PRST STD U.S.POSTAGE PAID TWIN CITIES MN PERMIT NO. 6391
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THE VOICE OF BLACK MINNESOTA SINCE 1934
May 18 - 24, 2023
Vol. 89
No. 42
Phone: 612-827-4021
www.spokesman-recorder.com
Will Mayor Carter’s ambitious plan for St. Paul succeed? A community-centered, more inclusive approach to city government By Abdi Mohamed Contributing Writer
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n his “State of Our City” address last month, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter set new heights for the capitol city as he covered his plans for housing assistance, infrastructure, public safety and more. This is what the mayor referred to as “swinging for the fences” as he embarks on bringing a renewed charge to inspire residents and local leaders alike to help the city thrive. In his interview with the MSR, Mayor Carter said that he looks to consult with his constituents on many of his biggest decisions as mayor. “When it comes to doing big things, we always find groups of people to do it with,” he said. “We take a lot of pride in reshaping what municipal government looks like, in reshaping the type of resources and supports that people can look to City Hall to receive. But
we never feel alone because we’re doing it with community members kind of every step along the way.” Carter shared that in his many meetings with residents and business owners, the conversation tends to veer towards one question—why St. Paul? In response, the St. Paul community shared their aspirations for their business or in raising a family, says Carter. As mayor, those conversations for Carter have translated into his effort to create systems to support St. Paul residents, such as the guaranteed income for families, which was launched in 2020. Efforts to provide home-buying assistance and funding opportunities for businesses owned by people of color and women have also been at the forefront of the mayor’s plans for invigorating the city and its residents. He says that there has long been a perception that the status quo is good enough and that opportunities may have to be See CARTER on page 5 St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter
Photo by Abdi Mohamed
Minneapolis weighs NAACP lawsuit reveals MPD’s decade-long history of discrimination rent stabilization
With Twin Cities housing more affordable than other urban areas, will it stay that way?
By Charles Hallman Staff Contributor
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n a lawsuit filed last month by the Minneapolis NAACP, the organization alleges that the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) used social media to spy on local members as part of an orchestrated, decade-long campaign of harassment to undermine local activists. The University of Minnesota Law School’s Racial Justice Law Clinic (RJLC) and the Law Office of Tim Phillips jointly filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Minneapolis NAACP, accusing the MPD of using covert social media accounts to surveil the NAACP and its members. The RJLC released a statement on April 27, noting that “this racially discriminatory surveillance … was unconstitutional, violating the plaintiff’s First Amendment right to free expression and Fourteenth Amendment to be free from racially discriminatory policing.” It also alleges federal and state legal claims under Title VI and the Minnesota Human Rights Law. The lawsuit, which is seeking both monetary and punitive damages from both the MPD and the City of Minneapolis is the result of findings from a 2022 Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) report that showed MPD misconduct for at least 10 years, which included officers posing as Black community members and went on social media to interact, criticize, and harass the NAACP and its members. The nearly 150-page report later led to a consent decree with MDHR and the City of Minneapolis. However, the consent decree does not provide relief to the Minneapolis NAACP for the alleged surveillance of the organization and its members. “We’re looking for accountability. We felt like a lawsuit would hold somebody accountable,” Minneapolis NAACP President Cynthia Wilson told the MSR.
By Cole Miska Contributing Writer
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members and other Black leaders is similar to tactics employed by the FBI against leaders of Black organizations during the Civil Rights era and the Black Panther Party in the 1960s and 70s. But Zaragoza pointed out, “I think what is different is it was federal investigations. So here, it might be local to the extent we know [but] we don’t know if MPD collaborated with anybody else.” The lawsuit alleges that MPD also used a covert account to “pose as a community member and RSVP “People have to be held accountable,” to attend the birthday party of a promisaid the Minneapolis branch president. “I nent Black civil rights lawyer and activist.” know sometimes people want to dance The lawsuit states that the activist was Nekima Levy Armstrong. around the truth, but I am not dancing.” “At the time of the birthday party in According to RJLC Associate Professor Liliana Zaragoza, “We don’t know the June 2017, Ms. Armstrong was a maydate range of the surveillance because oral candidate in the City of Minneapolis the Minnesota Department of Human openly running on a police accountability Rights looked at 10 years of data. So, we platform. She recalled several MPD offidon’t know if it started 10 years ago or if cers showing up in uniform to the event and ultimately shutting down the party it went on and off.” MPD’s alleged spying on NAACP early as a result of the officers’ presence.” “What they [MPD] were trying to do was create a level of fear, trying to create division within the organization and to stop the moment,” Zaragoza reiterat[not $90 billion as originally reported].” In “Divide and Conquer: Park ed. “There must be something else done Robin Smother, a spokesperson for Board’s plan for Hiawatha” (May 11, to show serious ramifications for their 2023 edition), Darwin Dean, president the Minneapolis Park and Recreation actions so that it doesn’t happen again. of the Bronze Foundation, clarified his Board (MPRB), said the estimated cost quote regarding the cost of the Park for the Hiawatha plan is $43 million. And this lawsuit is the only way that I believe that that will happen.” Board’s Hiawatha plan: “They are seek- In addition, the Park Board vote on “The Minnesota Department of Human ing $65 million today. However, with the Hiawatha Master Plan was 6-3, in Rights report said that the MPD social inflation, in five to eight years that favor, [not 4-3, as reported]. See NAACP on page 5 amount could be as high as $90 million “The secret spying was damaging on many levels, including creating fear among community members,” Wilson said. Along with the police department, she believes other city officials should be held accountable as well, including current Mayor Jacob Frey.
“THE SECRET SPYING WAS DAMAGING ON MANY LEVELS, INCLUDING CREATING FEAR AMONG COMMUNITY MEMBERS.”
CORRECTION:
he 2020s have thus far been a volatile decade for housing prices in large cities in the United States, with the Twin Cities being no exception. After a steep drop in rental prices due to the Covid-19 pandemic in late 2020, rents in Minneapolis have held fairly steady according to Apartment List, a website that tracks rental data nationwide. Since January, median rent rates in Minneapolis are up 1.6 percent, but down 0.8 percent when compared to April of last year. In 2021, Minneapolis residents voted to authorize the City Council to enact a rent control ordinance. Yet almost two years later, the council has not passed any such ordinance. While Minneapolis does
ered by the ordinance. Out of the 100 largest cities, Minneapolis had the 87th lowest median rental rates at $1,092 a month, while St. Paul ranked 88th with $1,082 a month. This put the Twin Cities metro area median rent at approximately $300 more expensive than the cheapest of the 100 largest cities (Cleveland, OH, at $796), but almost $2,000 cheaper than the $3,028 median rent rates in Irvine, CA. Minneapolis ranked slightly lower than the average monthly residential rent increase for large U.S. cities at 0.3 percent, while St. Paul matched the national average of 0.5 percent increase. Both Minneapolis and St. Paul have a lower median rent for one-bedroom apartments than many surrounding suburbs, including St. Louis Park ($1,315), Edina ($1,420),
Mayor Frey and City Council Member Michael Rainville at an affordable housing press conference in February Photo by Cole Miska not have rent control, St. Paul’s rent stabilization policy has been in effect for just over a year. However, an amendment to the ordinance stripped away rate protections forr some renters, but the Minnesota Youth Collective (MNYC) says that approximately two-thirds of St. Paul renters are still cov-
Bloomington ($1,181), Woodbury ($1,591) and others. Last month, Minneapolis released an analysis recommending against rent stabilization measures, saying the city “should continue supporting, and explore deepening investment, in known See RENT on page 5