Wow, thanks Terry. I knew the $$$ on this made no sense, but I had no idea just how bad they truly are. As others have said, if only it were as simple as providing housing. I remember a NYTimes article about the camp in Powderhorn during the pandemic. It ended with one resident saying something like -- why would I got to a shelter or an apartment? I like living out here under the stars, getting high whenever I want to -- like I am right now. Talk about red meat for the MAGA's. VP Mondale once referred to some other program that went awry as "a conspiracy of good intentions."
And thanks for interviewing Mark, who would have been a terrific mayor. (I think the last city DFL convention I went to was when he was up against Betsy Hodges. Compared to the recent one it was the epitome of democracy in action, but it was a clunky grind which started nearly 4 hours late due to issues with credentials. Many of the delegates from Ward 6 spoke no English, and the chair of their delegation would hand signal a yes or no vote and they voted as a bloc, even on the jumbled minutiae of parliamentary procedures.
As the day wore on and on, it came down to one side outlasting the other. The Hodges campaign had pizza delivered to their delegates and the rest of us, weary and hungry, went home. It may have been a smart campaign tactic to feed the troops, but I left thinking -- this ain't democracy.
And for the record, I was Mark's campaign chair when he first ran for the county board! I was pregnant with baby #4 and told him I couldn't do all that much, so he changed my title to "honorary" campaign chair! Honorary or token or whatever, I was proud to support him and still am. Maybe he should run for mayor again!
Excerpt.. "Now, state lawmakers in Sacramento, backed by mayors, have introduced new laws and bills that would help bring more people into treatment, even if it's against their will. Last year, legislators approved a new system of CARE Courts, where judges issue treatment plans. That program begins on a pilot basis this fall in eight counties, including Los Angeles and San Francisco counties, with the rest of the state expected to join next year."
Hennepin County is the biggest government entity in Minnesota and the most opaque, petty and unaccountable. Online political pundits in Minneapolis endlessly attack the city council and the tiny Park Board, but there's almost no coverage of the County. A few thoughts:
-I've noticed that the "moderates" of the city council often say the issue of homelessness must be solved in partnership with the County, even though it's clear the County is incapable at best and obfuscating at worst. This feels like an artful dodge on the part of moderates. Meanwhile, the "progressives/leftists" of the city council rarely, if ever, talk about partnerships with the County and instead focus on stopping encampment sweeps, and instead paying outside entities for "wraparound services," and occasionally making nods to "deeply affordable housing." This feels like haphazard, fraud-laden flailing on the part of the progressives, though one could argue they're at least trying to do something (even if it's misguided and destructive).
-Four Hennepin County commissioners, including all three Minneapolis representatives (Irene Fernando, Marion Greene, Angela Conley) voted to give themselves a 49% raise in 2024 (giving them a higher salary than the governor), but were forced to reverse themselves after rare public coverage of this egregious action. The move was proposed by HR specialist and board chair Irene Fernando, who frequently attacks Jacob Frey, and is close friends with Kareem Murphy (the recently-appointed Deputy County Administrator). Murphy is the husband of current mayoral candidate DeWayne Davis, who unsurprisingly is heavily supported by Fernando and her policy aide and former state house candidate Bill Emory. Kudos to the two suburban commissioners who voted against the raise, and jeers to to the four who did not, especially Fernando and Marion Greene (who conveniently was absent at the meeting to backtrack on the raise after public pushback). https://www.mprnews.org/story/2024/08/06/hennepin-county-commissioners-withdraw-proposal-to-give-themselves-a-49-percent-pay-bump
-The County recently voted to dissolve the board of HCMC in August 2025. Various state legislators urged county commissioners to not act in haste, but the board of HCMC, which was majority-minority and had actual medical doctors on it, was deemed insufficient by the Hennepin County commissioners (who presumably are even less qualified to "right the ship" of the financially troubled hospital). Jill Burcum's cogent piece describes the issues with this move, and the silence from County board chair Irene Fernando is telling: https://www.startribune.com/hennepin-healthcare-system-management-final-vote/601451861
Hi Mara, Thank you for this additional context. I agree that the Hennepin County board seems to get very little coverage. Better Minneapolis will try to do more.
Mara, great info. I didn't know about Kareem's recent appointment and all those other links. Terry, please do a deeper dive into the workings of the HC board.
There is a group of folks without housing, that have had housing, often, and many times free, but they have not maintained it. They just left, went back to something they knew. Left it to go in and out or treatment or jail, multiple times. Left it to stay with others, family or acquaintances, but were asked to leave due to unlawful behaviors, dangerous to others. So they were back out.
Free or not...housing for those with significant drug and/or mental illness issues is not going to work unless they are held someplace, in place, until their issues are addressed and at least partially remedied. So...for that group, it is NOT about a shortage of affordable housing.
This comment was put up on ND, I believe last year, in reference to the encampment near 46th and Hiawatha.
Chris J.
·Hale·
Having a couple family members who chose to live in these encampments, we would welcome any forced treatment or help. They’re offered housing again and again. So I don’t believe there is no housing. Even temporary housing is a transition to more permanent housing. My brother even went as far as purchasing a small home for his adult child. They refuse because they love the community and chaos of the encampments. The other one, doesn’t want to go to treatment or sober living because he doesn’t want to be told what to do. They both need help beyond what the family can encourage. Both have family nearby that want to help.
Me again, just got time to watch the entire interview, and it covers a lot of really important stuff. (Including things I said in a comment below, like the pizza party convention, not knowing Mark had mentioned it.) I learned a lot -- about the county's past polices on homelessness, the blurred lines between county, city and MDOT, etc. I already knew about Mr. Sabri, as his brother lived across the street from us for decades. He's deceased, so de mortuis nil nisi bonum and all that, but many Sabri family members hung out there and it was -- a time.
Thank you Terry! Unbelievable clarity! Math is always something that can be calculated and based on facts. It is unreal that the math in of itself represents a realistic path forward. I really appreciate you continuing to bring these detailed numbers/facts to our Minneapolis community. Business owners, residents and elected officials all need to start rowing together to bring real changes to complex issues.
On this Next Door post lots of good comments on this topic, especially from Nancy Ford, the author, and Dan Orban, who is running for City Council in W9.
Mark does have a good grasp on what basic and moral needs are. The only caution is that we are only looking at the increase in costs as being the amount of increased need. It's quite possible that the funds are not getting to where they should. Do we know the actual numbers of people helped along with the the numbers repeating? It sounds like he started some good programs which may not be made as available as they should in lieu of perhaps newer programs.
I don't want to appear overly self-serving, but as a Ward 11 candidate, I must be in this case. (ABC, right? Always Be Campaigning.) It is amazing how well aligned today's article and interview focus is with my basic platform. I don't claim to be a Tax Board legend or a big-biz whiz, but I think `average folks' question if they are getting effective return on their tax money. Taxes rise. Problems persist and grow. Minneapolitans have been trusting and generous for many terms, but in my discussions, I sense patience is running out. I know I've dinged our Intergovernmental Relations Committee (IGR) in print a few times, but from outside it has seemed like a zombie body if it even meets at all, or with some thin agendas when it does. In some respects, it may be the most crucial committee we have downtown, not just window-dressing. Of course there have been some program successes, but a few other candidates -- for ward or mayor -- are demanding more financial exam and audit. And if citizens think money is tight now, the economic near future is quite cloudy without real dedication to both savings and new growth, strong prioritization, solid plans, and yes, teamwork. All this criss-cross campaigning and savage undercutting going on by folks duty-bound to work together is maddening. I couldn't take any more and I don't think I'm alone. Thank you, Terry, and to Mark Andrew for years of service and experienced perspective we so need. Jim Meyer - Budgetary Economic Stability (B.E.S.T). Find me at the easy-to-read www.electjimmeyer.com, or the more colorful site and issues blog www.jimmeyerminneapolismn.com (both are works in progress toward a full re-launch soon.) And I really welcome your thoughts at electjimmeyer@gmail.com, or in replies here.
i am in housing, i could solve homelessness in within six months to a year . but that would have some tough love portions.
mpls is full of feel good,pat on the shoulder,its ok. cus we are throwing more money at a study politicians.we are on our way as a city to become the next oakland ca.
the city needs to pull their heads out of the thought that rights of a few should dictate what the other 99.9 percent have to deal with.
hey terry , no i have not. i did not know they even had a plan. if they do its not working. the problem and i know its a huge one is no one wants to do what it really takes. we need to create housing that goes hand in hand with mental services.
carrots and sticks programs would be fought by every rights lawyer and then ya got a council that as long as they dont have a camp next door its ok.
maybe we should open camps right next to Jason's backyard so he can enjoy the needles and urine on his doorstep.
Wow, thanks Terry. I knew the $$$ on this made no sense, but I had no idea just how bad they truly are. As others have said, if only it were as simple as providing housing. I remember a NYTimes article about the camp in Powderhorn during the pandemic. It ended with one resident saying something like -- why would I got to a shelter or an apartment? I like living out here under the stars, getting high whenever I want to -- like I am right now. Talk about red meat for the MAGA's. VP Mondale once referred to some other program that went awry as "a conspiracy of good intentions."
And thanks for interviewing Mark, who would have been a terrific mayor. (I think the last city DFL convention I went to was when he was up against Betsy Hodges. Compared to the recent one it was the epitome of democracy in action, but it was a clunky grind which started nearly 4 hours late due to issues with credentials. Many of the delegates from Ward 6 spoke no English, and the chair of their delegation would hand signal a yes or no vote and they voted as a bloc, even on the jumbled minutiae of parliamentary procedures.
As the day wore on and on, it came down to one side outlasting the other. The Hodges campaign had pizza delivered to their delegates and the rest of us, weary and hungry, went home. It may have been a smart campaign tactic to feed the troops, but I left thinking -- this ain't democracy.
And for the record, I was Mark's campaign chair when he first ran for the county board! I was pregnant with baby #4 and told him I couldn't do all that much, so he changed my title to "honorary" campaign chair! Honorary or token or whatever, I was proud to support him and still am. Maybe he should run for mayor again!
Thanks, Susan. It sounds like credentialing and convention monkey business have been standard practices for a long time.
Good to see places like CA taking this approach.
https://apnews.com/article/california-gavin-newsom-homeless-sweeps-funding-bdaf5719847e11daf8cca06c62737994
Then ADD this to it...
https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2023-10-10/california-gov-gavin-newsom-signs-bill-expanding-conservatorship-law
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/new-california-law-aims-to-force-people-with-mental-illness-or-addiction-to-get-help
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/03/31/1164281917/when-homelessness-and-mental-illness-overlap-is-compulsory-treatment-compassiona
Excerpt.. "Now, state lawmakers in Sacramento, backed by mayors, have introduced new laws and bills that would help bring more people into treatment, even if it's against their will. Last year, legislators approved a new system of CARE Courts, where judges issue treatment plans. That program begins on a pilot basis this fall in eight counties, including Los Angeles and San Francisco counties, with the rest of the state expected to join next year."
Excellent piece about Redondo Beach CA, below.
https://www.aol.com/news/redondo-beach-brought-homeless-numbers-100054453.html
Hennepin County is the biggest government entity in Minnesota and the most opaque, petty and unaccountable. Online political pundits in Minneapolis endlessly attack the city council and the tiny Park Board, but there's almost no coverage of the County. A few thoughts:
-The County makes breathless statements such as "effectively ending veteran homelessness," (https://www.hennepin.us/en/housing/hennepin-county-housing-stories/hennepin-county-effectively-ends-veteran-homelessness), but also no longer tracks how many homeless people it turns away on a nighty basis, according to a January 2025 investigative piece from the Star Tribune (https://www.startribune.com/hennepin-homeless-shelter-bed-capacity-data/601204123). Which is it? Is Hennepin County leading on the issue, or is it hiding the truth?
-I've noticed that the "moderates" of the city council often say the issue of homelessness must be solved in partnership with the County, even though it's clear the County is incapable at best and obfuscating at worst. This feels like an artful dodge on the part of moderates. Meanwhile, the "progressives/leftists" of the city council rarely, if ever, talk about partnerships with the County and instead focus on stopping encampment sweeps, and instead paying outside entities for "wraparound services," and occasionally making nods to "deeply affordable housing." This feels like haphazard, fraud-laden flailing on the part of the progressives, though one could argue they're at least trying to do something (even if it's misguided and destructive).
-Four Hennepin County commissioners, including all three Minneapolis representatives (Irene Fernando, Marion Greene, Angela Conley) voted to give themselves a 49% raise in 2024 (giving them a higher salary than the governor), but were forced to reverse themselves after rare public coverage of this egregious action. The move was proposed by HR specialist and board chair Irene Fernando, who frequently attacks Jacob Frey, and is close friends with Kareem Murphy (the recently-appointed Deputy County Administrator). Murphy is the husband of current mayoral candidate DeWayne Davis, who unsurprisingly is heavily supported by Fernando and her policy aide and former state house candidate Bill Emory. Kudos to the two suburban commissioners who voted against the raise, and jeers to to the four who did not, especially Fernando and Marion Greene (who conveniently was absent at the meeting to backtrack on the raise after public pushback). https://www.mprnews.org/story/2024/08/06/hennepin-county-commissioners-withdraw-proposal-to-give-themselves-a-49-percent-pay-bump
-The County recently voted to dissolve the board of HCMC in August 2025. Various state legislators urged county commissioners to not act in haste, but the board of HCMC, which was majority-minority and had actual medical doctors on it, was deemed insufficient by the Hennepin County commissioners (who presumably are even less qualified to "right the ship" of the financially troubled hospital). Jill Burcum's cogent piece describes the issues with this move, and the silence from County board chair Irene Fernando is telling: https://www.startribune.com/hennepin-healthcare-system-management-final-vote/601451861
Hi Mara, Thank you for this additional context. I agree that the Hennepin County board seems to get very little coverage. Better Minneapolis will try to do more.
Mara, great info. I didn't know about Kareem's recent appointment and all those other links. Terry, please do a deeper dive into the workings of the HC board.
There is a group of folks without housing, that have had housing, often, and many times free, but they have not maintained it. They just left, went back to something they knew. Left it to go in and out or treatment or jail, multiple times. Left it to stay with others, family or acquaintances, but were asked to leave due to unlawful behaviors, dangerous to others. So they were back out.
Free or not...housing for those with significant drug and/or mental illness issues is not going to work unless they are held someplace, in place, until their issues are addressed and at least partially remedied. So...for that group, it is NOT about a shortage of affordable housing.
This comment was put up on ND, I believe last year, in reference to the encampment near 46th and Hiawatha.
Chris J.
·Hale·
Having a couple family members who chose to live in these encampments, we would welcome any forced treatment or help. They’re offered housing again and again. So I don’t believe there is no housing. Even temporary housing is a transition to more permanent housing. My brother even went as far as purchasing a small home for his adult child. They refuse because they love the community and chaos of the encampments. The other one, doesn’t want to go to treatment or sober living because he doesn’t want to be told what to do. They both need help beyond what the family can encourage. Both have family nearby that want to help.
Yes do the math. Apparently no one on the city council can.
Me again, just got time to watch the entire interview, and it covers a lot of really important stuff. (Including things I said in a comment below, like the pizza party convention, not knowing Mark had mentioned it.) I learned a lot -- about the county's past polices on homelessness, the blurred lines between county, city and MDOT, etc. I already knew about Mr. Sabri, as his brother lived across the street from us for decades. He's deceased, so de mortuis nil nisi bonum and all that, but many Sabri family members hung out there and it was -- a time.
Thank you Terry! Unbelievable clarity! Math is always something that can be calculated and based on facts. It is unreal that the math in of itself represents a realistic path forward. I really appreciate you continuing to bring these detailed numbers/facts to our Minneapolis community. Business owners, residents and elected officials all need to start rowing together to bring real changes to complex issues.
Check out this post on Nextdoor:
https://nextdoor.com/p/Y_bsW-Nxf9x9?utm_source=share&extras=NzY4MzMyNDM%3D&ne_link_preview_links=&utm_campaign=1756652508814&share_action_id=ed339472-4c96-4cea-a101-cc789ed22d6d
On this Next Door post lots of good comments on this topic, especially from Nancy Ford, the author, and Dan Orban, who is running for City Council in W9.
Katie Cashman seems like an objectively terrible person.
Mark does have a good grasp on what basic and moral needs are. The only caution is that we are only looking at the increase in costs as being the amount of increased need. It's quite possible that the funds are not getting to where they should. Do we know the actual numbers of people helped along with the the numbers repeating? It sounds like he started some good programs which may not be made as available as they should in lieu of perhaps newer programs.
I don't want to appear overly self-serving, but as a Ward 11 candidate, I must be in this case. (ABC, right? Always Be Campaigning.) It is amazing how well aligned today's article and interview focus is with my basic platform. I don't claim to be a Tax Board legend or a big-biz whiz, but I think `average folks' question if they are getting effective return on their tax money. Taxes rise. Problems persist and grow. Minneapolitans have been trusting and generous for many terms, but in my discussions, I sense patience is running out. I know I've dinged our Intergovernmental Relations Committee (IGR) in print a few times, but from outside it has seemed like a zombie body if it even meets at all, or with some thin agendas when it does. In some respects, it may be the most crucial committee we have downtown, not just window-dressing. Of course there have been some program successes, but a few other candidates -- for ward or mayor -- are demanding more financial exam and audit. And if citizens think money is tight now, the economic near future is quite cloudy without real dedication to both savings and new growth, strong prioritization, solid plans, and yes, teamwork. All this criss-cross campaigning and savage undercutting going on by folks duty-bound to work together is maddening. I couldn't take any more and I don't think I'm alone. Thank you, Terry, and to Mark Andrew for years of service and experienced perspective we so need. Jim Meyer - Budgetary Economic Stability (B.E.S.T). Find me at the easy-to-read www.electjimmeyer.com, or the more colorful site and issues blog www.jimmeyerminneapolismn.com (both are works in progress toward a full re-launch soon.) And I really welcome your thoughts at electjimmeyer@gmail.com, or in replies here.
You know…I’m only partially joking here. It would be less expensive to buy the homeless a cabin on a 3-year cruise.
i am in housing, i could solve homelessness in within six months to a year . but that would have some tough love portions.
mpls is full of feel good,pat on the shoulder,its ok. cus we are throwing more money at a study politicians.we are on our way as a city to become the next oakland ca.
the city needs to pull their heads out of the thought that rights of a few should dictate what the other 99.9 percent have to deal with.
Hi greg, Have you ever spoken to anyone at Hennepin County about their plans?
hey terry , no i have not. i did not know they even had a plan. if they do its not working. the problem and i know its a huge one is no one wants to do what it really takes. we need to create housing that goes hand in hand with mental services.
carrots and sticks programs would be fought by every rights lawyer and then ya got a council that as long as they dont have a camp next door its ok.
maybe we should open camps right next to Jason's backyard so he can enjoy the needles and urine on his doorstep.
More about the County's efforts, and the money...from May.
https://minneapolistimes.com/hennepin-county-homelessness-is-down-compared-with-national-numbers-but-theres-a-catch/