$640,000 Minneapolis violence interrupter contract in jeopardy
A Minneapolis non-profit, owned and operated by Rev. Jerry McAfee, has a $640,000 proposed contract in front of a city council committee Monday afternoon.
In her weekly newsletter, City Council member Robin Wonsley said the city should consider “corrective action, such as cutting the contract with McAfee because Reverend McAfee is not in a position to do violence prevention work.”
McAfee disrupted a city council meeting in February, criticizing the city for considering a move to send $1 million from Minneapolis to Hennepin County for violence prevention work.
This comes after one of McAfee’s employees in his 21 Days of Peace violence interrupter non-profit was arrested Friday on suspicion of reckless endangerment.
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McAfee told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS his employee was shot and injured after he was off the clock, not working a city job and only fired his weapon in self-defense.
“How is that someone who is saving and serving and someone tries to kill him after work, he fires back and is in jail?” asked McAfee.
5 EYEWITNESS NEWS reached out to Council member Wonsley for comment, but she has not yet responded.
Todd Barnette, the Commissioner of the Office of Community Safety, issued the following statement:
“While I can’t comment on individual contracts prior to their review by council, the vendors going before council on Monday were selected after receiving the highest scores across several impartial categories consistent with the Neighborhood Safety Department’s updated procurement standards. This is a process that council members have been briefed on in the past and they will receive another, more specific briefing on Monday about this specific RFP process, as well as a presentation on the violence interrupter model itself. Whether or not an individual associated with a group has made comments about elected or appointed officials does not factor into the rigorous review. If that is the standard we are looking to set, many groups and individuals that have received City funding with overwhelming council support in the past fall well short of that standard. Following NSD’s fair and impartial RFP process, it is now up to City Council to authorize these contracts.”
The city council’s Administration and Enterprise Oversight Committee is expected to vote on McAfee’s proposed contract Monday afternoon.