Minneapolis Community Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette is weighing in on City Council’s plan to shift the city's violence interrupter contracts over to Hennepin County.
This comes after comments from the former director of the city's neighborhood safety department to KSTP-TV about issues with financial oversight of violence interrupter contracts.
Barnett called the temporary move disruptive and sudden.
"Unfortunately, several council members chose to only support the efforts that would benefit them or their favorite nonprofit," says Barnett. "This selective and self-serving approach not only hampers the integrity of the work, but it also undermines the important progress being made by our neighbor our neighborhood safety department."
The plan would divert about a million dollars to the county to take over the program for the next year.
The decision comes with more controversy for the Minneapolis City Council as well.
Reverend Jerry McAfee of New Salem Baptist in North Minneapolis took over a podium and interrupted the council committee meeting, expressing his outrage over the move.
"I called you Friday and I sent you another message today because you all got everything y'all need but y'all keep playing games with my people," McAfee told the council. "And I'm not gonna allow you to do it anymore."
McAfee continued:
"What's wrong with you all? Or maybe you all have not tasted or smelt the blood. Maybe you all are in these offices so much that the personal touch, the thing that moved you all to go into these offices, maybe you all have lost that. I need you to get your fire back 'bout why you ran in the first place."
"I shouldn't have to come here and say nothing," said a visibly upset McAfee. "The diversity that's on this place ought to be encompassing of everybody, but it's not. And we're being toyed and played with. I'm doing the funerals. I'm out there on the block. I don't come see you all. I just got the hope that you all will do that which is right."
The accusations against the city revolve around the awarding of violence prevention contracts without confirming how the funds were used. That money is supposed to go toward programs that target youth and gang violence.
Barnett calls the move a selfish attempt by the council to protect pet projects.
"We were completely blindsided by this announcement," Barnett explained Monday. "Unfortunately this has consequences for our residents and the community safety ecosystem that we're trying to build."
The council has voted to push the issue through to the committee of the whole, which is scheduled to meet this Thursday.