Minneapolis City Council delays final police contract vote

The Minneapolis City Council won't hold a final vote on the new Minneapolis Police contract until at least July 18th at the earliest after the council's Administration and Enterprise Oversight Committee failed to reach an agreement on what comes next in the process, pushing debate to their committee meeting on July 8th.

Over 30 people spoke during the public hearing portion of Tuesday night's committee meeting. Council members deadlocked in a 3-3 vote following the public hearing, pushing a decision until next month, when a final vote could have come as soon as Thursday.

"Delaying this comes at the cost of public safety, police officers, and most importantly, the very residents that this body is supposed to represent," said Ward 13 Council Member Linea Palmisano. "We cannot continue to slow walk nearly every important decision that comes before this body. There's nothing progressive about refusing to make progress on these issues that matter the most to residents of this city."

The contract ratified by police union members in early June calls for a 21 percent increase in base pay across three years, retroactive to January 2023.

After the public hearing, Ward 5 Council Member Jeremiah Ellison stated he had more questions that needed answering before sending the contract to a final vote.

"I'm left wondering if we're really getting our true value in this negotiation," Ellison said. "The truth is that today, I don't know."

Before Tuesday's vote, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said council members had been given plenty of time to see what was in the contract and how it was coming together.

"There has been time, council members have been able to weigh-in," Frey said. "There was all-day briefing. The contract itself was more transparently than ever before, put before the entire public in a red-line fashion so everybody could see. That happened June 7th."