Meeting Information

• Date: October 21, 2024
• Title: Administration and Enterprise Oversight Committee Meeting
• Present: Robin Wonsley (Chair), LaTrisha Vetaw, Jeremiah Ellison, Katie Cashman, Aisha Chughtai, Linea Palmisano (Vice Chair), Emily Koski (joined late)
• Absent: None explicitly mentioned
• Guests: Kamal (Procurement Manager), Michael Nelson-Brown (Director), Andrew Hockins (City Auditor’s Policy and Research Division)
• Votes: 2 (1 consent agenda vote, 1 motion to refer back to staff)

Highlights

• Consent agenda items approved, including several legal settlements
• Contract with Black Business Enterprise Fund discussed and referred back to staff
• Presentation on law enforcement recruitment, hiring, and retention practices
• Discussion on MPD’s recruitment strategies and challenges

Discussion

Contract with Black Business Enterprise Fund

The committee discussed a contract with the Black Business Enterprise Fund for capacity building and compliance consulting services. Chair Wonsley expressed concerns about outsourcing work rather than investing in internal infrastructure for the Neighborhood Safety Department (NSD). She suggested using the $1 million contract funds to hire staff and build capacity within NSD.

Councilmember Cashman requested to see the proposal from the Black Business Enterprise Fund before voting, which led to a discussion about the Council’s ability to access proposals before voting on contracts.

Director Nelson-Brown provided context on NSD’s staffing situation, clarifying that they currently have only five vacancies, not eleven as previously reported. He emphasized the need for infrastructure in the department to properly do the work and comply with requirements.

Chair Wonsley made a motion to refer the item back to staff, which was seconded and passed with five ayes.

Quote from Chair Wonsley: “I would much rather use the dollars to add the staff capacity in-house to NSD. And hopefully, again, create infrastructure that can support this work for years and years to come.”

Vote: 5 ayes, 1 abstention (Councilmember Vetaw recused herself due to a potential conflict of interest)

Law Enforcement Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention Practices

Andrew Hockins from the City Auditor’s Policy and Research Division presented findings on law enforcement recruitment, hiring, and retention practices nationwide. Key points included:

• Innovative recruiting strategies such as relationship recruitment and continuous application cycles
• Various incentive programs including signing bonuses, housing assistance, and child care support
• Comparison of Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) practices with other cities
• MPD’s increase in application volume and diversity of candidates

Councilmembers asked numerous questions about MPD’s recruitment processes, incentives, and retention strategies. There was particular interest in understanding how MPD compares to other departments and what new strategies could be implemented to improve recruitment and retention.

Chair Wonsley raised concerns about ensuring the quality of candidates and preventing the recruitment of officers with histories of misconduct. She also commented on the potential inequity of offering certain benefits exclusively to police officers that are not available to other city employees or residents.

No vote was taken on this item, as it was a presentation for information purposes.

Public Comments

There were no public comments mentioned in the transcript for this meeting.