By a vote of 8 to 5 the Minneapolis City Council voted on Thursday to deny the confirmation of Interim Police Chief Bill Peterson for the permanent position, putting Mayor Jacob Frey in a situation where he has to veto that rejection, putting the city in legal limbo, or try to find a new candidate for chief.
Peterson answered council member questions for nearly four hours on Thursday, with many of them having to do with past missteps under previous leadership, and an alleged pattern of racist and derogatory language by officers.
Frey made the rare move in addressing the council before the vote, trying to make a case for his nominee after months of vetting candidates since previous chief Brian O'Hara resigned while under a disciplinary investigation.
"It troubles me that interim chief Peterson seems to be presently being held accountable for mistakes that he didn't make," Frey told the Council. "For experiences that he didn't have, and for dark marks on his record that quite simply aren't there."
Peterson told the Council his record speaks for itself.
"In 31 years of service, I have never had a sustained complaint against me," he said. "I have never been disciplined. With that being said, I am not perfect. I have a lot of work to do personally and professionally."
Following his rejection, Frey expressed his frustration with the process, and called it favoritism.
"I found it odd that it seemed council members were frustrated with a lack of dark marks on his record," explained the mayor. "It seemed that many of them were confused by the fact that he didn't have blemishes, that he's been such a Boy Scout, that he's operated with such integrity over 30 years."
Frey added he believes Peterson is the right candidate, who he says was packed full of integrity. Frey says he would like to see him continue in his interim role, but says it's not clear if Peterson wants that.
"It comes down to the fact that I believe that a more qualified candidate was in this process and that it's not the nominee before us today. For that reason, I will not be able to support your nomination today. For me, that candidate is Charlie Adams," Councilmember Latrisha Vetaw said about her vote to reject Peterson.
Deputy Chief Adams was among four reported finalists for chief, along with Assistant Chief Mark Klukow, Deputy Chief Jon Kingsbury, and Peterson.
As for what comes next? Frey could nominate a new candidate, or veto the council's decision, which puts the city in a bit of limbo. A veto would require a supermajority of nine council votes to override or confirm, and the initial vote only had 5 yes votes. Gaining four more votes necessary to confirm Peterson looks unlikely.
"To a certain extent, a decision like that could put it into no-man's land where the decision would remain with the council," Frey explains. "Because they likely don't have the votes to override the mayoral veto, but I don't yet have the votes. I don't yet have the votes to get a majority."
After the council rejected Peterson, Frey said he stopped by Peterson's office, and spoke again of his integrity through the process.
"He had his head up, he was staying positive," Frey added. "Obviously he was disappointed with the outcome of the vote. He spoke highly of every single council member, even those that voted against him at the last minute. He spoke highly even of the people that had opposed him the whole time."
If he doesn't veto, Frey could nominate a new candidate.
"But by leaving us in a place of no man's land, by leaving us in a place of limbo, by leaving us in a place where the operational considerations are in flux, by the change that we need to make is uncertain," Mayor Frey added. "That is not putting Minneapolis in the right trajectory."
Frey also said the Council's decision makes his job as an executive to "hold the whole thing together and to run the city to do the best thing for our constituents," harder, calling it 'a lack of seriousness about the decisions that are made.'
