City Council November 17, 2023   11/17/2023

New Business

• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 00:00:43
    Good afternoon, my name is Andrea Jenkins, I'm the President of the Minneapolis City Council and I am going to call to order this special meeting for Friday, November 17th and I'll ask the Clerk to call the roll to verify the presence of a quorum.
• • Casey CarlCity Clerk
  • 00:00:58
    Councilmember Osman Present Councilmember Payne Present Councilmember Koski
  • 00:01:03
    Councilmember Wonsley, Johnson is absent, Vice President Palmisano, President Jenkins, there are 12 members present.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 00:01:22
    Let the record reflect that we do have a quorum.
  • 00:01:26
    Next we have the adoption of our agenda.
  • 00:01:28
    There's one item on our agenda before us today as reflected in the mayoral call for this special meeting.
  • 00:01:35
    And I move to adopt the agenda.
  • 00:01:37
    Is there a second?
• • Linea PalmisanoVice President, City Council
  • 00:01:38
    Second.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 00:01:40
    All those in favor of the motion signify by saying aye.
  • 00:01:44
    Aye.
  • 00:01:45
    Those opposed signify by saying nay.
  • 00:01:50
    That item carries.
  • 00:01:52
    and the agenda is adopted.
  • 00:01:55
    Before I go any further, I do want to recognize that we are joined by Mayor Frey.
  • 00:02:00
    Welcome, Mr. Mayor and colleagues.
  • 00:02:03
    We will now receive a presentation from staff to consider the letter of agreement that has been negotiated with the Police Federation regarding retention incentives for eligible employees.
  • 00:02:15
    Welcome, Director Nikki Odom.
  • 00:02:25
    Good afternoon.
• • Nikki Odom
  • 00:02:26
    Good afternoon, Council President, Council Vice President, Council Members.
  • 00:02:31
    My name is Nikki Odom, Chief Human Resources Officer, and I am here to present the letter of agreement between the Police Federation and City Labor Relations on behalf of the City of Minneapolis.
  • 00:02:42
    Although the parties are still in active collective bargaining negotiations, they have reached an agreement on retention and recruitment incentives, as well as a permanent change to the vacancy bid process.
  • 00:03:03
    A little bit of background, the Minneapolis Police Department has reached a critically low level of staffing.
  • 00:03:09
    We are down 359 officers out of 731 as of November 1st, 2023.
  • 00:03:17
    Since 2021, 71% of the workforce has left.
  • 00:03:21
    MPD has a vacancy rate of 38% year to date.
  • 00:03:25
    Unfortunately, the department has managed to hire a fraction of the employees who have left the city.
  • 00:03:31
    The city remains under a court order to take any and all necessary action to ensure it maintains an adequate number of sworn officers to serve city residents.
  • 00:03:42
    In addition to these challenges, the job market is more competitive than ever, especially for sworn officers.
  • 00:03:48
    Minneapolis is currently facing challenges in recruiting and retaining individuals for key roles due to increased demand and competition.
  • 00:03:58
    The current market conditions nationally for hiring police officers necessitate offering significant hiring and retention incentives.
  • 00:04:06
    Moreover, in the span decision, the Minnesota Supreme Court confirmed that the city, under our charter, is required to both fund and employ at least
  • 00:04:17
    731 officers.
  • 00:04:19
    The court recognized that the mayor maintains discretion to determine the best ways to go about increasing MPD staffing.
  • 00:04:27
    These incentives are one of the tools that the mayor has determined will help increase MPD staffing, including both recruiting new officers and stemming the exodus of current officers.
  • 00:04:42
    Currently, 38 officers are eligible to retire, 130 officers are eligible for early retirement, 131 officers will be eligible for full retirement within the next five years, and 200 officers will be eligible for early retirement within the next five years.
  • 00:05:01
    In an effort to stop the hemorrhaging, the police federation in the city of Minneapolis have entered into a letter of agreement providing that eligible police federation employees will receive an $18,000 retention incentive over two and a half years and eligible new federation employees will receive $15,000 over three years.
  • 00:05:22
    The source of this expense is the public safety aid from the state of Minnesota.
  • 00:05:26
    These dollars are accounted for in the mayor's 2024 recommended budget.
  • 00:05:31
    Assuming MPD is able to be fully staffed by 2028, that is 731 officers, we estimate that this will cost the city $15.3 million.
  • 00:05:44
    Presently, the department is down by 359 officers.
  • 00:05:51
    Competee cities are offering enticing recruitment and retention packages, putting us at a disadvantage in attracting and keeping high caliber professionals.
  • 00:06:01
    Incentives have become an industry imperative rather than a nice to have.
  • 00:06:06
    Recruitment incentives in the Twin Cities metro range from 500 to $10,000 annually, with much larger incentives nationally.
  • 00:06:15
    For instance, Seattle has offered $30,000, $25,000 in Portland,
  • 00:06:19
    and $20,000 in Washington, D.C. By aligning our incentives with industry standards, we are demonstrating our commitment to valuing and investing in our police force.
  • 00:06:31
    We are requiring more of our officers than ever before, and rightfully so.
  • 00:06:36
    We need a mechanism for recognizing the change, we need a mechanism for recognizing that change takes courage and is difficult.
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    But those who are willing to do the work and make the necessary changes are valued here at the city.
  • 00:06:50
    Offering competitive incentives not only attracts new talent, but also boosts morale among existing employees.
  • 00:06:57
    Knowing that their contributions are recognized and rewarded enhances job satisfaction and can lead to increased productivity and innovation.
  • 00:07:07
    In order to rethink and revolutionize policing, innovative solutions need to come from both inside and outside of MPD at all levels.
  • 00:07:18
    Next-gen policing will require the input of current officers.
  • 00:07:22
    We are unlikely to get innovative solutions from officers who are overworked and feel underappreciated.
  • 00:07:28
    Every person wants to feel pride in their work, and this is a way to foster that sentiment.
  • 00:07:33
    While incentives may incur immediate costs, the long-term benefits of a stable and skilled workforce far outweigh these expenses.
  • 00:07:42
    Continuous turnover and key position leads to recruitment, onboarding, and training costs that can be significantly reduced through effective retention strategies.
  • 00:07:51
    In addition, costs are small relative to what we're paying and will continue to have to pay in critical staffing over time if we can't improve recruitment and retention.
  • 00:08:04
    A key part of this LOA is that the city reclaims a valuable management right and permanently improves shift bidding for vacancies.
  • 00:08:13
    This provides additional authority to the police chief to assign officers to vacant shifts, significantly decreasing the delay from 28 days to 10 days.
  • 00:08:24
    Consequently, management can now ensure that shifts that have low staffing are filled expeditiously.
  • 00:08:31
    For example, Dog Watch may have only four people on shift, so the precinct is understaffed.
  • 00:08:38
    The current practice requires a 28-day bidding process.
  • 00:08:42
    Depending on where the pay cycle falls, it can take almost seven weeks to permanently reassign someone to a vacancy.
  • 00:08:49
    This change would shorten that timeframe to 10 days.
  • 00:08:53
    At the end of that 10 days, the chief now has the discretion to assign someone to the vacant shift.
  • 00:08:59
    Failure to approve this LOA will maintain the status quo and the 28-day bidding process, resulting in continued complaints from Minneapolis residents due to coverage concerns.
  • 00:09:15
    Here we have provided a timeline of the incentive discussions with the police federation.
  • 00:09:19
    The city introduced the possibility of hiring and retention incentives in April.
  • 00:09:25
    The parties had an initial discussion on the topic in June.
  • 00:09:29
    The Police Officer Federation of Minnesota Working Group was provided with an update about the status of the incentive discussion three days after it began.
  • 00:09:40
    Discussions continued over the summer and in September when the party sat down for their first bargaining session in public, the city proposed hiring and retention incentives.
  • 00:09:50
    The parties continued to bargain over the incentives until an agreement was reached in November.
  • 00:09:56
    The party signed a letter of agreement on the incentives and the vacancy bidding last week on Wednesday, November 8th, and the RCA was drafted and sent to council members on Friday, November 10th.
  • 00:10:10
    I note that council members have had questions about the efficacy of incentives.
  • 00:10:15
    The use of these kind of incentives for police officers is a very new phenomenon.
  • 00:10:20
    And there simply isn't much research on the effectiveness of incentives in this industry generally or during this snapshot in time.
  • 00:10:29
    In order to gauge the effectiveness for our purposes, we would need to conduct a survey of our officers to determine if any of them intended to leave and chose not to due to previous retention incentives.
  • 00:10:40
    What we do know is that the majority of the employees who received the incentives are still employed, specifically 87%.
  • 00:10:49
    As set forth in slide five, other local and national jurisdictions are providing these incentives.
  • 00:10:55
    In order for a city of Minneapolis to stay competitive, we need to offer them, too.
  • 00:11:01
    It has become an industry imperative in the short term.
  • 00:11:04
    We do not want to lose candidates, especially top talent, to our neighboring jurisdictions because we have failed to offer something that other jurisdictions have.
  • 00:11:13
    Keep in mind that if we do lose candidates due to incentives, they are locked in for one to three years when they may otherwise transfer to the City of Minneapolis.
  • 00:11:22
    And I want to briefly hand it over to
  • 00:11:25
    The Chief to discuss the DOJ report on recruitment and retention in modern law enforcement.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 00:11:38
    Welcome, Chief O'Hara.
• • Brian O'Hara
  • 00:11:41
    Thank you, Director.
  • 00:11:42
    Thank you, Council President, members of the Council.
  • 00:11:44
    Just briefly, this is the DOJ report that came out two months ago discussing these issues.
  • 00:11:51
    It's entitled Recruitment and Retention for the Modern Law Enforcement Agency.
  • 00:11:56
    And this report was issued by the Police Executive Research Forum in August of this year.
  • 00:12:01
    It's entitled Responding to the Staffing Crisis Innovations in Recruitment and Retention.
  • 00:12:07
    So the PERF is the acronym for Police Executive Research Forum.
  • 00:12:12
    The PERF report actually includes some information and quotes from agencies in the state of Minnesota, including the state patrol chief.
  • 00:12:19
    The DOJ report, both reports talk about things that can be done to try and address recruiting and retention because this is obviously a national crisis.
  • 00:12:30
    and both reports actually make mention of incentives both for hiring and for retaining officers.
  • 00:12:39
    On page 15 of the DOJ report, there is a recommendation to include retention incentives for police officers.
  • 00:12:47
    The discussion in both reports, you know, revolves around the issue with sign-on bonuses.
  • 00:12:54
    It acknowledges, particularly in the PERF report, it acknowledges that this can kind of be a race to the bottom because it becomes competition for such a small amount of people who then can leave and go between different agencies.
  • 00:13:07
    But it is, there is a clear recommendation for retention incentives to try and keep additional police officers, so.
• • Nikki Odom
  • 00:13:21
    Thank you, Chief.
  • 00:13:23
    Finally, I'm going to hand it over to Intergovernmental Relations to discuss the funding source.
• • SPEAKER_08
  • 00:13:35
    Council President.
  • 00:13:37
    Thank you, Council President, Council Members, Katie Tafinka, Director of Intergovernmental Relations.
  • 00:13:43
    Last session, the legislature approved direct aid to cities in the form of public safety aid, as well as funding for competitive grant programs for alternative community-based strategies.
  • 00:13:53
    The public safety aid was automatically distributed to cities and counties.
  • 00:13:58
    It is similar to local government aid.
  • 00:14:00
    and that it's direct aid to cities based on a formula, but that it's specifically for local public safety needs.
  • 00:14:07
    Minneapolis is receiving $19 million.
  • 00:14:10
    The aid was designed to be flexible so that cities and counties could meet their own unique needs.
  • 00:14:16
    It is up to the local governing body to determine how to spend the funds within the parameters outlined in the legislation.
  • 00:14:23
    This slide here shows examples of eligible uses.
  • 00:14:27
    One eligible use, as you can see, is personnel costs, excuse me, which would include incentives.
  • 00:14:35
    There are also five explicit ineligible uses, and some of those examples are listed here.
  • 00:14:42
    In addition to the ones listed on the slide, there are some limitations on employer contribution to the Public Employees Police and Fire Fund,
  • 00:14:49
    and a prohibition for using the funds on the purchase of armored or tactical vehicles.
  • 00:14:55
    And as I mentioned, the legislature also approved funds in competitive grant programs that are being administered by the Office of Justice Programs at the State Department of Public Safety and the city is eligible to apply for those funds.
• • Nikki Odom
  • 00:15:14
    In conclusion, I urge you to consider and approve the LOA that Labor Relations and the Police Federation have diligently worked on.
  • 00:15:24
    The parties believe that it will have a positive impact on recruitment, retention, police morale, and scheduling.
  • 00:15:31
    Thank you for your attention and consideration.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 00:15:40
    Thank you, Ms. Odom, and to all the presenters.
  • 00:15:47
    And so I will move approval of the letter of agreement.
  • 00:15:52
    Is there a second to this motion?
• • Kristyn AndersonCity Attorney
  • 00:15:54
    Second.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 00:15:55
    Thank you.
  • 00:15:56
    Are there any questions or comments from my colleagues?
  • 00:16:00
    And I see first in queue is Council Member Vetaw.
• • Katie Cashman
  • 00:16:03
    It's actually for Mayor Frey, Council President.
• • SPEAKER_00
  • 00:16:08
    Thank you and welcome Mayor Frey.
  • 00:16:11
    Thank you Madam President and thank you members of the City Council for being here today and also for recognizing the importance of this particular deliberation.
  • 00:16:21
    It is critical that whether we disagree or we agree that we're working together and I appreciate your presence here.
  • 00:16:27
    The letter of agreement marks a deal between the police federation and the city of Minneapolis involving both retention pay and recruitment pay as well as clawing back some managerial authority so that our chief can make the best decisions around where and when to place officers in a more timely fashion.
  • 00:16:48
    We need to
  • 00:16:50
    attempt every available option at this point to recruit and retain police officers.
  • 00:16:56
    We've lost around 40% of the officers within our department.
  • 00:17:01
    We have fewer officers per capita than almost any major city in the entire country and the impacts of those losses are felt by our residents every single day.
  • 00:17:12
    If an officer isn't able to respond to a 911 call in a timely fashion or investigate a crime, there is someone that suffers because of it.
  • 00:17:22
    Officer incentives are one part of the overall equation.
  • 00:17:27
    Will incentives alone fix this problem?
  • 00:17:30
    The answer is, of course, no.
  • 00:17:33
    But the claim that these incentives make no difference, it defies best practice, it defies the guidance, and it defies common sense.
  • 00:17:42
    We shouldn't be cherry picking anecdotal stories from newsletters about what would or would not happen.
  • 00:17:49
    What we should be acknowledging is just the honest truth, which is that this is a new phenomenon right now.
  • 00:17:56
    This exodus from police departments around the country, this exodus from our law enforcement profession nationally is a new thing.
  • 00:18:04
    And so the data that comes out of that exodus is also a new thing.
  • 00:18:09
    So let's be honest, but what's not new is this notion of competition.
  • 00:18:15
    We need to be competitive with the other jurisdictions that are also looking to hire and retain police officers.
  • 00:18:22
    We need to be competitive with the suburban jurisdictions that surround Minneapolis.
  • 00:18:27
    We need to be competitive with other national agencies that are also putting up incentive bonuses themselves, and they are.
  • 00:18:33
    Furthermore, I have heard that
  • 00:18:38
    Some have felt that this is new information.
  • 00:18:42
    It's not.
  • 00:18:44
    We've had closed sessions on this topic.
  • 00:18:48
    We had four council members that have sat on the work group that has helped to guide some of the union contract negotiations and direct our labor relations director.
  • 00:19:00
    Back about a year ago we had a discussion about the contract agreement itself and one of the requests that we got to our administration was to include council members in the process and we did that.
  • 00:19:14
    Not to mention the negotiations themselves have been public.
  • 00:19:18
    One of the first times that's happened in full.
  • 00:19:21
    We've posted them online and as of, I believe, September 9th, we had posted online a clear strategy of, yes, recruitment and retention bonuses listed.
  • 00:19:33
    This is probably the most transparent negotiation process for a police federation that I'm aware of, at least during my time here.
  • 00:19:42
    Additionally, as you know, incentives are not the sole priority in terms of recruitment and retention of officers.
  • 00:19:51
    We understand that and indeed this incentive and recruitment package is part of a comprehensive plan to retain and bring in officers.
  • 00:20:00
    We're investing in FTO programs, in our workforce development initiatives, in training for mid-level supervisors, and in officer wellness support.
  • 00:20:10
    Many of these pieces have been presented and approved by council.
  • 00:20:13
    Last year we dedicated seven million dollars for retention and recruitment and hiring support enterprise-wide, one million of which was devoted to Minneapolis police.
  • 00:20:24
    We're currently also working with Accenture to launch a major recruitment campaign
  • 00:20:29
    in 2024.
  • 00:20:32
    Additionally, MPD is doing a whole lot of proactive on the ground work.
  • 00:20:37
    MPD is out in community recruiting at colleges and universities, both locally and nationally, including historically black colleges and universities.
  • 00:20:45
    They're at army bases across the country, just closed out the step up internship for the summer.
  • 00:20:51
    They're also working to set partnerships with a number of educational institutions to try to reach new graduates as they're making their decisions and entering the workforce.
  • 00:21:00
    The incentives outlined in the letter agreement are part of that whole plan.
  • 00:21:05
    Are they the only part?
  • 00:21:06
    Absolutely not.
  • 00:21:07
    Will they alone be effective?
  • 00:21:09
    Absolutely not.
  • 00:21:10
    If that is your argument, there will be nobody arguing back because we agree.
  • 00:21:16
    But we can't leave this piece out, otherwise we're selling ourselves short of retracting and retaining some of the top talent that we need because undoubtedly when people are making employment decisions, part of those decisions are based on pay.
  • 00:21:32
    That competitive nature is not just the case with police officers, but almost every single employee out there.
  • 00:21:40
    A consistent theme we've heard from community members, council members, and from the MPDs that we need to address.
  • 00:21:46
    Also, this decade's worth of managerial oversight that has at times been given away to the federation or at the very least taken away from the chief.
  • 00:21:58
    The reform that we got here is not the only reform that we're looking for, but it is an important one.
  • 00:22:05
    It's a step in the right direction.
  • 00:22:07
    It gives the chief the ability to be responsive to the current needs in the moment of the city and the department.
  • 00:22:13
    And if this letter of agreement is not approved, it's possible that this reform won't get done.
  • 00:22:18
    And the chief and the community will have to continue to wait sometimes 28 days to fill a shift.
  • 00:22:25
    This will directly impact communities that we all strive to serve and we all have an obligation to serve.
  • 00:22:31
    And finally, I'll just close with this.
  • 00:22:32
    I want to give a huge thank you to our Labor Relations and to our HR team.
  • 00:22:38
    They're the ones that are at the negotiating table on behalf of the city.
  • 00:22:42
    It's not me.
  • 00:22:44
    It's not the City Council.
  • 00:22:46
    Staff are at the table doing that hard work to negotiate and I appreciate them.
  • 00:22:50
    They've done some incredible work and they need to be recognized for that.
  • 00:22:55
    So the purpose of holding this meeting is ultimately to get to a decision.
  • 00:23:00
    Getting to a decision either way does allow our labor negotiations team the ability to move forward with the next step of these contract negotiations with a clear understanding of the lay of the land.
  • 00:23:12
    So we're going to continue to work on reforms for the department.
  • 00:23:16
    We're going to continue to work for recruitment and retention bonuses.
  • 00:23:20
    The team I know here is here today to continue that hard work.
  • 00:23:25
    Again, I appreciate our staff for all the work they've done.
  • 00:23:30
    I appreciate the council members for their deliberation here today.
  • 00:23:34
    And I know there's also a number of others that are here to answer questions that you may have.
  • 00:23:38
    Thank you so much.
  • 00:23:39
    Madam President, thank you members of the City Council.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 00:23:43
    Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and I see my colleagues in queue beginning with Councilmember Payne.
• • Elliott PayneMember, City Council
  • 00:23:51
    Thank you, Madam President, and thank you, Mr. Mayor, for being here and joining us today.
  • 00:23:56
    Thank you for expressing your willingness to work together on this.
  • 00:23:59
    I think everybody in this room and everybody in the city recognizes the need to address this crisis, and I think
  • 00:24:08
    We're consolidating a lot of different conversations under one decision right now.
  • 00:24:13
    This is not just about our staffing crisis, this is also about how we go through our decision making process.
  • 00:24:23
    I want to honor the fact that a lot of these discussions have happened in closed sessions.
  • 00:24:27
    We're not supposed to talk about those in public, but for the public record, these closed sessions are usually one of two categories.
  • 00:24:35
    One is to inform, so we get together in a closed session to talk about a sensitive matter and be educated on that topic.
  • 00:24:43
    and another version of a closed session is one where we decide, where we have to talk about a sensitive topic and make a decision.
  • 00:24:51
    We've had two closed sessions around this contract negotiation.
  • 00:24:55
    Neither of those were closed sessions where we were making decisions.
  • 00:24:59
    They were just to inform.
  • 00:25:01
    And so there was no decision that was made in a collaborative way that brought us to this decision.
  • 00:25:09
    One of the things that I'm really thinking deeply about is the reality of the staffing shortage and what's going to actually work.
  • 00:25:19
    That's one conversation.
  • 00:25:20
    Another conversation is around what's going to actually keep us safe in our city.
  • 00:25:26
    And police will be a component of that.
  • 00:25:28
    And a staff department that's adequately prepared is going to be a component of that.
  • 00:25:34
    But there's going to also be a component of what keeps us safe around some of our alternatives.
  • 00:25:39
    I see some orange shirts in the audience.
  • 00:25:41
    I see some other folks that are a part of our public safety ecosystem.
  • 00:25:48
    And one of the things that I have the most hopefulness about after the murder of George Floyd is the degree to which we as a city are talking about safety in a more comprehensive way.
  • 00:26:01
    And so
  • 00:26:02
    When we want to talk about safety in a comprehensive way, that means that we need to be inclusive of all aspects of our public safety ecosystem.
  • 00:26:11
    And we're really only talking about one narrow component of that, this retention bonus.
  • 00:26:17
    And my concern around this is that we are in active labor negotiations right now with MPD.
  • 00:26:25
    There are a number of things we need to consider, not just retention bonuses, but also base pay.
  • 00:26:31
    And we need to pair that with deep transformational reforms.
  • 00:26:37
    I want to say that again.
  • 00:26:38
    We need to focus on deep transformational reforms.
  • 00:26:44
    And one of my biggest areas of reform is around our shift bidding process.
  • 00:26:48
    And I am encouraged to see that being addressed in this letter of agreement.
  • 00:26:55
    But the moment that we start peeling off one reform here for a little bit of money there, not only are we losing sight of that comprehensive vision of the future of public safety in our city, but just from a brass tax negotiation strategy, we're giving away all of our leverage.
  • 00:27:15
    Right?
  • 00:27:16
    What other reforms are we going to get and how much more money are we going to have to put on the table to get it?
  • 00:27:22
    And that brings me to my final issue with where we're at on this process is we're leveraging this perhaps once in a generation state aid for public safety investments.
  • 00:27:34
    And our legislature have given us $19 million to make investments in this comprehensive vision.
  • 00:27:45
    And a lot of the discourse that we've had around public safety in our city has been around
  • 00:27:50
    How much money do we allocate to our police department when we're thinking about public safety?
  • 00:27:57
    And the debate around question two was around let's use that money to do more comprehensive efforts.
  • 00:28:05
    That was voted down because of how it was misconstrued about what the impact would be to the police budget.
  • 00:28:12
    The intention around that was, how do we invest in mental health?
  • 00:28:16
    I worked on BCR before I was an elected official.
  • 00:28:19
    It was under threat to not even launch successfully because of the opposition to this idea of having unarmed first responders.
  • 00:28:27
    And now you won't meet one officer in this department who does not celebrate our mental health response as part of our comprehensive approach to public safety.
  • 00:28:38
    We have this $19 million
  • 00:28:41
    How do we grow those capabilities?
  • 00:28:43
    How do we relieve our officers from some of the most taxing, stressful, traumatic situations that they're involved in?
  • 00:28:52
    How do we prevent those situations from happening in the first place?
  • 00:28:56
    Where do we get the money from to make those types of investments for our comprehensive public safety system?
  • 00:29:02
    That's what that state aid is for.
  • 00:29:04
    And if we lock that state aid up in this one time,
  • 00:29:09
    Questionably effective set of incentives.
  • 00:29:14
    What's the opportunity cost of that?
  • 00:29:17
    What else could we have invested in?
  • 00:29:20
    And this isn't to say that our folks don't need to be paid.
  • 00:29:25
    I would like us to have a deeper conversation around base pay as a long term, more lasting and durable source of attraction and retention.
  • 00:29:34
    We haven't had that conversation yet because we're still in active labor negotiations.
  • 00:29:39
    and I would like to hear what kind of transformational reforms we will get in exchange for that base pay.
  • 00:29:47
    And so we are really rushing into a decision right now that is going to foreclose a number of potential futures.
  • 00:29:56
    And there are a number of us up on this dais currently in the process of writing up our budget amendments
  • 00:30:04
    where we all have a vision of safety that we think is going to really meet the needs of the city, and we are all sourcing from that $19 million.
  • 00:30:13
    We need to do the thorough work of evaluating each and every one of those ideas, prioritizing them against our limited resources, and going through a formal budget process.
  • 00:30:25
    And that's what we're asking of the mayor, and that's what we're asking of the federation, that you will
  • 00:30:32
    This will come in due time.
  • 00:30:33
    Now is not that time.
  • 00:30:35
    We are getting the cart ahead of the horse.
  • 00:30:38
    And so that's why we need to be very, very thoughtful about how we move forward.
  • 00:30:43
    Thank you.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 00:30:45
    Thank you, Councilmember Payne.
  • 00:30:47
    Next in queue is Councilmember Koski.
• • Emily KoskiMember, City Council
  • 00:30:51
    Thank you, Madam President.
  • 00:30:53
    I am not going to sit on this dais today and let anyone paint me as anti-police.
  • 00:30:59
    I have led and will continue to lead on restoring faith in our public safety system.
  • 00:31:04
    I have attended dozens of roll calls and precincts in the city.
  • 00:31:07
    I have regular meetings with both third and fifth precinct inspectors who serve the Ward 11 residents.
  • 00:31:13
    I hear story after story about the amazing work our officers are doing each and every day from community members and their leaders.
  • 00:31:22
    I know how hard our police officers are working, how much they deserve our respect and support and believe strongly that in order for us to have a meaningful conversation about the safety of our community, we must put politics aside.
  • 00:31:36
    The people of Minneapolis deserve better.
  • 00:31:39
    I want to talk about two things.
  • 00:31:42
    First, I want to talk about the role of the council as a legislative branch.
  • 00:31:46
    Second, I want to talk about opportunity, and specifically the $19 million allocation from the state of Minnesota.
  • 00:31:53
    Please allow me a moment to level set on where we are today and how we got here.
  • 00:31:57
    Normally, the mayor sends us the recommended budget in August.
  • 00:32:01
    The council spends the months of September and October reviewing these recommendations.
  • 00:32:05
    Through this process, council members work with the administration and other council colleagues to make amendments.
  • 00:32:11
    This year, amendments were due two days ago on November 15th, and now we begin the process of marking up the budget, which will take place publicly on November 30th, less than two weeks from today.
  • 00:32:24
    We've known about the $19 million allocated from the state for months.
  • 00:32:28
    So has the mayor.
  • 00:32:30
    He has been told repeatedly in a variety of ways by myself, and it is my understanding by many other council members, do not allocate these funds without working with the council.
  • 00:32:41
    When he came to us last week with a plan to walk on this letter of agreement that is before us today, outside the normal budget process, we were stunned.
  • 00:32:51
    But really, we shouldn't have been.
  • 00:32:53
    The mayor has given no indication in the last six months that he was willing to collaborate.
  • 00:32:59
    Why does this matter?
  • 00:33:00
    One of my duties as a Councilmember in the legislative branch of this government is to hold people in power accountable.
  • 00:33:08
    That's literally my job.
  • 00:33:11
    And one of the biggest levers we can pull to ensure accountability of our tax dollars is this budget.
  • 00:33:17
    So when the mayor and administration come to me as budget chair and demand we spend $15.3 million on sign-on and retention bonuses outside our normal budget process, I have questions.
  • 00:33:31
    Do sign-on and retention bonuses work?
  • 00:33:34
    No, it turns out they do not, and our police staffing numbers are still decreasing in Minneapolis.
  • 00:33:40
    Have we had time to consider all and any council members' amendments to spend this money on public safety and police reform?
  • 00:33:49
    No.
  • 00:33:50
    As I said earlier, these amendments' proposals were just submitted Wednesday, one day after this tentative letter of agreement was first pushed to a vote.
  • 00:34:00
    So today, I hope colleagues can use some of their time to give a preview of their ideas with all of us.
  • 00:34:07
    I think it's important for the mayor and administration, along with the public, to hear how seriously we are taking the safety of our residents.
  • 00:34:16
    But what do we continue to hear?
  • 00:34:18
    Chronically low staffing levels.
  • 00:34:21
    And not much else.
  • 00:34:23
    Why?
  • 00:34:23
    I believe it's an effort to politicize public safety to scare us.
  • 00:34:28
    To be clear, I will not bow to fear or manipulation tactics and make a decision outside our normal process on a plan that we've repeatedly tried ourselves and has not been effective, particularly when we have been completely shut out of the process.
  • 00:34:46
    Lastly, on this topic, I don't know about all of you, but I think it's time for a different approach.
  • 00:34:54
    Let's use this moment as an opportunity to rethink our approach with each other.
  • 00:35:01
    We want to collaborate.
  • 00:35:04
    We want safe communities.
  • 00:35:07
    And we want to be partners.
  • 00:35:10
    Now let's talk about the opportunity ahead of us.
  • 00:35:14
    To start, let's clear up some misconceptions for the record.
  • 00:35:17
    The $19 million in public safety aid from the state of Minnesota was part of the 2023 Omnibus Tax Bill.
  • 00:35:24
    So to be clear, these are taxpayer dollars.
  • 00:35:27
    Number two, despite what many have heard, including staff and officers within our own police department, there is not a spend by requirement or expiration date in the law.
  • 00:35:38
    So the sense of urgency simply around spending this funding to just get it spent is a manufactured sense of urgency.
  • 00:35:46
    Most importantly, now is the time for us to think holistically and broadly about a transformative public safety plan for this funding that actually improves public safety and supports our police officers.
  • 00:36:01
    There are all kinds of options in front of us for this conversation.
  • 00:36:05
    community violence prevention programs, community engagement, mental health crisis responses, victim services, training programs, first responder wellness, equipment related to fire rescue and emergency services, pathway programs, professional development for all emergency responders,
  • 00:36:30
    and gun violence prevention support.
  • 00:36:33
    I would wholeheartedly support a robust conversation among this body and with the administration on how, where and when to best spend this money.
  • 00:36:44
    Part of this answer very well might include a portion of these funds for the sign-on and retention bonuses the mayor and the administration seek today.
  • 00:36:53
    The needs in our city are great.
  • 00:36:56
    And thanks to the work from our legislative delegation at the Capitol, we actually have an opportunity to think about the investment in a transformative public safety plan.
  • 00:37:06
    But we can't do that with an executive who won't speak with us.
  • 00:37:10
    We can't do that without collaboration.
  • 00:37:13
    Our residents want to know they can count on us to lead.
  • 00:37:17
    Leadership is about making hard decisions.
  • 00:37:20
    It's about standing up to political pressure when being asked to do something the data proves is not effective.
  • 00:37:26
    It is about having hard conversations with Ward 11 residents, many who are just as concerned as I am with the state of our police department, and telling them there's a better way forward.
  • 00:37:41
    I now have a few questions for administration or for the mayor.
  • 00:37:46
    The first question I have is that you just recently just mentioned there is a few other recruitment, hiring, and retention strategies.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 00:37:55
    I'm sorry, Councilmember, your time has expired.
• • Emily KoskiMember, City Council
  • 00:37:59
    Thank you.
• • Robin WonsleyMember, City Council
  • 00:37:59
    I'll get back in queue.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 00:38:01
    Councilmember Wonsley.
• • Robin WonsleyMember, City Council
  • 00:38:03
    Thank you, Madam President.
  • 00:38:04
    I just had a couple of questions also for leadership in the administration.
  • 00:38:10
    So the first, I don't know amongst the administration who can answer, but in this topic of looking at other effective tools and assessing what actually works for recruitment,
  • 00:38:21
    or Retention.
  • 00:38:23
    Has anyone from MPD leadership or HR conducted analysis for other reasons the city might be struggling with recruiting officers?
  • 00:38:34
    I say this because early in my term, my office organized a trip with a number of council members to go visit Hennepin Tech Community College in Brooklyn Center, which produces 50% of all officers in the state of Minnesota.
  • 00:38:49
    We learned a lot from that visit.
  • 00:38:54
    And we had lots of questions of, it seems like your curriculum is doing exactly metrics around what is good policing.
  • 00:39:01
    And something happens when they come to the Minneapolis Police Department.
  • 00:39:05
    And can you explain the disconnect?
  • 00:39:08
    And they shared a multitude of feedback in terms of culture, which is affirmed in the DOJ, in the Minnesota Department of Human Rights report that you referred to,
  • 00:39:19
    of having a culture that allowed the Derek Chauvins of our force to dominate, meant that other folks did not want to come to the police department.
  • 00:39:28
    What they did not mention was anything around bonuses and pay.
  • 00:39:32
    So I just wanted to see, did we do a thorough analysis prior to this part to also assess some factors around recruitment and retention and what other jurisdictions are doing, either in Minnesota or across the country outside of
  • 00:39:47
    these incentives that's being proposed.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 00:39:56
    Welcome Ms. Odom.
• • Nikki Odom
  • 00:39:59
    Council President, Council Vice President, Council Members.
  • 00:40:04
    So I have only been here, well, less than a year.
  • 00:40:06
    I know that we have done, like for instance, we are doing exit interviews for our police officers when they leave.
  • 00:40:15
    And so we do have that data.
  • 00:40:18
    We are doing a comprehensive review of various retention and hiring incentives, or hiring
  • 00:40:28
    things, tools.
  • 00:40:29
    And we are looking at a lot of things.
  • 00:40:31
    So for instance, we're looking at, sometimes we're losing candidates because the hiring process is so long.
  • 00:40:37
    So we're looking to reduce that.
  • 00:40:40
    We are looking at, we're talking to other cities, I've had conversations with cities like Seattle, they're seeing some success.
  • 00:40:47
    and some of their recruitment strategies.
  • 00:40:49
    So we are trying to talk to them, implement some of the things that they have been implementing.
  • 00:40:53
    As the mayor mentioned, we've partnered with Accenture to do a marketing and recruitment strategy.
  • 00:41:00
    It's a multi-year strategy for not just MPD, but also all hard to fill safety positions like 911.
  • 00:41:10
    So there are a number of things that we're working on.
  • 00:41:12
    I know Chief Gaiters can certainly speak to
  • 00:41:15
    Some of some of the recruitment things that we are doing throughout the nationally in order to get new recruits there I think the chief also could speak to Some of some of the things that we were doing Thank You council president Thank You council member I'll just talk
• • Brian O'Hara
  • 00:41:41
    kind of briefly about my own perspective from some of the issues that you raised and then I'll turn it over to Assistant Chief Gaiters to talk very specifically about the recruitment issues.
  • 00:41:51
    So I have a kind of a different opinion as an outsider.
  • 00:41:56
    You mentioned Hennepin Tech.
  • 00:41:58
    I believe that Minnesota is probably the most difficult place in this country to become a police officer today.
  • 00:42:05
    The rules that we've had for the last four decades, I don't believe are best serving the needs of our residents today.
  • 00:42:15
    I had tried the last legislative session to get some support from legislators to try and update some of these standards and I'll try again this time.
  • 00:42:27
    But the reality today is, you know, I can have a graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School come to apply as a police officer and I can't just hire them and send them to the police academy.
  • 00:42:39
    I think this is probably the only place in America where that's the case.
  • 00:42:42
    I have to send them back to head up in tech to take a skills course for about eight months.
  • 00:42:48
    And how this plays out...
  • 00:42:50
    is just in my short time here, I've known several individuals, particularly candidates who are second career, who have higher levels of education than what the state requires, the two-year criminal justice police program, that have master's degrees, that have life experience, that have skills that are different, that certainly will add to the quality of the officers that our residents want to see.
  • 00:43:19
    But the reality is a lot of these folks are mid-career.
  • 00:43:24
    They're single parents, especially if there are residents.
  • 00:43:27
    And they're not just not able to take time off to go back to Hennepin Tech before they can then go to the Academy.
  • 00:43:33
    And if we look through particularly the PERF report and a number of things that are recommended,
  • 00:43:39
    A lot of that stuff we're doing already, but there's a lot of it that's outside of our control because of the specific situation we're in here in Minnesota, particularly around the initial requirements to become a police officer.
  • 00:43:53
    But then some of the other stuff involves, like for example, there's suggestions on reforming the pension, and there's a drop program deferred retirement option.
  • 00:44:02
    That's something that would have to be changed at the state level.
  • 00:44:05
    I mean I think we're kind of in a unique situation in that we have a very different standard than what is recognized nationally.
  • 00:44:14
    Frankly I don't think it's, I think it's failing the entire state right now.
  • 00:44:20
    There are not, there are nowhere near enough candidates in those
  • 00:44:24
    You know, associates degree programs to fill the number of vacancies that exist in the state.
  • 00:44:29
    And I'm hopeful that someone will realize eventually there will be some support that will recognize there are people out there with higher levels of education with more life experience that can add to exactly the type of people that we want on the police department.
  • 00:44:46
    I also think that
  • 00:44:48
    The crisis that we have in staffing is also an opportunity.
  • 00:44:52
    If we are able to fill these ranks with more diverse people, diverse in more ways than one, people that are not just from their education background as just criminal justice, diversity of life experiences, diversity of education, we have a real opportunity.
  • 00:45:09
    Thank you.
• • 00:45:11
    Yes.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 00:45:12
    may be able to get back to Council Member Wonsley's questions.
• • Robin WonsleyMember, City Council
  • 00:45:17
    Can I get clarity on that?
  • 00:45:18
    I mean, granted, I didn't put a speech.
  • 00:45:20
    I asked questions.
  • 00:45:22
    We haven't been in a situation where staff has either taken up a portion of that time mostly.
  • 00:45:28
    So trying to figure out how that works then.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 00:45:30
    Right.
  • 00:45:31
    And I'm trying to be fair in that I have almost every single Council Member in queue.
  • 00:45:37
    And I think we can get back to your question if you place yourself in queue.
• • Robin WonsleyMember, City Council
  • 00:45:41
    I just want to name again, since this is a long conversation, many of us will have multiple questions, Madam President.
  • 00:45:48
    Yes, and I understand that.
  • 00:45:50
    Can I please finish my sentence?
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 00:45:51
    I do understand that, Council Member, and I'm going to please move on to the next person in queue.
• • Robin WonsleyMember, City Council
  • 00:45:56
    Can we at least put a time cap then on the responses so we can have our questions be completed within the allotted time?
  • 00:46:03
    Is that okay for Council leadership so we're not cut off after asking one question?
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 00:46:08
    You asked the question and it took up the entirety of your time.
• • Robin WonsleyMember, City Council
  • 00:46:13
    So you're not on board with that.
  • 00:46:14
    Thank you for that.
  • 00:46:15
    I will get in.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 00:46:15
    Council Vice President Palmisano.
• • Linea PalmisanoVice President, City Council
  • 00:46:19
    Excuse me, Madam President.
  • 00:46:21
    There's a priority motion in queue from Councilmember Chughtai that happened before.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 00:46:28
    Councilmember Tuktai.
• • Aisha ChughtaiMember, City Council
  • 00:46:30
    Thank you, Madam President.
  • 00:46:31
    I'm wondering if now is an appropriate time for a motion to extend debate so we can thoroughly discuss this matter that's before us.
  • 00:46:42
    I see the clerk is nodding his head yes, so I will formally make that motion.
• • Jason ChavezMember, City Council
  • 00:46:46
    Second.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 00:46:47
    Colleagues, we have a priority motion in front of us to extend the time for debate.
  • 00:46:55
    How do you have a specific amount of time, Council Member?
• • Aisha ChughtaiMember, City Council
  • 00:47:01
    Is a specific amount of time required?
• • Casey CarlCity Clerk
  • 00:47:04
    It is recommended so we can track your speeches.
  • 00:47:07
    The rules currently say a first speech is seven minutes, a second speech is five minutes.
  • 00:47:12
    Of course on each new question that restarts and so on every major question before the body each member gets a first speech of seven and a second speech of five and our speaker management tracks that.
• • Aisha ChughtaiMember, City Council
  • 00:47:24
    Can we extend first speech to
  • 00:47:30
    I guess I'm trying to account for the issue that Councilmember Wonsley just ran into in which she asked one question and staff took up the entirety of the time in which she was speaking.
  • 00:47:41
    And so, like, is indefinite an option?
• • Casey CarlCity Clerk
  • 00:47:46
    I would say, Madam President, I would
  • 00:47:51
    Share with members that the way that the speaking rights and debate go are, as I said, the rules show two speeches on every main motion or every proposition before the first is seven, the second is five.
  • 00:48:01
    If you want to change the timeline, then a motion would be in order to do that.
  • 00:48:05
    To change that, it would be good to have some definitiveness.
  • 00:48:08
    I'll also note that rights and debate are not transferable.
  • 00:48:12
    So if a member asks a question of another member of the president or staff, your time is consumed in the response from that person's response.
  • 00:48:20
    So it is good to say I need a short response or cut off the people who are responding to you and you're watching your time on the speaker queue.
• • Aisha ChughtaiMember, City Council
  • 00:48:29
    Okay, 10 minutes each.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 00:48:33
    So colleagues, we have a motion with a proper second to extend the debate to 10 minutes on each council member's privilege to speak.
  • 00:48:49
    and I see Councilmember Goodman in queue on that motion.
• • SPEAKER_03
  • 00:48:53
    Thank you Madam President.
  • 00:48:55
    I do agree with Councilmember Wonsley that when she has her seven minutes and then staff take up the entire seven minutes that that is unfair and perhaps because there's a lot of people in the room and no one wants to be here till midnight so this is predominantly performative.
  • 00:49:13
    We know how everyone's going to vote.
  • 00:49:14
    So I do think that it would make sense to not use the staff time within the council members time to speak.
  • 00:49:22
    That just seems inherently unfair to me.
  • 00:49:24
    And perhaps I would have to ask the clerk if he could just stop the clock during those portions.
  • 00:49:33
    I don't know if that's something that would be allowed under the rules, but it seems like if Councilmember Wonsley spoke for two minutes, and then she asked the chief to speak, then the clock would stop, he would speak, and we would ask him to be brief, and then she would continue with her time.
  • 00:49:47
    Because I think that's inherently what she's saying.
  • 00:49:49
    So we don't really need to extend it to be longer, we just simply need to allow the staff to come up and have our time stop.
  • 00:49:58
    Is that acceptable to the body, Mr. Carl, is that allowed?
• • Casey CarlCity Clerk
  • 00:50:04
    Of course it's up to the body to decide.
  • 00:50:07
    We'll try and make the technology work.
  • 00:50:09
    That's going to require us to start and pause and start and pause.
  • 00:50:13
    And that could be not a perfect system.
  • 00:50:16
    So with indulgence from the members, we'll do our best.
• • SPEAKER_03
  • 00:50:19
    Perhaps that could be something we could agree on.
  • 00:50:21
    It would be that we would stop the clock when staff speak and then people would have their remaining time and everyone would have seven minutes for their first speech and five for their second.
  • 00:50:31
    Because there's a lot of people in line and a lot of people in the room and I don't think any of the audience members or people watching are expecting us to be here for four hours.
  • 00:50:42
    So if the author is amenable to that, I feel like I understand what the author and Councilmember Wonsley are saying and I do agree with them.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 00:50:53
    Thank you Councilmember Goodman and I agree with Councilmember Wonsley and Councilmember Goodman.
  • 00:51:01
    However, I am trying to accommodate all of my colleagues who would like to speak recognizing that we are asking staff questions and so if that is an amenable
  • 00:51:19
    amendment to this motion, then we can vote on that.
• • Casey CarlCity Clerk
  • 00:51:24
    Madam President, an easier technological solution for us because this is a council meeting we're signing as council.
  • 00:51:30
    The only time there are time limits is at council.
  • 00:51:33
    If everybody would agree to re-sign in, we can set this as a committee meeting.
  • 00:51:37
    Committees don't have limits on time.
• • SPEAKER_03
  • 00:51:40
    Yeah, that's not what I was trying to do, Mr. Karl.
  • 00:51:42
    I wasn't trying to be here all night.
  • 00:51:44
    I was trying to rein it in while respecting the fact that one of our colleagues had all of her time taken up by staff, and yes, she asked the question.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 00:51:53
    And we do have a motion in front of us that has been amended to now use our technology to when staff is responding to a question that we would subsequently stop the council members time and that would not be included in their time.
  • 00:52:20
    and Councilmember Wonsley, do you have comments on that motion?
• • Robin WonsleyMember, City Council
  • 00:52:27
    I do.
  • 00:52:27
    I would like for that to be retroactive, as you just saw.
  • 00:52:31
    I definitely have follow-up questions, so I would love if the difference of that two minutes that I had to answer my question could be subtracted so I could continue on with my line of questions.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 00:52:46
    That is...
  • 00:52:49
    A question for the body, which is wonderful.
  • 00:52:59
    Clerk, please call the roll on the motion to I guess we're calling it extend debate, but
  • 00:53:08
    It has been amended from the original 10 minutes to now we will just stop the clock if staff is required to speak.
  • 00:53:18
    And we will maintain the seven minute first question as well as the five minutes on the second question.
  • 00:53:26
    Clerk, please call the roll.
• • Casey CarlCity Clerk
  • 00:53:27
    Councilmember Osman, aye Councilmember Payne, aye Councilmember Koski, aye Councilmember Shedtai, aye Councilmember Chavez, aye Councilmember Ellison, aye Councilmember Vetaw, aye Councilmember Rainville, aye Councilmember Goodman, aye Councilmember Wonsley, aye Councilmember Johnson, aye Vice President Palmisano, aye President Jenkins, aye There are 13 ayes
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 00:53:48
    That item passes and Councilmember Wonsley, you are now allotted five minutes on your first question.
• • Robin WonsleyMember, City Council
  • 00:54:00
    Thank you.
  • 00:54:02
    So my follow up question, actually, it probably will go back to the Chief.
  • 00:54:07
    and also again Keeping Life, we could be brief.
  • 00:54:10
    You did mention components about other hiring decisions, you mentioned incentives in the DOJ report, MDHR report, I will name, I saw none of that language in the findings that you referred to, but I do want to name what I emphasize of like culture.
  • 00:54:26
    Is there anything you're assessing around culture in your recruitment and retention practices?
  • 00:54:31
    And I would name specifically under your leadership and then prior former MPD leadership, we've seen this issue happen where we've had officers who were hired and then fired or fired, sorry, fired and then rehired.
  • 00:54:46
    And then we've also seen officers be hired who have been documented as lying on their own jobs.
  • 00:54:53
    So again, the culture piece of,
  • 00:54:55
    Are we still continuing to include or promote or recruit officers who still do things like the Derek Chauvins of our workforce?
  • 00:55:04
    Is that impacting our ability to recruit and retain people?
  • 00:55:09
    And if we're doing analysis grounded in that culture orientation.
• • Brian O'Hara
  • 00:55:13
    Thank you, Council President.
  • 00:55:14
    Thanks again, Council Member.
  • 00:55:17
    So if I understood it correctly, the changes that we have made are specific to the backgrounds investigation process.
  • 00:55:26
    And we actually have fewer applications this year for recruits.
  • 00:55:33
    Of the applications we have, we're having fewer still that are getting through that process.
  • 00:55:40
    The way the backgrounds investigation process previously worked,
  • 00:55:44
    It was separate from the internal affairs component of the department.
  • 00:55:49
    Today, that process is a component of internal affairs.
  • 00:55:54
    And all of the background investigations are reviewed up the chain of command instead of just a sergeant, which had been previously the process, it's reviewed by a lieutenant, a commander, up to the deputy chief of internal affairs.
  • 00:56:07
    So that's the part that's specific to screening of the candidates, if that answers the question.
• • Robin WonsleyMember, City Council
  • 00:56:14
    That's the approach that you're looking at changing hiring practices.
  • 00:56:18
    So I heard a lot in your prior response around needing flexibility in the qualifications of officers with recruitment.
  • 00:56:27
    But what I'm also or what the public has witnessed too is, is it an open invitation for anybody and everybody?
  • 00:56:33
    And it has been.
  • 00:56:34
    several officers that have come in with documented histories of misconduct, of sending racist emails, the same culture that got us in a consent decree, we're still seeing those officers sneak through some of these changes.
  • 00:56:47
    So it seems like that's what you were highlighting, the changes in response to that.
  • 00:56:50
    I will move on to my next question.
  • 00:56:53
    In regards to the contract, just making sure there's clarity on what we're being asked
  • 00:56:59
    to give up this $15.3 million in exchange for.
  • 00:57:03
    So can you explain the current process for assigning shifts and essentially what will change if this, you know, with this letter of agreement specifically, because I want to make sure what are we gaining in terms of staffing flexibility?
• • Brian O'Hara
  • 00:57:19
    Thank you Council President, thank you Council Member.
  • 00:57:20
    And I just remembered something else you mentioned earlier.
  • 00:57:22
    I was not referencing the MDHR or DOJ report.
  • 00:57:28
    I was referencing the DOJ report specific on recruiting and retaining police officers.
  • 00:57:34
    Gotcha, okay.
  • 00:57:34
    So that was my mistake.
  • 00:57:36
    And I'm sorry, this last question again, I'm sorry.
• • Robin WonsleyMember, City Council
  • 00:57:40
    Basically, what are we getting in exchange for the $5.3 million of signing shifts?
  • 00:57:45
    Yes.
• • Brian O'Hara
  • 00:57:46
    So the way the current contract is written, you can only post a vacancy when it occurs at the start of the 28-day pay period, or before that, rather.
  • 00:57:57
    So if your vacancies occur right at the start of the 28-day period, you have to wait until that pay period is over just even to post it.
  • 00:58:06
    and then it has to be up for 10 days and then there's an additional 10 days after that before it takes effect.
  • 00:58:13
    While that may have been okay previously, like at the level that we're at now, we could have two or three vacancies occur, but if they occur in the same place, that's an added stress.
  • 00:58:25
    And so hopefully with this change, it will allow us to make permanent replacements, you know,
  • 00:58:32
    It could be as soon as the current process could take as long as up to seven weeks just depending on when it falls.
  • 00:58:38
    Now it's only ten days and you can post at any time.
• • Robin WonsleyMember, City Council
  • 00:58:40
    So for my just clarity, understanding for the public, we're essentially getting two weeks worth of flexibility in exchange for $15.3 million in this new agreement.
• • Brian O'Hara
  • 00:58:52
    Council President, Council Member, it depends again where it falls.
  • 00:58:56
    If it falls right at the beginning of the pay period, you have to wait 28 days to post it, another 10 days, and then 10 days after that till it takes effect.
• • Robin WonsleyMember, City Council
  • 00:59:06
    So still it's not firmly even submitted around at
  • 00:59:10
    A schedule of flexibility and yet that's a big contingency component for this $15.3 million that we're getting in exchange for approval.
  • 00:59:18
    Yes.
  • 00:59:19
    Okay, follow up question.
  • 00:59:20
    This might be for HR.
  • 00:59:21
    I just want to note if this is typical in our labor contract negotiations where we have settled economic incentives separate from the rest of the contracts.
  • 00:59:33
    Or is this a first and only pertinent to the police right now?
• • Nikki Odom
  • 00:59:42
    Council President, Council Vice President, Council Members.
  • 00:59:46
    This is certainly atypical.
  • 00:59:48
    Usually it's attached to an entire collective bargaining agreement.
  • 00:59:55
    But obviously the police contract, especially with
  • 01:00:00
    all of the attention on it and whatever else.
  • 01:00:05
    I think that the difficulty is we have a lot of negotiations to go and we're trying to figure out the landscape moving forward and I think that this is one of those things that we believe is important not only for retention and recruitment but I think
  • 01:00:25
    Just kind of based on everything that's happened it made sense to bring it forward once there was an agreement instead of waiting to the very end because Unfortunately, we don't know how long that might take.
• • Robin WonsleyMember, City Council
  • 01:00:35
    So again, this is not typical of how we will settle a contract of Passing economic incentives before the rest of the contract.
  • 01:00:45
    So you're acknowledging that yes and then and knowing we just we're having similar retention issues with some other first responders like 9-1-1 and
  • 01:00:53
    Can you just name comparison-wise again?
  • 01:00:55
    The last police contract we settled, we included a retention and I believe a recruitment bonus, either a retention bonus.
  • 01:01:03
    Do you recall how that compared to the retention incentives we settled with 911 and fire?
• • Nikki Odom
  • 01:01:09
    I do not know offhand.
  • 01:01:12
    That would be obviously a question for Labor Relations.
  • 01:01:15
    I certainly can get that information to you.
  • 01:01:18
    But we did do a market incentive and retention incentives for 911 as a part of their negotiation process.
• • Robin WonsleyMember, City Council
  • 01:01:26
    I will name immediately.
  • 01:01:27
    That was a $1,000 retention incentive, I believe, for 911 and fire.
• • Nikki Odom
  • 01:01:35
    There was a $1,000 retention incentive right for everyone, but there were also market adjustments and internal equity adjustments that were given to 911 closing out their last contract, which I believe closed either this year or right before I came.
• • Robin WonsleyMember, City Council
  • 01:01:52
    And strictly around just retention incentives.
  • 01:01:54
    I recall we approved $1,000, and it was around $6,500 for MPD, the last contract, correct?
  • 01:02:00
    I believe that's correct.
  • 01:02:02
    OK.
  • 01:02:02
    Thank you for that.
  • 01:02:03
    Just wanted to note there's not parity.
  • 01:02:05
    There's some non-traditional ways in which we're approaching this particular contract with the economic incentives here.
  • 01:02:11
    That's troubling.
  • 01:02:12
    And what I'm hearing also is we're being asked to approve $15.3 million of additional public safety dollars that the state advocated for around comprehensive public safety solutions for what is unclear around staffing flexibility.
  • 01:02:29
    I didn't hear that concretely spelled out.
  • 01:02:31
    And then we're also being told that potential reforms that for several years this body has heard should be codified in a police contract are now not being advised to be codified in a police contract, which is one of the most strongest documents
  • 01:02:47
    Council Member Wonsley,
• • Nikki Odom
  • 01:03:03
    I think that in terms of codifying certain things within the contract, my understanding is that we have more flexibility and the chief has more authority if we do not do that, but obviously can't get into too much regarding negotiations.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 01:03:23
    Thank you.
  • 01:03:25
    And before I recognize Council Vice President Palmisano, I will recognize City Attorney Anderson.
• • Kristyn AndersonCity Attorney
  • 01:03:33
    Thank you, Council President.
  • 01:03:34
    Council members, I just wanted to add a little bit on to Director Odom's
  • 01:03:38
    commentary, letters of agreement just so you sort of understand the kind of the legal niceties.
  • 01:03:43
    Letters of agreement are pretty typical tools to be used for to address emergent issues that occurred during the term of a collective bargaining agreement.
  • 01:03:53
    So like the fact that a letter of agreement came up while we're in negotiations.
  • 01:04:00
    You know, again, it's not that unusual.
  • 01:04:02
    It really is kind of that tool in order to be able to address emergent issues.
  • 01:04:06
    So just in case that was a point of clarity for anyone.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 01:04:10
    Thank you, Madame City Attorney and next in queue is Council Vice President Palmisano.
• • Linea PalmisanoVice President, City Council
  • 01:04:15
    Thank you, Madam President.
  • 01:04:18
    I appreciate that all of us are really trying hard here to stay in the conversation.
  • 01:04:24
    And so I appreciate our labor relations team, the police union being at the table, and our mayor trying to keep us in the conversation here.
  • 01:04:34
    I think it's best that we all stay in conversation and we don't
  • 01:04:37
    do the next step in police labor negotiations, which is we end up in some kind of binding arbitration and we don't have nearly as much impact to draw a future together.
  • 01:04:48
    So I appreciate the mayor calling this special session today.
  • 01:04:52
    And here's what I'm trying to accomplish here today.
  • 01:04:55
    This isn't about being performative.
  • 01:04:58
    There are two things here that is a trade-off for one another.
  • 01:05:02
    And the letter of agreement is about
  • 01:05:05
    a very important management tool and it's that police management need to be able to assign officers to critical shifts.
  • 01:05:12
    That's insane.
  • 01:05:13
    That's insane that it's not in our power today and it is critically important.
  • 01:05:20
    And I see the signs in the audience that want reforms, and this is one of them.
  • 01:05:24
    This is what we are talking about being able to authorize in a letter of agreement at this step of a negotiation today.
  • 01:05:31
    The cost of that are these recruitment and retention incentives.
  • 01:05:37
    That's the expense.
  • 01:05:38
    I don't know why we're really debating the merit of that, because that is what we give on this side of the table, to get what we want on the other side of the table.
  • 01:05:48
    I do think this is a good deal.
  • 01:05:50
    I need to point out that things said up here by electeds in particular carry weight and it's really important that we're careful about the assertions that we're making.
  • 01:06:03
    Here is one of those.
  • 01:06:06
    I am certain, as discussed in closed session, that base pay increases are part of future discussions with our police union.
  • 01:06:13
    We're not there yet to discuss that.
  • 01:06:15
    That's not something that we're not saying we're going to do these one-time incentives in lieu of a salary and a negotiated contract.
  • 01:06:23
    That's not true.
  • 01:06:25
    There's much being said about alternative public safety response, and that's great.
  • 01:06:31
    I support these alternatives, I think we all do, and I look forward to seeing what ideas come forward, knowing that council members here are not subject matter experts.
  • 01:06:42
    These are not fully vetted, ready-to-go pilot projects coming forward instead of or in a transaction between this and that other public safety money.
  • 01:06:52
    But not at the expense, here's where I have always come down, not at the expense of getting law enforcement to respond when needed.
  • 01:07:00
    And that's where we're at.
  • 01:07:01
    The question here on the table right now is, what are we trying to accomplish here today?
  • 01:07:08
    And that is to have these recruitment and intention incentives and a letter of agreement to get the ability to not have to do critical staffing double over time for management of police to be able to reassign quickly to different shifts.
  • 01:07:25
    The sense of urgency here is what we will lose at the bargaining table if we don't move forward today.
  • 01:07:30
    That's the sense of urgency.
  • 01:07:32
    I don't see a false sense of urgency here.
  • 01:07:35
    Here's another untruth.
  • 01:07:37
    Historically, letters of agreement are addressed as part of contract deals whenever they're ready to be formally considered.
  • 01:07:44
    That sounds normal to me, and I just need to name that.
  • 01:07:48
    They have never been tied to the council's formal budget process.
• • Kristyn AndersonCity Attorney
  • 01:07:52
    My colleagues are wrong about that.
• • Linea PalmisanoVice President, City Council
  • 01:07:55
    I think it's really important, and I'm disturbed by comments made on this dais Tuesday and today asserting as an absolute truth that recruitment and retention bonuses do not work.
  • 01:08:07
    The chief has made some appropriate comments for that.
  • 01:08:09
    I went back and did some research on things that were said on Tuesday.
  • 01:08:12
    That is simply not true, and I ask my colleagues to stop speaking like that here from the dais.
  • 01:08:20
    It's debatable, maybe,
  • 01:08:23
    But what we've seen, what we've seen in RAND Center for Quality Policing Studies, what we've seen in Roseville Police Department last year is that these things can be successful.
  • 01:08:35
    as part of a bigger total package.
  • 01:08:37
    It's really important for us to try to stay in conversation and not to overstate or to make this about something that it's not.
  • 01:08:45
    I have a sense of urgency here today.
  • 01:08:46
    It's to keep this conversation in this union negotiation contract, which is critically important, moving forward.
  • 01:08:53
    And this is just one thing of what I hope to be many things and many reforms that we will get from staying in the conversation.
  • 01:09:01
    Thank you.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 01:09:03
    Thank you, Council Vice President.
  • 01:09:05
    And next in queue is Councilmember Ellison.
• • Jeremiah EllisonMember, City Council
  • 01:09:09
    Thank you, Madam President.
  • 01:09:15
    I do think that it is I agree with a lot of the comments, especially made by Councilmember Koski and others.
  • 01:09:22
    And I do appreciate the framing from Councilmember Palmisano.
  • 01:09:27
    We might not agree on this issue, but it is it is sort of a
  • 01:09:31
    I hate to use the word quid pro quo, but we're basically purchasing a reform.
  • 01:09:35
    And I think the question is, is it worth $15.3 million?
  • 01:09:41
    I think that there's a pathway to yes on how we go about getting to this agreement.
  • 01:09:47
    But Councilman Wieckowski and others are correct, this process has not been collaborative.
  • 01:09:52
    I'll say that my constituents are not necessarily opposed to the idea of retention incentives or signing bonuses.
  • 01:10:02
    But to say that we're going to just do that with this specific pot of money, I think is a huge mistake.
  • 01:10:11
    We've got $19 million from the state to spend on a menu of potential public safety investments.
  • 01:10:20
    This is one of them, and we're going to spend $15.3 million of it this way?
  • 01:10:26
    I think it's a mistake.
  • 01:10:31
    If there's room for us to actually work with one another and get to whatever could be a potential yes here, then I invite that process, but this process has not been it.
  • 01:10:45
    I do have a few questions and I'm not sure exactly who they're for, so I'll ask them and then we'll allow staff to jump in.
  • 01:10:53
    In an agreement like this, is there the possibility, and I'm not proposing this for today, but I'm just asking for the public's sake, for my own sake, is there the possibility to vote almost
  • 01:11:06
    in lay terms by line item.
  • 01:11:07
    So we want to vote for this portion of the agreement, but we're not for this other portion of the agreement.
  • 01:11:12
    Is that even a possibility on agreements like this?
  • 01:11:15
    I think I know the answer, but I'll ask the attorneys.
• • Kristyn AndersonCity Attorney
  • 01:11:18
    Council President, Council Member Ellison, no, that's not a possibility.
  • 01:11:23
    It's a negotiated agreement.
  • 01:11:25
    It's a package.
  • 01:11:26
    It's an up or a down.
• • Jeremiah EllisonMember, City Council
  • 01:11:28
    So once we get to the point where it's in front of council, there is no possibility for negotiation.
  • 01:11:33
    All of that would have had to have happened already, the conversation between council members.
  • 01:11:38
    And to Council Member Payne's point, a lot of the conversations we've had about this are informational, not necessarily conversations we were coming to an agreed upon decision point.
  • 01:11:51
    And I think we've got to be working together on this.
  • 01:11:53
    Another question.
  • 01:11:57
    that I have is if this isn't passed here, if this is voted down today, could another agreement be made?
  • 01:12:09
    And I get the potential consequences, but strictly in terms of logistics, could another agreement, a modified agreement be made and then brought back in a couple of weeks, couple of months?
• • Kristyn AndersonCity Attorney
  • 01:12:22
    Council President, Council Member Ellison, Council Members.
  • 01:12:28
    There's nothing that would legally preclude the parties from going back to the bargaining table and striking a different bargain that would then come back to Council for approval or disapproval.
• • Jeremiah EllisonMember, City Council
  • 01:12:39
    Thank you.
  • 01:12:39
    Thank you.
  • 01:12:40
    I had another question, but I think the main point is that there is
  • 01:12:49
    I guess rhetorically I'll say when something like this is brought up, when we have an allocation like this from the state, that can be spent in a number of ways.
  • 01:12:57
    How are we, without a menu of options, without a robust discussion, how are we supposed to know whether this is the best strategy for this $19 million?
  • 01:13:09
    And we've heard plenty of council members' name up here.
  • 01:13:13
    We've heard staff name up here that these type of retentions are at best inconclusive on their merits.
  • 01:13:22
    Shouldn't we be aiming to not throw this money down the hole this way potentially?
  • 01:13:28
    And I guess the last question I'll ask is, I know that the assumption of the 15.3 is that, is assuming that a certain number of attentions occur and a certain number of people are recruited.
  • 01:13:45
    If the number is anything less than that, let's say we allocate the $15.3 million, but we're only able to spend $6 million, for example, on retentions and signing bonuses, what happens to the difference of that money?
  • 01:13:58
    Does it come back to Council for consideration, or is it just absorbed into the department at that point?
• • Kristyn AndersonCity Attorney
  • 01:14:09
    Council President, Council Members, I'm wondering if the Budget Director might be available to answer that question.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 01:14:23
    I don't see the budget director in the room.
  • 01:14:26
    I'm not sure if the chief or director of human resources has a response to that question.
• • Jeremiah EllisonMember, City Council
  • 01:14:34
    It's possible that we don't know and I think that that's another sort of red flag that we should
  • 01:14:39
    We should have some certainty on that question before we're willing to vote on this here today.
  • 01:14:44
    And so I'm not, you know, I don't want us to get into a place on this body where things get really, you know, devolve really quickly.
  • 01:14:53
    I want us to maintain being productive.
  • 01:14:54
    I want us to live in a spirit of collaboration.
  • 01:14:57
    I think that the way we've gotten here today didn't meet that standard and that is not to assign any motive to anybody.
  • 01:15:04
    But I think we need to call the roll on this.
  • 01:15:07
    I'm not cutting off conversation with that.
  • 01:15:09
    But I think that we need to eventually, after discussion, get to the point where we call the roll on this.
  • 01:15:13
    And it's not something that we should give up on.
  • 01:15:15
    It's something that we need to continue to deliberate on as we move forward.
  • 01:15:18
    But today, I don't think that we've come to this conclusion in a way where we can honestly say as a body, as a body of 14 even, that we've done the necessary due diligence to ensure that we're being good fiduciaries, that we're spending this money innovatively, or that we're meeting the intention of the state when they gave us this money.
  • 01:15:34
    That's all.
  • 01:15:35
    Thank you.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 01:15:37
    Thank you, Councilmember.
  • 01:15:38
    Next in queue is Councilmember Osman.
• • Jamal OsmanMember, City Council
  • 01:15:41
    Thank you, Madam President.
  • 01:15:43
    I'll just make quick someone who has supported the MBD and continue to support.
  • 01:15:49
    I know the low staffing is an issue, but how we got here is not because of lack of incentives.
  • 01:16:00
    We got here for so many, so many reasons.
  • 01:16:07
    Since 2020, until right now, 2023, every year, the vacancy rate goes down and down.
  • 01:16:14
    And I don't know if I hear correct.
  • 01:16:16
    I feel like mayor say last year we passed incentives for $7 million to give the police.
  • 01:16:26
    That hasn't increased.
  • 01:16:29
    more officers for that.
  • 01:16:31
    There is a creative way to continue to recruit people from young, young men from Minneapolis and I was part of that to say that working with
  • 01:16:44
    Chris Gator and former Emily Hoffman chief to broad them to see the Riverside and recruit many young men, immigrants, black men who didn't want to
  • 01:17:00
    Imagine being a police, but when they had the officers come, and especially having Somali police officers speak to them, they were convinced, and they want to be part of that.
  • 01:17:11
    Historically, the way recruitment has been done was just behind the doors, you go to fly it out there, but there are different ways, and every council member has an idea of how we can continue to get that recruitment improved.
  • 01:17:30
    I think just throwing money out there is not the only solution.
  • 01:17:36
    It might be the solution, but it's not the only solution.
  • 01:17:38
    And what we're debating today is the state aid that we got from that.
  • 01:17:43
    And we're debating how can we use that money to be more effective.
  • 01:17:48
    And I think Councilmember Koski highlighted some of those things.
  • 01:17:53
    Last week or a couple weeks ago, we were debating here opening a third precinct and having a community safety center.
  • 01:17:59
    Why not take that money there?
  • 01:18:01
    We know what the third precinct went through.
  • 01:18:05
    We know what the community in that third precinct boundaries went through.
  • 01:18:10
    Having that community safety center and making sure we're healing the community and putting
  • 01:18:16
    different services on that.
  • 01:18:17
    And I have talked about that, you know, having some of the services in there like victim services and some other community safety initiatives that we can do.
  • 01:18:28
    One of the ideas I have is have cameras.
  • 01:18:30
    I think camera worked in my community.
  • 01:18:33
    There's so many different ideas that we can use that money to better our city when it comes to safety.
  • 01:18:41
    I disagree having $15.3 million
  • 01:18:47
    What do we tell the state if that doesn't work?
  • 01:18:51
    You know, we can be creative way.
  • 01:18:53
    In my community, especially folks that are sitting right there, I think that he mentioned there's, and I know it's in my word, we have 200 people that are encampments that are, you know, without hygiene, without bathroom, without anything.
  • 01:19:12
    They're not the ones who are suffering, but also the neighbors, the poor neighbors.
  • 01:19:17
    I have common bond, Aon, organizations that do wonderful things, calling me and saying that, hey, our low-income president cannot stay there because there are folks that are homeless that are coming to go to a bathroom in their backyard and stuff like that.
  • 01:19:34
    Those are the things we need to focus.
  • 01:19:36
    That's how we can keep the community safe.
  • 01:19:39
    We have crisis within our communities.
  • 01:19:43
    We can use this money
  • 01:19:45
    Especially the budget markups.
  • 01:19:47
    We have some great ideas that I've talked to my colleagues that you will see next few weeks coming up that we can use this money to be more, better effective than throwing money incentives and hoping that we will get the recruitment.
  • 01:20:02
    We will not.
  • 01:20:04
    We can get the recruitment better in our police and understanding the history of MPD in Toronto, you know, reform that and continue to recruit within City of Minneapolis residents.
  • 01:20:21
    So yeah, that was my comment and I will not support this, but I will support this $19 million for better use.
  • 01:20:29
    And I'll continue standing and working with the MPD leadership to find a way to recruit more presidents from Ward 6.
  • 01:20:39
    Thank you.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 01:20:41
    Council Member Chavez.
  • 01:20:45
    I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
  • 01:20:47
    My apologies.
  • 01:20:49
    Please, Mr.
  • 01:20:50
    Flowers,
  • 01:20:52
    Mr.
  • 01:21:00
    Flowers, please
• • SPEAKER_06
  • 01:21:23
    Mr.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 01:21:30
    Flowers, please.
  • 01:21:39
    Councilmember Vetaw.
• • Katie Cashman
  • 01:21:41
    Thank you, Madam President, and I'm sorry, Al.
  • 01:21:45
    I want to first, I want to
• • SPEAKER_06
  • 01:21:51
    And I feel what Al feels.
• • Katie Cashman
  • 01:22:02
    I feel what Al feels.
  • 01:22:03
    I've been feeling what Al is feeling for weeks since we started this conversation.
  • 01:22:11
    This has been one of the toughest conversations for me to have as a council member.
  • 01:22:18
    for me to have as the chair public safety, for me to have as someone who cares about every single staff that we have at the city of Minneapolis.
  • 01:22:27
    And I believe in my colleagues' ideas around public safety.
  • 01:22:31
    I believe that they want alternatives that work and that they also want policing.
  • 01:22:38
    But what hurts and what's hard is exactly what Al just said.
  • 01:22:45
    When you're a council member,
  • 01:22:48
    You go to a crime scene, there's a parent there, there's a child laying on the ground with a sheet over them, and one of our officers has to say, yes ma'am, yes sir, that's your child.
  • 01:23:08
    And that parent feels like just the day before.
  • 01:23:13
    They called the police and they said, this is a hot spot.
  • 01:23:17
    We need more patrols over here.
  • 01:23:20
    We need more officers present.
  • 01:23:23
    We need people in this area because we know something is gonna happen.
  • 01:23:28
    You can't unfeel that.
  • 01:23:30
    You can't unfeel that when you're a council member, when you're a person who loves this city.
  • 01:23:38
    When you're a person who loves everything about this community, I wanted to be the chair of public safety because I want to make a difference.
  • 01:23:50
    This community loved on me and my family, and whatever I give back in public safety means a lot to me and to my family, so it hurts.
  • 01:24:03
    I do not believe that retention and recruitment is the end.
  • 01:24:09
    but it feels good to know you're trying everything.
  • 01:24:12
    I wanna be able to say to those parents, I'm trying everything.
  • 01:24:18
    I don't wanna say we're not doing our best.
  • 01:24:24
    I don't wanna say something else is coming later that I hope is gonna help.
  • 01:24:32
    It doesn't feel right when you're faced with
  • 01:24:38
    People are dying.
  • 01:24:40
    People are dying.
  • 01:24:42
    It's not a fear-mongering scare tactic.
  • 01:24:47
    It's real in some of these communities.
  • 01:24:55
    And it hurts.
  • 01:24:57
    It hurts.
  • 01:24:59
    It hurts the officers that are involved.
  • 01:25:02
    Wellness is a big part of this also.
  • 01:25:07
    I'm telling you, I don't believe incentives is the end all be all, but I do believe
  • 01:25:15
    Having the opportunity to say to families, we're trying.
  • 01:25:20
    Having the ability to send patrols, extra patrols.
  • 01:25:24
    I can't tell you how many times I get calls saying, council member, can you call and get extra patrols in this area because something happened?
  • 01:25:34
    And I hear from an inspector of a precinct or our chief, because I call our chief sometimes too.
  • 01:25:39
    I have to.
  • 01:25:42
    and they say, council member, we're down five people on this shift or we just can't do that.
  • 01:25:49
    And then when something happens in that same very spot, I have to say to that family, I'm so sorry.
  • 01:26:02
    I wish we could have did better.
  • 01:26:06
    I'm telling y'all, this hurts.
  • 01:26:08
    This hurts so bad because I know it's all gonna work.
  • 01:26:13
    I know the alternatives are gonna work.
  • 01:26:15
    I know that recruitment and retention is gonna work when we work together.
  • 01:26:20
    But people can't wait.
  • 01:26:25
    They wanna see us do it all and they wanna see us do it all right now.
  • 01:26:31
    We've had five young men die.
  • 01:26:35
    In the last week, it's hard to sleep when you know you're arguing over if you should give a bonus for more police or if you should focus on the money in other areas.
  • 01:26:57
    I say, let's do it all.
  • 01:26:59
    Fuck it.
  • 01:27:00
    Well, we're going to lose nothing.
  • 01:27:04
    Do it all.
  • 01:27:05
    Find the money.
  • 01:27:06
    Let's call in some corporate partners.
  • 01:27:07
    Let's do it all.
  • 01:27:10
    We have to.
  • 01:27:16
    The numbers of staffing is so low, and Chief, I got a minute and 40 seconds.
  • 01:27:25
    It's still ticking, so you're going to have a minute by the time I finish.
  • 01:27:29
    I really need you to just speak to these staffing levels and what this looks like over the next few years for MPD with staffing.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 01:27:41
    Before you begin, Chief O'Hara, I need to ask my colleagues to please maintain the calm and our language on this body.
  • 01:27:53
    Thank you.
  • 01:27:55
    Chief O'Hara.
• • Brian O'Hara
  • 01:27:56
    Thank you, Council President.
  • 01:27:57
    Thank you, Council Member.
  • 01:28:01
    I stood on Glenwood Avenue two days ago for the last 21-year-old.
  • 01:28:05
    They got shot in the face while mom was waiting behind the crime scene tape to see if that was her boy.
  • 01:28:11
    And while I'm standing there, I'm running the numbers in my head.
  • 01:28:16
    Sixteen people shot just this week.
  • 01:28:18
    Twenty-six in this month.
  • 01:28:20
    Knowing that there's six investigators for shootings and eight for homicide, two of which are retiring.
  • 01:28:28
    How much time there is to spend on these individual cases.
  • 01:28:32
    We are here to protect the vulnerable from harm.
  • 01:28:36
    That's our job.
  • 01:28:37
    and it is most affecting the most vulnerable residents in this city.
  • 01:28:42
    To me, these incentives or whatever we're going to do or not do, this is not about the cops.
  • 01:28:48
    This is about the residents.
  • 01:28:51
    We have been collapsing units into each other.
  • 01:28:54
    We're talking about what else are we not going to be able to do next year.
  • 01:28:58
    There's 38 members eligible to retire, over 100 next year.
  • 01:29:03
    We have not stopped getting smaller.
  • 01:29:05
    I don't know what the answer is.
  • 01:29:08
    It will be getting rid of other units or not being able to do so, which puts us in this vicious cycle.
  • 01:29:15
    We don't have enough people.
  • 01:29:17
    We have more and more over time, which burns people out and the young people don't want to come into this work because they want more of a life balance.
  • 01:29:26
    The community isn't satisfied with the services that we provide, which means less people from town are going to want to be cops.
  • 01:29:33
    We're stuck in a very vicious cycle.
  • 01:29:35
    I don't know what the answer is.
  • 01:29:37
    Maybe it's not these, but I feel like we have to do something.
  • 01:29:40
    I don't know what next year would look like.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 01:29:46
    Thank you, Chief.
  • 01:29:51
    Thank you.
  • 01:29:52
    Councilmember Vetaw, are you done?
• • Katie Cashman
  • 01:29:55
    I'm really sorry about my language.
  • 01:29:57
    I'm pretty sure I got in trouble on the park board for the same thing.
  • 01:30:00
    So I'm really sorry, Madam President.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 01:30:04
    Thank you.
  • 01:30:05
    Next in queue is Councilmember Chavez.
• • Jason ChavezMember, City Council
  • 01:30:07
    Council President Jenkins, thank you.
  • 01:30:09
    We have been providing these bonuses for the past year and we are still losing officers.
  • 01:30:14
    What we are saying right now is that let's bring these programs to our communities right now to make sure that they can be protected and served.
  • 01:30:21
    Over the past month, many of us have been here working on a variety of budget amendments regarding this specific public safety stream to bring community safety projects to our own wards.
  • 01:30:31
    Our residents need new and innovative public safety strategies to prevent violence right now.
  • 01:30:36
    They do not need us to gamble on a strategy that has not worked thus far where our officers are still leaving with these bonuses intact.
  • 01:30:43
    That is why I'm fighting for community safety programs in Ward 9 and across our city.
  • 01:30:48
    Today's vote can strip away funding from these priorities that I have worked on with my residents and community members that want to be safe in our city.
  • 01:30:55
    Whether it's a Lake Street Community Safety Center where folks can talk to our public safety professionals, submit crime reports, victim statements, and have community meetings,
  • 01:31:04
    Whether it's a collaborative public safety strategy program in Phillips and Little Earth so they can produce their own violence prevention programs because they know how to keep their community safe.
  • 01:31:15
    Our communities know how to keep our communities safe, and we should let them lead us into a violence-free future.
  • 01:31:21
    Or Lake Street Public Safety Coordinator that can help us keep our facilities and public safety tools intact on our corridor so they can be better facilitated to make sure that we're actually doing the good work of public safety for the City of Minneapolis and to use our resources wisely.
  • 01:31:36
    Or funding to continue the LEAD Program, which is an intensive case management program for individuals who commit law violations due to unmet behavioral needs, homelessness, or extreme poverty.
  • 01:31:45
    We can send case managers on Lake Street to protect them and help them reduce violence.
  • 01:31:52
    Or a hate crime prevention program so mosques are no longer being burned down or vandalized in the city of Minneapolis.
  • 01:31:58
    Or Latino churches are not being impacted and yet we just sit here and pretend nothing is happening.
  • 01:32:04
    Or a cultural ambassador program on all seven cultural districts to make sure that our streets can be safe and clean.
  • 01:32:11
    Downtown does it, our cultural districts deserve it too.
  • 01:32:15
    What we're telling our city government is that people of color and immigrants matter, and that our communities deserve these funding streams as much as anybody else.
  • 01:32:24
    That's what the state is tasking us to do, and for us to get more state aid in the future, we gotta show them we have programs that work.
  • 01:32:32
    Thank you.
• • Michael RainvilleMember, City Council
  • 01:32:41
    Thank you, Madam President.
  • 01:32:42
    Before I begin my remarks, I'm wondering if the commissioner left.
  • 01:32:49
    I was going to ask him a question.
  • 01:32:50
    Does someone else on staff know how much we have in the budget for non-armed public safety?
  • 01:32:56
    Mayor, do you know how much you've requested for non-armed public safety?
• • SPEAKER_00
  • 01:33:05
    Madam Chair, Councilmember, I don't have the exact figure here before me, no.
  • 01:33:10
    What I can say is that there's both other pots of money that we can apply to that come from the state.
  • 01:33:18
    that are not limited to this 19 million.
  • 01:33:20
    Second, I would say that a lot of the talk over the last hour or so has been around the 15.3 million.
  • 01:33:26
    That is the absolute maximum amount.
  • 01:33:30
    The more likely scenario is that it would be several million dollars less than that as to what we would need for both the recruitment and retention just given the numbers that we had leaving more left over to do the violence prevention work and anything else that people would presuppose.
  • 01:33:45
    and I'm sure that we can have the specific numbers on violence prevention to you as soon as possible.
  • 01:33:51
    Great, thank you.
• • Michael RainvilleMember, City Council
  • 01:33:53
    So I just want to speak to my colleagues very briefly here because we do have a vote to take, but we're here not only because we have a crisis of staffing and recruitment,
  • 01:34:04
    We also have a crisis to not listen to our voters on public safety.
  • 01:34:08
    They want action and they know that sworn officers are part of our future of public safety.
  • 01:34:14
    And we also have a crisis of leadership amongst the 14 of us up here.
  • 01:34:18
    It should never get to this point where we have to argue in public about how we move forward with public safety.
  • 01:34:25
    We have a labor shortage.
  • 01:34:27
    Ask any human resource professional, how do you solve a labor shortage?
  • 01:34:32
    And you do that through increased compensation.
  • 01:34:36
    As leaders, which we all were elected to be, we are elected to be leaders, we must listen to our staff and the experts.
  • 01:34:44
    We also must support our chief, our commissioner, and most of all, our officers.
  • 01:34:50
    They are the lowest paid in the metro area.
  • 01:34:53
    If we want the best policing, we have to provide the best pay.
  • 01:34:58
    And this is just a start.
  • 01:35:00
    We also have to bring the park police in the fold here and our command staff.
  • 01:35:04
    We have to make them well paid.
  • 01:35:08
    I respect the dangerous job that police have.
  • 01:35:13
    There's just a shooting a few months ago where one of our brave police officers got shot in the neck and just missed his jugular vein.
  • 01:35:24
    He almost died.
  • 01:35:25
    He would have been killed on duty protecting us.
  • 01:35:28
    Around the country, police are killed constantly.
  • 01:35:31
    No wonder younger people don't want that as a career.
  • 01:35:35
    Just in our area here in Minnesota, Wisconsin, four law enforcement officers have been killed in the line of duty this year.
  • 01:35:44
    I also respect the courage it takes to be a police officer.
  • 01:35:48
    And that has a price.
  • 01:35:49
    Every profession has a price.
  • 01:35:52
    I respect the patience they need, what a family goes through when a member of their family is a police officer.
  • 01:36:02
    And it's time we listen to the experts, to what that job entails.
  • 01:36:09
    I suggest to my colleagues that they ride along with a sergeant at midnight on Lake Street or at bar clothes in uptown or downtown.
  • 01:36:19
    understand what it's like to be a police officer in a city that has the shortest police staff in the country.
  • 01:36:28
    So in conclusion, I'm asking my colleagues, our body, to take a small step today, to be a leader, to solve the staff shortage with a little baby step here to start it.
  • 01:36:43
    And don't allow abolition through attrition.
  • 01:36:47
    Vote yes, now is the time to be a leader, not use this crisis to further our own personal goals.
  • 01:36:54
    Thank you.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 01:36:56
    Thank you, Councilmember Rainville.
  • 01:36:58
    I do see Commissioner Barnett has rejoined us and there was a question about the amount of resources allocated to violence prevention efforts in the Office of Community Safety.
  • 01:37:15
    Are you able to answer that question, sir?
• • Michael RainvilleMember, City Council
  • 01:37:18
    Thank you, Madam President.
  • 01:37:20
    Specifically for next year's budget, what's been recommended to us?
• • Todd BarnetteCommissioner of Community Safety
  • 01:37:30
    Council President Jenkins, Vice President Palmisano, Council Members.
  • 01:37:37
    What's the question, Council Member Rainville?
• • Michael RainvilleMember, City Council
  • 01:37:41
    Commissioner, we're debating spending money on non-armed public safety and what I'm trying to get us to understand is I know the mayor has dramatically increased the budget that you will operate under for those types of programs, the multitude that they are, and I'm just looking for, so the public can understand
• • Todd BarnetteCommissioner of Community Safety
  • 01:38:00
    How much money is in the budget for next year to do that?
  • 01:38:11
    Office of Neighborhood Safety, but what I can tell you is that right now and I think you've gotten that report earlier this week on what we're trying to do and that is to assess all the services there and evaluate them so we can make sure that will be an effective
  • 01:38:34
    You heard Dr. Oftaly talk about the ego system of services and so we're trying to really make sure
  • 01:38:43
    We're looking at those services that are preventive, responsive, and restorative, and what do we have in the Office of Neighborhood Safety, what do we need to lift up, and what gaps are there.
  • 01:38:58
    I know that there are some budget amendments looking at maybe taking some money out of the Office of Neighborhood Safety.
  • 01:39:12
    Alright.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 01:39:18
    Next in queue is Councilmember Wonsley.
• • Robin WonsleyMember, City Council
  • 01:39:21
    Thank you, Madam President.
  • 01:39:23
    Councilmember Rainville, I just had the opportunity to pull up our budget book and do a comparison real quick of what we've allocated.
  • 01:39:31
    I'll just give the 2023 and 2024 estimates right now.
  • 01:39:36
    For Neighborhood Safety for 2023, their budget was $21 million, $138,444.
  • 01:39:44
    NPD 2023 budget was over $205 million.
  • 01:39:50
    For 2024, their budget is over $217 million.
  • 01:39:54
    Let's back that up to Neighborhood Safety for 2024.
  • 01:39:58
    Their budget is $17.9 million.
  • 01:40:03
    There is no parity whatsoever between the two when it's come to investing in our unarmed safety services and that's been a trend and that's laid out very clearly in our budget figures.
  • 01:40:14
    What I will name as many of my colleagues have highlighted
  • 01:40:18
    I was hopeful when we learned about the $19 million to go through our actual budget process where we can make democratic decisions around how to support public safety initiatives in our communities that our residents have told us will help keep them safe.
  • 01:40:34
    Councilmember Osman highlighted just in the third precinct alone,
  • 01:40:38
    The mayor has proposed a community safety center that currently only has funding for a third precinct.
  • 01:40:44
    There will be additional allocations needed in order to actually do comprehensive safety services like mental health responders.
  • 01:40:52
    I heard people mention victim services.
  • 01:40:54
    to have restorative justice, to have a youth diversionary program so we're not just locking young people up when they're engaging in auto thefts, to be able to have the option to invest in those initiatives in a holistic way.
  • 01:41:08
    We need dollars for that, and this $19 million represents an opportunity for us to make that initial investment.
  • 01:41:14
    I know Councilmember Osman and I are bringing a $4 million budget amendment from the $19 million
  • 01:41:20
    to support our commitments to making sure that we are not just rebranding the Third Precinct and making sure that we're delivering on a comprehensive model and aligning our facility space to embrace that model and provide the highest quality services to our residents when it's come to public safety.
  • 01:41:37
    I will also name that council is doing the work of trying to deal with the mess that MPD has created and that has happened through truth and reconciliation.
  • 01:41:46
    Many of our residents have asked for a truth and reconciliation process that has gone long unfunded so that we can acknowledge the harm and trauma that has happened at the hands of a racist, violent police department that is not just named amongst council members up here but is affirmed by two consent decrees.
  • 01:42:06
    Two, I want to emphasize that, two, coming from the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and the Department of Justice.
  • 01:42:15
    So we're trying to actually do the hard work of dealing with the mess, the harm, the generational trauma that has also come from over-policing in our most vulnerable communities.
  • 01:42:27
    And you want to know how to deal with staffing?
  • 01:42:29
    That's the elephant in the room that we're still trying to avoid and just want to throw money at.
  • 01:42:34
    actually expand the comprehensive safety services.
  • 01:42:37
    MPD has already acknowledged, and I believe Council Member Payne highlighted this, that when we expanded 911 beyond police, what we've seen, and also pairing that with other programs like violence interrupters, we have seen crime reach historic levels just low, decreases in our crime levels in Minneapolis.
  • 01:42:59
    That has been coupled with the fact that we've had
  • 01:43:02
    Yes, attrition of MPD staffing, but we've also increased in the workforce of other expert public safety practitioners who can respond to the diversity of crises that our residents experience day to day.
  • 01:43:18
    That has helped keep crime low in our neighborhoods and that's the model that we should be investing in.
  • 01:43:22
    You also want to know how to address staffing issues, as I mentioned, address the internal culture that was highlighted in the Minnesota Department of Human Rights report and the Department of Justice report.
  • 01:43:33
    Right now we still have a pattern of still promoting problematic officers within our ranks.
  • 01:43:39
    Just a couple days ago, we just learned MPD already violated a provision in the consent decree from pursuing a traffic stop of a black man.
  • 01:43:49
    The Hennepin Court just had to throw out that charge.
  • 01:43:52
    And MPD said, oh, we didn't think we had a policy in place.
  • 01:43:55
    This show, there's a disconnect and they need to do a lot of work to get their house in order.
  • 01:44:01
    And while they're doing that, they're receiving, again, 200 plus million dollars to get their act together.
  • 01:44:06
    We should be using every additional fund, every additional dollar to invest in the comprehensive side.
  • 01:44:11
    And also you want to know that what else can help regulate those staffing issues?
  • 01:44:16
    Regulate the things that actually put officers' wellness in jeopardy.
  • 01:44:19
    Stop allowing them to do off duty.
  • 01:44:21
    going off to clubs and putting themselves in harm and working extensive hours.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 01:44:26
    That's how just seeing Diamond die.
  • 01:44:28
    So those are the things that we should be investing in right now to actually get at the core problem.
• • Aisha ChughtaiMember, City Council
  • 01:44:40
    Thank you, Madam President.
  • 01:44:41
    I'm going to start with a series of questions, the first of which will go to Chief O'Hara, followed by Mayor Frey, followed by Commissioner Barnett, followed by Chair Koski.
  • 01:44:51
    Chief, if you want to come on up.
  • 01:44:54
    My first question for you is how many officers, sergeants and lieutenants, which are covered by the Federation contract, are on the force today?
• • Brian O'Hara
  • 01:45:07
    Councilmember, I do not have that number broken down by rank.
• • Aisha ChughtaiMember, City Council
  • 01:45:11
    Or just total number of officers on the force today.
  • 01:45:18
    I can give you the questions around numbers that I'm gonna ask you and so then you can come back to it at the end.
  • 01:45:25
    Okay, first is about how many officers do we have today and then the second one is how many new officers have been recruited to the force since 2022?
  • 01:45:32
    Those are the two questions around numbers.
  • 01:45:35
    I will wait, I would love to get an answer.
  • 01:45:37
    But while it looks like Chief Gaiters is on it in the background, so while he's on that, I have a question for you on shift bidding, which is the reform that we're talking about here.
  • 01:45:48
    So I know that shift bidding has been explained pretty extensively here, but I just want you to help me understand in the context of an example.
  • 01:45:59
    So say I'm an officer and I work the day shift in the fifth precinct and say we have this new shift bidding reform in place and through your work and now your new authority chief, you see that you want to actually move
  • 01:46:15
    and Officer into the 4th Precinct overnight shift, the dog watch shift.
  • 01:46:22
    And you use the new authority, management authority you now have to move me from 5th Precinct day shift to 4th Precinct night shift.
  • 01:46:32
    Do I have as the Officer the authority to say no to being moved?
• • Brian O'Hara
  • 01:46:37
    Thank you, Council President.
  • 01:46:38
    Thank you, Council Member.
  • 01:46:40
    Yes, it's still a bidding process, so it then winds up going according to seniority.
  • 01:46:47
    It's still a bidding process to fill the permanent vacancies as they occur.
• • Aisha ChughtaiMember, City Council
  • 01:46:52
    Great.
  • 01:46:52
    So what you're saying is?
• • Brian O'Hara
  • 01:46:55
    I'm sorry.
  • 01:46:57
    Well, it's still a bidding process, so it goes according to seniority for the permanent assignment.
  • 01:47:04
    Yes.
• • Aisha ChughtaiMember, City Council
  • 01:47:05
    So if I don't rank high in seniority, I may get moved, I may not?
• • Brian O'Hara
  • 01:47:17
    It would go to the most senior person who bidded for the permanent vacancy.
• • Aisha ChughtaiMember, City Council
  • 01:47:27
    Okay, great.
  • 01:47:30
    When you have answers to the two questions around how many officers and have you got them?
  • 01:47:42
    Great.
  • 01:47:42
    I will now go to Mayor Frey then.
  • 01:47:46
    Is shift bidding, can you tell me, is that the most important reform you want in the Police Federation contract?
• • SPEAKER_00
  • 01:47:56
    Councilmember, there's a number of important reforms that are important in the contract and you know that well because you're one of the four councilmembers that are on the work group that we have been talking to throughout this process.
  • 01:48:06
    I've attended all of the meetings.
  • 01:48:08
    You haven't been able to attend all of the meetings.
  • 01:48:10
    And I just need to say very clearly that we have been talking to councilmembers.
  • 01:48:15
    And so as far as the most important reforms go, it is an important reform.
  • 01:48:19
    Clawing back managerial oversight that we've lost over the last several decades is of paramount importance because it allows our chief to dedicate officers where and when they're needed most.
  • 01:48:30
    However, to specify one that is most important, I don't think that would be wise for purposes of negotiation.
• • Aisha ChughtaiMember, City Council
  • 01:48:38
    Okay, thank you.
  • 01:48:42
    Next, we'll go to the Commissioner.
  • 01:48:45
    And the question I've got for you is, from when you started, you knew there was $19 million worth of one-time public safety aid that was on the table.
  • 01:48:58
    and you oversee five departments that perform critical public safety functions.
  • 01:49:03
    Have you had conversations with the other four departments that you oversee regarding public safety, one-time public safety aid uses that they might want to use this money for?
• • Todd BarnetteCommissioner of Community Safety
  • 01:49:26
    I was going to say Council Member President Jenkins, Vice President Palmisano, Council Member Chaughtai.
  • 01:49:34
    We've had a lot of discussions since September 11th when I was announced as the nominee for this position.
  • 01:49:52
    and over, this is my fourth week since even last week, we've had a lot of discussions about the budget capacity but I don't believe we had a specific conversation about 19 million.
  • 01:50:08
    I've talked to each department head assessing what it is that, where they're at right now and what things do they need but not a specific conversation about the 19 million dollars.
• • Aisha ChughtaiMember, City Council
  • 01:50:23
    Thank you.
  • 01:50:24
    All right, so that being said, have you got numbers for me, Chief?
• • Brian O'Hara
  • 01:50:36
    Council President, Council Member, 579 total sworn and HR is getting how many people have been recruited since 2022.
• • Aisha ChughtaiMember, City Council
  • 01:50:42
    Thank you.
  • 01:50:44
    All right.
  • 01:50:46
    OK, so I want to I appreciate all of you for answering my questions.
  • 01:50:50
    I want to talk about a few different things, starting with the efficacy of recruitment and retention bonuses.
  • 01:50:58
    It is factual.
  • 01:50:59
    It is not an opinion to say that retention and recruitment bonuses do not work.
  • 01:51:05
    There are three different studies that I'm going to reference that have been referenced here today.
  • 01:51:09
    First from the Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services at the request of the Attorney General.
  • 01:51:20
    They published a study that found that traditionally money was an effective way to attract candidates into the law enforcement profession.
  • 01:51:30
    However, bonuses are becoming an obsolete method of recruiting qualified and diverse police force.
  • 01:51:37
    And tactics that do work include more paid time off, increased parental leave, flexible schedules, and tuition reimbursements, expanded healthcare options, including options specifically for retirees, and updated technology and equipment.
  • 01:51:55
    Those are real things.
  • 01:51:56
    that keep officers that attract officers and keep them in the door.
  • 01:52:00
    The International Association of Chiefs of Police has a best practices guide on recruitment, retention and turnover of law enforcement personnel that extensively discusses retention strategies, which include a number of them.
  • 01:52:14
    Behaviorally-based interviews, realistic job previews, training, feedback, supervisor development, recognition, career assessment and counseling, dual career ladders, enhanced work expectations, teaching, environmental strategies, providing a team environment, and yes, it does include compensation.
  • 01:52:34
    Specifically, though, on compensation, it says that officers who are over 35 years of age, so now thinking specifically about those 200 officers that are going to qualify for early retirement over the next five years, that the best strategy to keep them in their jobs is improving retirement benefits.
  • 01:52:55
    It's not increasing pay, it's not one-time bonuses, but it's improving retirement benefits.
  • 01:53:01
    Third, I want to address the Responding to Staffing Crisis Report that the Chief referenced earlier, which says that financial incentives are a common way of approaching recruitment and retention, but they're not always effective and they carry downsides.
  • 01:53:16
    This one, which was studied in 2023 and specifically addressed to Minnesota agencies, also said
  • 01:53:21
    Also, agencies most affected by the staffing crisis often have less success with financial incentives, which suggests that there is more to the problem than money can solve.
  • 01:53:34
    Throwing money at this problem is not going to work.
  • 01:53:38
    Second, I want to talk about setting the price of reform at $15 million.
  • 01:53:44
    Yes, I am a part of the mayor's work group on the police federation contract.
  • 01:53:51
    Yes, there are a number of strategies, a number of reforms that are important to the city that we are pursuing through the police federation contract.
  • 01:53:59
    Yes, it's important not to state and public.
  • 01:54:04
    which one matters the most or which one matters the least, but there are a number that the city cares about.
  • 01:54:10
    Setting the price of one reform at $15 million, can you imagine other reforms that we care about, how much those are going to cost?
  • 01:54:19
    We can't engage in this race to zero and throwing money at the problem.
  • 01:54:25
    Third, I want to talk about the use of aid.
  • 01:54:28
    I know that budget amendments were due earlier and that $7.2 million of the one-time public safety aid has been, there have been council member amendments that account for $7.2 million worth of this money.
  • 01:54:47
    That is money that is going to come directly into our communities right now over the next year to address the dire public safety needs that our communities have.
  • 01:54:57
    So I think the use of this aid, the use of that $15 million all at once is just not
  • 01:55:08
    It's just not reasonable.
  • 01:55:10
    And I'm bringing forward amendments that address safety measures in cultural corridors and safety along our transit corridors and hate crimes targeting places of worship, among others that council members here have discussed.
  • 01:55:26
    So I think it's really important.
• • Linea PalmisanoVice President, City Council
  • 01:55:28
    As you see, I'm in queue again.
  • 01:55:30
    Would you like to use the second part of your time, then I'd ask that you start.
  • 01:55:33
    I will use the second part of my time.
  • 01:55:35
    Thank you.
• • Aisha ChughtaiMember, City Council
  • 01:55:41
    Going back to retention bonuses not working, I want to talk specifically about Minneapolis data.
  • 01:55:46
    In April of 2022, this body, we were all here for it, approved a series of recruitment and retention bonuses.
  • 01:55:54
    $7,000 combined for recruitment, $7,000 combined for retention per officer.
  • 01:56:01
    In that time, since April of 2022, the retention number, which I will start with first,
  • 01:56:12
    was paid out in two installments over the course of nine months.
  • 01:56:17
    As a result of those recruitment and retention benefits, $7,000 for each officer, right?
  • 01:56:24
    We still saw 107 officers leave the police department.
  • 01:56:30
    If we're trying to throw money at recruitment and retention in an effort to stop the bleeding, it hasn't worked.
  • 01:56:39
    insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and hoping it will result in a different outcome.
  • 01:56:48
    And then I'll end with
  • 01:56:51
    To me, these are the reasons that got me to a no, but I'll end with this.
  • 01:56:56
    I don't know that it was particularly necessary, Mayor, to take the time to point out that I didn't make it to every single meeting while you did.
  • 01:57:06
    I appreciate that.
  • 01:57:07
    I know you made it to every single meeting.
  • 01:57:08
    Thank you for prioritizing that time.
  • 01:57:10
    What I will say is in our most recent closed session, all 13, the entire council, right, plus important staff in closed session deliberated on the Police Federation contract for hours.
  • 01:57:25
    For hours.
  • 01:57:27
    You know who didn't make time to show up to that space and engage in that conversation?
  • 01:57:32
    You didn't.
  • 01:57:32
    Neither did the Chief.
  • 01:57:36
    Thank you.
• • Linea PalmisanoVice President, City Council
  • 01:57:42
    Councilmember Goodman.
• • SPEAKER_03
  • 01:57:44
    It's kind of bizarre for me to say let's tone it all down, right?
  • 01:57:47
    So I won't do that.
  • 01:57:50
    I want to point out a couple of things that have not been said already.
  • 01:57:56
    Through a lengthy litigation process, Kathy Span and eight people in the community told the city that you need to hire more cops because you're in violation of the city's charter.
  • 01:58:11
    and the Supreme Court use the words, the City Council has the clear legal duty to employ at least 731 officers and the Council has a clear legal duty to fund it.
  • 01:58:28
    That's just the truth.
  • 01:58:30
    I know everyone wants to ignore that but that is just the truth.
  • 01:58:34
    The mayor has done his part to suggest a path forward and the council is about to say no we're not and likely the litigants will be right back in court and some people will be held in contempt of court for not doing what the court told us to do with the clear legal duty to fund it.
  • 01:58:57
    And I will note that 87% of the people who took the retention bonus stayed.
  • 01:59:04
    If anyone here had an election at 87%, we would call that a landslide.
  • 01:59:10
    So I would say that 87% of the people who stayed as a result of a retention bonus is pretty good.
  • 01:59:16
    And the people who have left perhaps left because of the way they've been treated on this dais by elected officials.
  • 01:59:25
    I'll note that this is the most collaboration I've ever seen in my time on the City Council as it pertains to the Police Federation contract.
  • 01:59:33
    I've worked with three other mayors who did not have any involvement.
  • 01:59:39
    by the City Council.
  • 01:59:41
    For better or for worse, maybe it was better actually now that we've seen how it's gone.
  • 01:59:45
    But quite frankly, this administration has included members of the council.
  • 01:59:51
    I'm one of them.
  • 01:59:52
    I've been to a lot of meetings.
  • 01:59:54
    I haven't been to all of the meetings.
  • 01:59:56
    and the single biggest reform priority we did attempt to address.
  • 02:00:01
    Let me remind you that we went all the way to the State Bureau of Mediation with our request to move officers out of the union that has supervisors.
  • 02:00:14
    Clearly something we believe is a major reform, and I believe the Chief's team also didn't love how they were treated about it, but nonetheless, we said rank and file shouldn't be in the same union as lieutenants and supervisors, sergeants, and we had a straight up rejection.
  • 02:00:33
    from the state.
  • 02:00:35
    Very disappointing, it was our top reform, there was a lot of unanimity surrounding it.
  • 02:00:41
    And so it shows that we have a lot of work to do at other levels of government, parallel is also an issue, there are plenty of other state issues on the table that make it more difficult for us to do the reform that we would like to do.
  • 02:00:53
    But we took a major step forward in trying to do that and failed.
  • 02:00:59
    I will say that clearly we have not had a briefing on how police contract labor relations work.
  • 02:01:08
    Because we've been operating in public, but any one side can say they don't want to be in public.
  • 02:01:14
    We're probably, after this, pretty close to the Federation saying they're not going to negotiate in public.
  • 02:01:19
    And then they're going to come up with an agreement that future councils potentially will reject.
  • 02:01:25
    And that will result in binding arbitration.
  • 02:01:29
    That means somebody other than the federation and us will settle the contract, and it could be on terms we don't like, it could be with the reform we don't think is enough of, it could be with salaries that are higher, or it could be with salaries that are lower.
  • 02:01:42
    We do a lot of settlement conferences, and one of the things we hear in close council meetings all the time is the strategy of risk mitigation, and I would say as it pertains to labor negotiations,
  • 02:01:56
    You really don't want to be in a position where you let somebody else make the decision.
  • 02:02:01
    And it seems like we're heading towards that.
  • 02:02:04
    Lastly, I will just talk about this idea that we're buying $15 million of reform for some shift changes.
  • 02:02:15
    What we're spending $15 million on is hoping that some of the good people who work in the department will stay.
  • 02:02:22
    What we're spending $15 million on is to recruit people to come to the city so that we have closer to the 731 officers that are required under charter that we've been ordered by the Supreme Court to ensure that we fund.
  • 02:02:40
    So the long and short of this is you saw a chart.
  • 02:02:44
    It wasn't made up.
  • 02:02:46
    Every suburban entity around us and cities around the nation are using recruitment and retention incentives.
  • 02:02:53
    And if they're a failure, everybody apparently is stupid.
  • 02:02:56
    And everybody's doing it wrong.
  • 02:02:59
    because this isn't something new to us, it's not new to Minnesota, it's happening in cities around the country.
  • 02:03:06
    I don't think that we should also be considering parity within law enforcement between violence interruption and prevention services and the police department.
  • 02:03:19
    That makes absolutely no sense to me.
  • 02:03:22
    We are never going to be in a situation where there is equal amounts of people and money being spent on intervention and prevention as police.
  • 02:03:30
    That is essentially defunding by attrition, suggesting that we move away from a model of police officers towards a model of community keeping itself safe.
  • 02:03:46
    Attrition,
  • 02:03:48
    Abolition by attrition is a thing and it seems to be happening here right now despite the fact that the court has told us we have a clear legal duty to employ at least 731 officers and an even clearer legal duty to fund it.
  • 02:04:06
    This is a very well-known proposal.
  • 02:04:09
    It's out there.
  • 02:04:10
    There's a lot of coverage about this.
  • 02:04:13
    And I anticipate we'll be right back here.
  • 02:04:15
    I might be gone.
  • 02:04:16
    Councilmember Johnson and I might be gone.
  • 02:04:18
    But others will be here to deal with what the court tells us to do as it pertains to living up to the charter.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 02:04:30
    Thank you, Councilmember Goodman.
  • 02:04:31
    Councilmember Koski.
• • Emily KoskiMember, City Council
  • 02:04:33
    Thank you, Madam President.
  • 02:04:34
    I do believe that in order to make the argument that we are required by law to prove this tentative letter of agreement because we are required by law to take action to increase the staffing level to the level required in charter, you first have to prove that this tentative letter of agreement and the sign-on and retention bonuses in this tentative letter of agreement will increase staffing levels.
  • 02:04:57
    And you can't prove that because it's not true.
  • 02:05:01
    In the new year, I plan to bring forward a staff directive to the legislative branch's policy and research team that looks into recruitment, hiring, and retention strategies for police departments that have proven effective in comparable jurisdictions across the nation because I am dedicated to addressing this problem and increasing staffing levels.
  • 02:05:19
    And I plan to bring forward a legislative directive to the executive branch requesting a formal review, report, and presentation on attrition in the city of Minneapolis, a breakdown of attrition by department, and what human resources has identified as a cause of staff's decision to quit, resign, retire, because it seems to me the narrative being spun is that it's the city council's fault.
  • 02:05:40
    Despite the fact that there are 98 employees in the legislative branch and 4,076 employees in the executive branch, despite the fact that 2.3% of this enterprise reports to us and 97.7% of the enterprise reports to the mayor, and despite the fact that probably no more than 5% of the enterprise have ever come before or interacted with the City Council,
  • 02:06:04
    I will take accountability for whatever my role, whatever our role has been in attrition.
  • 02:06:11
    Will you?
  • 02:06:11
    Finally, I want to be clear with colleagues about what this vote actually means today.
• • SPEAKER_00
  • 02:06:18
    Is that a rhetorical question or is that a question?
  • 02:06:20
    Because I'm happy to answer it.
  • 02:06:21
    Please, Mr. Mayor.
  • 02:06:21
    We will respect our council members on here.
• • Katie Cashman
  • 02:06:23
    The question was asked to me and I'm happy to answer it if you would like.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 02:06:28
    We must have some decorum in this body.
  • 02:06:33
    Council Member Koski, you cannot ask direct questions and not expect a response.
  • 02:06:40
    So, please refrain.
• • Emily KoskiMember, City Council
  • 02:06:43
    Apologies, President.
  • 02:06:44
    Finally, I want to be clear with colleagues about what this vote actually means today.
  • 02:06:49
    Today's vote is not about who does support police and who does not.
  • 02:06:54
    A yes vote today for this letter of agreement right now, right before we move into our budget markup sessions to learn fully about all the ideas council members and the new commissioner
  • 02:07:05
    have for this funding source is saying you are okay with only having roughly $3 million left of the $19 million from the state for all other strategies, all other initiatives, and all other departments, fire, neighborhood safety, 911, and emergency management, and even additional funding for police or even for our park police.
  • 02:07:29
    Today's no vote is about the opportunity to come together as a body, as colleagues, as a legislative and executive branch together around a comprehensive public safety approach that most importantly centers our residents first and ensures they not only feel but are safer.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 02:07:51
    Thank you, Councilmember.
  • 02:07:53
    Next in queue is Councilmember Johnson.
• • SPEAKER_01
  • 02:07:56
    Thank you, Madam President.
  • 02:07:58
    You know, I came in here today thinking that I would likely vote yes on this issue, though I was frustrated because I agreed that this wasn't a great process.
  • 02:08:08
    Perhaps with labor negotiations it was an improvement, but in my estimation it was not a great one from the council side.
  • 02:08:16
    Having a special meeting, a walk-on item for $15 million for our Budget Committee, right as we're going into budget season.
  • 02:08:25
    I believe there's a staffing crisis in our police department.
  • 02:08:30
    I believe that our officers, by and large, work extremely hard.
  • 02:08:35
    That it is a tough job, it is critical to the public safety of our city.
  • 02:08:42
    And I also believe that they deserve more compensation.
  • 02:08:47
    I also have concerns that a no vote would hurt morale of officers because a lot of folks will just read the headlines.
  • 02:08:57
    But we should not make policy decisions based on the headlines or a soundbite.
  • 02:09:04
    Nuance exists with these decisions.
  • 02:09:09
    And what I heard my colleagues say is that they care about public safety.
  • 02:09:14
    that they want to improve it, that they have different ideas, that compensation is critical and that officers are paid too little, that they want to help move work off the place of officers through alternatives as well, not just only compensation, including compensation.
  • 02:09:33
    I heard from many that there wasn't enough collaboration between the mayor and the council, but that there's intention to collaborate, that there's an openness and a willingness.
  • 02:09:43
    I heard that this is an unusual process from a labor negotiation standpoint, and that my colleagues have amendments lined up for the budget that today's move would completely blow up.
  • 02:09:59
    Chief, I respect what you're doing.
  • 02:10:01
    I support you, I'm thankful for our officers, and two things can be true at once.
  • 02:10:08
    That this body is committed to working towards helping with the situation of low compensation and understaffing with concrete actions in the pipeline, and that this council didn't think this process and outcome today was the best way to proceed.
  • 02:10:25
    Chief, part of your job is to help communicate that nuance, and I hope you will.
  • 02:10:32
    Please don't let false narratives take root.
  • 02:10:35
    And to my colleagues, I want you to know that I listened to each of you today, and I thoughtfully considered your words.
  • 02:10:43
    I believe there's more common and shared ground here than the debate would let on.
  • 02:10:49
    and that even though I was leaning one way when I came in, I came in open-minded and I hope that that's something you think of as well when you come in here because I heard it said earlier that this is all performative and that people know exactly which way they're going to vote.
  • 02:11:07
    But I came in thinking I was gonna vote one way and the debate did sway me.
  • 02:11:13
    So I encourage you, please continue
  • 02:11:17
    to have these full debates.
  • 02:11:19
    I'm glad we're doing this as a body today.
  • 02:11:20
    Please be open-minded yourself.
  • 02:11:23
    And for this body moving forward, I encourage you, please comprehensively move something forward this year that not only includes alternatives, but that also addresses compensation.
  • 02:11:37
    Thank you.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 02:11:40
    Thank you, Councilmember Johnson.
  • 02:11:42
    And next in queue is Councilmember Vetaw.
• • Katie Cashman
  • 02:11:45
    It's for Mayor Frey.
• • SPEAKER_00
  • 02:11:47
    Mayor Frey.
  • 02:11:49
    Thank you, Madam President.
  • 02:11:53
    To answer the question that was previously asked, the buck stops with me.
  • 02:11:59
    I'm the mayor, it's my administration, and we're doing everything to work on behalf of our constituents.
  • 02:12:07
    In doing so, there are people, experts, staff, that provide recommendations to me about how to proceed.
  • 02:12:15
    Some of the best ideas that I've had are not my ideas at all.
  • 02:12:18
    They come from our staff.
  • 02:12:21
    They come from experts in their specific subject matter areas, not politicians, not from the dais.
  • 02:12:26
    They come from a whole lot of work that's put together over time, and then recommendations are brought forward.
  • 02:12:33
    I've done a whole lot to attempt to work with council members through this negotiation process.
  • 02:12:41
    We've set up a work group.
  • 02:12:43
    We've had conversations.
  • 02:12:45
    We've agreed and we've disagreed.
  • 02:12:48
    And then the way the process works is we have a labor negotiations director that goes forth and negotiates both a contract as well as, in this case, a letter of agreement.
  • 02:13:00
    I can't give you the outcome of that letter of agreement or the deal before it's been struck.
  • 02:13:06
    It was struck about a week and a half ago and we came forward with the information.
  • 02:13:11
    Prior to that, it wasn't as if this concept of retention and incentive pay was not on the table.
  • 02:13:19
    We talked about it repeatedly.
  • 02:13:22
    I couldn't give you the final dollar figure or the deal, not because I was hiding something, but because it's not on me alone to create.
  • 02:13:31
    It's a negotiation where we go back and forth with a labor union and then we come to a conclusion that we can then bring forward.
  • 02:13:39
    Because the topic wasn't brought forward or even put on the agenda previously, it was necessary to bring it forward through a special session.
  • 02:13:48
    Not just to see how people would vote, but also to dispose of the issue so that we can continue with labor negotiations with a clear lay of the land.
  • 02:14:00
    I believe that we need to move forward with retention pay.
  • 02:14:03
    Yes, there is data that supports it.
  • 02:14:05
    Yes, I've seen also statements showing that it doesn't work.
  • 02:14:11
    Here's the thing, it's new.
  • 02:14:12
    All of this is new.
  • 02:14:14
    And we need to be doing everything possible to retain the officers that we have and respect their work.
  • 02:14:22
    We have an incredible set of individuals.
  • 02:14:26
    I know because I've talked to them, they don't like being lumped in all in the same bucket.
  • 02:14:34
    Just like council members wouldn't like being lumped in all in the same bucket.
  • 02:14:39
    We all disagree sometimes about the way we want things handled.
  • 02:14:43
    I'm sure they do too.
  • 02:14:46
    But here's the thing, they wear that badge every single day and wear that uniform every single day because they want to keep people...
  • 02:14:55
    Sorry, Mayor, your time has expired.
  • 02:14:57
    I thank you, Council members, for the time.
  • 02:14:59
    I thank you for the collaboration here and let's please continue it.
  • 02:15:04
    Thank you, Madam President.
  • 02:15:05
    Thank you, sir.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 02:15:08
    Seeing no one else in queue, I did put myself in queue.
  • 02:15:13
    And I came in here thinking I was going to vote one way.
  • 02:15:20
    And I have been swayed by members of the black community who I really feel don't get listened to.
  • 02:15:36
    And in fact,
  • 02:15:41
    Members of the black community brought a lawsuit forward saying we need more police in this city.
  • 02:15:52
    And they won.
  • 02:15:54
    Councilmember Goodman reflected that the judge said we must attempt to meet the requirements that our charter states 731 officers.
  • 02:16:12
    We have to make every good faith effort to attempt to achieve that goal.
  • 02:16:22
    Do I think we will achieve that goal?
  • 02:16:25
    It is highly unlikely.
  • 02:16:28
    But we have to make every single attempt to do that.
  • 02:16:32
    I've heard a lot said about the fact that we need to invest in
  • 02:16:40
    alternatives to policing, which I believe we have and I believe we need to continue to do more.
  • 02:16:49
    I also know that there is a $70 million allocation from the state to do just that, for communities to bring forth creative ideas on how we create alternatives to policing.
  • 02:17:05
    So
  • 02:17:07
    The reality is that there is this $19.3 million allocation as well as this $70 million allocation that we will have to apply for with these great ideas to be able to effectuate.
  • 02:17:29
    I heard people say that our communities are dying.
  • 02:17:36
    And I get to talk to black and brown people, not only in Minneapolis, but all over the country.
  • 02:17:45
    And they are not ready to abandon our police.
  • 02:17:51
    I've always said it has to be a both and approach to public safety.
  • 02:17:58
    This is, I believe, what we are attempting to do today, create
  • 02:18:07
    a police presence as well as the alternatives that we have been consistently supporting, funding, and bringing forward I believe in the next cycle.
  • 02:18:28
    And so we can't have this sort of
  • 02:18:37
    dichotomous debate.
  • 02:18:41
    We have to do both of these things.
  • 02:18:44
    And this is one step forward.
  • 02:18:46
    This is a negotiated process.
  • 02:18:48
    This has been communicated with council members.
  • 02:18:55
    We had an entire work group, which I have been a part of.
  • 02:19:00
    The letter of agreement, everybody heard about it at the same time.
  • 02:19:05
    in the paper.
  • 02:19:07
    It was front page news.
  • 02:19:09
    And we also had closed sessions discussing this.
  • 02:19:15
    So the idea that this is some surprise is baffling and quite frankly it's just not true.
  • 02:19:27
    And so
  • 02:19:35
    I will leave my comments at that and I will recognize Councilmember Ellison.
• • Jeremiah EllisonMember, City Council
  • 02:19:45
    I mostly got in queue because I was going to tease Council Member Goodman about accidentally calling Michael Rainville an abolitionist.
  • 02:19:52
    But I knew what she was saying, but I was just going to tease her about that.
  • 02:19:57
    But I did have some questions about this mention of this lawsuit.
  • 02:20:02
    We talked about it a lot at closed session.
  • 02:20:04
    And I usually take it as a sign that we shouldn't talk about closed session.
  • 02:20:09
    assumption that I usually operate under, but we've talked about it a lot today.
  • 02:20:13
    And we've talked a lot about the span lawsuit, and I know that we've talked a lot about how we still have to be able to negotiate with the federation from a strong place.
  • 02:20:30
    I think we've, my opinion, and it's not a legal opinion because I'm not a lawyer, is that we may have completely compromised that up on this dais today.
  • 02:20:38
    The other question that I have is whether or not this fast and hard adherence to that lawsuit still applies because it was dropped if my memory serves me well.
  • 02:20:55
    These are things that I was not going to mention today, but I feel compelled to mention them because my colleagues
  • 02:21:03
    have mentioned them, and I think maybe to our detriment.
  • 02:21:07
    So I was wondering if the attorney is, I'm not going to ask you to reply to any of that if you don't want to, but I figured I would ask you, since we have talked about it openly and possibly violated the closed meeting, how we should be talking about that or thinking about that lawsuit when we think about decisions like this.
• • Kristyn AndersonCity Attorney
  • 02:21:33
    Council President, Council Member Ellison, Council Members.
  • 02:21:37
    That's an interesting question.
  • 02:21:39
    I don't think that anybody is invaded the attorney client privilege or anything like that.
  • 02:21:44
    You know the Minnesota Supreme Court issued an opinion.
  • 02:21:48
    that found really two things.
  • 02:21:51
    Number one, that the City Council has an obligation to fund 731 officers and that the mayor has an obligation to employ at least 731 officers.
  • 02:22:05
    You are correct, Councilmember Ellison, that the lawsuit sort of ended at that point.
  • 02:22:11
    The Supreme Court essentially left its opinion saying it's going to remand back to the district court for the district court to determine whether there's cause for having not achieved this 731 compliment.
  • 02:22:26
    And at that point, prior to the case going back to the district court or maybe right as it did, the lawsuit was dropped.
  • 02:22:34
    So we still have a very valid Minnesota Supreme Court opinion about the funding of the budget for 371 and the all necessary efforts to employ 731, but we don't have active litigation.
• • Jeremiah EllisonMember, City Council
  • 02:22:55
    Thank you for that.
  • 02:22:55
    I just wanted to say that out loud and I'm not trying to box us in or anything like that but it does concern me when we're saying a lot of things and some of these things are things that we discuss in closed session and I don't know how the public's supposed to be able to interpret that from us up here in fragments on the dais.
  • 02:23:11
    So I still, and I also wanted to push back on the notion that this has been collaborative.
  • 02:23:20
    I don't think that you get to the point where we have this much discussion if this process was truly as collaborative as it was expressed to be.
  • 02:23:28
    And I will say again, my constituents would not be opposed to especially the idea of retention bonuses and those types of things, but these are,
  • 02:23:40
    These are, this is a lot of money and these are considerations that should be made in complete collaboration and I do not feel like that occurred here.
  • 02:23:51
    I don't think that this closes the door on
  • 02:23:56
    on a proposal like this, that's my opinion.
  • 02:23:59
    Maybe the realities on the ground will prove me wrong, but I think that we can revisit this at a more reasonable price point with more collaboration and discussion from council.
  • 02:24:08
    And I think that we should not be spending the vast majority of this money on something that is so inconclusive and untested.
  • 02:24:20
    That's my opinion.
  • 02:24:21
    And the question, and we've all had our opinion on what the central question of this debate is, the question is what equals more safe?
  • 02:24:32
    What equals more safe?
  • 02:24:36
    I think that you're seeing that there are some significant questions about whether this does equal more safe.
  • 02:24:43
    That's what we're voting on.
  • 02:24:44
    That's what I'm voting on.
  • 02:24:45
    I'll speak for myself, I guess.
  • 02:24:47
    That's what I'm voting on.
  • 02:24:48
    I've got significant questions and doubts about whether this equals more safe.
  • 02:24:54
    So just wanted to leave that there and make my comments.
  • 02:24:58
    And again, this vote, regardless of the outcome, again, I'll speak for myself, regardless of the outcome of this vote, I'm committed to collaboration.
  • 02:25:08
    I'm committed to making sure that we can move forward as a body.
  • 02:25:13
    We either have the power of the purse or we don't.
  • 02:25:16
    And I think that we should exercise it, but we shouldn't just exercise it from what we don't want.
  • 02:25:21
    We should exercise it from a viewpoint of what we do want.
  • 02:25:23
    And I think you've seen a lot of my colleagues do exactly that here today.
  • 02:25:28
    So that's all I have.
  • 02:25:30
    Madam President, thank you for the time.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 02:25:32
    Thank you, sir.
  • 02:25:33
    And next in queue is Councilmember Chavez.
• • Jason ChavezMember, City Council
  • 02:25:35
    Thank you, Council President Jenkins.
  • 02:25:36
    I just want to clear up some things.
  • 02:25:38
    This council, all 13 of us, have funded the mandatory minimum of 731 officers and have funded cadet classes.
  • 02:25:45
    Based on the conversations today, I think the public will think otherwise.
  • 02:25:47
    So I just want to clear the public record and let you know that the police is funded.
  • 02:25:51
    We have given them the 731 mandatory minimum police funding along with cadet classes.
  • 02:25:56
    Thank you.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 02:25:58
    Thank you, Council Member Chavez.
  • 02:26:01
    And it appears that we have exhausted our debate.
  • 02:26:09
    And it is now time for the clerk to call the roll on the question of the letter of agreement with the Minneapolis Police Department Federation.
• • Casey CarlCity Clerk
  • 02:26:25
    Councilmember Osman?
  • 02:26:26
    Nay.
  • 02:26:27
    Councilmember Payne?
  • 02:26:28
    No.
  • 02:26:28
    Councilmember Koski?
  • 02:26:30
    Nay.
  • 02:26:30
    Councilmember Choughtai?
  • 02:26:31
    No.
  • 02:26:32
    Councilmember Chavez?
  • 02:26:33
    No.
  • 02:26:33
    Councilmember Ellison?
• • Michael RainvilleMember, City Council
  • 02:26:34
    No.
• • Casey CarlCity Clerk
  • 02:26:35
    Councilmember Vetaw?
  • 02:26:36
    Aye.
  • 02:26:37
    Councilmember Rainville?
• • Michael RainvilleMember, City Council
  • 02:26:38
    Aye.
• • Casey CarlCity Clerk
  • 02:26:39
    Councilmember Goodman?
  • 02:26:40
    Aye.
  • 02:26:40
    Councilmember Wonsley?
  • 02:26:41
    Nay.
  • 02:26:42
    Councilmember Johnson?
  • 02:26:43
    No.
  • 02:26:44
    Vice President Palmisano?
  • 02:26:46
    Aye.
  • 02:26:46
    President Jenkins?
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 02:26:47
    Aye.
• • Casey CarlCity Clerk
  • 02:26:48
    There are five ayes and eight nays.
• • Andrea JenkinsPresident, City Council
  • 02:26:51
    That item fails.
  • 02:26:54
    And with that, we have completed our business for today and with nothing further to come before the council.
  • 02:27:02
    And without objection, this meeting is adjourned.