Members of the Minneapolis City Council on Tuesday voted not to recommend the approval of contracts with organizations that the city’s Neighborhood Safety Department (NSD) selected to provide violence prevention services for the next year.

Without Council approval, this ongoing work will come to a halt in the spring when the current contracts expire, according to NSD Deputy Director Lea Lakes.

Lakes presented six new contracts with five violence intervention organizations to Council members during a committee meeting on Tuesday, requesting permission to move forward.

Altogether, the contracts would cost about $800,000.

This all comes after a new and stricter, months-long contracting process.

Added oversight was required in the settlement of a lawsuit that claimed the city was giving out public safety contracts “arbitrarily” and “illegally.”

Under the newly proposed contracts, Lakes said organizations would have to provide weekly progress reports, which include how they’re spending taxpayer money.

Resigned former NSD Director Luana Nelson-Brown has been a vocal supporter of more financial oversight, telling 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that some groups were providing zero explanation for expenses.

The new contracts presented are still being finalized, Lakes said.

Some council members, including President Elliott Payne, argued NSD should not have asked for approval until they could share the finalized terms.

Others argued their colleagues have been continuing to delay the process, jeopardizing services in the process.

Lakes said the goal is to get the contracts signed before April 1, when the current ones expire “so there is no gap in services.”

The contracts will go before the full Council again for a final vote, likely on Thursday.

Community Safety Commissioner Toddrick Barnette provided the following statement to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS:

“I have full confidence in the Neighborhood Safety Department’s ability to manage these programs. There has never been a gap in YGVI/ GVI services and as I outlined in November, we were on track to have new contracts for fully-vetted vendors in place by April. However, any council action postponing these GVI and YGVI contracts will result in those services being interrupted.”