The structure to start making decisions to rebuild Minneapolis is starting to take shape.
The Minneapolis Forward: Community Now Coalition Aims to "accelerate recovery efforts" while centering the business and community members who were hardest hit by violent protests.
"We're here to talk about rebuilding and moving our city forward in a transformative way, in the right way," Mayor Jacob Frey said Monday at the Sabathani Community Center in south Minneapolis.
"We want to join hand-in-hand with the efforts that are being proposed here today to make sure that we create a new vision for Minneapolis where these cultural corridors that define what our city is and can be," Council Vice President Andrea Jenkins said.The goals will address "immediate and future needs" such as assisting business and property owners who aren’t getting insurance help, providing food and transportation, and helping to retain businesses.
Frey said rebuilding has to be strategic to address widespread inequities that long predate George Floyd’s death. He used the example of homeownership in which about three-quarters of white families own their homes in Minneapolis, compares to about a quarter of black families.
"As we rebuild and as we recover we are going to address the gaps and aim higher," he said. "In order to heal our city we must speak about those inequities."
Frey did not have specifics this afternoon to offer since leaders will be enlisting the public and those businesses are in the beginning phases of evaluating where they stand. He did not specify how much the Cory would be on the hook for in the rebuilding efforts but said they will seek out state and federal help, even eventually a disaster assistance declaration. Damage is estimated at around 500 million dollars and more than 500 businesses have reported damage including St. Paul.
Co-chairs of the coalition include representatives from the Lake Street Council, West Broadway Business and area coalition and Minneapolis regional chamber of commerce.
ZoeAna Martinez, senior community engagement manager with the Lake Street Council, said they’ll be focused on policies and programs that give their businesses the most hope to survive.
"Many were already at risk due to COVID's economic impact," Martinez said. "They have few resources on their own for recovery. While we see great spirit and kindness each day, I also know the tremendous pain and worry in our community as to what the future may hold."
It also includes what Frey called a feedback and critique arm called the African American commission on economic inclusion. Shauen Pearce, the city's Economic Development and Inclusion Policy Director, said that group will be monitoring plans going forward to ensure they amplify Black voices.
"It will probably take two to five years to see a total beginning of transformation and there are some things that are pretty immediate that we're hearing from all communities, one of which is preventing displacement, or what some people would call gentrification. There will be some short-term pieces, long long-term pieces, and frankly some generational pieces because you can't unmake 400 years of economic exclusion and exploitation in four months."
The group will meet for the first time this week.
Meanwhile, Frey reiterated Monday that he fully supports massive structural reform of the city's police department, but not dismantling it altogether like a majority of city council members want.
"We will have a full-throated effort to make sure the inequities which have in many cases remained in place, the unfairness and the lack of accountability that has remained in place because of the police union, we're going to town on it," Frey said. "We're going to do everything possible to shift that game because it's necessary if we really want to see real reform."
Frey says the "elephant in the room" is the police union, the collective bargaining agreement and the arbitration process, which he says is mandatory under state law. He says over the next few weeks, they'll be taking a "fine-toothed comb" to all policies to see what, if any changes can be made to the current police contract.
Frey was heckled by a massive group of protesters over the weekend for saying he does not supporting "abolishing" the police.