Wedge LIVE!

The Minneapolis government restructuring of 2021 was sold as a solution to our city's biggest problems. The Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce (yes, that's right the campaign to change the charter was 100% funded by the Chamber) said said we had to rid ourselves of the 14 bosses holding us back and creating internal confusion at city hall. Council Member Jeremiah Ellison's career spans both the four years prior and the four years after government restructuring. He says the new structure is what's stalling progress on big issues like homeless encampments. He saw passage of the 2040 Plan under a council-driven system and says the collaborative dynamic that produced that nationally-heralded housing policy wouldn't be possible today. We talk about the way things are, the way they used to be, and why he decided his time is up after eight years representing Ward 5 in North Minneapolis.

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Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

My conversation with a man who attended the 2025 North Loop Neighborhood Association annual meeting. This episode may contain the sounds of opening a swag bag.

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Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

My conversation with Sen. John Marty (Roseville) about an effort in the state legislature to legalize sports gambling apps: the recent failure to pass the bill out of committee and what that means for its prospects in 2025; why anyone who's lived through the last 15 years of smartphones and social media would think it's a good idea to set tech companies free to unleash 24/7 pocket casinos; the extensive and compelling studies that have measured an increase in human misery in the 30 states that have legalized gambling apps (30% increase in bankruptcies, increased domestic violence, decreased savings); the fact that the only organized advocates for legalization are gambling interests who stand to profit; and how this is not like the debate over cannabis legalization.

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Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive

Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

My conversation with Ethrophic Burnett, who's running for Minneapolis City Council in Ward 5 on the Northside.

Ethrophic's campaign site: https://www.eforward5.com/

Star Tribune article discussed in this episode: https://www.startribune.com/poor-families-path-to-american-dream-leads-to-suburbs/386364021

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Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive

Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

Harrowing Personal Story: Up until last week, Deborah was the author of a popular local substack called "Deborah Copperud Shops at Target." Then her whole world got turned upside down. The Target corporation surrendered to Donald Trump's whims and dropped their diversity initiatives. We talk about Deborah's attempt to vote with her family's dollars, whether you should ever buy into the PR-driven goodness of a corporation, and if there's such a thing as ethical consumption under Trumpism.

Read Deborah's story in HuffPost: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/target-dei-shopping_n_679a4ef1e4b04f0f44d5637b

Watch Deborah assist me during a Lisa Goodman-themed cooking segment on the Wedge LIVE podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43s63pFqIIU

After four years representing Ward 11 on the Minneapolis City Council, Emily Koski is running for mayor. Why has this formerly Frey-endorsed council member decided to oppose him? Koski argues she hasn't changed, she just got an up close look at all the ways the Frey isn't up to the job.

Mayor Frey's administration has a plan to add "vibrancy" to Nicollet Mall by adding additional programming and events, but that means removing the buses. The longtime transit mall would transition to a full time pedestrian mall. Bus riders Amity Foster and Taylor Dahlin join John for a conversation about whether this is a good idea; why buses aren't the problem; why you should be demanding a bus lane on Hennepin Ave downtown; and whether the city can address issues of safety and comfort on the streets where transit riders would be pushed if the plan goes forward. We also talk about what motivates some, especially the downtown business community, to push for bus removal: clearing out poor people.

Bill Lindeke's post on solving Nicollet Mall's problems: https://www.minnpost.com/cityscape/2025/01/nicollet-mall-needs-bikes-and-other-wheeled-wanderers/

Take the downtown transit survey here:

https://www.minneapolismn.gov/government/programs-initiatives/transportation-programs/nicollet-mall-downtown/community-engagement/

Celisia Stanton is the Minneapolis-based host of a podcast called Truer Crime (season 2 out now). We talk about how she came to podcasting, her unique approach to the true crime genre, and how her experience as a crime victim informs her perspective. We also talk about how mutual friend PeggySue Imihy brought us together.

From truercrimepodcast.com:

"Do you ever listen to a true crime podcast and think 'that’s not quite right…?' Same. Crime stories are hard to ignore and even harder to forget. But the thing is... they’re stories. And getting a story right is all about how you tell it. Truer Crime talks about real people — murdered, missing, misled — with more nuance, more context, and more questions."

It was a few days before Christmas and Kyle Jones was trying to report an Amazon delivery driver for the dual infraction of parking in a bike lane and blocking a bus stop. But as Kyle was attempting to report this using the Minneapolis 311 app, the driver of a Mercedes pulled up and all hell broke loose.

Do you have a harrowing personal story you'd like to tell on the Wedge LIVE podcast? Email your story to [email protected].

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Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

We're talking property taxes with Steve Brandt, who is running for reelection to the Minneapolis Board of Estimate and Taxation. We talk about what's behind this year's large property tax increase and how declining commercial property values are shifting the burden to residential taxpayers. Steve suggests a small income tax on the city's highest earners and a geographic expansion of the downtown entertainment tax can pick up some of that added burden. He's also been pushing a proposal to change the city charter to add a third directly elected member of the BET (John argues this is just an opportunity for random crackpots to crash local government). And we talk about Steve's failed attempt in his first term to move some city borrowing up by one year to take advantage of low interest rates before they got hiked.

Also in this episode: Steve denies being a socialist or a member of the DSA. He says they never even asked him to join.

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

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Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive

Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee