City briefs - Jun 2026

Public Safety Training & Wellness Center
The City Council voted 7-6 on May 21, 2026 to not to acquire the 4.7-acre property at 146 W. 60th St. in the Windom neighborhood for the construction of the training and wellness facility for police and other public safety city employees.

Loring Park resurfacing
Resurfacing and pedestrian ramp replacements began in the Loring Park area in June. The City Council approved $650,000 in assessments on June 11, 2026 for property owners in the area bounded by Hennepin Avenue to 2nd Avenue S. and 10th Street S. to 15th Street W. where the streets will be improved.

City department head nominations
Mayor Jacob Frey has recommended the reappointments of Eric Hanson to be Community Planning & Economic Development Department director, Timothy Sexton to be Public Works Department director, and Rachel Sayre to be Emergency Management Department director. Frey also chose Reginald Freeman as the new fire chief. Freeman started his career in Mississippi and has been a fire chief in Oakland, Calif., Hartford, Conn., and for the U.S. Department of Defense in Iraq.

Uptown Art Fair funding
The City Council has approved spending $100,000 from the Convention Center budget to support the return of the Uptown Art Fair which will be along the Lakes of the Isles from Aug. 7-9, 2026.

Advisory Committee on Housing
The City Council approved Emily Quinn of Ward 7 and Sherri Boone of Ward 11 to serve on the housing advisory committee, which provides advice and recommendations on housing policy and development to City staff and elected officials.

Violence interrupters
The City has approved contract extensions for local violence interruption services. Restoration Inc, Metro Youth Diversion, and TOUCH Outreach will each get $700,000 for street outreach and violence prevention services through June 2027. The groups will provide violence interrupters and outreach workers in the Folwell, Hawthorne, Jordan, Cedar Riverside, Midtown Phillips, Ventura Village, and East Phillips neighborhoods.

Autonomous vehicles
The City Council plans to study autonomous vehicles and explore policies to manage them. According to a council report, there are no policies in place to protect workers or the public at the state or local levels. The council may refer business licensing ordinance amendments that could help regulate the vehicles to a committee on June 25, 2026 for review.

Civil Service Commissioner
Mayor Jacob Frey has nominated, and the City Council has approved, the reappointment of Ward 13 resident William Walker to a seat on the City’s Civil Service Commission. This three-person panel supports a fair, merit-based system for hiring, promotion and job classifications system for non-appointed City employees. Walker’s term will end Feb. 28, 2029.