Minneapolis’ next city election, in which the entire 13-member council will be on the ballot, is in 2021. It’s the first chance residents have to vote since a group of council members mounted an attempt to “dismantle” the Minneapolis Police Department.
But one the most prominent names behind that effort won’t be on the ballot. Lisa Bender, president of the Minneapolis City Council and representative of its 10th Ward, said on Sunday she will not run for re-election.
She made the announcement in an email to her 10th Ward constituents, which includes the neighborhoods of East Harriet, ECCO, Lowry Hill East, South Uptown and Whittier. In that message, Bender said she made the decision to bow out of the highly-anticipated 2021 election “well before multiple crises hit the city,” referencing the pandemic and its economic constraints, and the death of George Floyd and subsequent unrest.
In a move that made news around the world, Bender and eight other council members appeared at a rally in Powderhorn Park shortly after Floyd’s death to declare their intention to end traditional policing and create a new form of public safety in Minneapolis.
In her email announcement, Bender listed a series of accomplishments since she was first elected in 2013, including instituting a $15 minimum wage and guaranteed paid sick time for workers in Minneapolis, and the 2040 comprehensive plan, the first by any major U.S. city to end single-family zoning.
In tackling those issues, the Minneapolis council made national headlines for their boldness, and sometimes for sparking controversy, with the decision to support “dismantling” police being only the most prominent. The move was greeted by pushback by some city residents, including a group of eight North Minneapolis residents suing the city over the city’s minimum required police staffing level.
“Although she is a ‘progressive’ and made a bold attempt to dismantle policing in MPD, she made the mistake of not developing relationships with the diverse Black community in Minneapolis that’s impacted the most,” said Minneapolis NAACP vice president Anika Bowie.
Bender emerged from the especially tense 2017 city election as a coalition-builder. When she ran for council president, she won unanimously. Though Councilmember Andrea Jenkins ran against Bender for council president, Bender threw her support behind Jenkins for council vice president in order to build unity. “During my time in office I have learned so much about people, about power and about how systems work to support or to stop change,” Bender said in her email. “I still believe in the power of each and every person to make a difference. I have seen it.”
She went on to thank everyone who has worked with her on the council, and thank supporters in Ward 10.
Another factor in Bender’s decision to not seek re-election may have been the upcoming election schedule. Due to a state law requiring Minneapolis to hold City Council and Park Board elections soon after city redistricting, city council elections in 2021 will be for two-year terms. Then, in 2023, the council will run again for two-year terms in order to sync it back up with the city’s mayoral election. The election in 2025 will be for a four-year term.
Bender did not say what her plans are after leaving city council.
Did anyone ask if not seeking re-election to the city council meant not running for election to the office of mayor? That might help clarify the plans she might have after leaving the city council. Inquiring minds would like to know.
May many more soon follow her fine example. Please ! Go !!
She forgot to mention the accomplishment of creating a business climate in Mpls that has caused virtually all of Uptown to be boarded up.
Mike, when I drive through Uptown, all I see is economic development — mostly real estate. What is Bender doing (or not doing) that isn’t reflected in the entire council? Citizens are feeling uneasy over several issues and choosing to development everything, all the time, with no restraints seems to me to lack diversity and the needs of a diverse urban population. Don’t get me wrong — I think she’s smart not to run again. But I’m trying to see the whole picture. COVID has placed an entirely new lens on what it means to live in Minneapolis.
Good riddance. She was an absolute gift to Trump and Republicans. You can’t get much more out of touch than Bender.
You got that right.
She forgot to mention the fact that she and her City Council ruined the reputation of Mpls both in outstate MN and nationally. Yes, well done! 🙂
Looks like Bob Kroll beats the Mayor and Council.
Chief Arradondo’s deputy had it EXACTLY right on his “white boys” quote.
5 Months post George Floyd and these folks have not advanced a single, plausible path forward that fixes anything and item one needs to be “see you later Bob Kroll”.
Again: Contract out policing of major crime to Hennepin County and its’ elected sheriff. Let the good MPD members apply there and get hired. Good riddance to the rest. Create a new entity for routine traffic, domestic disturbances, etc… that do not need “warrior trained” first responders.
The MPD cannot be retrained into something different than what they are at their core: “the same old white boys”…
Actually, it was fools like Bender who killed police reform. “Defund the police” was the worst possible way to approach that. There was an opening, and she and her ilk squandered it.
What Bender (and her cohorts) did was the equivalent an unforced fumble on the opposing team’s 5 yard line, then allowing them to run the ball 95 yards for a touchdown.
Given your political malpractice, good riddance, Bender.
For starters, the sheriff’s office does not have the time or money. The county has its own issues. Bender and company had oversight of MPD as does Frye and they did not perform prior to Floyd being killed. Bender and most of the council haven’t much of a clue on how systems, especially police, mental health and social services are run or what has been tried and what is already in place. It’s like watching college juniors run the city.
50-75% Of the MPD budget and all of its’ equipment would go along way to help out the sheriff’s office.
I do not know if 10% or 90% of the MPD officers are worth keeping and bringing forward: Let them interview.
The ONLY way forward is to clear the decks of Kroll and his legion of the “same old white boys”. The only way I can see that being done is to tell them the MPD is being dissolved in 12 months and if you would like to stay on, here is where to apply. Give them 6 months and then open up the hiring process to all applicants with a preference and priority for city residents who want to serve. I’m guessing 30-50% simply can’t be retrained: they are what they are: mercenaries who head into the fray each day for adrenaline rushes and an early retirement and then retreat to their safe suburban homes telling all who will listen about the miserable zoo they work in each day. Look at the George Floyd body cam footage: these guys entered into the situation with contempt for whoever they may encounter. From George Floyd to the citizen first responder who screamed she was an EMT and he was not breathing and could she assist. And the MPD officer response: stay back and don’t do drugs. Yeah, that guy could be retrained!
The new community safety service should be organized by large neighborhoods: Essentially the high school boundaries: Southwest, Washburn, Roosevelt, South, North, Edison and Henry: 7 Districts, each with their own leader, each with an emphasis on staffing within the district. Traffic enforcement thru technology not traffic stops, domestic situations handled by non-warrior trained professionals backed up by the Sheriff’s office. Major financial incentives for living in the district where you serve.
And while were at it, divide the Minneapolis Public Schools into these same 7 separate districts, each with their own high school and feeder Junior High and Elementary schools.
The public safety and educational needs of the Southwest district and the Edison district are way different: let each figure out what’s best for their constituents.
Now, that’s not so hard is it?
The city council and mayor have literally nothing to do with Kroll, much less getting rid of him. That’s the job of the members of the federation. There’s much work to be done, no doubt. And it goes through the police union; when they get darn good and sick of Kroll, he’ll no longer be in charge. Chief Arradondo appears to have a good pulse on the need for police reform and the last time I checked, he’s doing a pretty good job of step-by-step review and reform. I think something should have been done within a month of Floyd’s death, but disparate voices couldn’t come together. It’s an interesting time to live in a diverse urban environment, and my heart goes out to all the people that celebrate that corner of love and peace at 38th and Chicago.
Lisa Bender is another affluent suburbanite who moved to Minneapolis, then went on to prioritize and generalize to everyone her self-referential and narrow understanding of urban problems. She is representative of a number of newer residents in Ward 10: suburbanites move to the city, the same city their parents fled, and immediately know how to “fix it.” Lisa Bender certainly did not, nor would she listen to or learn from others who did. Please see below.
From Strib Aug 22, 2020
For Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender, every day is now a high-stakes juggling act.
“I was elected by Ward 10,” Bender said. “I wasn’t elected by the city.”
Nekima Levy Armstrong, founder of the Racial Justice Network, said she didn’t feel Bender had done enough after previous police killings. Instead, she feels Bender placed a greater priority on bike lanes and “issues geared toward white people.”
“It hasn’t been the area of focus and so, for her as a white woman to stand in Powderhorn Park and make the declaration that she’s going to disband the police without any real engagement with the Black community or the broader group of folks across the community, it’s just unacceptable and unconscionable, and it is very poor leadership.”
Bender said she has tried to push for equity in housing and transportation, top issues raised by her constituents. She said she hopes the city will boost its outreach efforts as police reform discussions continue.
Still, you have to admire all that the woman accomplished, apparently by herself. Why does Mpls. have a Mayor anyway?
She might have had good intentions, but not a clue as how to articulate them, let alone a having plan as how to implement them. Bender and the others who backed her gave the Republicans a lifeline that contributed to the failure to flip the Senate and grow the House majority. Guessing without their arrogance and incompetence Dan Feehan would have won.
Hard to imagine how anyone would want that job.
Methinks she got a taste of how lucrative it can become after being interviewed by CNN and MSNBC etc. My guess is, she has been invited to be some part of the Biden Admin, or some group of lobbyists making the big money selling big plans with little “how-to” ideas to the Biden Admin.
Oh come on. My dog has a better chance of getting hired by the Biden Admin.