Via CM Chowdhury newsletter
On March 5, the Minneapolis city Council passed the Pause Evictions, Save Lives ordinance. 7 support, 5 against, & 1 abstention.
I co-authored this ordinance to allow for a 60 day pre-eviction notice. We had hundreds of individuals from our community give powerful and brilliant testimony and public comment. There have been several community members who have reached out to me that have felt the weight of housing insecurity in this moment due to Operation Metro surge. For the first time as an elected official, I have had outreach from constituents on getting rent help or sharing that they have received an eviction filing. Unfortunately, at the state level there was no eviction moratorium placed.
The issue is glaring before us. Due to operation Metro surge, we have hundreds of neighbors throughout the City of Minneapolis who have been sheltering in place and unable to pay rent on time. There are many individuals who have seen the breadwinner of the home detained, many individuals who are afraid to leave home due to racial profiling by federal agents, and many who wants relied on a stable paycheck are not receiving one as a local businesses who have employed them have faced, extreme economic hardship. In the face of this, a majority of Minneapolis city council members have passed this policy that would create time for tenants to work towards getting the funds necessary to pay the rent.
We know that there would be many more evictions happening right now had had not been for all of the mutual aid and fundraising that regular everyday people in our neighborhoods have been doing. With the national media, leaving our city behind even as we continue to feel an ice presence, we know that the fundraising efforts are still going, but they have slowed down. The fact of the matter is there just needs to be more time to fundraisers for our community members and time for this legislative session to play out so that we can receive additional rental assistance.
This is not a perfect policy, but it is the tool that we have in this moment to ensure that people are not displaced and lose their housing during an already volatile time. The choice was clear at City Hall— pressure on landlords, or protect working every day people from losing their livelihoods. I chose to protect working people in our community who need the most support. This policy is only temporary and would go through the end of August allowing time for rental assistance, fundraising, people to go back into the normalcy of their jobs, and an opportunity to receive rental assistance that could be potentially allocated at the state level.
While I am glad that this has passed, I am disappointed to hear that the mayor may veto this ordinance. There is this worry that working people and poor people who receive this additional time will not pay their rent, and there are several nonprofit landlords who are skeptical of their tenants and believe more time, means more time to shy away from their responsibilities. To that I say, we need to trust people with their own money, shelter is an essential need. There are other steps that can be taken besides an eviction filing to help remind people to pay their rent– such as sending regular reminders, working with tenants on a payment plan, and having meetings with them. There is nothing stopping them from taking additional administrative steps to work with tenants so they keep in the forefront of their mind that they must pay rent.
Additionally, the nonprofit landlords who are the most concerned do also have the ability to fundraise for rent forgiveness. Every year many fundraise from a large donor list to raise millions of dollars to support the needs that they have that are not supported by government funding – now is the time for them to fundraise for rental assistance so they can ensure that people stay housed. If every day people in our neighborhood neighborhoods can raise millions of dollars, institutions like theirs can at least match that amount. I am just in disbelief that there hasn’t been any tangible steps that have been presented to us by the landlords in opposition on how they could mitigate evictions in this moment. This is the only proposal that is before us.
Evicting people who would have been able to make rent, had then not been dropped into a crisis created by the federal government is not the way forward. Pausing evictions, helping people catch up on rent, and giving our neighbors grace is.
– Council Member Chowdhury
Related: The 60-Day Dead End: Why Mayor Frey Should Veto the Pre-Eviction Ordinance
Related: A message from Council Member Elizabeth Shaffer on the pre-eviction notice ordinance
Just because a group on the Council, the Chugleys, put forth this proposal, does NOT mean that there are not OTHER ideas that may make more sense…in the long run.
But unfortunately, what we have continued to see with THIS specific voting block, is their unwillingness to stay open, to others..and their ideas. We have also consistently seen, and the City has been a victim of, their inability to compromise.
An excerpt…pasted below.
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Jamison Whiting began the meeting by saying he had an amendment, but didn’t formally propose it because he knew the votes weren’t there to pass it. He may bring back his idea after Mayor Frey vetoes what was passed today.
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Whiting said the better path would be for the council to come together on his compromise right now. “Delay will cause people to be hurt.” Putting affordable housing non profits under will put people on the streets, and mean their buildings sold to market rate landlords.
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Whiting: “Pauses or eviction moratoriums have put those most vulnerable at risk to continued eviction. This version is an ability to target, not have a broad blanket policy, but target those in need.”