I need to push back on Rainville’s comment that he and the Ramsey Cty sheriff made a “mistake” by speaking directly about the problem of Somali gang violence. If you don’t identify the problem how are you going to fix it? This is madness. Staying silent for fear of hurting peoples feelings is what has gotten us into the mess we are in.
Re Lyndale business being bought up by multinational corporations: there's no rule that rebuilding even has to be that good. Longfellow is not Lyndale by any stretch of the imagination but after it burned people were worried that their local businesses were going to be turned into Starbucks. Well, that didn't happen. But they didn't turn into anything. There are just fewer businesses in the neighborhood than before the riots.
Just the idea that between the CM salaries, the costs of their aides, all those expansive benefits, and all kinds of other costs heaped onto taxpayers by this faction on the City Council ( like sucking up our limited city staff time, and using and abusing them), it is rather horrifying to know that we are PAYING between 1/4-1/2 million dollars a year for EACH of those 6-7 Council seats...for this DSA aligned/ ruin a city council faction.
Seattle has a population of 750,000. The city council is 9 people, 2 of which are elected citywide. Minneapolis is 430,000 people and has 13 wards and 13 council members. It seems worth having a discussion about the size of the council.
After watching what the city council in Mpls has been up to, hard not to look at, and WANT, what other large cities have, a smaller, more cost effective, and functional city council.
St Paul only has 7 CMs, AND they are part time, although there is an effort to change that pay and time commitment.
"The St. Paul City Council has not changed to full-time salaries. They remain officially classified as part-time employees, earning an annual salary of approximately $79,400.
While the official structure hasn't changed, a formal push to alter it is currently in progress:
The Proposal: In late June 2026, Council Member Nelsie Yang proposed a city charter amendment to essentially transition the roles to full-time.
The Compensation: The proposal recommends a 40% salary increase to about $112,000 annually (or 70% of the mayor's salary), but deliberately avoids officially using the term "full-time" to prevent strict 9-to-5 mandates and allow members to maintain other employment.
Timeline: Any changes would require a formal study, a vote, and would not take effect until 2029."
Perhaps ironically, when voters went to the polls in 1991 to approve the part-time council structure that took effect three years later, some did so with more than just taxpayer cost savings in mind."
"Proponents of keeping councils, legislatures and other elected bodies part-time have long seen the value of filling those roles with everyday residents — workers, neighbors, small business owners and the like — rather than career politicians whose everyday experience revolves around government."
Total budget for the city council in 2026 appears to be $5.9MM. Based on that alone, each member costs us $450k. Then add in the $1.4MM slated to get DSA members to play well in the sand box...
This Strib piece from last fall offered up for consideration by the Native American community here. The same folks ( the MUID and OIC) that the DSA aligned on our City Council has chosen to ignore.
"We do not want permanent encampments. We do not want portable toilets and water hookups that further entrench them. We do not want open-air drug use, addiction, prostitution and gun violence to become normalized in our community. We certainly do not want to see the further exploitation of our community or our most vulnerable people as a means to score points in a political game we did not ask them to pursue on our behalf. "
Not coincidentally, my angry letter about the council president's and the mayor's neglect of the growing budget shortfalls ran in today's Star Tribune (and online of course). Can citizen discontent be galvanized at scale to make any difference in our city's many forms of apparent mismanagement? Is anybody home at 350 5th Street? I appreciate anything CM Rainville can try to do.
I need to push back on Rainville’s comment that he and the Ramsey Cty sheriff made a “mistake” by speaking directly about the problem of Somali gang violence. If you don’t identify the problem how are you going to fix it? This is madness. Staying silent for fear of hurting peoples feelings is what has gotten us into the mess we are in.
Re Lyndale business being bought up by multinational corporations: there's no rule that rebuilding even has to be that good. Longfellow is not Lyndale by any stretch of the imagination but after it burned people were worried that their local businesses were going to be turned into Starbucks. Well, that didn't happen. But they didn't turn into anything. There are just fewer businesses in the neighborhood than before the riots.
Crossing my fingers that Rainville doesn’t decide to retire.
Just the idea that between the CM salaries, the costs of their aides, all those expansive benefits, and all kinds of other costs heaped onto taxpayers by this faction on the City Council ( like sucking up our limited city staff time, and using and abusing them), it is rather horrifying to know that we are PAYING between 1/4-1/2 million dollars a year for EACH of those 6-7 Council seats...for this DSA aligned/ ruin a city council faction.
Seattle has a population of 750,000. The city council is 9 people, 2 of which are elected citywide. Minneapolis is 430,000 people and has 13 wards and 13 council members. It seems worth having a discussion about the size of the council.
After watching what the city council in Mpls has been up to, hard not to look at, and WANT, what other large cities have, a smaller, more cost effective, and functional city council.
St Paul only has 7 CMs, AND they are part time, although there is an effort to change that pay and time commitment.
"The St. Paul City Council has not changed to full-time salaries. They remain officially classified as part-time employees, earning an annual salary of approximately $79,400.
While the official structure hasn't changed, a formal push to alter it is currently in progress:
The Proposal: In late June 2026, Council Member Nelsie Yang proposed a city charter amendment to essentially transition the roles to full-time.
The Compensation: The proposal recommends a 40% salary increase to about $112,000 annually (or 70% of the mayor's salary), but deliberately avoids officially using the term "full-time" to prevent strict 9-to-5 mandates and allow members to maintain other employment.
Timeline: Any changes would require a formal study, a vote, and would not take effect until 2029."
More about St Paul..
"The citizen-legislator concept
Perhaps ironically, when voters went to the polls in 1991 to approve the part-time council structure that took effect three years later, some did so with more than just taxpayer cost savings in mind."
"Proponents of keeping councils, legislatures and other elected bodies part-time have long seen the value of filling those roles with everyday residents — workers, neighbors, small business owners and the like — rather than career politicians whose everyday experience revolves around government."
Total budget for the city council in 2026 appears to be $5.9MM. Based on that alone, each member costs us $450k. Then add in the $1.4MM slated to get DSA members to play well in the sand box...
https://cleargov.com/minnesota/hennepin/city/minneapolis/2026/native/expenditures/legislative-department/city-council?breakdowntype=department&objectid=1801655
Under " Public Safety Concerns"
This Strib piece from last fall offered up for consideration by the Native American community here. The same folks ( the MUID and OIC) that the DSA aligned on our City Council has chosen to ignore.
https://replica.startribune.com/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=d923ce84-e953-4b43-8222-0c4c6be60b50
Excerpt..
"We do not want permanent encampments. We do not want portable toilets and water hookups that further entrench them. We do not want open-air drug use, addiction, prostitution and gun violence to become normalized in our community. We certainly do not want to see the further exploitation of our community or our most vulnerable people as a means to score points in a political game we did not ask them to pursue on our behalf. "
Not coincidentally, my angry letter about the council president's and the mayor's neglect of the growing budget shortfalls ran in today's Star Tribune (and online of course). Can citizen discontent be galvanized at scale to make any difference in our city's many forms of apparent mismanagement? Is anybody home at 350 5th Street? I appreciate anything CM Rainville can try to do.