Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey rarely has time to sit down (his standing desk is in the background), except during meetings at the conference table in his office. (City of Minneapolis)
In 2021, Minneapolis residents voted on an amendment to the city’s charter that changed the municipality’s system of government from “weak mayor/strong council” to an executive/legislative approach. The Northeaster checked in recently with Mayor Jacob Frey to see how the new system is working. His comments have been edited for length.
How have things changed since the charter amendment passed?
The job that I had in 2018 and 2019 and the job that I have today are not the same job. The world has changed and our entire government structure has been reassembled.
The previous system was a mess. Nobody knew who was in charge. We spent more time arguing over who was in charge of the issue, who had the ability to make a decision, than the nature of the decision itself. It becomes very problematic when decisions need to be made.
In 2020-2022, several crises took place. I would pull department head leaders into my office when a crisis was happening, when a decision needed to be made. The chief of police, the fire chief, the head of CPED — whoever needed to be involved — would sit around the table in my office and we’d discuss the problem and make a decision, and the first question was always, “What’s the city council going to do?”
We could either bulldoze ahead and do the thing we knew we needed to do in the immediacy — just do it, and hope the council didn’t ask any questions, or navigate a very long and complex process through the city council, which could take a month or two.
What happened after the charter amendment passed?
We got together a panel of talented governmental thinkers, executive leaders, people who understand how to set up government structure. They provided recommendations to us on how to set up our administration.
I have four direct reports: A chief of staff who runs this immediate office, and can carry out directives on my behalf; a COO, a city operations officer who runs everything in the city that isn’t about safety; the commissioner of community safety who runs five departments — police, fire, emergency management, 911, violence prevention; and a city attorney.
I’m not an expert in everything; in fact, I’m an expert in very few things. These appointments are among the most important decisions that I have, because I can take recommendations from them. I’m smart enough to know when I don’t know what I’m talking about, and these leaders do in their respective areas.
[The new system] has been instituted technically, but practically, there’s still work to be done because there’s a hundred years of culture baked in the walls of City Hall. It takes a bit of retraining, not just for council members or staff, but also for myself. It’s a huge change, and we are all adjusting to it. St. Paul has had this system for a hundred years; we’ve had it for a year.
When council members would provide direction, previously, staff throughout the city would take that direction. It resulted in a lot of different directions given at the same time, sometimes in diverging directions.
Council has full authority over the legislative process, but directive comes from the person that you report to. Over time, you will get a city that is better managed, where services that we expect are provided in an excellent fashion. In the long term, it’ll save money, it’ll save time. It will provide a great deal of efficiency, both during calm times, but especially during crisis.
You’ve been at odds with the council for much of this term.
There’s been a shift, at times to extreme.
You’ve been in their shoes, as council member for the Third Ward.
I have. I have a deep concern for how politics has changed. The progress that we’ve seen in policy, the bending of the arc towards justice has been inspiring. What we’ve also seen is a gravitational pull to the extremes to the far right and the far left. I’ve always been a pretty left-leaning person, but I think for myself. I’m not willing to sign up for a catchphrase or proposal without asking questions. I’m not going to sign onto something just because a bunch of people are yelling at me to do it. That is not the way to run a government.
Council members are elected to represent the people in their wards. That is an extraordinarily important role. The mayor is elected by the whole city.
As mayor, you often get recommendations and substantive information that would change the perspective you might otherwise have.
Can you give us an example?
I often have people say to me, especially for 2020 and 2021, and even now, “You must have to make a lot of really hard decisions.” The vast majority of the decisions are quite easy in that if you were in this room, after getting feedback from community members, but then getting a briefing from the people around the table that have true expertise in a specific area, and there is broad consensus among all of them, that this is the direction we need to go, and they lay out the recommendation and deliberate and play devil’s advocate, it’s pretty clear. I would bet that anyone sitting at this table would make the same decision. Sometimes the best decision to make is the best of a lot of really crummy choices. Sometimes the decision is the right one, but it’s not going to be popular. A big part of being mayor, in the executive position, is to have the courage to make that decision. That’s how the role has changed.
Do you attend city council meetings, or do you tend to leave them alone?
It’s a balance. Sometimes we need to attend when there’s an issue where we need to make sure the executive branch is heard. In other instances, it’s a beautiful kumbaya moment where we’re all celebrating something special for our city. I want to respect the separation of powers. I have a right to be there, but I shouldn’t be there all the time. Council chambers are a sacred space.
What do you think is your biggest accomplishment so far as mayor?
The shift of government structure, without a doubt. It allows a government to function efficiently and with clarity. Mayors going back to Hubert Humphrey and Don Fraser tried to get an executive structure in the mayor’s office. It will be the most meaningful change, long term, to the people of this city. Public housing, filling potholes, plowing snow — we can do better because of the shift.
When I was on the council, we trusted staff. I still do. The mayor and the council are not experts in finance. Our financial team, our budget team are experts in finance. We shouldn’t be the experts in law. Lawyers who work for the city are the legal experts. We’re not the experts in climate or public works or regulatory services or housing. We shouldn’t pretend we’re the experts at the expense of the people who are. I’ve seen a lot of that lately, and that’s a big problem. When I was a council member, we worked extensively with staff when passing legislation.
Staff report to the mayor, but they go to committee meetings. If it’s about transportation, somebody from Transportation and Public Works will attend and present.
What will readers of the Northeaster say the city is doing for Northeast?
We just opened Graco Park. Northeast is going to have a beach. How cool is that? Northeast is seeing a renaissance in many senses, and I’m not going to take credit for it. It’s been a renaissance of art, we’ve got the best arts district in the entire country. We have these local businesses with shops filled with color and local goods and they’ve put beautiful murals on the walls. Northeast has developed a kind of beautiful character. The policies we’ve promoted in recent years have allowed more people to come into the area, to be patrons of local businesses. I love Northeast. It’s my home. It’s the only place I’ve ever lived in Minneapolis.
There’s also a cohesion, a unifying spirit in Northeast more than there used to be. You hear about the old days where it was “The Hill” or “The Valley.” You’ve got beautiful homes on the hill. You’ve got these rocking commercial areas on East Hennepin, Central and 13th Avenue. One of my favorite things to do is walk along 13th Avenue on a Friday night and experience a show and a drink and some dinner. There’s so many great spots. It’s home. It’s special.
Minneapolis’ new government strucure provides clarity over who’s in charge of certain departments. (Graphic by Davis Steen)