MINNEAPOLIS — After voting down Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey's proposal to use $15 million to pay bonuses to police, the City Council met again Thursday — this time, without the mayor — to discuss what they would like to see instead.
With 48 amendments up for discussion, right off the bat, council members knew it was going to be a meeting that took more than just one sitting.
Of the amendments, the initial few focused on public safety. Council Member Elliott Payne (Ward 1) proposed diverting $3 million from human resources into non-police safety ambassadors in seven cultural corridors.
"The safety ambassador program downtown is a really unique program because of the resources that exist downtown," Payne said. "I want to bring those kind of resources to more parts of the city, so the cultural districts have been designated in areas that have been historically disinvested in."
Specifically in his district, he referenced focusing on the area that includes Lowry and Central Avenues.
"We don't often have a lot of violent crime on Lowry and Central, but we have a lot of livability issues," Payne said. "We have people struggling with substance abuse disorder and we have a lot of small businesses there that are wanting a safe and vibrant commercial corridor."
In another amendment, Council Member Jason Chavez (Ward 9) proposed reviving a community safety center, somewhere Third Precinct residents can go while their new police station is in the works.
"Right now, when people have to file police reports, they have to go outside the Third Precinct. When people have to turn in lost items, they have to go outside the Third Precinct," Chavez said. "We want to build this community safety center in the meantime, while the Third Precinct is being built, and I want this to last forever in the years to come."
Having voted down the mayor's proposal, both council members said they're making better use of the money.
"We're asking to be a part of the process — that's what we're doing today," Chavez said. "These cool services are happening because of that and I think it's exciting. That would have never happened if we would have approved the safety aid a couple weeks ago."
In a memo Wednesday night, the mayor outlined why he would oppose certain amendments like the one-time cutting of funds from human resources to use for cultural ambassadors in those commercial corridors.
He said cutting funds from HR would lead to significant backlogs in hiring, especially with what he calls a team that's "under-resourced and overworked."
The meeting continues again on Friday at 10 a.m. at City Council chambers.
Mayor Frey also referenced a memo from city officials opposing many of the amendments.
"As the City’s leading subject matter experts have already relayed to you, the proposed amendments above pose grave governing concerns. I want to clearly tell you now: these amendments will negatively impact our ability to provide service to our constituents and deliver on the promises we have made," said Frey in the statement.
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