A Minneapolis Council meeting was paused today amid a heated debate between members, and led to personal clashes in front of the entire meeting.
It happened during a tense back-and-forth over a resolution to support a resident-led delegation traveling to Europe to lobby against ICE activities.
Ward 12 council member Aurin Chowdhury co-authored the bill, and claimed she was called names, using an expletive.
"I'm not going to sit here and pretend that it is - it's not hurtful when I'm talking and people are laughing and making remarks," Chowdhury said to the rest of the City Council. "Maybe it's not on this specific one, but it happens constantly when I'm chairing a meeting and someone calls me a ***ing child and I'm just doing a direct quote. I didn't come to work to be bullied."
Ward 4 council member LaTrisha Vetaw claimed she was being talked over, and blasted Council President Elliot Payne for not knowing how to 'run a meeting.'
"We get to vote. We get to vote the way that we want to, and she doesn't get to monitor what I say and how I say it," Vetaw said.
Vetaw also claimed other members, naming Robin Wonsley, were making "snarky remarks" and "other noises" while others voted.
After a series of personal clashes over meeting decorum the council entered a recess. Later on, the motion was passed.
The bizarre encounter came as the City Council was discussing solidarity with Cuba, a University of Minnesota student worker union and telling European financial institutions to divest from companies that enable ICE.
There was some other city business that happened Thursday, including a failed vote to overturn Mayor Jacob Frey's veto of an extension of eviction notices in the city from 30 to 60 days. Frey vetoed it, preferring a more direct option of rental assistance.
"We proposed increasing funding for emergency rental assistance to keep families impacted by Operation Metro Surge housed," Frey's office said in a statement provided to WCCO Radio. "I support this allocation, and will be signing the action to help tenants. The moment demands we act to help those in need, and I’m proud Minneapolis is stepping up to do exactly that. However, we need to be clear eyed about the impact this spending will have on the City’s budget. The funding source we originally chose is already devoted to housing and, therefore, has no impact on either property taxpayers or services. The additional $900,000 Council proposed taps a fund with money already accounted for, meaning if we want to ensure residents aren’t shouldering the property tax burden, additional cuts will need to be made."
That vote was 7-6 in favor of overturning the veto, but the council needed 9 votes to pass.
The interaction between council members takes place approximately an hour into the video below:
