John is joined by Elliott Payne, Minneapolis City Council member in Ward 1. We talk about his plans for a new public safety charter amendment, which he is careful to say isn't a rehash of last year's election; the police killing of Amir Locke, and whether Mayor Frey can start getting MPD policies right after some big failures during his four-plus years on the job; and after hearing big promises for years about the police contract, what should we think about the argument that the police contract isn't the place for disciplinary standards? Did the after action report detailing mismanagement and misconduct of MPD in the summer of 2020 tell us anything we didn't already know? We talk about police "buy back" (the practice of neighborhood organizations or other private entities purchasing extra police patrols from the city) during a police staffing shortage. How has the city's new strong mayor system (shifting power over city departments to the mayor) affected the city council's ability to fulfill its legislative function? Other topics: Elliott's dog, the importance of looking and sounding good during a zoom-based council meeting, and a diversion into a conversation about the smash-hit video game Elden Ring.

Watch this episode: https://youtube.com/wedgelive