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Tensions are high in the lakes area of Minneapolis, home to many of the city’s wealthiest residents. But it’s not all bad news: I became Officially Minnesotan™ after I saw a man shove Walter Mondale’s son, Bill Mondale, at Saturday’s Ward 7 DFL Convention.
On stage in a Bryn Mawr school auditorium, midway through the convention, Minneapolis Council Member Katie Cashman tried to ease tensions and win over the crowd by touting the fact she voted for the new police union contract in 2024. An indignant man called out that she was lying. And my friend Hot Dog Larry Jacobs (aka Jason Garcia) had to assure him, yes, Cashman really did vote for that contract. But the man wasn’t buying it.
That’s right, a local media figure best known for wearing a hot dog costume on YouTube has a firmer grasp on reality than your average high-income, high-information(?) lakes area convention-goer. It’s gotten so bad that my friend in Ward 7, a former girl scout, clips articles before leaving home in order to combat misinformation.
Continue reading ““I Saw a Man Shove Walter Mondale’s Son”: A Harshening of the Vibes in Minneapolis Ward 7″
One reason cities and park boards adopt long range plans: if the unexpected opportunity to rebuild a park comes up, you’re ready to go. A plan is already on the shelf waiting.
When it comes to the Mall in Uptown, the opportunity is now. The Met Council is doing sewer work. They’re digging up the ground and will put it back together however the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board wants. They pay, we get a new park. It’s effectively free money, from MPRB’s perspective.
But that’s not happening. The MPRB voted last night to abandon their long range plan and have the Met Council rebuild the park as is. How could this happen?
It’s a tale as old as time: parking anxiety masquerading as concerns about emergency vehicles.
Continue reading “Pretend Concerns Over Fire Safety Doom Plan for Added Green Space at Uptown’s Mall Park”
Streets and parking. We may frequently divert to conversations about crime, housing, and homelessness – but local politics always come back to streets and parking.
As host of the Wedge neighborhood’s #1 rated podcast, I’ve been forced to listen to some of the worst transportation arguments that have ever been made, especially during my conversations with this year’s candidates for city council.
Over the last decade I’ve been pleased to see Minneapolis make strides towards building streets that are friendlier to bikes, pedestrians, and transit riders. Will that hard-won progress continue? Or will we surrender to the backlash?
Some of the most common complaints:
The following is my response to your transportation concerns.
Continue reading “Caucus Night Reminder: Nothing Is More Political Than Our Streets”
Once upon a time, in a bustling city, there was a heated debate about a proposed bike lane that would require removing a large, beautiful tree. Two women came before the wise King Wedgemon, claiming they were deeply concerned about the fate of the tree.
Continue reading “Settling the Eternal Bikes vs. Trees Debate: The Wisdom of King Wedgemon”
In 2021, the local chamber of commerce types who spent millions on Mayor Jacob Frey’s reelection and to boost a ballot question giving Frey strong mayor powers, argued that Minneapolis needed clear lines of authority and accountability. If everyone was in charge, then nobody was in charge. In order to ensure there could be no doubt who to hold responsible in cases of failure, they said voters deserved a strong mayor. Now we have one.
Four years later, and even the best journalism our city can produce about a dysfunctional, mismanaged, possibly corrupt city department — responsible for millions in public safety spending — frequently does not mention Mayor Jacob Frey’s name.
Continue reading “Mayor Jacob Frey is in charge — right?”
It’s been a rough handful of years, Minneapolis. And if recent events in our nation’s capital have you doubting how much longer we’ll still have a country, I understand. It makes for yet another city election year during troubled times.
It was eight years ago during the chaotic and traumatic first year of a Trump presidency that we elected what was, at that point, the most progressive and diverse City Council in our history. That same year we elected a young and energetic new mayor, Jacob Frey, who’d spent one term as a council member.
That 2017 campaign in was flavored by a reaction to the threat posed by Trump. It was an outlet for pent up political energy. Council incumbent Kevin Reich spoke of “accelerated national concerns” and dismissed the local political mood as activists mindlessly pursuing “change for change’s sake.” Lisa Goodman, facing a serious challenger for the first time after 20 years in office, called it a “twisted purification ritual” to spend “time, energy and money” running a campaign in a safe DFL district like hers.
Continue reading “Minneapolis faces yet another city election during troubled times”
But I understand the defeatism. Sure, I wish my Minnesota summers involved less breathing in of wildfire smoke. But for many of us, climate change still feels abstract. It’s a thing that will destroy a group of people I don’t know, living lives I can’t relate to, in a place very far away — like Los Angeles.
And with a new president determined to undermine national and global climate action, acting locally feels like a drop in the bucket when we need a firehose.
But this isn’t just “climate defeatism.” That doesn’t capture what MnDOT is doing by rejecting further study of removing the I-94 trench. The traffic engineering professionals at MnDOT are claiming that an expanded freeway with more lanes and more cars will produce less pollution than if we replaced it with a more traditional urban street.
That’s public health denialism.
Continue reading “MnDOT’s public health denialism”
On Wednesday, KSTP called it “a decision that could change the entire business landscape” in Minneapolis — “a government body overseeing wages, benefits, and training” and “enforce requirements concerning wages and benefits.”
Sounds ominous — but none of it is true.
They were talking about a proposed Labor Standards Board in Minneapolis, which would replace the city’s existing Workplace Advisory Committee. The proposal, like dozens of other city advisory boards and committees, wouldn’t oversee or enforce anything. It would not have real power. It would study issues and offer recommendations. The city council has no obligation to accept its recommendations and pass their ideas into legislation.
Continue reading “I’m Freaking Out Over the Minneapolis Labor Standards Board”
Yesterday’s Chief O’Hara press conference had everything. He blamed a victim for getting shot; blamed those critical of police for making MPD’s job too hard; blamed prosecutors for making police scared to do their jobs; and he pissed off Council Member Andrea Jenkins so badly that she’s demanding the police — who we “pay a lot of money” — to “do their job.”
Continue reading “Chief O’Hara Spreads the Blame in Bonkers Press Conference”
A reader tipped me off that Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara and Metro Transit’s former Police Chief Ernest Morales have wikipedia pages created by the same editor. Both pages were created in early 2023 and read like promotional material. Wikipedia does allow for paid editing but “does not allow promotion, advertising, marketing or public relations.”
Continue reading “Local Police Chiefs Enlisted IT Consultant to Create Their Wikipedia Pages”