Mayor Jacob Frey Interview

Mayor Jacob Frey at his temporary office. They are hoping construction on city hall will be completed this year and allow them to move back in 2025.

Interview Topics

This podcast is my 45-minute interview with Mayor Jacob Frey. (Before quoting any sections of the interview, please email for permission.) Of the twenty original questions I’d hoped to ask, I narrowed the field down in the interest of time. Here are the issues we ended up covering:

1. Keeping perspective

2. George Floyd square

3. Social media and the political climate

4. The Future of Downtown

5. Balancing revenue generation versus reductions in spending

6. Homeless encampments and affordable housing

7. Gun violence, record number of guns seized, and the easy access to guns

8. Next steps for MPD Union Contract

If the audio file above does not work for some reason, you can download it directly here. A transcript of the interview can be found here.

Notes on the Interview

These are complicated issues and covering all their nuances would have taken days. I didn’t ask Mayor Frey why he agreed to the interview, but I suspect there were several reasons:

• He wanted to encourage civil political discourse that does not involve doxing or attacking the homes of elected officials

• While he may not agree with all the positions and ideas presented in this newsletter, he wanted to set an example of how you can discuss the issues without the vitriolic excesses that mar so many of our discussions

• Newsletters, podcasts, and social media continue to grow and are an alternative means through which many residents now get their news, and this interview represents a foray into that media ecosystem

I could have conducted the interview via Zoom, but I felt it was important to meet in person. It is different.

Sitting alone at our computers (or phones), far from actual people, it is easy to be critical of others. There is no one but ourselves to caution us against promoting our most extreme views before considering their impact or the possibility we could be wrong or that more information might change our views. It’s a hazard we must constantly remind ourselves to be conscious of. There are people on the other end of our posts, real humans with feelings and motivations about which we know little.

Promoting Dialogue

The goal of this newsletter is to foster constructive dialogue around matters impacting Minneapolis residents. If we’re successful in our mission, residents will continue to read even if they disagree with the ideas presented. Readers will ask themselves why they disagree and present their counter-proposals and ideas constructively. It’s easy to attack those with opposing ideas and values, it’s much harder to collaborate and listen and be willing to amend our positions. However, solutions to complex, persistent problems require exactly the type of collaboration that often goes unrewarded in our current political climate.

The newsletter would like to interview more local leaders. Please email us with your interview request or suggestion.

On November 7, 2000, Minneapolis voters approved a $140 million package to improve library services, including funding a new Central Library building. The building was designed by Cesar Pelli, along with the Minneapolis firm Architectural Alliance. It opened to the public on May 20, 2006.

The Downtown Library

This building continues to be a valuable resource for Minneapolis. It was a safe and quiet space to review notes before the interview. On the sidewalk outside there were a few individuals in need of mental health services, but otherwise, downtown felt sleepy mid-morning on Monday.

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