It’s time to amend the Minneapolis Charter
We have a moral duty and civic responsibility to act together. We deserve to breathe. We deserve to vote.
No matter the color of our skin or where we come from, all of us deserve to live in a community where we feel safe and our lives are valued. We deserve to live stable, happy, healthy lives in spaces where communities of color, particularly Black community members, are not targeted, harassed, brutalized, and murdered by our public servants.
We have a moral duty and civic responsibility to act together.
Across the state–in cities, towns, and suburbs–we are united by our anger and anguish over the brutal murder of George Floyd and persistent racial injustice that violates our values and comprises the integrity of our city.
Despite good-faith efforts at reform, failures at the MPD are deeper than one mayor or police chief can solve. As groups like Black Visions, Reclaim the Block, and MPD150 have long stated, the crisis of the MPD is 150 years in the making: it is time that we listen and act accordingly, together.
We can no longer sit back and wait for city leaders to bring forward the change we need. It’s up to all of us to build an anti-racist city that is safe for everyone. Our public officials are responsible for hearing the will of the people.
We are united in our resolve to defend Black lives
As the nation unites behind the movement to defend Black lives, urgent moral action is necessary in Minneapolis.
- We cannot tolerate the fact that police use-of-force is among the leading causes of death for young men of color, and Black people, including Black women, girls, queer, trans and non-binary folks, disabled people, American Indians, immigrants, and Latinos.
- We cannot ignore that the University of Minnesota, the Minneapolis Park Board, the Minneapolis School Board, the Walker, Minneapolis Institute of Art, and private businesses have lost faith and trust in the MPD and end their contracts.
- We cannot accept the fact that in the past three years MPD’s use-of-force has cost the people of Minneapolis $24 million in legal settlements. Instead of funding our lives, our public resources are being squandered.
We have a moral duty and civic responsibility to organize and act–through our government–to defend Black lives and make decisions for the common good.
It is our responsibility to ensure that every viable solution is on the table. By supporting a City Charter ballot amendment, Minneapolis City Councilors are acting to ensure our voices are heard:
- We deserve public oversight over polices and city budgets related to our safety.
- We deserve a meaningful community process to re-imagine public health and safety that is not blocked by the City Charter.
- We deserve a City Charter that does not block local elected officials from carrying out the will of the people.
We have the power through our democracy to remove roadblocks in our City Charter and start a meaningful new path as a community
- Without amending the City Charter, there are major roadblocks for change and public accountability. For years, the Minneapolis City Charter has been a barrier to holding the police department accountable because it prohibits City Council oversight. The Charter restricts how the City supports public safety by requiring a minimum amount of staffing. Neither of these barriers exist for any other city department.
- We have the power through our democracy to ensure proper oversight and accountability from our public departments. The demands for change in public oversight are not new. Since they took office, several City Councilors have tried to shift police department accountability to the Council. We have the democratic power to remove roadblocks and create greater public oversight over public departments we pay for. Every Minneapolis resident deserves the chance to vote on a 2020 City Charter amendment.
- The best community solutions must be viable, without barriers embedded in the City Charter. A meaningful community process to re-imagine healthy, safe communities cannot wait. Without the chance to amend the City Charter this year, the best community solutions may not even be viable to implement. The work to engage Minneapolis residents and stakeholders in a path forward must start now, paired with a ballot initiative.
The City Charter belongs to the people of Minneapolis. The future is in our hands.
If you live in Minneapolis, contact Mayor Frey and your Minneapolis City Council member right now. Tell them to let us vote on an amendment to the City Charter.
If you don’t live in Minneapolis, sign this petition of support.
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