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- Transportation Ride Share Worker Protections (TNC) Ordinance: In February, the City Council passed an ordinance requiring Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) to comply with Minneapolis minimum wage law. Our goal is to make sure that workers in our community are paid fairly while also providing continuity of rideshare service as a transportation option. In the coming weeks, we will continue to refine our policy with new data and analyses while continuing conversations with the State legislature and TNC companies. At the Council meeting yesterday, we voted on a Notice of Intent to amend enforcement and compensation rate provisions in the ordinance and referred it to the BHZ Committee for discussion. At next week’s BHZ Committee, our Policy and Research (PAR) team will present their latest analysis of State data in the Minneapolis context. This conversation will inform our change in the compensation rate.
- Regulation of Tobacco Products Ordinance: The Minneapolis City Council passed a comprehensive amendment to the tobacco ordinance today. The amendment, authored by Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw, focuses on reducing health disparities, youth initiation of commercial tobacco products and protects the health of the city’s residents as a whole. The ordinance includes:
- Increasing the minimum per-pack price of cigarettes, and other commercial tobacco products to $15
- Ending price discounts and coupons for commercial tobacco products
- Increasing the penalties for licensees that violate city policy
- Ending the sampling “loophole” for any new commercial tobacco products shop
- Appointment of the City's New Director of Public Works: Granting consent to the Mayor's nomination of Timothy Sexton to the appointed position of Public Works Director for a term ending in January 2026
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Transition Plan: Adopting the 2024 update to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Transition Plan for Public Works to evaluate progress and highlight next steps of implementation.
- Douglas Ave N Resurfacing: Passage of Resolution ordering the work to proceed and adopting special assessments for ADA improvements and street resurfacing along Douglas Ave N.
- New Nicollet Public Space Framework: Adoption of the Public Space Framework for the New Nicollet Redevelopment (also known as "the former Kmart site") includes three key points:
- Approving the Public Space Framework to begin pre-development planning work for the future private redevelopment of the New Nicollet Redevelopment Project site.
- Authorizing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board to plan for the potential transfer of property at the New Nicollet Redevelopment Project for a future park.
- Passage of Resolution approving the appropriation of funds in the amount of $175,000 for pre-development services and community engagement for Phase III of the New Nicollet Redevelopment Project.
- Minnehaha 3000: City staff presented Council with a draft concept plan for re-use of the city-owned property at 3000 Minnehaha. This building, the former 3rd Precinct, was burned in 2020 following riots over the murder of George Floyd. The city’s plan is to proceed with clean up of the site and conduct community engagement this summer to gather feedback on housing Election and Voter Services in the building, with 8,000 additional square feet for community use. Reach out to me if you’d like to weigh in and stay tuned for more community engagement opportunities later this spring.
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Sexual Assault Awareness Month: Passage of an honorary resolution declaring April 2024 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month in the City of Minneapolis. -
International Workers Day: Passage of an honorary resolution recognizing International Workers Day. - Honoring Veronica Mendez: Passage of a resolution honoring Veronica Méndez Moore as she departs from Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha - CTUL.
Ward 7 Community Survey Series In each Ward 7 Newsletter, we include a question for constituents to weigh in on. Questions may be related to upcoming policy decisions, future planning, issue prioritization, community project ideas, and more. Today's question: Doors Open Minneapolis is just around the corner on May 18-19, and there are many incredible locations participating. What locations in Ward 7 would you either like to tour and/or believe are hidden gems others should know about? SUBMIT YOUR RESPONSE HERE Details for April "Coffee with Katie" West Maka Ska residents, join me for the next monthly iteration of “Coffee with Katie” at The Bakken Museum (3537 Zenith Ave S) on Tuesday, April 30th from 5:30-7pm. These monthly community roundtable discussions provide a chance to talk directly with me and your neighbors about ideas, concerns, and opportunities. Come and go as your schedule allows! Enter through the main entrance; visit thebakken.org for location and access details. Out and About in Ward 7 Our team continues to get out into the community, engaging in more than 20 constituent and stakeholder meetings of all sizes and formats over the past two weeks. A few highlights include: - EINA Annual Meeting: I joined the 60+ neighbors at the East Isles Annual Meeting to share about work happening at the City and hear from community members about their ideas, concerns, and the exciting projects both in motion and upcoming in East Isles.
- YouthLink tour: Along with other Councilmembers, I visited and toured YouthLink, a nonprofit in downtown Minneapolis that helps young people between the ages of 16 and 24 on their journeys from homeless to hopeful.
- Peavey Plaza site visit: Our team visited with operations team members at the Downtown Improvement District (DID) who manage both the mechanical functionality and programming for Peavey Plaza, a City-owned public space with a water feature on Nicollet Mall where people of all ages (and pets!) can cool off and enjoy live entertainment throughout the summer.
- Listening session with Hospitality MN: Along with Councilmembers Chowdhury, Chughtai, and Council President Payne we held a listening session with members of Hospitality MN on an in-progress draft ordinance to explore the creation of a Labor Standards Board in Minneapolis.
- MTAC tour: As an appointed member of the Minneapolis Tree Advisory Commission (MTAC), I toured MPRB's tree staging area where thousands of trees are organized and prepped for delivery and planting across the city.
Adjure Constituent Services Platform What's up with "Council Replies?" Meet Adjure! If you've noticed emails from the Ward 7 team coming from the contact name "Council Replies," it means we are sending through a new constituent service management system designed for the Council offices that launched February 20th. The City's Constituent Services and Legislative Tech staff presented on these new tools and the ways it will benefit the community in engaging with their elected officials over the short and long term at the March 4th Committee of the Whole.  A Note on Improvements to Metro Transit Service We have been having important conversations with community, colleagues at the City, and partners about the role of public transit in our city's transportation ecosystem. I'm sharing this note because we know public transit is not yet where it needs to be to effectively serve the community, but we are seeing tangible improvements. This year, Metro Transit provided nearly 45 million rides in 2023, a 16% increase from 2022 and the second consecutive year of growth following a pandemic-induced drop in ridership. After hiring more than 400 operators in 2023, local and Bus Rapid Transit service is now at 90% of 2019 levels. As part of the transportation wins from last year’s state legislative session, two free fare pilots were started in July 2023 and will go through the end of this year. Since then, we’ve seen average weekday ridership on routes 32 and 62 grew 38% and 18% from July through December, compared to the same months in 2022. According to Rep. Sydney Jordan, who rides the 32, "There's a lot of good data that shows that we should look more into this,” as a means of promoting public transit use. Furthermore, Rep. Brad Tabke’s transit safety bill from last year, have rolled out Transit Rider Investment Program agents, or TRIP personnel, to provide more official presence on rail for safety, enforce the code of conduct, and connect passengers who may be in need to social services. Regionwide, there were more than 48.7 million rides on Metropolitan Council transportation services, including Metro Transit, Metro Mobility, Transit Link and Metro Transit micro. Regional ridership grew 16% compared to 2022. Check out this Strib opinion piece about public transit, as one example of the community-wide dialogue we’re having about our transportation options, and how public transit could further improve to serve more people.
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Collective Spring Market Join the small business community at Loring Corners tonight from 4-8pm and tomorrow from 10am-3pm to shop with local makers, enjoy food and drinks, and music from Minnesota Timberwolves DJ A-Quil. Visit LAB MPLS for more details on the participating businesses. Slow Roll with Emerson Families on Saturday The family-friendly event organized in partnership by Slow Roll Twin Cities, Colectiva Bilingue, and Bici Xicas has been rescheduled to tomorrow, April 27th starting at 9:30am at Green Central Elementary (3416 4th Ave S). Call/text 612-807-1070 for details. Doors Open Minneapolis, May 18-19 Doors Open is a fabulous annual event that opens over 100 venues across Minneapolis of all types for free public tours. Join me as a Doors Open volunteer this year for the chance to actively engage in our city's cultural heritage and connect with special places throughout Ward 7. The Doors Open website has the volunteer opportunities available and volunteer training dates. Each volunteer needs to attend one training session, which are coming up in early May.  Temporary Closure of Lake of the Isles Parkway A short section of Lake of the Isles Parkway from Franklin Avenue to 21st Street W is scheduled to close April 29-May 3. The closure is necessary for City of Minneapolis Public Works to perform catch basin repairs at the northern tip of Lake of the Isles. Traffic will be detoured west on Franklin Avenue and south on Penn Avenue. Trails will remain open through this area. More details on MPRB's road closures page. "As You Go" Campaign Minneapolis, as part of its Transportation Action Plan, is aiming to have 3 out every 5 trips taken by walking, biking or transit. This will be one of many community engagement events promoting the many ways we can get around. I will be speaking at this event in support our of Public Works’ As You Go MPLS campaign; I hope you can join! - What: Celebrate Bike Week
- Where: Commons Park, 425 Portland Ave S
- When: Thursday, May 16, 9am – 10:30am
- Event features: Free bike tune-ups and safety checks; Scooter and e-bike demos by the shared micro-mobility providers (Lime & Veo); Bike organization exhibitors to share information and resources on bike related topics
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