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Minneapolis is a city shaped by its leaders, and understanding how local government works is key to knowing who makes decisions that affect daily life. In Minneapolis, the mayor serves as the city’s chief executive, overseeing administration, enforcing laws, and proposing the budget, while the 13-member city council plays a vital role in passing local laws, approving the budget and mayoral appointments, and overseeing city services. Together, their decisions on policy, budgeting, and public safety directly shape residents’ daily lives, influencing everything from transportation and housing to policing and community programs. By researching candidates through reliable sources, residents can make informed choices at the ballot box, ensuring their elected officials align with their values and priorities.
The Mayor: Leading the City’s Vision
The mayor is the face of Minneapolis’ leadership, responsible for setting the city’s priorities and overseeing its daily operations. In 2021, Minneapolis residents voted to change the government structure by adopting the executive mayor – legislative council system. Now, the mayor acts as the city’s chief executive overseeing departments, managing the budget, and making sure services like public safety, housing, and street maintenance run smoothly.
The mayor’s executive authority means he or she also plays a key role in shaping long-term city strategies and crisis management. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the mayor was instrumental in managing the city’s response, from implementing emergency health measures to ensuring continued public services despite the challenges. The mayor’s influence stretches from creating a vision for the city’s future to navigating immediate crises, ensuring the city adapts and thrives in changing times.
One of the mayor’s most influential powers is appointing the leaders of city departments, from the chiefs of police and public safety, fire, and public works to health commissioner. This means that decisions about safety, transit, and infrastructure start at the top. The mayor also proposes an annual budget, working to balance priorities like affordable housing, climate initiatives, and public transportation while keeping finances in check.
The City Council: Representing Your Neighborhood
While the mayor is the city executive, the city council is the legislature. With 13 members elected from different wards across Minneapolis, the council ensures that residents’ voices are heard in city decisions. From approving policies to allocating funding, the council plays a direct role in shaping how the city operates at the neighborhood level.
The city council holds the "power of the purse” and the authority to refine and adopt the final city budget. This means that while the mayor proposes the budget, the council has the final say on how resources are allocated across services like public safety, education, housing, and infrastructure. Council members vote on everything from housing developments to new bike lanes, zoning laws, and police accountability measures. They also have the power to override a mayor’s veto and can collectively push forward policies even if the mayor disagrees.
Your city council member is who you go to with specific issues that need to be resolved by the city—whether it’s getting a pothole filled on your street, addressing neighborhood safety concerns, or helping businesses recover from the impacts of COVID-19 and the George Floyd riots. They are your direct line to ensure that the city’s services and resources support both your neighborhood’s needs.
How Their Powers Interact
The relationship between the mayor and city council is a balance of power. The mayor runs city operations, but the council crafts and approves laws that shape city policies. While they often collaborate, they don’t always agree—debates over public safety strategies, rent control, and budget allocations show how this system of checks and balances plays out in real time.
Minneapolis Safety: A Collaborative Approach to Public Safety
Public safety in Minneapolis has been a contentious issue, particularly after the citizen uprising following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. In response, the mayor has advocated restructuring the police department while maintaining a law enforcement presence, aiming for reform within the existing system. The city council, based also on citizen input, has proposed reducing police funding to invest in alternative public safety measures, such as mental health crisis response teams, reflecting a more transformative approach to addressing community safety. For many months, they could not agree, while the police force was declining and crime rates in the city were rising.
In 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice found a pattern of unconstitutional policing in Minneapolis, leading to a consent decree outlining required reforms that helped shape the city’s police reform efforts. In July 2024, the City Council, with support from the mayor’s executive negotiating team, reached an agreement and approved a new contract with the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis. The contract aims to increase the number of officers in Minneapolis and introduce key reforms. These include giving managers more flexibility, hiring civilian investigators, and extended investigatory leave for misconduct cases.
Although concerns remain over the lack of permanent accountability measures, by early 2025, violent crime had declined, with city officials attributing the reduction to ongoing reforms and the other crime prevention efforts.
Why City Government Matters to You
Every pothole fixed, bus route expanded, or affordable housing project developed is the result of decisions made by the mayor and city council. When you vote in local elections or attend community meetings, you have a direct say in how your city is run. Engaging with your council member or understanding the mayor’s initiatives means shaping the policies that affect your home, neighborhood, and daily life.
Staying informed and involved helps ensure that local government reflects the needs of the community. So, the next time you hear about a city ordinance or a budget proposal, you’ll know exactly who’s behind it—and how to make your voice heard. Minneapolis’ leadership reflects the people who live and work here. When we show up, speak out, and stay engaged, we don’t just shape the future of our city—we shape it together. It’s about you and me. It’s about all of us.
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