Jeremiah Ellison splits time between Minneapolis City Council and Harvard fellowship

Minneapolis City Council Member Jeremiah Ellison is traveling back and forth between Minneapolis and Massachusetts, raising eyebrows among some of his council colleagues.

Ellison told the Minnesota Star Tribune he’s taking part in a Harvard University fellowship in the final few months of his term before he leaves office in January. He is not seeking re-election in November.

Ellison said other council members have made similar arrangements for departures in the past, and said he’s traveling back and forth to attend meetings and classes for the fellowship while maintaining his council schedule remotely.

While he continues to attend full council meetings every other week, he is missing committee meetings, prompting some other council members to question whether he’s adequately representing his north Minneapolis constituents.

Regular city employees must get permission to work out of state for up to 15 days per year. The council’s 13 full-time members are paid nearly $110,000 a year.

City Clerk Casey Carl said Ellison isn’t breaking any rules or laws with his current arrangement. Carl recently told a council committee Ellison would no longer be part of committees but would continue to participate in full council meetings.

“Committees are the workhorses of our City Council,” Council Member Linea Palmisano said in response.

“Without Council Member Ellison sitting on those committees, we have zero north Minneapolis representation on those committees. That’s not acceptable to the only other North Side council member up here,” Vetaw said. “It’s just not fair. Here we go: Another moment to disenfranchise the North Side.”

The city clerk said committees have traditionally had six members, but “that’s not a formula that’s required anywhere, it’s just been what has been.”

“There’s nothing magical about having six; if we leave it at five, the quorum reduces to three,” Carl said.

Carl said former Council Member Andrew Johnson also left before his term ended to pursue a career opportunity and the council “shuffled members around” to cover the vacancy.

Johnson resigned before his term expired, using a feature of the city’s charter that allowed his successor, Aurin Chowdhury, to take office early. Ellison said he’s not planning to do that and that he intends to participate in the end-of-the-year city budget process.

Carl noted that seven council meetings remain before Ellison’s successor will be sworn in.

Council Member Jamal Osman said he would rather see the council appoint someone to fill Ellison’s seat.

Vetaw said leaving Ellison’s seats vacant is choosing “easy over equitable.”

“The equitable thing to do is figure out a solution where the North Side is represented,” she said. “Council leadership, shame on you for not talking to North Siders about this and fixing this before this decision was put before our faces today.”

The issue came up during a Committee of the Whole meeting where a resolution was considered that would revise Ellison’s two committee memberships and quorums to accommodate him.

Council President Elliott Payne said that “we had a very brief consultation” and he pretty much followed the advice of the city clerk, but he was OK with forwarding the resolution without a recommendation to have a more in-depth conversation. The full council voted to take up the issue again at its next Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday.

Palmisano questioned why council leaders “act surprised they’re being asked questions about this.”

“This action highlights complacency and complicity to our city’s workforce and the public that we’re supposed to be here for and serve,” she told the Star Tribune.

Ellison declined to comment, saying, “I think I’ve humored it too much already.”