Articles by Deena Winter

Politics

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey suggests ‘reset’ with newly elected City Council

Mayor Jacob Frey won re-election to four more years, along with most of the more progressive City Council members he’s battled the past two years, though their coalition has weakened and they lost their veto-proof majority. Does that mean peace will come to City Hall? “I’m getting the sense that people agree that it must,” said the most senior council member, Linea Palmisano, a more moderate Democrat who sailed to re-election on Tuesday. “People are sick of gridlock in government, and we need to show that we can come together as a governing body. All of the city — not just some strong arm of council.” Dysfunction between the council and mayor and within the body itself has been a hallmark of the last two years and led to several highly public spats, from Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw accusing Council President Elliot Payne (who is also Black) of talking down to Black women, to Council Member Aisha Chughtai dropping an expletive while railing about the mayor. And even though all but one are Democrats, the council and mayor were unable to reach consensus on issues such as what to do at the site of George Floyd’s police killing and how to repurpose the police station that was torched during riots. Throughout the campaign, Frey’s top three challengers promised they could work better with the council. But they lost, and now there are four new faces on the 13-member council. Frey said voters made it clear they don’t want extreme, divisive leadership but leaders “who love this city more than they want their political opponents to fail.” He said he’s always been eager to work with willing council members, and hopes with the election over, they can “do a reset.” “The end of a veto-proof majority means we’ll have to work together again to get things done — just like we did before 2023," Frey said in a statement to the Star Tribune.