This Week on Council: You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Data Center Moratorium, MPD Training Facility and The Zombie Abolish the Police Movement

From Ward 7 Council Member Elizabeth Shaffer

In the immortal words of the Rolling Stones: “You can’t always get what you want.” That about sums up this week on the City Council.

Data Centers

As of yesterday, we have a moratorium on downtown data centers – but it could have been worse. As I outlined in my Star Tribune opinion piece, I’m opposed to any moratorium because it sends the message once again that Minneapolis is closed for business. Our sister city of St. Paul (who also has much vacant space) has no moratorium. The council, however, voted 8-5 to move forward with a six-month moratorium that includes an exception for new data center development downtown of up to 350,000 square feet per project. That is better than the original proposal, which would have imposed a year-long blanket ban across the entire city. Council Member Whiting and Council Vice President Osman both voted in support of the moratorium. The measure was referred to the Business Committee, with a public hearing coming mid-June and returning to the full council for action on by late June or early July. The moratorium is in effect in the meantime, and if it passes it will go to the mayor for his signature or veto. Thanks to all the union workers who showed up at our meeting to stand up for Minneapolis jobs and against the moratorium.

On a more encouraging note, the council unanimously passed a directive for our Legislative Research department to produce a comprehensive policy report on data centers – to define what they are, look at how they are regulated across the country, and examine what their economic, environmental, and land-use implications could mean for Minneapolis.

I also gave notice for the first piece of legislation I will be lead-authoring: an update to the Minneapolis Code of Ordinances that creates a new regulatory framework for data centers – which will provide exactly the kind of smart, targeted guardrails the public has been asking for. There will be ample opportunity for residents to engage and share their perspectives as this process moves forward. I’m hopeful that we can build a coalition across the ideological spectrum on the council, and that this effort can serve as a model for how we do substantive policy work going forward.

The Public Safety Training Facility

Next up, my perspective was overruled again in the vote to approve $6.1 million to purchase 5 acres in an industrial area of Ward 11 for a Community Safety and Wellness Facility – inaccurately but effectively labeled by its opponents as “Cop City.” The resolution failed 6-7. Because we were repurposing bonding dollars, it required nine votes to pass. That threshold was never reached, and the result is a major step backward for police reform.

Some context matters here. When Minneapolis voluntarily entered into the Minnesota Department of Human Rights Settlement Agreement, we hired Effective Law Enforcement For All (ELEFA) as an independent third party to oversee our progress on reform. ELEFA required a facilities analysis, which was completed by Wold Architects. The Wold report specifically recommended developing a new, ”one-stop shop” training facility, which ELEFA approved as part of the agreement. By voting against purchasing this land, the council stepped out of alignment with the reform commitments we made in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.

Furthermore, I heard from my colleagues who represent North Minneapolis that this was another slap in the face to the Northside. The Northside has been demanding for years that we move training from its current location in a repurposed elementary school that sits right in a residential neighborhood. Once again, these entreaties were met with assurances that the council shares this same desire, but this is another case where actions – in this case inaction – speaks louder than words.

The Pattern

Over the course of my term so far, I’ve noticed a thread running through the failure of the training facility vote and the denial of Commissioner Barnette’s reappointment. The thread is this: while abolishing the police failed at the ballot box in 2021, the movement behind it did not die. It’s the Zombie Abolish the Police movement – the voters thought they killed it at the polls, but these people won’t let it stay dead. Whenever anything related to the police comes up – overtime, facilities, audits, legislative directives – the discussion isn’t primarily about the matter at hand. It’s about the fundamental divide on this council between the Zombie Police Abolitionists and the Reformers.

I am firmly in the Reformer camp. What I heard from residents throughout my campaign was clear: Minneapolis needs and deserves more and better public safety – and that includes MPD. I will continue to advocate for all of our first responders getting the resources they need to do their jobs and keep our streets safe for everyone. The structural change demanded by the public cannot happen without investment in the infrastructure needed to support it.

Red Cow

Finally, rounding out the things we didn’t want this week was the announcement that Red Cow on Hennepin is closing its doors after a successful 10-year run. This is the second high-profile restaurant shuttering on Hennepin in the past month and only underscores that while public safety is improving in the area, when it comes to Uptown’s economic revitalization we’ve got hard work ahead.

Via constituent newsletter, May 22, 2026