Auto magnate Henry Ford supposedly said, "History is bunk." Mayor Jacob Frey and his allies including the Star Tribune appear to agree. Attention to the history of police reform in Minneapolis would teach us that the problem is not a lack of good ideas for reform but holding police accountable to mandated reforms. Look at what happened to bodycams. The police simply turned them off. Civilian review boards? The police stonewalled and refused to cooperate until civilian oversight was reduced to meaningless theater. Multiple new kinds of training? Why not, as long as they get paid, it means a day off the beat and long lunch breaks. Again, history would tell us that the challenge is not ideas for reform but how to hold the police accountable for their behavior.

And why should they be accountable? Staffing and funding are guaranteed by the current charter. The police are privileged and protected in ways no other city employees are. A majority of us refused to change the charter. This makes our common challenge more difficult. So be it. Let's just not forget our history. We may disagree on which reforms are better or which should come first. These differences can be negotiated. The real challenge, whatever the reform, is holding police accountable for their behavior. Let's all get to solving this. Now.

Frederick W. Smith, Minneapolis

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Those who believe math is hard might be challenged to realize that a 44% "yes" vote on City Question 2 means almost half of voters supported the public safety amendment ("Police plan fails," front page, Nov. 3). If we had left the police question out of it and asked instead how many people were in favor of more mental health and social workers, violence interrupters, addiction counselors and homeless advocates on the ground, what would the "yes" vote have looked like? If we had asked about more social supports in food, housing, education, health care, youth programming and jobs to decrease the desperation that leads to crime, what would the "yes" vote have looked like? Many "no" voters were fearful of losing police — and at the same time would have supported the addition of all the other pieces envisioned in a Public Safety Department.

The task now is to come together to create the both/and approach to public safety and also to refocus on the original issue that was lost in the "defund the police" chant: How will we hold police accountable when their actions fail to recognize the dignity of human life?

Helen Henly, Minneapolis

Regardless of how you voted on Question 2 to establish a Department of Public Safety, our work has just begun. The mayor, City Council, chief of police, police officers and all of us must now engage in a process to build a safe city of Minneapolis where children can freely play and people can walk without fear, vehicles are not carjacked or vandalized, property is not stolen, and people are not harmed or murdered. We want an honorable Police Department that is well led, respectful of human rights and dignity. We want public safety to include appropriate interventions in mental health crises, sexual assaults and domestic incidents. Those of us who voted against Question 2 cannot sit back on our laurels, and those of us who voted for it cannot turn away in anger or disgust. This must be a community effort to identify and implement solutions. What do police officers think will be the best way to humanize their culture? What do gang leaders think is the best way to stop the cycles of vengeance that leave Black and brown bodies on the streets? What do community leaders, clergy, morticians, barbers and hairdressers need in order to be violence interrupters? What do mothers and fathers need to support and guide their children to lives of health and productivity?

This is the work that should have started 18 months ago. We all need to step up and hold each other accountable to get this done. Minneapolis is on the map, let's show the world that we can be a beacon of real positive change.

Catherine V. Jordan, Minneapolis

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Mayor Frey had a perfect storm of a multitude of challengers, high crime rates, polarizing ballot questions and a fractured City Council led by rogue individuals doing what was in their best interests. Frey wasn't elected or given more power for his leadership in the last 18 months, as he wasn't even endorsed by his own party, nor did he succeed in first-round ranked voting. My vote, like others, was cast to send city leadership a message. We need to get to work, hold departments accountable and look to the future of Minneapolis. My vote was for Minneapolis, not for Mayor Frey.

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Citizens of Minneapolis were given a choice between two unsatisfactory alternatives, and the alliance between those favoring no action and those seeing the new proposal as unworkable was indeed ironic.

Now, it's time for those not on either extreme to institute real reform. There are wolves in the world and we need police, evidenced by a lot of people in the highest crime neighborhoods voting "no."

Personally, I support efforts to increase and redirect training and recruitment, dramatically increase scrutiny and accountability on the job, give financial incentives for officers with good records, and create a watchdog agency, with actual power, composed of law enforcement experts and officials and city residents.

Frederic J. Anderson, Minneapolis

First, Democrats have become arrogant. They don't bother to campaign energetically and respectfully in rural areas because they have written these people off as stupid: as "a basket of deplorables," according to Hillary Clinton; as people who "cling to guns or religion," according to former President Barack Obama; as parents who "should [not] be telling schools what they should teach," according to former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe. I revere what these three innately honorable people claim to represent outside these miserable mockeries, so it's painful for me to acknowledge such serious blunders, but we will not learn if we look away.

Then, to make matters worse this year, Democrats are actively and presently governing as if they were a bunch of cats in danger of being herded. In haughty plays of superiority, stubbornness and coyness, they are strangling two important bills that rightfully could have won them elections this week.

Watching these scenarios play out in real time right before our eyes is devastating. Reading the tea leaves: Trump or a true believer will run for and win the presidency in 2024, and the history of dictatorship in the United States will commence.

Shawn O'Rourke Gilbert, Edina

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Biden was given an economy on the rebound and a vaccine to fend off COVID, which devastated our economy. Americans are now looking at 6% inflation and the price of gas skyrocketing. Who does this affect the most? The lower class, who Democrats have been taking for granted for decades, earning votes through lies and handouts. Billions of dollars are poured into public schools annually, only to see our educational ranking worldwide continue to free-fall. Many of those people on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly against a liberal agenda disguised to help them.

Rick O'Brien, Albertville, Minn.