Welcome to Minneapolis 101, where we take complex topics, prominent leaders, and essential functions in Minneapolis politics and simplify them for our readers. This series will help Minneapolitans, new and old, understand what’s happening in their city, and how to follow along.
For our first installment of this series, it only seems fitting to cover the structure and function of our city’s government. In this particular article, we will cover many broad offices and departments that deserve (in due time) their very own 101’s. But for now, we’ll keep it nice and simple:
Here’s what you need to know about the City of Minneapolis.
The Mayor and their oversight
Since 2021, the City of Minneapolis has operated under a strong-mayor system, meaning the mayor essentially serves as the city’s CEO. Before the current system was voted in by Minneapolitans, the City Council had far more executive and legislative power, splitting the workload of overseeing the implementation of the city’s programs with that of the mayor. Position appointments were made by an Executive Committee, consisting of a handful of City Councilmembers and the mayor. Department heads reported to City Council committees, with various council chairheads wielding power over those specific departments that reported to their committee. This decentralized system was favored by those wary of giving the mayor full executive power and those who appreciated the 13-member City Council providing a wide variety of opinions on executive matters. Critics of this system, including former Mayor R.T. Ryback and Mayor Jacob Frey, pointed to the lack of efficiency and confusing organizational and accountability structure.
On Nov. 2, 2021, the same night Frey was elected for a second term, Minneapolis voters also narrowly voted to remove the old system in favor of the strong-mayor system. The Executive Committee was dissolved, and city department heads began to report to the Mayor. In the following months, Mayor Frey laid out the new City Charter, highlighting the new roles and responsibilities for each position and department. Frey formed a mayoral cabinet consisting of the Chief of Staff, the City Attorney, a Community Safety Commissioner and a Chief Operations Officer— the latter three are nominated by the mayor and then subjected to City Council approval. These four positions represent the four main areas of control for the Mayor. First is the Office of the Mayor, which the Chief of Staff runs. The current acting Chief of Staff is Peter Ebnet. Second is the Office of Community Safety, which consists of the Police Department, Fire Department, and other emergency and safety services. This office is run by the Community Safety Commissioner, currently Todd Barnette. Third is the Office of the City Attorney, which provides legal services citywide. The City Attorney, Kristyn Anderson heads this office. The fourth department that the Mayor oversees is the Office of Public Service, which oversees 14 different departments. The Chief Operating Officer, Margaret Anderson Kelliher heads this office.
Along with the various department oversights, Frey also outlined three key powers characteristic with the strong-mayor system. First is the power to approve or veto any legislation passed by the City Council, similar to how the President of the United States can approve or veto any legislation passed by Congress. And just like Congress, the City Council needs two-thirds of its members to override a mayoral veto. Second, the mayor has the power to formulate and manage the City’s budget. And third, as previously mentioned, the mayor has the power to appoint the heads and chairs of various departments in the City. Along with the powers listed above, the mayor also is entrusted as the city’s ceremonial leader and spokesperson.
While the mayor’s responsibilities have changed quite a bit in the past few years, some things about the role have remained the same. The mayor has traditionally served a 4 year term since 1982; this means Frey is up for reelection in 2025. Frey is the 48th Mayor of Minneapolis, and is both the second Jewish mayor and second youngest mayor in Minneapolis history. Due to Minneapolis’s political demographic, the mayor is usually a Democrat. Like Frey and his predecessor, Betsy Hodges, many mayors previously served on the City Council, which, along with the mayor, is one of the most powerful entities in the City, as we’ll learn next.
The City Council
The City Council is the City’s legislative body. The council is made up of 13 Councilmembers, each representing a ward in Minneapolis. Councilmembers serve 4 year terms and are tasked with policymaking, or making laws. It should be noted that in 2020, voters chose to amend the city charter to hold council elections in 2021 and 2023 for two-year terms instead of the traditional four-year terms, with four-year term elections restarting in 2025. This is due to the Kahn Rule, named after former state Rep. Phyllis Kahn. In 2010, she proposed that council elections should take place in a year ending in 2 or 3 after a census is taken, to account for redistricting and ensure that residents won’t live under representation that they did not elect for up to six years given the time redistricting takes. Because the City Council was already scheduled to hold elections in 2021, the City decided to ask voters whether they wanted to let the council members run for two-year terms in both 2021 and 2023 and then return to four-year terms along with the mayor in 2025. They ultimately voted yes, and thus this provision was enacted.
The City Council also serves as an oversight to other entities in the city, providing a system of checks and balances, similar to the United States Congress. Councilmembers are also elected to be the representative of their ward. With a city like Minneapolis encompassing a wide range of demographics, the City Council is made up of a diverse group of council members.
Previous to the 2021 change in governing system, the City Council had more executive power, holding oversight over all department heads besides the chief of police. After the new strong-mayor system was adapted, the Council lost a lot of its oversight and became more focused on policy-making.
City Council also utilizes a system of committees made up of council members to produce legislation. Much like the United States Congress, committees focus on a specific area of legislation. Each committee has council members who serve as the chair, vice-chair, and committee members. Council members can propose policies in these committees, which then get voted on in committee, and subsequently by the whole council. This creates a two-week cycle of committee meetings that culminate in a full council meeting.
The City Council as a whole also has leadership, with a council member each year being appointed by their peers as president and vice president of City Council. The Council President is in charge of conducting meetings and setting the agenda, while the Council Vice President serves as their back-up when necessary. This year, the Council President is Councilmember Elliott Payne (Ward 1), and the Council Vice President is Aisha Chughtai (Ward 10).
While the new government structure largely stripped the City Council of department oversight, they are still tasked with overseeing the legislative department. This oversight includes two positions, the first of which being the City Clerk. This position and its office covers a wide range of responsibilities, including being the chief election official and being the official record keeper of the City. The City Clerk is directly appointed by the City Council, and Casey Carl has served in this position since 2010.
The other department that the City Council provides oversight for is the City Auditor, but the relationship between the Council and this role differs from their relation with the City Clerk. Instead of directly appointing a City Auditor, the Council appoints an independent Audit Committee, which is made up of two Council Members, a Park Board Commissioner, and four community members. This committee is in charge of conducting internal audits and ensures that the City adheres to its rules and regulations. The committee also appoints a City Auditor, who serves as the evaluator of City performance and advises the Council on policy and operational matters. The Auditor serves a four year term, and Siddhartha Poudyal is currently serving this role in an interim position. Thus, Poudyal answers to the Audit Committee, which answers to the City Council, so the Council has a less direct role in overseeing the Auditor.
The Mayor and the City Council both enjoy a significant amount of control and influence in the City. Yet, for as much as these two entities cover, there are still two more independent governing bodies that control essential aspects of the City; the Board of Estimate and Taxation, and the Park and Recreation Board.
The Board of Estimate and Taxation
The Board of Estimate and Taxation is a joint powers board where the Mayor, City Council, Park Board, and individuals elected city-wide make policy around municipal bonds (how the City borrows money) and sets the maximum property tax levies. The board is made up of six members; Mayor, Council President, the Councilmember that chairs the Budget Committee, a Commissioner elected by the Park and Recreation Board, and two members elected by the voters in a regular election held in each year following a year whose number is evenly divisible by four.
While the scope of work for the Board of Estimate and Taxation may be quite narrow in comparison to the other entities we’ve discussed, their role is vital. It is the only place where the City Council, Mayor and Park Board members are required to make policy together. Also, its existence helps keep an independent Park Board because without it, the City would control the Park Board’s property tax levy, and would most likely use that power to end the independent Park Board. Also, the Board of Estimate provides a check and balance on how high property taxes can increase, as it, and not the Mayor or City Council alone, set how high property taxes can increase.
Park and Recreation Board
Last but certainly not least, the Park and Recreation Board holds a largely significant role in the City, as they oversee all of Minneapolis’ parks, parkways, and recreational opportunities. The park system has 185 parks and makes up about 19% of the land mass of the City and the Park Board, not the City Council or Mayor, makes public policy for this space. In fact, the City is legally barred from carrying out park functions. The board is made up of nine elected commissioners, who serve four-year terms. Of the nine commissioners, six come from each of the six park districts, and the other three serve at-large. The board appoints a commissioner, currently Al Bangoura, who sets the policy for the board. Besides governing and maintaining the parks, and maintains its own police force.
The board was established in 1883, and inaugural president Charles Loring successfully convinced landowners to donate property on the shores of Minneapolis’ lakes. Because of this, almost all of Minneapolis’ lake shores are open to the public, a feature that attracts many. Since its inception, Minneapolis has been nationally recognized for its parks and lakes, and the board has received praise for its continued success in maintaining Minneapolis’ parks and lakes. The easy accessibility to the natural features of the city is what draws residents and non-residents alike, with the board stating that their facilities receive 30 million visits annually. It has also become an important resource for social programs, providing extensive after-school programs, youth sports, free lunches during the summer for youth, congregate dining for seniors, and other programs, especially in low-income areas of the City.
A lot of this success can be attributed to the independent Park Board, which has been a fierce protector of the park system. In its early days, it acquired the parks that we still have today, saving them from development. In fact, the early Park Board had a policy that no one would be more than six blocks from a park, a policy unheard of in almost any other major city in the country. Being an elected board means that voters hold commissioners accountable for specifically taking care of the park system. Today, it has a staunch policy of never selling parkland. It fights for appropriate funding for parks and recreation in a way that a department never could.
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With over 400,000 residents, there is no doubt that the City of Minneapolis has to maintain a complex system of entities that need to work both harmoniously and independently to keep the City running. This is evident in the fact that even with all the explanation above, we’re barely scratching the surface in exploring all the quirks and peculiarities that make the City of Minneapolis the entity we all know and… know today. Stay tuned for more articles on how the various governments in Minneapolis function.
