I am very confused on what the benefit of growing my food on a former industrial site in Minneapolis is supposed to provide me with when Minnesota sits in the middle of one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. It will be more expensive, less efficient and less healthy.
I see the biggest problem is that most citizens lack the bandwidth to stay informed, coupled with the decline in local media coverage of local politics. Although there are more sources of information than ever, for example, your blog, the average citizen does not have the capacity to be a student of the game. Those who do have the time to be informed tend to obsess about national politics. I am a great example. When I was working, I did the minimal acceptable research to vote. Now that I am retired, I have made local politics my hobby. However, to stay informed, it requires about 4 hours a day - and I still feel pretty uninformed.
I also feel that Minneapolis needs to wake up and realize that just because all the elected officials are DFL, the spectrum is vast. We would be better served by having two parties: a leftist DSA party and a centrist alternative party (that is still well to the left of the GOP). It confuses the average citizen when both Fateh and Frey are DFL.
Excellent analysis of what happens when ideology becomes more important than common sense. The Roof project has been a big drain on city resources, and will continue to be a drain until it is sold.
Thank you for raising the Roof Depot issue. This has gone on for 15 years plus. I would add to your commentary that at the beginning of this term the Mayor worked with the CMs and legislative delegation to develop this compromise to support the "Urban Farm" going forward and limit the financial impact on the city and all of us. The "Urban Farm" supporters have not fulfilled the financial terms and now they want to have additional financial support. How many "compromises" do there have to be?
This is a great piece and at just the right time...thank you!
Key takeaways for me...
"But as federal support declines and budgets tighten, Minneapolis must ask a harder question: how can we do the most good with the limited resources we have?"
"This November, Minneapolis has a chance to reward leadership that focuses on the practical over the performative. For Minneapolis to truly recover from the past five years, it needs public servants who value results over rhetoric — leaders focused on delivering for all residents, not just the loudest voices."
*Mpls Times put out a piece in July talking about the financial pitfalls of this project. It was quite eye opening. They did a follow up a few months later.
I'm glad you picked this piece of the forum to write your article on Terry. I will give Chavez some credit in that he answered some questions adequately. This is a tangent to your post, but his answer to the question about how to prevent intervene and treat addiction was mind-blowing. If the question had been, what do we do about overdoses? His answer would have been fine. But that wasn't the question. And I don't expect Minneapolis to offer all solutions for the treatment of chemical dependency. But the fact that he never once actually mentioned a treatment of chemical dependency was really eye-opening for me. (I have watched his answer three times now) Considering he even has a bachelor's in social work, you would think he would know something about how to answer a question like that. Dan's answer wasn't perfect either, but at least he understood that you could partner with the state and the county, and that some people suffering from addiction could become productive members of society again. Chavez seem to lack that insight.
Spot on Terry! Regarding the State's failure to provide funds to the EPNI, I read somewhere that due to the votes being held up in the Spring of 2023, when the Dems had control of the legislature, the issue of the Uber/Lyft drivers pay raise took precedence and then the clock ran out on other Dem priorities including passage of the bonding bill to give MPLS funds, some of which would be directed to EPNI. This outcome has been used by Fateh's opponents as he was deemed responsible for it.
I'd appreciate your understanding if what happened on the state level that has been a factor in the EPNI controversy.
I also recall that Fateh was so busy working on the Uber/Lyft driver pay raise bill that he missed being present to vote on the bonding bill and time ran out. And yes, pretty sure that included money for EPNI. And in the end, the bill Fateh championed for the drivers was almost identical to the one Frey had put forth to the city council a few months earlier, which the DSA and their ilk voted down. My memory is foggy, but I think a romp through the internets would confirm this.
I am very confused on what the benefit of growing my food on a former industrial site in Minneapolis is supposed to provide me with when Minnesota sits in the middle of one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. It will be more expensive, less efficient and less healthy.
This was a thought-provoking post.
I see the biggest problem is that most citizens lack the bandwidth to stay informed, coupled with the decline in local media coverage of local politics. Although there are more sources of information than ever, for example, your blog, the average citizen does not have the capacity to be a student of the game. Those who do have the time to be informed tend to obsess about national politics. I am a great example. When I was working, I did the minimal acceptable research to vote. Now that I am retired, I have made local politics my hobby. However, to stay informed, it requires about 4 hours a day - and I still feel pretty uninformed.
I also feel that Minneapolis needs to wake up and realize that just because all the elected officials are DFL, the spectrum is vast. We would be better served by having two parties: a leftist DSA party and a centrist alternative party (that is still well to the left of the GOP). It confuses the average citizen when both Fateh and Frey are DFL.
And when five of the 15 candidates on the mayoral ballot have DFL after their names. (Frey, Hampton, Davis, Fateh and Short.)
It is a lot to expect for voters to consider 15 choices. I spent hours studying all of them. https://substack.com/@catchgroove/note/p-175563931?r=5hgtj&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
Excellent analysis of what happens when ideology becomes more important than common sense. The Roof project has been a big drain on city resources, and will continue to be a drain until it is sold.
Thank you for raising the Roof Depot issue. This has gone on for 15 years plus. I would add to your commentary that at the beginning of this term the Mayor worked with the CMs and legislative delegation to develop this compromise to support the "Urban Farm" going forward and limit the financial impact on the city and all of us. The "Urban Farm" supporters have not fulfilled the financial terms and now they want to have additional financial support. How many "compromises" do there have to be?
Hi Kathleen,
A reader sent the following note. It gives an idea of where the mayoral candidates stand on the issue.
KSTP has a good summary of what they each said on that. There’s also an embedded video of the whole program on this link too: https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/minneapolis-mayoral-debate-4-candidates-square-off-on-encampments-rent-control-roof-depot/
This is a great piece and at just the right time...thank you!
Key takeaways for me...
"But as federal support declines and budgets tighten, Minneapolis must ask a harder question: how can we do the most good with the limited resources we have?"
"This November, Minneapolis has a chance to reward leadership that focuses on the practical over the performative. For Minneapolis to truly recover from the past five years, it needs public servants who value results over rhetoric — leaders focused on delivering for all residents, not just the loudest voices."
*Mpls Times put out a piece in July talking about the financial pitfalls of this project. It was quite eye opening. They did a follow up a few months later.
https://minneapolistimes.com/city-council-extends-the-date-for-epni-option-to-purchase-the-roof-depot-property-a-second-time-due-to-no-funding-from-the-legislature/
https://minneapolistimes.com/supporters-of-roof-depot-project-asking-mayor-sell-site-at-a-5-million-dollar-loss-to-the-city/
I'm glad you picked this piece of the forum to write your article on Terry. I will give Chavez some credit in that he answered some questions adequately. This is a tangent to your post, but his answer to the question about how to prevent intervene and treat addiction was mind-blowing. If the question had been, what do we do about overdoses? His answer would have been fine. But that wasn't the question. And I don't expect Minneapolis to offer all solutions for the treatment of chemical dependency. But the fact that he never once actually mentioned a treatment of chemical dependency was really eye-opening for me. (I have watched his answer three times now) Considering he even has a bachelor's in social work, you would think he would know something about how to answer a question like that. Dan's answer wasn't perfect either, but at least he understood that you could partner with the state and the county, and that some people suffering from addiction could become productive members of society again. Chavez seem to lack that insight.
Spot on Terry! Regarding the State's failure to provide funds to the EPNI, I read somewhere that due to the votes being held up in the Spring of 2023, when the Dems had control of the legislature, the issue of the Uber/Lyft drivers pay raise took precedence and then the clock ran out on other Dem priorities including passage of the bonding bill to give MPLS funds, some of which would be directed to EPNI. This outcome has been used by Fateh's opponents as he was deemed responsible for it.
I'd appreciate your understanding if what happened on the state level that has been a factor in the EPNI controversy.
I also recall that Fateh was so busy working on the Uber/Lyft driver pay raise bill that he missed being present to vote on the bonding bill and time ran out. And yes, pretty sure that included money for EPNI. And in the end, the bill Fateh championed for the drivers was almost identical to the one Frey had put forth to the city council a few months earlier, which the DSA and their ilk voted down. My memory is foggy, but I think a romp through the internets would confirm this.
Today’s article in the Minnesota Reformer clarifies Fateh’s role in the 2023 and 2024 legislative sessions, though no specific mention of EPNI.
https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/10/10/sen-omar-fateh-has-used-his-leverage-even-threatening-to-leave-the-dfl-caucus/?fbclid=IwdGRjcANWCBZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHpQzrC0FOzthgoEPzG0G2e5Ksf2tR1QKtZaB1QzlRu0se45d8vf3KInnU7ek_aem_NVPtnYtBL5CSvj0HPoHLkA
Once again, an excellent crystallization. Thanks, Terry.
Thank you for covering so many important local issues!
Once again you go where others dare not tread. I wish more people were seeing this.