In a move described by the Minneapolis mayor as lacking “proper vetting” and “completely irresponsible,” Jacob Frey hopes the City Council will work more collaboratively moving forward. 

Mayor Frey’s frustration stems from some council members supporting the allocation of $1.5 million to support a homeless shelter that was on the verge of closing — Frey says he supports the cause, just not how the council went about supporting it. 

“The frustration for me is we need a level of seriousness in running a government. It can’t just be about posturing,” Frey told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS. 

Following multiple shootings connected to homeless encampments that killed two people within a half-a-day’s time, city leaders scrambled in reaction.

That included the Minneapolis City Council approving funds for Agate Housing & Services — which earlier this month announced it would be closing its doors due to financial pressure and needed repairs to its building. 

It was a 10-3 vote, with council members LaTrisha Vetaw, Linea Palmasano and Michael Rainville being the opposing votes. 

In allocating the $1.5 million, the council left the city with only two options: fire city staff or take $350,000 from the major North Commons Park project. 

“We’ve seen again and again where council members are not listening to experts,” Mayor Frey said.

During this week’s budget committee meeting, Frey made an uncommon visit to make his point clear. 

“We need to stop pretending that we are experts at the expense of the people that are,” Frey told council members. 

Frey invited the city’s budget director to the meeting as well — questioning her during the meeting in which she said her office was not contacted about this matter and that she did not support how this was handled. 

The allocation of money was based on surplus projections, from a quarterly budget report — which city staff says is not the intention of those reports. Also, staff says surplus amounts, if any, aren’t known until the end of the year. 

Minneapolis’ Chief Financial Officer, Dushani Dye, released the following statement.

“The Council’s action either cuts funding for North Commons or cuts City staff. There is no way around it, and I stand by our City’s accounting practices, which are accurate. Our City’s Finance Department takes pride in the financial reporting and the accuracy of our financial statements. These statements are reviewed by many entities including the Office of the State Auditor each year and we have received multiple awards including 49 consecutive years of excellence in financial reporting. 

A budget surplus is not recognized until books are closed at year end and all revenues and expenses are recognized. Second quarter report is a projection and not final until the end of the year. It is not accurate to say the information presented in the 2nd quarter report is wrong. $38.M surplus being mentioned by the Council is only on the expense side and must be reviewed against projected revenues. Second quarter report shows the revenue shortfall of $36M. A projected surplus cannot be looked at in isolation. Also, budget appropriations in departments that are allocated to other entities will show as a surplus.”

Mayor Frey said no one will be losing their job over this, meaning North Commons is losing hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

“It’s a, just another gut punch to the north side,” LaTrisha Vetaw, a council member who represents the park, said. 

“What’s next for me is going to City Hall and figuring out where we’re going to get the money from,” Vetaw said about the work ahead of her to find out how to back-fill the lost funds. 

“I don’t want to be the one to come back into this community and tell them we’re down $350,000 because my colleagues made an impulsive decision,” Vetaw said.