After the Interview
On Tuesday, after conducting the interview, Paul Walsh from the Star Tribune reported, “Homeless man charged with setting dumpster fires ‘for fun’ along Lake Street near Uptown.” Since updating their technology, the Star Tribune commenting feature has been unavailable. However, if we had to guess, many residents would be angry about what seems to be a porous justice system. The 62-year-old man accused of setting the fires is the subject of a nationwide warrant after being released the same day as his arrest.
It would be difficult to argue that those hypothetical commenters are wrong. However, this incident raises questions about where a mentally ill individual bent on wreaking havoc might best be detained. While we do not know for certain that this individual is mentally ill, it is likely. Most stable people are not roaming the streets at 3 a.m. with a towel wrapped around their head, carrying a grill lighter, and intent on setting dumpsters fires for fun. Prison might be the reflexive answer, but we believe an investment in mental health and substance abuse facilities would be more appropriate, some of which may not be voluntary. Alternatives to prison are warranted to house the mentally ill who are currently sleeping on our streets. As we discussed in “The Gavin Newsom Gambit,” the closing of institutions housing the mentally ill has left few options. The community centers needed to replace them have yet to be developed to the extent required. Many groups and agencies are attempting to provide services, but the results have so far proven inadequate.
CM Jenkins discusses her intent to bring the people with power and resources from various government offices to the same table to address homelessness. She acknowledges that the group gathering at the 35W and 31st underpass has become untenable. During the rain, the area became a densely packed village. We encourage those seated at this table to develop a concrete plan of action. This may mean setting up temporary facilities. There are ways to get it done. Using the Hennepin County Home School facilities or creating a tent village at Fort Snelling are ideas to consider. New York City used airport runways. The key is to not leave the table until an immediate solution is developed. Waiting for longer-term solutions to address housing affordability, substance abuse, and mental health issues would be a mistake.
Finally, Gov. Tim Walz has been named as Kamala Harris’s VP choice. We can see Republican operatives showing up with cameras to film our encampments, turning these into attack ads with an ominous voice-over warning people about Democratic leadership. We do not want Minneapolis featured in national ads describing how we have let encampments proliferate in our streets. We can do more than talk about how homelessness is a national issue. By addressing it on a local level, it will help those in the encampments, their neighbors, and the image of Minneapolis on the national stage.
Interview Topics
In our conversation, we cover a range of important topics, including:
George Floyd Square
Feedback on community safety centers
Improving collaboration to address encampments
Priorities for the soon-to-be-released city budget
Cleaner streets
After the recording ended, we also talked about her new puppy, Toasty. Juggling the responsibilities of the council and a puppy will keep CM Jenkins busy.
The auto-generated transcript is available for those who prefer to read it. Please contact us before publishing any quotes from the interview.
Other Interviews
Our goal is to interview all council members before next year’s election. We invite city and county department leaders and elected officials interested in sharing their views to join us in a conversation about making Minneapolis a better place to live.
A nice feature of this format is that we get to hear longer answers from representatives than we do during TV interviews or in newspapers. This provides a more in-depth understanding of the people entrusted with making important decisions that impact our lives. Feedback helps us determine the content of greatest interest to readers (and listeners).
Ward 8 Council Member Andrea Jenkins