Better Minneapolis Podcast

July 16

Thursday’s city council meeting was difficult to predict. Ward 10 Council Member Aisha Chughtai was on medical leave, leaving the council with 12 members present. Her absence may have pressured Ward 6 Council Member Jamal Osman to reconsider his vote on the Skydio drone pilot measure he co-authored with Ward 4 Council Member Latrisha Vetaw. Between co-authoring and Thursday’s vote, Osman decided Skydio’s client base was unacceptable. His vote against his own measure resulted in a 6-6 tie, which meant it did not pass.

Skydio

Vetaw introduced the pilot as an alternative policing method her Ward 4 constituents wanted. After 2.5 years of work, the pilot would cost nothing for 75 days while the city assessed data—with no clarity on pricing afterward. Two police-operated drones would respond to the most serious 911 calls (Tier 0 & 1). Of 33,000 Ward 4 calls in 2025, over 5,000 could have had drone first responders. For half the council, possible lives saved outweighed privacy and abuse risks. Jacob Frey made a rare chamber appearance to support the pilot, saying the “people of Minneapolis shouldn’t be collateral damage for geopolitical concerns.” Rainville noted a drone might have saved Officer Mitchell’s life. Shaffer highlighted rapid Narcan delivery and faster response to lake distress calls. Voting yes: Vetaw, Warren, Whiting, Rainville, Shaffer, and Palmisano.

Opposition was passionate. Beyond surveillance concerns over peaceful protests, suspicion centered on Skydio itself. The company holds contracts with the Israeli Defense Force and ICE/DHS. Osman explained his reversal by referencing Palestinian children killed by the IDF. Another factor was distrust of the MPD. Chowdhury and Wonsley worried internal procedures would fail to prevent abuse and said the MPD has a poor track record of holding officers accountable (Facebook surveillance was cited as an example). Chavez referenced a lawsuit against Skydio in Chula Vista, CA. Voting no: Chavez, Wonsley, Payne, Stevenson, Chowdhury, and Osman.

Were it not for Skydio’s contracts with the IDF and DHS, this pilot likely passes. Other cities nationwide and in Minnesota use Skydio for first responder programs. The debate raised important questions: What data proves effectiveness? What would count as success? The discussion revealed the MPD already operates drones with a trained operator unit in place. If they have the equipment and expertise, why Skydio? Why now? The MPD might be able to proceed with its own first responder program.

Heritage Park Relocation

This topic received detailed coverage during Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole. Few questions were asked, but controversy remained. Wonsley pushed for approval of a measure requiring a memo outlining ways to recoup the $2.5 million drawn from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund for relocating 686 residents. Warren opposed the memo, wanting focus on helping residents rather than parceling out blame. Yet Warren herself blamed Public Housing Authority Director Abdi Warsame. (The NAACP has called for his termination.)

The council approved both: funding and a memo on cost recovery. Emergency Management Director Rachel Sayre explained the relocation process. As of yesterday, the Heritage Park Coordination Group was established to coordinate efforts across departments and government levels. The relocation is being treated as an emergency—the first major test for Sayre since her June 26 confirmation. She told the council the effort exceeds one department’s capacity. The funding vote was 12-0.

Lyndale Avenue Reconstruction

On another day, this measure would have dominated. It passed 8-4, opposed by Warren, Shaffer, Rainville, and Vetaw. The county plan was adopted: bike lanes, reduced parking, removed trees. Amendments passed aimed to reduce construction impact, including extended work hours. Chowdhury advocated for “whimsy” like a “beers with bulldozers” program to keep the area vital during construction. She said construction needn’t become the area’s death knell. Business owners, represented by Shaffer, disagreed. No dedicated funding exists to help corridor businesses survive. Wonsley noted $900,000 allocated for Hennepin Avenue businesses went unspent.

The timeline proved decisive. Federal funds require a finalized plan by June 2027. Chavez and others flagged the risk to that funding. Warren raised operational concerns. She said emergency vehicles struggle when traffic backs up (the Annunciation shooting illustrates the problem). Others felt the design addresses these issues. Construction won’t begin until 2028, but business owners will likely seek exits starting today. Lyndale appears headed for Hennepin’s fate.

Final Thoughts

Council divisions continue to harden and seem to be a microcosm of larger Democratic Party friction. Those voting for the drone pilot likely support Representative Angie Craig for Senate; opponents favor Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan. Both candidates are spending millions on negative advertising ahead of August 11’s primary. Whether they can unite afterward remains unclear.

The council mirrors this dynamic: resentment and mistrust persist despite coaching and counseling. If this fracture scales to the state level, the party emerges weaker. Fortunately for Minnesota Democrats, the Republican Party is in even worse shape.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.betterminneapolis.com/subscribe

Today, Wednesday July 15, I spoke with Enrique Velazquez, Minneapolis Director of Regulatory Services about the response to homelessness, encampments, open-air drug markets, and the city’s evolving strategy for getting people into safer, more stable housing.

In this interview, we cover five big points.

First, the city says it is currently tracking 53 encampment-related sites, hotspots, and vehicle locations, with roughly 400 people observed across them — though officials stress that not everyone counted is necessarily unsheltered.

Second, we discuss how the city’s homeless response team works with Hennepin County and service providers, especially under the mayor’s newer policy aimed at coordinating outreach with public safety efforts around open-air drug markets.

Third, we get into the controversy over fencing around public spaces, including areas near Cedar and Hiawatha. The city says fencing is not its preferred solution, but sometimes becomes a temporary tool when other approaches fail to restore safety, access, and livability.

Fourth, we look at harm reduction and public health, including the striking figure that roughly 11,000 doses of Narcan have been distributed through city vending machines — separate from what police, fire, and other responders carry.

Finally, we talk about what might come next: safe outdoor parking spaces, barriers to shelter use, the Heritage Park housing crisis, and whether Minneapolis can actually reduce unsheltered homelessness over time.

The message from the city is cautiously optimistic: homelessness is not unsolvable, but it will require sustained investment, better coordination, and a focus not only on moving people out of homelessness, but preventing them from becoming homeless in the first place.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.betterminneapolis.com/subscribe

Immediate Action

On July 16, the city council will vote on allocating $2.5 million from the Minneapolis Affordable Housing Trust Fund to relocate 212 households or approximately 685 residents.

The Instigator

Ward 5 Council Member Pearll Warren toured Heritage Park, documented the mold, collapsed roofs, and unsafe living conditions with her cell phone, and posted the video to social media. What followed was swift action, not out of responsibility, but out of embarrassment. The Minneapolis NAACP is now demanding the resignation or termination of Minneapolis Public Housing Authority (MPHA) Executive Director Abdi Warsame. On July 16, the city council will decide whether to move $2.5 million from the Affordable Housing Trust fund to relocate approximately 212 households-685 residents in total. CPED allocated an additional $500,000 from their budget.

The Reckoning

Erik Hansen, Director of Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED), presented a report on the situation while the entire city council fumed. Enrique Velazquez (Regulatory Services) and Angel Bogard (Inspection Services) testified to confirm what residents had long known: Heritage Park was unlivable.

The problem was structural. A partnership agreement with MPHA meant the city only inspected when residents complained. This situation was made worse by accusations that MPHA retaliated against complainants by revoking Section 8 vouchers.

Warren’s critique was withering. She admonished CPED and Regulatory Services for their inspection lapses, demanding they “be as tight as a frog’s bottom” in future collaboration. She asked the simple, damning question: why did she have to inspect the property herself while the people paid to do so did not? She called McCormack Baron Salazar, the original developer, “a developer with a habitual practice of bad business,” adding she would take “a large glass of no thank you” to working with them again.

Every council member thanked Warren for exposing what happened on her predecessor’s watch. Jeremiah Ellison served Ward 5 from 2018 to 2026 as conditions deteriorated. We wonder if he could have done more to assist residents in the ward.

The anger was rightfully directed at Regulatory Services, CPED, and MPHA. Hansen summed up the moment: “We are in crisis mode,” he said. When asked about the scope of damage: “It’s bad, it’s bad.” The city doesn’t yet know if Heritage Park is salvageable or requires complete rebuilding.

The Bitter Irony

Council Member Whiting pointed out the cruel symmetry: Heritage Park itself was born from the Hollman v. Cisneros consent decree of 1995, which promised North Minneapolis a new chapter after four public housing complexes were demolished due to deplorable conditions. The decree mandated deconcentrated, sustainable, mixed-income housing. Thirty years later, the cycle has repeated. As the Spokesman Recorder reported:

In April 1995, the Hollman v. Cisneros consent decree promised North Minneapolis a new chapter-deconcentrated, sustainable, mixed-income housing to replace four demolished public housing complexes. Twenty-five years in, that promise is being tested in a Hennepin County courtroom.

The Financial Trap

Rebuilding costs remain unknown, though Warren estimates they’ll exceed $100 million. Conversations about funding haven’t even started. Council Member Soren Stevenson expressed what many felt: frustration that the city has become the financial backstop for decades of extracted developer profits. McCormack Baron Salazar profited for years before walking away.

Last year, Certus Financial LLC took over as property manager in receivership. MPHA retains underlying land ownership, but Certus now operates the rental property which is losing $200,000 per month. That’s why the city is raiding the MPHA fund. Certus has been transparent with the city; McCormack Baron Salazar was not, yet the city continued issuing them rental licenses. Director Bogard’s explanation of the inspection and licensing process left council members unconvinced.

What’s Next: July 16 and Beyond

The full council meets on July 16 and we anticipate it will be a long one. Three major items are on the agenda:

* Emergency funding to relocate Heritage Park residents

* Lyndale Avenue Reconstruction design (five years of debate; community resentment over proposed changes is deep)

* Drone pilot program for first responders (concerns over surveillance; objections to Skydio’s prior supply of drones to Israel)

We’re sending a summary newsletter Friday morning. Later that day, we're interviewing Council Member Rainville about the Heritage Park vote, Lyndale Avenue, and the drone pilot. We'll also discuss the HERC closure report he requested. We’ll be traveling July 18-28, so our newsletter schedule during that period is uncertain.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.betterminneapolis.com/subscribe

The left wing of the Democratic Party fell hard for first-time politician Graham Platner, the crusty, straight-talking oyster farmer from Maine. We heard it endlessly: he was an “authentic” working man, as though such creatures were difficult to locate without political consultants pointing them out to us.

What didn’t fit the “fighter for the working class” narrative got ignored or explained away. Point out that Platner attended elite prep school or that his father paid for his house? You clearly didn’t understand the significance of his message. If Democrats had simply paused to ask why being an oyster farmer qualified anyone to be a U.S. Senator, it might have slowed the rush of endorsers, Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and Minnesota’s Peggy Flanagan among them.

If both win their primaries (El-Sayed on August 4, Flanagan on August 11), it will be interpreted as proof that the Democratic Party has shifted solidly left, possibly too far left for the moderate electorate when they have to win entire states, not just party faithful. (Flanagan has since publicly withdrawn her support.)

The Electoral Calculation

The Cook Political Report still calls Maine a toss-up. We disagree. We believe the Platner debacle doesn’t just hand Susan Collins her reelection, it makes it more likely that Arkansas, Michigan, and Ohio tip Republican. If our read is correct, Republicans will perform far better in November than anyone expected in February.

Why We Keep Falling for It

The Platner collapse has exposed, once again, how manufactured our candidates are. We want to believe in our leaders so badly that we’ll overlook almost anything. We even listened to podcasters explain how Platner’s flaws were advantages, they made him more approachable, the argument went. People don’t want pristine leaders, they said; it makes them feel inadequate by comparison.

It’s the same impulse that makes us believe Jeremy Allen White, who plays Carmen in The Bear, is a master chef in real life. More likely he has a personal chef and would burn a grilled cheese sandwich if left alone in a kitchen. His job is to act. If he does it well, we assume he is like his character, but that’s rarely the case. Next role, he could play a welder. Both professions take years to master.

What Matters More Than the Story

More often than not, we want a politician whose personal story feels relatable. What the Platner saga teaches us is that their character and track record matter far more than the life narrative they ask us to believe.

There’s another caution embedded here. The identity characteristics candidates, or their handlers, choose to highlight are usually selected because focus groups liked them. Right now, Angie Craig touts that she’s a lesbian. Peggy Flanagan highlights her Native American heritage. Neither quality indicates how well they’ll serve in the Senate. They’re signals designed to activate support, or at least support from certain constituencies. It must be that being an English major performs terribly in focus groups, because we’re still waiting for a candidate brave enough to lead with that.

The Devalued Endorsement

The DFL endorsement once signaled that a candidate had been vetted, that voters could trust them to represent Democratic values. That endorsement’s value has been muddied. Increasingly, people understand that the DFL contains the DSA. From an outsider’s perspective, it’s unclear which group is responsible when someone gets endorsed. The distinction matters.

Like Mainers, Minnesotans tend to be reserved and slow to accept outsiders. It seems many of us share Maine’s frustration with the status quo and want a change in government. We understand the impulse. Watching the current administration’s corruption and incompetence is infuriating. But we hope Minnesota doesn’t let that hunger for change lead us to similar poor choices.

Before You Vote

If you’re planning to vote in the primary, we encourage readers to research the candidates, even meet them if possible. Avoiding the spin takes effort. It’s worth it.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.betterminneapolis.com/subscribe

On recent Mondays, when the weather is nice, I ride my bike to Turtle Bread at Chicago and 48th to meet David Therkelsen. We’re planning a trip to Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco, July 18–28, where we’ll meet with policymakers and residents to record their lessons on good governance and bring back recommendations for Minneapolis.

One topic on our list is drug addiction. These cities, and Minneapolis, are searching for ways to address the effects of the opioid epidemic and crystal meth. Each has navigated the hazards of encampments and the tangle of contributing factors: housing, mental illness, and the addictive power of fentanyl and other drugs. Cities and counties across the country are preparing budgets and deciding where to allocate funds along a continuum of options for addressing a disease that can reach into any family, pull out a member, and leave them on the street to fend for themselves.

From Turtle Bread, I walk across Chicago to the D-Line bus stop. This “Express” bus takes me downtown through Phillips, Ventura Village, and Elliot Park before my stop on 7th Street between 3rd and 4th avenues. The ride is filled with moral hazard. This week, I wasn’t sure whether to call 311 or 911 because the only other person at my morning bus station was bent double, in a nod against the shelter. I called neither. The bus driver and the few other passengers, I’m sure, did nothing as well.

It’s unclear to me what the truly compassionate action is when encountering people along the route who are either in the deep grip of addiction or searching for their next fix. A young woman boards surrounded by three men with hungry eyes, disheveled, dirty, their clothes torn from nights sleeping in weeds along roadsides. I can’t help but wonder if she’s being trafficked. Identifying trafficking isn’t something I’ve been trained to do. She got on with them; she left with them. Perhaps my sheltered existence warps my interpretation. I hope so. Like the woman who sometimes sleeps behind the electrical box at the top of the off-ramp near our house, I hope there’s somewhere safe for her to go.

The Better Minneapolis editor sent me a story by Michael R. Hatch from Seattle, who lost his sister to a drug overdose. I’ve started following his newsletter. His compassion is rooted in genuine concern to find a solution to this crisis. In a follow-up story titled “The Right Side of Right,” he quotes Sherman Alexie, the National Book Award-winning novelist, who has also struggled with addiction:

“He drives past 12th and Jackson, he told me, and curses a city whose empathetic politics serve only as a placebo for the politicians themselves.”

Hatch then praises the method being tried in San Francisco by Daniel Lurie:

Daniel Lurie told his city the truth it had refused for a decade: the people dying on the sidewalk are not a housing statistic. They are sick, and a decent city gets them well.

Then he built what getting well takes. A stabilization center on Geary Street, open around the clock, where police can bring a person in crisis at any hour and a clinician is waiting. Shelter built around recovery. An end to handing out drug supplies to people with no path to treatment.

His approval sits near 74 percent, because people were never tired of compassion. They were tired of a failed ideology that left only suffering on the sidewalks.

California went further, and closer to home for me. This year the state began allowing conservatorships that hold a person in treatment for a year, renewable as long as the illness lasts: the power to keep someone safe and cared for until they are well, instead of releasing them the moment they can stand.

And:

Seattle has never once enacted the thing that actually saves a life: the conservatorship law, the treatment beds, the intervention Daniel Lurie built in San Francisco. It will not face the fact the whole crisis turns on: these are people who have lost the capacity to act for themselves.

He goes on:

We already intervene for people who cannot keep themselves alive. We do not leave the Alzheimer’s patient to wander into traffic. We do not let a child fend for herself in an alley. We would never call that freedom. The addict dying in the doorway has lost the same capacity to choose. We have simply decided, in his case alone, to look away and call it respect.

We know what is right. That is the unbearable part. San Francisco knows it. California knows it. Every grieving family knows it. The sick have to be rescued, especially the ones too sick to ask, and it takes a law that can hold them, a place that can heal them, and the plain nerve to build both and to stand up to the people who will call it cruelty.

Policy Changes

Hatch's writing, describing his desperation with Seattle, arrives as Mayor Frey announces changes to Minneapolis encampment policy. Police will issue citations and arrest people involved in public drug selling and use. Predictably, social activists called this cruelty and authoritarianism. They cannot grasp that the status quo consists of people unable to make sound decisions. Allowing them to remain is akin to letting someone with Alzheimer's wander into traffic. These are people whose free will has been usurped by a tyrant called addiction. Riding the bus, witnessing the stages of trafficking and addiction, it seems absurd to think intervention and possible conservatorship is anything other than compassionate.

Thursday I will interview Enrique Velazquez, Minneapolis Director of Regulatory Services, to ask what Mayor Frey's new policy means for the city and how the Safe Outdoor Spaces program might be implemented. The idea allows designated spots for the homeless to sleep in their cars or other vehicles. If readers doubt Minneapolis's urgent needs, ride the D-Line. A compassionate city acknowledges the addiction crisis and stands up for its neighbors. We want healing to have a chance, not because watching someone nod off next to us makes us uncomfortable, but because we know they are suffering and unable to choose a different path on their own. For their sake, we're willing to support any policy that brings about meaningful change.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.betterminneapolis.com/subscribe

Tuesday night, the Theater of Public Policy, presented by Danger Boat Productions and City Cast Twin Cities, brought Mayor Jacob Frey and Council President Elliott Payne to the Granada Theater in Uptown for an evening of policy discussion and improv comedy. It managed to be both serious and entertaining. We respect that these city officials showed up.

The evening opened with a discussion about lessons learned from the hiring and firing of former MPD Chief Brian O’Hara. Payne emphasized that the next chief must be an active participant in the reform process, though he qualified that reform is everyone’s responsibility, not one person’s. He wants someone with humility who listens to residents like Michelle Gross, who has led police reform efforts for decades. Someone accountable to the broader community.

Frey largely agreed but offered a defense of O’Hara, noting that crime and complaints had both decreased during his tenure.

What was absent from this discussion, beyond Frey’s brief mention of crime, was any serious treatment of what the next police chief would actually do to reduce crime and attract more officers. The next chief will certainly be tasked with extending reforms. But that is hardly all they need to do. If we have reforms and rampant crime, we will call that a failure.

When politicians talk about crime and policing, they retreat into the academic. They omit the victims. They omit the families recovering from a loved one shot or attacked. They try to reduce it to a math problem, one solved when a specific number of officers are on staff.

Payne offered this calculation:

I actually did a comprehensive study of five years of call data and put together a staffing model with outside consultants who used to be police chiefs, and they calculated that we could meet the calls for service with a police force anywhere between 270 to 450 officers exclusively for 911 calls. That doesn’t cover investigations, that doesn’t cover other administrative work. But that was just the 911 calls for service, especially as you start taking into account the problem nature codes, that’s the wonky technical term for it. Is it a car accident or a bank robbery? There are certain ones we can peel off, like we’ve done with the behavioral crisis response. All of those added up to that number. But that’s actually not the debate.

I think the real math debate here is if it’s going to be thirty million dollars of overtime that we need to cover our basic services.

We’d like to know more about his math. Minneapolis has a higher rate of 911 calls per capita than cities like Portland and Seattle. Year-to-date, the 911 dashboard shows 88,244 Priority 1 and 2 calls — the most serious. Behavioral Crisis Response calls account for 3,341, less than 4%. Right now, there are 638 sworn officers. If every one of them were responding to calls, that would mean each officer would respond to roughly 276 calls per year. Of course, that isn’t how it works. At any given time, officers are out on paid leave for medical reasons or vacation. Others are in administrative roles, as Payne notes.

The math, to us, indicates that MPD officers remain busy responding to calls. But math isn’t the only factor here. Two others demand consideration.

* The City Charter mandates 731 officers based on the Minneapolis population. Frey will likely be found in contempt of court next year because the MPD has failed to maintain this standard. If advocates for reform want to see a smaller force that more closely matches Payne’s math, they will need to change the city charter.

* A majority of residents want more police. It’s one of the reasons Frey was reelected as mayor. They want them trained. They want them to apply the law fairly. But they want them. Wanting more police does not preclude wanting more support for those with mental health issues, drug addiction, or housing and food insecurity. It simply means residents have grown tired of the lawlessness that takes place when the police force is understaffed.

Recent Events

On June 30, the DOJ, along with the FBI, DEA, MPD, and Hennepin County Sheriff’s office, announced charges against 11 people connected to drug trafficking and murder. The indictment included members of the “G Block” gang, who operate in the area of 19th Street and Nicollet Avenue selling fentanyl and cocaine, and members of the “Family Mob,” which operates along Lake Street.

We agreed with Sheriff Dawanna Witt’s comments about the arrest:

Drug trafficking is not just about illegal narcotics. It fuels violence. It exploits people struggling with addiction. It puts the entire community at risk. As outlined in this indictment, these crimes are also connected to serious acts of violence, including murder. No single agency can tackle criminal organizations like these alone. That is why these collaborations matter.

We raise this arrest not to spark sensationalism, but to remind the loud and repetitive voices in Minneapolis that seem to believe we can function without police that the stakes are real. Ride a bike through Lake and Blaisdell and it becomes immediately apparent that significant problems must be addressed to move beyond the current crisis. Speak with the residents on these blocks and the issues become far less academic.

There may be a time in the distant future when the gangs, drugs, and guns currently on our streets are no longer an issue. But that day is not here. And we have not yet seen a roadmap that gets us there.

Minneapolis needs new ideas for moving forward in a realistic and achievable way. It’s one of the reasons that David Therkelsen and I are traveling to Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco starting July 18. Many of the people engaged in debates around policing, housing, and drug addiction seem to have grown rigid in their thinking. We’re hoping to return with fresh perspectives that will broaden the conversation.

If you’d like to contribute to this effort, you can donate at our website or email [email protected].

Better Minneapolis is taking this Fourth of July weekend off. Enjoy the holiday.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.betterminneapolis.com/subscribe

Early Voting Has Begun

Voting for the August 11 primary has begun. If you’ve chosen your candidate, we encourage you to vote early. You can do so in person Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 4:30 PM at Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services, 980 E Hennepin Ave, through July 24. Hours vary from Monday, July 27 through Monday, August 10, so check the website before you go. The office is closed Friday, July 3 for the holiday. If you prefer to vote by mail, visit the city’s Vote by Mail website to apply for a ballot. Notably, the site includes a feature that lets you track your ballot the way you would a UPS package.

Sample Ballot

Steve Simon, the incumbent Secretary of State, is the only DFL candidate for that office. His Republican challengers are Wendy Phillips and Tad Jude. Simon’s office maintains an excellent website for voting information.

We recommend reviewing a sample ballot before you vote. When we looked at ours, we discovered an At Large School Board position on the ballot. We know little about the candidates, other than that Michael Baskins ran for Ward 2 City Council last year. We also learned that the Hennepin County Attorney’s race is technically nonpartisan — something we hadn’t realized, given that most of the candidates sought the DFL endorsement.

We recognize this doesn’t fit with the hyper-partisan nature of today’s politics, but we’d prefer there be no party endorsements in nonpartisan races. What it means to be DFL isn’t entirely clear to us. We don’t know what it means to be Republican either. From what we can tell, much of the local DFL now aligns more closely with the DSA, while the state DFL more closely resembles what most people think of as the traditional Democratic platform. Those are two quite different things. The Minneapolis Times has been running an informative series of articles examining the DSA platform, which we recommend.

Who defines the party seems to depend on who shows up at endorsement conventions, and those showing up appear to be DSA-aligned. There are some DSA platform positions we support. For example, we believe the U.S. healthcare system is overdue for an overhaul. How that would be paid for and what it would cover is a debate worth having, and one where the two wings of the DFL could likely find common ground. Agreement on something like healthcare would expand the party’s reach and demonstrate to non-political-junkies that the DFL can be productive without tearing itself apart.

When it comes to candidate endorsements, however, we’d like to know which version of the party is doing the endorsing. In the case of Cedrick Frazier’s Hennepin County DFL endorsement, it appears the DSA-aligned wing carried the day. We didn’t discuss this during our interview with him, but we’d welcome him back to explore whether his endorsement makes him the DSA candidate or the DFL candidate. Until the party sorts out its identity, we won’t be placing much weight on endorsement conventions. In fact, we’d prefer more candidates skip the expense and pageantry of these events altogether — the way Angie Craig did.

What Does the Hennepin County Attorney Do?

The Hennepin County Attorney is the chief prosecutor for approximately 1.3 million residents spread across Minneapolis, 44 cities, and surrounding rural communities. The office has more than 500 staff and a $92 million budget. While prosecution of criminal cases could be seen as nonpartisan that isn’t entirely true in practice. What makes the job inherently political is the setting of policies and priorities that guide prosecuting attorneys: when to charge, when to plea-bargain, when to refer someone to a diversion program. The County Attorney sets the tone for those decisions, and those decisions affect the lives of people being prosecuted, crime victims, and the broader community.

Beyond the Criminal Division, the office includes a Civil Division, which provides legal representation to Hennepin County government; Children & Families, which handles youth prosecution, child protection, and child support; and Community Affairs, which oversees victim services and community engagement. It is an important role — one we want filled by the right person. The term is four years, and the bar for recall is intentionally high: at least 25% of registered voters who participated in the previous election must sign a recall petition.

The August primary will narrow the field to the top two candidates, who will then appear on the November ballot. Whoever ultimately wins, we predict there will be controversy. This office has been a lightning rod for it for decades. Under Mike Freeman (2007–2023), the office faced backlash over its decision not to press charges in the Jamar Clark case and its slow response to the George Floyd murder. Under Mary Moriarty (2023–present), controversy has followed a plea deal involving Zaria McKeever, the decision to prosecute a Minnesota State Trooper for murder in the shooting of Ricky Cobb II, and an ongoing standoff with the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice over evidence related to the actions of federal agents — an issue that may well land in the next County Attorney’s lap.

We can’t predict what controversy the next term will bring, but we’re confident there will be one. That’s why, when we vote, we’ll be focused on qualifications and on which candidate we believe can act with fairness and composure even when the world around them seems to be spinning out of control.

Hennepin County Attorney Candidate Forum — Voter Guide Summaries

Prepared from the League of Women Voters candidate forum, June 25, 2026. All summaries are nonpartisan and based solely on candidates’ own statements. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order. We encourage readers to watch the forum to learn which of these candidates best represents the values they believe are important. Better Minneapolis interviewed each of the candidates. Links to those candidate interviews are embedded in the candidate names.

Anders Folk

Anders Folk is a lifelong Minnesotan and University of Minnesota graduate who served as a Marine Corps lawyer before becoming a federal prosecutor. He later served as Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, in which capacity he signed the indictment charging Derek Chauvin with civil rights violations, and subsequently worked under the U.S. Deputy Attorney General in Washington, D.C. Folk frames his candidacy around “compassion and consequence,” arguing that effective prosecution requires experience navigating the full criminal justice spectrum. On key issues, he supports proactive community education on gun violence alongside vigorous enforcement, advocates for diversion and restorative justice programs to reduce racial disparities, and proposes establishing a federal prosecution task force to pursue state-law violations by federal agents. He emphasizes transparent and consistently applied plea policies, a victim-centered approach he plans to codify in a “Victims’ Bill of Rights,” and regular public office hours as county attorney. Folk points to his leadership experience at the U.S. Attorney’s Office and in the Marine Corps as preparation for managing the 500-person office.

Cedrick Frazier

Cedrick Frazier is the DFL-endorsed candidate in this race, having received over 61% of the vote at the party convention. He came to Minnesota to attend college on a football scholarship. He grew up in a high-poverty, high-violence neighborhood on Chicago's South Side and was the first in his family to earn a college degree. He went on to gain his law degree. His professional background spans public defense, legal counsel for Minneapolis Public Schools, labor law with Education Minnesota, service on the New Hope City Council, and three terms in the Minnesota House of Representatives, where he was vice chair of the Public Safety Committee and co-chaired the Ways and Means Committee. Frazier authored Minnesota's Extreme Risk Protection Order (red flag) law and championed additional resources for investigating non-fatal shootings. He emphasizes a broad, systemic view of public safety — stressing accountability alongside prevention and rehabilitation — and plans to address racial disparities through school partnerships, diversion programs, and juvenile justice reform. He commits to transparent public dashboards, clear charging policies developed collaboratively with office staff, and has the endorsements of Attorney General Keith Ellison, U.S. Senator Tina Smith, and the union representing county attorney office staff.

Diane M. Krenz

Diane Krenz is the only candidate in the race with direct prosecutorial experience inside the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, having worked there for over 40 years — from a law clerkship in 1983 through April 2025, most recently leading the fraud unit and serving in union leadership. She argues the office has become politicized under current leadership and pledges that, if elected, partisan considerations in prosecution decisions would end the day she takes office. Krenz emphasizes following sentencing guidelines, reinstating clear and consistently applied charging policies, and rebuilding relationships with law enforcement across all Hennepin County departments. She supports prosecuting felons in illegal possession of firearms to the statutory maximum (60 months) and charging gun cases arising from traffic stops that she says are currently being declined. On racial disparities, she advocates a race-neutral application of the law while acknowledging that most victims of the crimes she prosecuted were people of color. She also pledges to restore victim communication practices she says have deteriorated, reinstate website publication of case results, and reinstate community victim impact statements.

Hao Nguyen

Hao Nguyen came to the United States as a refugee, was raised by a single mother, and learned English as a second language. He worked as a correctional officer and police officer to put himself through college, then became a career prosecutor. He currently serves as Division Director of the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office — the second-largest prosecution unit in the state — where he oversees more than 40 attorneys. Nguyen highlights concrete results from his current role: raising the clearance rate for non-fatal shootings from 33% to 67% through a collaborative law enforcement program; co-filing a lawsuit against Glock over illegal machine-gun conversions; developing a traffic stop policy with law enforcement that reduced racial disparities in stops and searches by more than half; and launching a “Reimagining Youth Justice” program that reduced racial disparities in youth recidivism by over 53%. He is endorsed by Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt and describes himself as the only candidate already actively prosecuting cases arising from Operation Metro Surge. Nguyen also points to personal lived experience — a brother who faced deportation proceedings, an LGBTQ transgender child, and a decade of leadership at a domestic violence shelter — as informing his commitment to balancing public safety with fairness.

Matt Pelikan

Matt Pelikan has spent nearly 15 years as a civil litigator, including extensive pro bono work representing victims of harassment and domestic abuse in obtaining protective orders. He describes himself as the only candidate running from outside the political and prosecutorial establishment, arguing that restoring public trust requires new leadership and fresh perspectives. Pelikan resigned from his law firm in January over its representation of a federal agent involved in the Operation Metro Surge shootings, and has since advised municipalities nationally on accountability for gun industry actors and federal agents. He frames his campaign around the dual pillars of safety and justice, arguing neither is achievable without the other. He is critical of what he views as inconsistent charging decisions and a lack of written policies under the current administration. He cited the contrast between how a Tesla-keying incident and a first-time offense by a young Black woman were handled in the same week. Pelikan supports data-driven diversion programs — noting the current office has nearly halved youth recidivism rates through such approaches — while pledging to reclaim public spaces from untreated addiction and mental illness. He proposes a dedicated task force to pursue prosecutions of federal agents who violated state law during Operation Metro Surge, and emphasizes that these cases will require experienced, independent legal judgment.

Summary

In addition to interviewing each of these candidates, we have seen them speak at two separate forums. Each time, different aspects of their platforms have stood out to us. Hennepin County residents may find this a difficult race to call.

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On a recent trip to Chicago, we found ourselves contradicting ourselves as we explained to friends that Minneapolis is safe. We live in South Minneapolis, and we have never referred to it as “unsafe.” We still wouldn’t. But it was difficult to explain how, in the past year alone, our house was broken into and a man with a knife fled through the front window. Then a dozen neighborhood vehicles had their windows smashed in a single night. A man was chased through our yard at 7:15 AM by an extremely large and agitated man claiming the chased man had broken into his car. Days later, the catalytic converter of our car was stolen. We added to the litany: we were blocked from using Nicollet recently because of an active shooter, one that drew armored vehicles and multiple snipers to the area of Alex Pretti’s murder.

We hadn’t intended to be shocking. Our friends, visiting from Brooklyn via Chicago, laughed when we defended our city as safe. Nothing similar had happened to them on the streets of New York.

The Stubborn Statistics

We’d like to see our local politicians as preoccupied with crime as they are with bath houses and whether our city codes have the correct gender-inclusive language. They may not have noticed, but unlike the rest of the country, nearly every crime category in Minneapolis is trending at or above where it was this time last year. If July 4th marks the heart of summer, there might be much more to come.

There have been a few disturbing examples lately that received little attention. On Sunday, one person was shot and killed and another wounded near the Wedge Coop. Police said one group fired on another. Then on Monday, three people were shot near University Avenue Northeast, one with life-threatening gunshot wounds. Multiple rounds of gunfire erupted, and several people were seen running from the area. Here’s what we typically learn about these shootings: “No arrests have been made and MPD forensic scientists processed the scene and collected evidence.”

The lack of concern from elected officials occupying City Hall is disappointing. They seem to have plenty of time to chatter on social media about causes they personally care about, but when it comes to families and victims impacted by shootings and other serious crimes in this city, they are quiet. One gets the sense they believe that if they simply ignore what is happening, it will go away. We recognize the city has initiated its coordinated Operation Safe Summer, but recent events give us reason to think its effectiveness will be marginal.

Violence interrupters, Community Safety Ambassadors, and other programs continue to show few results, but they are liked in theory and so they continue without question. If anyone claims these programs are effective, they’re implying the level of violence in the city would be even worse than current levels without them.

Preventing crime is complex. We understand there are many factors that lead to gun violence. One of them: gangs fueled by money earned from selling destructive drugs like crystal meth and fentanyl on our streets. They have turf to protect. Grievances are settled with guns. These crimes don’t fit neatly into calls for harm reduction and voluntary treatment.

There must be a more holistic approach, one that spans multiple agencies and treats the sale and use of these highly addictive and dangerous drugs as having consequences beyond the individual user. Before that user bought their packets, a string of laws was broken and lives were ruined to get it to them.

A friend of mine showed me live video from outside his apartment building a few weeks ago. Within fifteen minutes, at least half a dozen drug deals took place. Multiple calls to police were met with resistance. He was told that if they don’t allow the drug dealing, dealers will simply move somewhere else. Neighbors feel held hostage, unable to walk safely on their street.

These problems extend beyond the user. There must be a mix of incentives that encourage treatment, education, healthcare, housing, and job placement that can slow down shootings and drug use in this city. However, we won’t get there without sustained attention from elected officials, and that is currently absent.

The Citizen Responsibility

To be clear: highlighting these issues is more than a call for more police. As we see time and again, they are picking up shell casings after the shootings take place. They rarely prevent crimes, and the rate at which they solve them is terrible. More police could act as a deterrent, but that is but one factor. More police could also contribute to higher clearance rates. Crime victims deserve greater accountability from the system.

Family. Economic development. Jobs. Education and the opportunity for improving an individual’s life, these would seem as great, or greater, determinants of crime involvement than the current anti-violence programs being funded by the city and county.

Residents and politicians who stoke the flames of righteousness will need to stop turning their backs on the problem for progress to be made. At the recent DFL endorsing conventions, some delegates literally turned their backs on Sheriff Witt. This act of performative virtue signaling accomplished nothing other than showing that the DFL is bereft of ideas for how to address the daily harm victims of crime are experiencing.

It’s easy to oppose the police with a poster or a post on social media. It’s incredibly difficult to give someone a reason to stay in school, work hard, and start a family. Those actions take time. They’re difficult. And the sense of pride they elicit contains more private joy than flash.

The violence taking place in our streets. The dismissive attitude about it. The families forced to care for the wounded and maimed. These are causes worth our attention. Until we can change the current trajectory in a meaningful way, Minneapolis will continue to tread in the murky waters of stagnation.

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His name was Kenneth White. He was 19 years old when Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941. According to my father, Ken ran naked from his barracks in search of cover. It wasn’t until he found the safety of a bunker that he realized the bottom of his feet were cut and bleeding. As many military men do, he moved his family all over the world, Puerto Rico (my grandmother loved it), North Carolina, Germany, Kansas, and others. He was married four times. My grandmother was his third wife. Three divorced him; one died before she could.

After retiring from the military, Ken lived in San Diego and then moved to the Villages in Florida, where he died at 94. He enjoyed tending his roses, driving a Dodge Charger extremely fast, reading cheap Old West novels, and long-distance running. When he visited my father in Kansas City, he’d sit on a kitchen stool most of the day, telling stories. He smelled of Old Spice aftershave and talcum powder. Around 3 p.m., he’d start drinking Budweiser and wouldn’t stop until he stumbled to bed around 11. By dinner, he was pretty well sloshed, spending the night talking about how the country was going to s**t. The reasons varied, but mostly they had to do with Black people, Hispanics, gays, women, and Jews. There was no use trying to change his mind. He believed his travels and experience qualified him as an expert. Short of throwing him out on the lawn, we were forced to endure him.

Keep in mind that Fox News launched in 1996. Ken was his own version of it, and if you’d heard him speak, the success of Fox News would come as no surprise. I am the only one in my immediate family who went to college instead of joining the military. My father and brother were in the Navy. My uncles were both in the Army. Even my aunt spent her life doing logistical planning for the Special Forces. Luckily, my father didn’t stay in. I don’t think he wanted that life for his family. Instead, he started his own company as a salesman. It meant traveling most weeks, but at least his family could stay in one place. His choice brought about a generational shift.

Modern Parenting

Fatherhood has changed significantly in the last few decades. More men are involved in their children’s lives, attending sporting events and dance recitals, knowing their kids’ teachers, helping find activities, visiting schools to ensure they’re a good fit. We spend our paychecks on baseball bats, skates, piano lessons, and gymnastics. Many fathers, certainly not all, have chosen to be more accountable, more involved, and more caring than the fathers they knew. There’s an emphasis on being good people. While racism is still woven into the American fabric, the parts of the country where you can speak like my grandfather and not be knocked off your chair are fewer.

Father’s Day is Sunday. While men continue to show their faults, it’s worth taking a moment to recognize that generational change is occurring, too slowly for many, but it is occurring. Many men are making an effort to be more emotionally intelligent, less selfish, more open, more flexible. There are role models of men who lead with integrity, for whom violence is the last and worst solution to problems.

These ideas feel particularly sharp right now because we recently heard the Obamas speak at the opening of their Presidential Library in Chicago. If you haven’t had a chance, it’s worth listening. The contrast to our current government is stark, shocking, even. It was a reminder that we were hopeful once, that we did believe positive change was possible, and that people of different origins, races, and religions could work together in big, audacious ways to accomplish what previously seemed impossible.

It’s easy to forget that America has had leaders who inspired us. Leaders who spoke with eloquence and thoughtfulness. Leaders who sought to bring out the best in each of us rather than turn us against one another. Michelle Obama’s words keep circling through my thoughts:

Because hope is the essential spark that lights the fire of change. But hope is a choice. Whether or not we use our voices to speak up is a choice. Voting is a choice. Being a decent human being is a choice. Believing that we still hold the power to build a country that reflects us all is a choice.

Being a decent father is a choice. Whether you are a biological father, a stepfather, a coach, a teacher, or any man in a position responsible for another human being, you make a choice to treat them with dignity. Men choose whether to emulate the Kenneths of this world or to open their hearts to those who are different from them. They choose whether to be curious about a stranger or to react with fear and hatred. Most of us have had examples of both. We’re grateful that more and more men are choosing to pass on their finest qualities instead of lazily accepting their worst selves.

We’re also grateful there are fathers in the world like Barack Obama, men who can appreciate and care for a woman as confident and successful as Michelle Obama, and who set an example to other men of what a husband and father can be. A man who earned the praise Michelle gave him:

And you did it all with such grace and class and cool that you made the hardest job in the world look like a walk in this beautiful park.

Happy Father’s Day to all the men striving to be a positive force in the lives of their families and children. The world needs you. Keep going.

Thank you for reading.

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The Obama Precedent

It’s ancient history, but Barack Obama was the first candidate to forgo public campaign financing and spending limits for his presidential campaign. On June 19, 2008, he sent a video message to supporters explaining that small-dollar donations would easily surpass the money he’d gain from public matching funds and those same donations would allow him to avoid spending limits. Obama broke the system with his popularity. No presidential candidate since has accepted limits.

In his campaign for Mayor of New York City, Mamdani made a video asking people to volunteer instead of sending money. He had raised too much. He agreed to a $7.9 million expenditure cap and had to announce in both the primary and general election that he was halting his fundraising. It’s a rare politician indeed who finds themselves in such an awkward position.

We mention these examples because the latest round of Minnesota campaign contributions were just released. We understand that money is the lifeblood of a political campaign, but that doesn’t mean we like it. Without donations, campaigns are unable to hire staff, make commercials, or mail flyers and print yard signs. The fact is that modern society is awash in distractions. TV was only the beginning. Now there are multiple streaming services, social media platforms, newsletters, radio, and podcasts. For a candidate to break into the consciousness of the average voter, it takes significant effort and funding. However, we can recognize the reality of modern campaigning and still be uncomfortable with it. There are simply too many examples of how donors curry favor and influence over our political arena.

When Too Much Is Too Much

Influence isn’t always bad. There are certainly people aligned with our values who donate to candidates. But it works both ways. Elon Musk is now a trillionaire. His values are often opposed to our own, and yet his wealth gives him tremendous sway over elections. We would argue that democracy is damaged when he, or others like him, threaten to primary an elected official if that official doesn’t do their bidding. This type of influence goes far beyond buying ads or yard signs to promote a candidate.

We may be in the minority, but we would like to see more elections where candidates qualify for public funding and adhere to spending limits. We’ve watched as vast amounts of money have been spent on unsuccessful campaigns. In his 104-day campaign for President, Michael Bloomberg spent approximately $1.1 billion. On his campaign for governor of California, Tom Steyer, another billionaire, spent $216 million. Michelle Cottle sums up our feeling about this spending in her New York Times opinion piece: “He Spent $558 Million. What a Waste.”

It’s nearly impossible not to think about the good in society that could be accomplished if these campaign funds were funneled into more human-centered projects. How many homeless could have been housed? How many lives could have been saved from drug overdoses? The list of worthy pursuits is long. There’s also no guarantee that the candidate who raises and spends the most will be the best leader. They may have charisma and connections, but the nuts and bolts of political office are more mundane. Often the “candidate” may not be a talented “politician,” or someone who can work the levers of compromise in order to achieve the best outcomes for their constituents. The skills involved frequently do not align.

If you review the figures that candidates have raised in their quest to be Minnesota’s next Governor, Senator, or Attorney General, you may be tempted to decide who will win based on who has raised the most money. But it’s worth pausing to consider who you like best, regardless of their purse size. Reforms to our campaign financing are needed, but they won’t be enacted anytime soon. Until then, it’s up to us to sort through the distractions and spin and elect the best person for the job.

Thank you for reading.

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