MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis has a new community safety commissioner following an overwhelming vote by the City Council Thursday.
KARE 11's Kiya Edwards was in chambers as the council affirmed the appointment of Hennepin County Chief Judge Toddrick Barnette by a 12-1 margin. Council member Robin Wonsley cast the sole dissenting vote.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey nominated Barnette last month to become the city's second-ever community safety commissioner. Former Commissioner Cedric Alexander was the first but retired after a somewhat tumultuous year on the job.
The job entails leading the city's Office of Community Safety by managing and coordinating five departments – 911, fire, emergency management, police and neighborhood safety – and breaking down barriers between them. The position was created last year to transform policing and public safety in the wake of George Floyd's murder in May 2020.
"I plan to be here longer than a year," Barnette said in a press conference with the mayor shortly after Thursday's confirmation. "This work is important and it's going to take some time and it's going to be hard and tough."
Barnette says he and the former commissioner spoke on the phone this week.
"He's given me some personal advice and some professional advice about being in this role as a Black man," Barnette said.
Mayor Frey says Barnette's legal expertise will help with the city's ongoing settlement agreements with the Department of Justice and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.
"To have a judge, a chief judge, a lawyer with this kind of understanding is going to be really helpful," he said.
Barnette says he isn't going to present a detailed safety plan yet but said he would like to create new partnerships and strengthen existing ones.
Thursday's vote came two days after a public hearing that saw the committee of the whole move forward with the mayor's nomination. Ahead of that hearing, Frey reiterated why he believes the chief judge is the best choice for the job. Eight others spoke in support of Barnette, including a former mentee, Second Harvest Heartland CEO Allison O'Toole, and Minneapolis Downtown Council President and CEO Steve Cramer.
Lisa Clemons, a former Minneapolis police officer and CEO of a Mother's Love Initiative, shared a story of a woman whose life turned around for the better because of Barnette's influence.
"She saw me talking to him in the Government Center and she said, 'That's the guy who sent me to prison.' I said, 'Well, let me reintroduce you to him,' so I brought her over to reintroduce her to Judge Barnette and since that day he's been mentoring her as a lawyer," Clemons said.
After community members spoke, Barnette shared stories about his D.C. upbringing, saying his father struggled with drug addiction and was incarcerated in Minnesota and that his mother died when he was 19 years old.
Barnette then shared his safety vision, acknowledging the city's complexities and telling everyone that community collaboration is key.
Then it was the council's turn. Council members Robin Wonsley and Jeremiah Ellison said they were skeptical safety would improve, even under new leadership.
Wonsley said she was disappointed Barnette didn't have a clear 100-day plan - one that would implement previous work like Harvard University's Safe and Thriving Communities Report about Minneapolis from the summer.
Barnette responded by saying he wouldn't want to present such a specific plan before having funding or engaging with experts and community members.
"You mentioned you don't want to come in with a predetermined plan and not have the buy-in or not have democratic impact from your staff but I want to also highlight you are not coming into a place where it's just scratch," Wonsley said.
Council Member Jamal Osman urged Barnette to, if appointed, allocate funding where there is most need, pointing to areas like Franklin and Chicago Avenues where as many as eight people were shot in August.
Barnett says he'll submit his resignation at the courthouse Friday at 5 p.m. and will be sworn in Monday morning at city hall. The county's assistant chief judge will bump up to chief judge and carry out the rest of Barnette's term. Then there will be an election for a new chief judge.
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