In what appears to be a first, the Mayor of Minneapolis vetoed the City Council's budget proposal and saw that veto overridden. The Council voted Thursday 9-4 to override Mayor Jacob Frey's veto and approve a budget that he says is "irresponsible."
Frey maintained it would add $6.5 million in new cash spending, undermining the city’s financial health, and says the fact that it had 78 amendments shows the council didn't do their work.
"It is the most reckless budget that I've ever seen," Mayor Frey said on WCCO's Adam and Jordana Thursday morning. "We don't have that money to spend. It is not free. It is taxpayers that will ultimately foot the burden. Whether it's this year or year's to come, they're going to feel it."
City Council President Elliot Payne supported the override, and thanked all who helped navigate the budget process.
"It was actually really refreshing to meet with the city attorney's office over our lunch recess as we had to figure out what are we going to do if the mayor vetoes the budget, right? And to see the city attorneys kind of be excited about that conversation, you actually gave me a lot of peace," Payne explained.
Councilmember Robin Wonsley was another who voted to override the veto.
"And I will argue that the reason that 70 plus amendments had to happen at all is because the mayor's proposed budget was completely, and I believe one of my colleagues shared this, but it was completely out of touch with the most pressing needs of our residents," says Wonsley. "Especially those residing in our most underserved and under-resourced communities."
On Wednesday, Frey said the council cut or earmarked $15.9 million from city departments for new or altered programs, and cut $1.8 million from Minneapolis Police Department programs which also drew criticism from Police Chief Brian O'Hara.
"This budget is in a league of its own," Frey said Thursday. "They cut needs, they added wants. Not my opinion. You can look at exactly what they did."
Ward 11 Council Member Emily Koski also voted for the override and threw criticism right back at the mayor.
“Mayor Frey is the first in this City’s modern history, if ever, to veto a city budget," Koski said in a statement Thursday. "This is not an accomplishment, an act of leadership, or something he should be proud of—it’s a complete and total failure, and an act of reckless self-promotion at the cost of responsible governance. This City elected the Mayor to lead with integrity, not to distract with flashy publicity and spin tactics."
Frey was clear that issues the city, and the council, has faced over the last year were in line to face cuts with their new budget.
"They cut $15.9 million across a number of departments that do things like fill potholes and plow snow, that fix light bulbs and street lamps," Frey said. "And then they put a whole lot of money in pet projects, ward-specific or neighborhood specific projects that yes, of course might sound good, but they reduced what we're able to do as far as the overall service for the city. I've heard from people that they need better homeless encampment response. Well, the council gutted the homeless encampment response. I've heard from people that we need more police officers and by the way, they'd be right. The council gutted the campaign to recruit more police officers. So a lot of basic, important things were cut."
Despite the cuts, there is a lift to the property tax levy in the city of over 6% which Frey says is important.
"It didn't just cut and then reduce people's taxes using that money," he says.
Frey also said it appears the council was more interested in protecting individual projects in their wards instead of taking care of Minneapolis as a whole city.
"And the way it sets this up is that these council members are trying to, it feels like they're trying to create 13 different cities rather than one," Frey explains. "With 13 different budgets with 13 different wards with their own pet projects. We need to be looking out for the overarching service of the city providing a comprehensive approach to public safety."
Frey says that while this makes life harder for the City of Minneapolis, he's confident in the staff to deliver for citizens.
"Of course there are issues, but nonetheless we have a job to do and make sure the city's protected," he said.