porta potties last week. Folks that live there in the encampments, our most formidable population in our city. They move around in Ward 6 under the bridges. They have been evicted by the state, by the county, by the city. We, the city, the county, and the state have failed these people. I came this country, someone who lived in a refugee camp. We were treated a lot better there than here. Live in first world. This is inhumane. Having a safe and security and a place to live is human rights. Everyone deserves that. We have a surplus state. We should be taking care of these people. They are in need. They have a lot of challenges. They are the natives to this land. [3:05:07] **Council Member Jamal Osman**: I'm sorry to hear you today. I'm sorry we have failed you. I did what I could do to talk to you, to try to connect you to the departments to advocate for bathrooms. On this budget, I at least tried to have $350,000 for homeless folks in Ward 6 around Elliott Park to have a health resource. My solution is as leaders, state, county, we cannot continue ignoring encampments. Encampments will stay. We cannot continue to evict them. We've got to bring solution. What is the solution? If you ask me, my solution is for us to consider having a safe sleeping and surge site, a place these folks can stay. If we evict them on the 14th, December 14th, I know exactly where they will be going. They will be going to the Riverside, Seward neighborhood, Franklin and Cedar, and it's going to get worse. It's going to get bad for them. It's going to get bad for the folks that live there, the low income families I'm talking about. Next year, we've got to do better. We've got to do better. I am proposing that all of us should work together and have a regulated safe living site for these folks to stay. Encampments will always stay, will always be around. We cannot continue to ignore them in this state, and the county has to take the lead. This is the first world country. It's sad. And for the record, council does not have the authority to stop evictions. It's the mayor is who you need to go with. Thank you. [3:07:14] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Thank you, council member. I put myself in queue. And I do echo all the gratitude that has been expressed on the dais, including my own staff, Deva Sadar who really helped to craft some amendments to address homelessness, to address youth job training in our communities, but I wanted to just elevate and highlight something that was stated earlier. Mr. Adams talked about that there is more collaboration on this body than there is decision. I don't know who benefits from that narrative, but the reality is that we are working together to improve the lives of the people of Minneapolis. I did want to actually make an announcement that Thursday, December 7th, we will be honoring the work of Council Members Goodman and Andrew Johnson as they depart on to newer, maybe greener pastures, and so that will be in the Rotunda, December 7th, from 2:30 to 3:30, I believe. Council Member Wonsley. [3:09:03] **Council Member Robin Wonsley**: Thank you, Madam President. I just wanted to say thank you to the dozens of residents who showed up in support of Camp Nenookaasi and also laying the request or demand amongst this body to use our authority to not just continue playing whack a mole with our unsheltered residents. I echo the sentiments of my colleague, Council Member Ellison, in terms of just saying you are heard tonight, and it is ridiculous that on a multitude of crises before the city catches up, many of our residents are filling the void in supporting our vulnerable communities. As local governments we should be providing the services. We should be the ones showing up in the ways that you do, and as many of you highlighted tonight, you're doing this unpaid. You're doing this in addition to a full time job taking care of kids. And this is our full time job. It's supposed to be taking care of the residents of Minneapolis, and we have horribly fallen short for many years now when it's come to supporting the needs of our unsheltered residents, from providing immediate housing, not just relying on shelters, to working with multiple partners to get the wraparound services that our unsheltered residents' need, to support neighbors like you all who are again filling in the cracks and the voids. [3:10:47] **Council Member Robin Wonsley**: So you have my commitment as per usual that I will work with every single person on this body the next coming days, the next coming weeks, for as long as possible, to make sure that a year from now, five years from now we're not constantly seeing, especially around the wintertime, in the summer it's the same cycle of putting our most vulnerable neighbors in precarious and dangerous predicaments that we know can be resolved if we have the political will to direct the resources that we know and where we know they need to go. So I didn't want to end tonight's public hearing and budget meeting where, yes, we can celebrate the multitude of ways that we work together to reach a historic investment and a multitude of working class priorities for our city. But I at least wanted to highlight you made it clear that this is great, but for far too long we've ignored the needs of our unsheltered residents, and we can't keep doing that and not and continue to deflect our responsibilities on that. So I at least wanted to name that. And thank you all, again, for showing up, for being the moral compass for this body when we fall short. Thank you. [3:12:12] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Council Member Chowdhury. [3:12:16] **Council Member Aurin Chowdhury**: Thank you, Madam President. I also want to acknowledge every single Minneapolis resident that came here today and spoke or came and sat and listened or are at home paying attention to this budget cycle and how your city can show up for you. I want to recognize the folks from Camp Nenookaasi who came out to advocate for themselves. I know it is not an easy task. I know I have gotten to know many of you through the Ward 9 office, and now as a council member Ward 12 I made a commitment to Ward 12 residents that I would work towards reducing homelessness and finding a humane and dignified way to do so. And I know that Ward 12 residents care about it, and that's what they sent me here to do. I know that this is something from the City Council end we have to find ways to get our county and state government to collaborate and find a solution. I don't know what those solutions are yet, but I know collaborating on this body we can find ways to lift up this need that our community members brought forward today. [3:13:25] **Council Member Aurin Chowdhury**: I also want to take some time to acknowledge that this is my first budget as a council member. I've done budgets as a policy aide. And I really want to thank in particular Council Member Koski and Council Member Chughtai for really being two people that really embraced me right away to make sure that I made it through this budget process. I want to thank my former boss, Council Member Jason Chavez, for the tremendous work that we got to do over the last two years that set me up to be ready for this budget process. I'd like to thank the residents of Ward 12 for electing me to come and do the job that I promised I would be set up to do on your behalf. I'd like to thank Council Member Johnson for his work as now the former council member of Ward 12. And I'd like to thank Council Member Elliott Payne also for being a sort of mentorship as I was coming into this council, sworn in very quickly, and then again dropped into the budget process. And I lost the last few—thank yous that I have are for Kate Nelson, Claire Kingstad, who are my staff right now in Ward 12, for all their support. I'd like to thank the workers in our city who came and advocated for themselves. It's a very important need. And finally I'd love to thank the rest of this body, the council members who I've gotten to work with as a fellow council member for the last two weeks. It's really been such a pleasure, and I've learned so much from you already in such a short time, and I'm looking forward to the next term and what we can do together for our city. [3:15:10] **President Andrea Jenkins**: Seeing no further discussion, and without objection, I will declare this meeting adjourned.