Frey’s government structure proposal features 4 positions directly reporting to mayor

Tuesday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey outlined his proposal for the city’s new government structure to the Minneapolis City Council’s Committee of the Whole.

Earlier this month, the city’s Government Structure Work Group gave its recommendations for the city’s new government structure and gave Frey two options to consider:

• Create a new city operations officer that would manage operations across all city departments and report to the mayor.
• Or have multiple people — including the chief of staff, city operating officer and selected departments — all report to the mayor.

Frey’s proposal is the latter, featuring four people who’d directly report to the mayor:

• A chief of staff, who will provide policy development and oversight on the mayor’s behalf.
• The City Attorney’s Office, which would continue to have its civil and criminal divisions.
• The Office of Public Service, which would consolidate the city’s operational departments into one office and would have five departments reporting to one position. The departments would include:
  • The Department of Administrative Services (Finance, Property Services & Assessing Bureau/Agency, the Coordinator’s Office, Human Resources, Information Technology, and Intergovernmental Relations departments).
  • The Department of Communications and Engagement Services (311/Service Center, Communications, and Neighborhood and Community Relations departments).
  • The Department of Community Development and Regulatory Services (Regulatory Services, the Minneapolis Convention Center, Community Planning and Economic Development, and Health departments).
  • The Public Works Department, which would continue operating and building infrastructure throughout the city.
  • The Civil Rights Department, which would continue its work to advance civil and human rights in the city.
• The Office of Community Safety, which would include the Minneapolis Emergency Communications Department (911), the fire and police departments, the Emergency Management Department, and a Neighborhood Safety Department, which includes the Office of Violence Prevention.

Frey will appear before the council committee again next month to discuss any feedback on the plan.