Minneapolis council votes 9-4 to eliminate safety office; Mayor Frey meeting with council members

The Minneapolis City Council voted 9-4 Thursday to eliminate the Office of Community Safety.Mayor Jacob Frey is scheduled to meet with Council Members Jamison Whiting and Linea Palmisano at 3:30 p.m. in his office; the two were among the four who voted against eliminating the office.The office is led by a commissioner of community safety, who oversees the police and fire departments, 911, emergency management and neighborhood safety.Toddrick Barnette, a former Hennepin County chief judge, was nominated by Frey and sworn in as commissioner in October 2023. He succeeded Cedric Alexander, the first person to hold the job.The council voted 7-6 on April 9 against reappointing Barnette after Frey nominated him for another term. City Council President Elliott Payne said Barnette had been "far too absent and often disconnected from the role." Other council members who voted no argued he failed to control overspending and poorly managed the city's violence interruptor program. Frey vetoed the d