John has a conversation with Mary Moriarty, former Chief Public Defender in Hennepin County, who is currently running for County Attorney.

Mary Moriarty's campaign website: www.maryforhennepin.com

Registration for the February 1 caucus is happening right now. For information on how to participate -- and to access contactless/non-attendee forms -- Hennepin County residents should visit caucus.dfl.org and Minneapolis residents should visit minneapolisdfl.org/2022.

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John has a conversation with Saraswati Singh, currently a Ramsey County prosecutor, who is running for Hennepin County Attorney.

Saraswati Singh's campaign website: saraswatisingh.com

Registration for the February 1 caucus is happening right now. For information on how to participate -- and to access contactless/non-attendee forms -- Hennepin County residents should visit caucus.dfl.org and Minneapolis residents should visit minneapolisdfl.org/2022.

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John is joined by Melody Hoffman of the local news upstart Southwest Voices (SWV). We kick off the show with an ill-advised detour into parking statistics on Hennepin Avenue. We talk about the history of Wedge LIVE, Melody's deep and extremely well-placed admiration for John's contribution to the local news landscape--and how Melody might live up to that as a founding editor of SWV. How should we cover local crime stories? Is SWV going to fill the gap on school board news? Is Bryn Mawr really a part of Southwest Minneapolis? Melody talks about her appreciation for the collaborative, rather than competitive, approach of local journalists; and the "vibe of positivity and hopefulness" that SWV is delivering to readers by covering neighborhood news. John is eager to get back to a routine of regular social interactions and activities that are the foundation of a strong and healthy community; and he gets nostalgic for the deeply anti-social behavior he witnessed in the early years of covering neighborhood association meetings.

Find Melody on Twitter @melodyswv. Read Melody's and her colleagues' work at southwestvoices.news.

Read John's commentary on the Hennepin Avenue reconstruction: https://wedgelive.com/hennepin-avenue-in-pursuit-of-worthy-goals-enshrined-in-city-policy-developed-over-many-years/

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John is joined by PeggySue Imihy (city planner) and Jonathan Ahn (transit consultant) for a conversation about transit in the Twin Cities. First, we try to answer a philosophical question inspired by Linden Hills: Can trees and bus stations co-exist? We talk about the City of Minneapolis' plan to reallocate space for transit, pedestrians and bikes on Hennepin Avenue -- and the resulting uproar over car parking. As the pandemic persists and a bus driver shortage forces service cuts, Jonathan and PeggySue offer reasons for optimism. PeggySue makes a distinction between BRT (meant to serve existing riders) and rail transit (economic development). Transit fan "Sam in the Wedge" becomes our first caller to ask a question on the air (about whether the city is truly and sincerely pushing for bus lanes on Lake Street -- a street controlled by Hennepin County). PeggySue describes the many cooks in our regional transit planning kitchen, as a way of explaining why the process and results can be so confusing. We talk about the tradeoffs of free transit. Jonathan has an idea to speed up buses downtown. PeggySue helps John find the city of Crystal, MN on a map.

Blue Line light rail extension route information and anti-displacement work mentioned by PeggySue: https://metrocouncil.org/Transportation/Projects/Light-Rail-Projects/METRO-Blue-Line-Extension.aspx

Transit Assistance Program that provides reduced fares to low-income riders: https://www.metrotransit.org/tap-riders

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A special episode your host hopes you're too busy to listen to, intentionally scheduled for the week between Christmas and New Year's. John is joined by Jason Garcia and Taylor Dahlin for a rehash of the biggest story of 2021 that you didn't want to be reminded of: the bizarre rise and fall of Mickey Moore's campaign for Minneapolis City Council in Ward 9.

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John is joined by Elissa Schufman and Jason Garcia for a special holiday episode. Elissa takes us through some end of year reflections. Jason gives their naughty and nice list. We name our "persons of the year," make resolutions for 2022, offer book and movie recommendations, and consider the meaning of Chief Arradondo's exit. And much, much more.

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John is joined by redistricting enthusiast Josh Martin for a conversation about redrawing political boundaries in Minneapolis. It's a process that happens every ten years, and it's already underway for City Council and Park Board. Based on data from the 2020 census, the ideal City Council ward should have a population of 33,073.38. The city's most populous ward -- Ward 3 -- currently has a population over 43,000. As the map drawing process kicks off, this is creating ripple effects across the city, as boundaries for less populated wards shift to take on additional population. We talk about the guidelines being used by the Commission's redistricting advisory group, which is made up of commissioners (appointed by a Hennepin County judge) and residents (appointed by the Commission). We also talk about some of the specific changes and concerns that have come up early in the process. Such as, Is it appropriate to consider a council member's home address during the map drawing process? Is Ward 6 at risk of losing its status as the Somali ward? Why did someone submit a map that divided the Wedge neighborhood into three different wards? Will Ward 4 gain an Aldi? We get into some of the arguments for and against downtown Minneapolis having its own ward -- rather than divided between three council members. John makes a pitch for everyone within the sound of his voice to apply to be on the Charter Commission. Not only does the Commission draw our political boundaries, they have the power to put charter amendments on the ballot (they unanimously put the strong mayor charter amendment on the ballot, in a city where voters approved it by just a single percentage point). We close the show by talking about another idea with some interesting implications working its way through the Charter Commission: moving city elections from odd to even years.

Links

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With two weeks to gather his thoughts and recover from a November 2 gut punch, John is joined by Jason Garcia for a wide ranging conversation about the state of Minneapolis politics heading into 2022. John feels bad. Jason feels less bad. It's unclear if this makes things better or worse: we're less than a year from people ramping up city council campaigns for the 2023 election. 2022 gives us a chance to elect the Hennepin County Attorney, County Sheriff, and County Commissioners. We talk about the city council's rightward shift, our new strong mayor system, the unprecedented infusion of big business money into the 2021 election, the state of alternative media, our hopes for the future of the Charter Commission, and so much more. We also take a look back at the David Wheeler episode.

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John has a conversation with David Wheeler, who's running for Minneapolis Council in Ward 10. What's David's closing argument in the final days of the election? How does electing David Wheeler help fix our city's problems? What role does he see for himself on the city council with regard to public safety? David is against Question 2 on the ballot (the public safety charter amendment), so John asks what role he could play on police accountability in a world where the city council lacks policy control over police. John observes that David has said his foremost passion is ballot Question 1 (mayoral control at the expense of the city council), which is a counterintuitive thing for a city council candidate to say. Does David agree with removing staffing minimums and creating an integrated department of public safety -- which are the parts of Question 2 that even Mayor Frey has said he agrees with? Does he have a sense from talking to voters about whether they understand the MPD staffing situation is a result of hundreds of officers quitting, and not a lack of funding for police? John compliments David for his willingness to say we should be driving less as a city, and not pandering to transportation NIMBYs like a few of the other candidates in Ward 10. John grinds an axe on Carol Becker, David's current colleague on the Minneapolis Board of Estimate and Taxation. What committee would David like to serve on? How is he ranking his Ward 10 ballot, aside from Wheeler #1? John asks David to reject and denounce the $1.6 million PAC run by close associates of Mayor Frey, which is spending to support candidates and ballot questions, including David Wheeler. David says he knows a lot of garbage about other candidates but refuses to name names. John asks if it was ethical for David to have led his Facebook friends to believe he had received the Star Tribune endorsement. How did David feel about the infamous "thumbs down" hecklers at a Ward 10 candidate forum held over zoom? As always, we end with David's recommendations.

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John has a conversation with Andrea Larson, former deputy city coordinator with the city of Minneapolis. Andrea spent six years in the city coordinator's office, and has overseen teams working to develop alternatives to traditional police response. This is work that began at City Council direction in the years prior to George Floyd's murder. The planning work is well underway, and includes the 911/MPD work group that analyzed which 911 calls the city could respond to without a police response. Andrea describes how well the city's 911 operators correctly code calls as violent vs. non-violent. She talks about how the city's alternative response and violence prevention work is increasingly spread across seven departments. While we often focus on which elected officials a given department is accountable to, we overlook "the implications of having this [public safety] work spread across multiple department heads." She says what troubles her about the current debate is the lack of focus on what Question 2 is really about: the way city government is structured. What needs to be put in place shortly after (and if) Question 2 passes is the appointment of an interim commissioner of public safety and an organizational chart. We go over the common concerns: Can't we do this without a charter change? What's the problem with housing these non-police functions under MPD or in a newly created department in the coordinator's office? Will it fire the chief? Will it abolish police? We talk about how the current charter's minimum staffing requirement denies budget flexibility to shift money to alternatives that are capable of doing work formerly handled by MPD. She explains her conflicted feelings on Question 1 (strong mayor). John asks about the bizarre situation of MPD Chief Arradondo -- in uniform at a press conference put together with city staff and resources -- campaigning against Question 2 and chastising the council for not having a plan. Months earlier, the work of producing an org chart was cut short by the city attorney's office, who warned the city council to back off, because it would amount to engaging in politics in favor of Question 2. Andrea says, "The people we're not hearing from, and the people I worry about leaving" are the talented staff doing the change work around public safety. We don't hear about how difficult their work is or what would make their jobs easier.

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