Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey suggests ‘reset’ with newly elected City Council

Mayor Jacob Frey won re-election to four more years, along with most of the more-progressive City Council members he’s battled the past two years, though their coalition has weakened and they lost their veto-proof majority.

Does that mean peace will come to City Hall?

“I’m getting the sense that people agree that it must,” said the most senior council member, Linea Palmisano, a more moderate Democrat who sailed to re-election on Tuesday. “People are sick of gridlock in government, and we need to show that we can come together as a governing body. All of the city — not just some strong arm of council.”

Dysfunction between the council and mayor and within the body itself has been a hallmark of the last two years and led to several highly public spats, from Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw accusing Council President Elliot Payne (who is also Black) of talking down to Black women, to Council Member Aisha Chughtai dropping an expletive while railing about the mayor.

And even though all but one are Democrats, the council and mayor were unable to reach consensus on issues such as what to do at the site of George Floyd’s killing by police and how to repurpose the police station that was torched during riots.

Throughout the campaign, Frey’s top three challengers promised they could work better with the council. But they lost, and now there are four new faces on the 13-member council.

Frey said voters made it clear they don’t want extreme, divisive leadership but leaders “who love this city more than they want their political opponents to fail.” He said he’s always been eager to work with willing council members, and hopes with the election over, they can “do a reset.”

More-progressive council members say the mayor often refused to work with them, and Payne did not seem in a conciliatory mood after the election, crediting “an unprecedented amount of money,” “corporate interests” and super PACs with buying Frey’s re-election.

“They may have been narrowly able to buy a citywide seat, but I’m proud they weren’t successful in City Council races,” Payne said in a statement to the Star Tribune. “The voters want a strong council as a check and balance on executive power.”

But now the progressives’ one-seat majority relies upon Council Member Jamal Osman, who often voted with moderates when they were in control. Once progressives took the reins following the 2023 election, Osman mostly voted with them, and on election night he told his supporters he’ll “continue to be a swing vote.” Osman did not respond to a request for comment.

Frey has urged both sides not to dwell on ideological divides, saying, “We should not be looking for where the fault lines are or whether they exist.”

The public spats have stained both factions: According to a May poll by Mpls for the Many, nearly half of voters said they thought things were “off track” in Minneapolis. Forty percent held the mayor responsible, and nearly as many, 36%, blamed the City Council.

Chelsea McFarren, chair of the Mpls for the Many PAC that opposed Frey and his allies, said with progressives winning handily (except Council Member Katie Cashman) and still largely in control of the council, she hopes Frey will “put his divisive governing style aside” for his final four years and “honor the legislation brought forward by the council.”

The first test for the new council will be the choosing of a council president in January.

Palmisano said in talking to her colleagues, she thinks they’re inclined to “start down a new path” with leadership that’s committed to working with the mayor.

“I see a lot of interest in that,” she said, “and also interest in ... more of a hybridized type of council leadership. I don’t yet know what that looks like. ... I think we can do better next term. I think we have to.”