[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6082198,"mediaKeyId","2939078-8d3729e72001ecf0ab63d1e0daf42ef1","parentId",2939078,"title","Minneapolis names five vendors for violence-interrupter program; council debate continues over coverage gaps","audioSeconds",3383,"startMs",3566000,"endMs",6949000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2939078-8d3729e72001ecf0ab63d1e0daf42ef1&start=3566&end=6949","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2939078-8d3729e72001ecf0ab63d1e0daf42ef1/thumbnail_3566000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6082198/Minneapolis-City/Hennepin-County/Minnesota/Minneapolis-names-five-vendors-for-violence-interrupter-program-council-debate-continues-over-coverage-gaps","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6082198-08b0d7eaa1ca29a3ec6b69e10cc72bce/orig.mp4?Expires=1771160939&Signature=lkRlksbA3uxma0me8OPr4TEebFzYbWySB3JPuixJxfCxDvdPFXJOBByUl49U61-tj3IBgKDGwdbdALs500M0i8nAkkFyqmXKpQ6UzPWXn5-f6XKiFAPyr9DjCx6uhY48uHnDu5bWERJrx40VWkYsDz4QI9Ee81-k6guQ9Z8PleBX1aVD-CXuiLY4HSnh2bdEtDB1qUY0JTgeCc4UgvZQeXd8di-qg6IkniYHLY9lVF2Ni0oX65PKle~eWND84YJUPo55OMpi3BwmqK5iRAWG5GP8FjfD-lViLUchwdTut7M6WqVBkYy6y2CPQymIcugFB-MIIMDUIXinOVIhr0x-gw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","City Council of Minneapolis, MN","date","2025-03-25T00:00:00Z","article","The Committee of the Whole on March 25 advanced contracts for a 2025 Minneapolis Strategic Outreach Initiative that will fund community-based violence interrupter teams organized under the Cure Violence model.

Deputy Director Leah Lakes of the Neighborhood Safety Department said the city’s RFP and review process identified eight data-driven target zones; funding is currently available to support teams in six of those zones. After evaluation, the top-scoring vendors selected to receive contracts were A Mother’s Love Initiative, Touch Outreach, Restoration Inc., Sabathene Community Center, and Mad Dads. Staff said the assignments tied organizations’ demonstrated community connections to the eight geographic prioritization maps produced with technical assistance from Cure Violence Global.

Each funded target area is planned to deploy a team of roughly nine staff — five violence interrupters, two outreach workers, one site supervisor and one program manager — with a total salary allocation per team of about $540,000 and a full operational cost estimated at roughly $730,000 per target area. The Neighborhood Safety Department said funding will come from the general fund and identified earmarks including Amendment 19 and a “burn” grant; staff described detailed in-house supply and safety equipment provisions, background- and drug-screening policies, a “grandfather” clause for incumbent staff, and a zero-tolerance rule for substance use during shifts.

Lakes described a standardized, Cure Violence–aligned documentation and reporting system that will be hosted by Cure Violence Global and owned by the city; the system includes daily debriefs, weekly team assessments, and individual supervision, and staff said a public-facing dashboard is expected later in 2025 with an early internal version available for review in May and a fuller dashboard by October 2025 to report six months of program data.

Council discussion was broad and sometimes contentious. Several council members praised the evidence-based structure and the move toward standardized contracts, higher salary and benefits, and professionalized supervision. Other members, however, raised concerns that the vendor selections and resulting geography would leave specific neighborhoods — notably parts of North Minneapolis and two named areas in Cedar Riverside and Elliott Park — without continuity of services. Council Member Osman introduced a legislative directive asking the Neighborhood Safety Department to identify how to appropriate $643,000 in 2025 budget authority to preserve services in Cedar Riverside and Elliott Park; Osman characterized the proposal as an effort to prevent the loss of services that had operated in Cedar Riverside for 4½ years.

Committee members debated timing and trade-offs: city finance staff said the proposed $643,000 appropriation would represent a material portion of Neighborhood Safety’s non-personnel operating budget and that trade-offs would be required; other council members urged use of existing, unspent allocations or alternate sources. After discussion, the Committee advanced the primary set of contracts for full-council approval (committee vote recorded as carried) and sent Council Member Osman’s legislative directive to full council without a committee recommendation.

RFP and process details Lakes provided include outreach to more than 7,000 subscribers via GoDelivery, contact to over 700 suppliers via the e-supplier portal, direct outreach to more than 50 partner organizations, and personal contact with 58 incumbent/current contract holders. The evaluation rubric weighted program approach highest (40 points), staff qualifications (20), cost (20), financial management (10) and financial risk (10). Staff said they will work with procurement and city attorney’s office during contract finalization and will stage training, model-fidelity checks and reported deployments in coordination with Cure Violence Global.

Why this matters: the contracts formalize a citywide approach to place violence-interrupter teams in areas identified through a five-year crime-data analysis and an evidence-based model. Council members signaled support for professionalization, but concerns over cultural competency, continuity of services, and coverage gaps prompted a separate legislative motion that will be considered by full council.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","March 25, 2025 Committee of the Whole","oneSentenceSummary","The Committee of the Whole advanced contracts for five community organizations to operate Cure Violence–based violence interrupter teams in Minneapolis and debated a separate request to preserve services in Cedar Riverside and Elliott Park.","taxTitle","Minneapolis City, Hennepin County, Minnesota","taxId",3498,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6082203,"Council confirms Kelly Geisler as chief assistant city clerk",624,3038000,3662000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2939078-8d3729e72001ecf0ab63d1e0daf42ef1&start=3038&end=3662","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2939078-8d3729e72001ecf0ab63d1e0daf42ef1/thumbnail_3038000.jpg","/articles/6082203/Minneapolis-City/Hennepin-County/Minnesota/Council-confirms-Kelly-Geisler-as-chief-assistant-city-clerk","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6082203-26ca9d3a5059791be3ff601f3eb05173/orig.mp4?Expires=1771160939&Signature=FR15AdHz-Xy5Ifs6l6AuprsZCv~4tqSFGgHQnafwqTefLRtOnAzeDnM8xZ4HryiiYQuajuFsEqsRO5IVizejob9ETNjvnMKHjBJLurACRW9eJw6ZKBIpb3xGTxYj5AcjfxTgI-IyXzb4ZApQlVIoIacEgwmrnIBVQwdVwZTIO~XtH6CtDcMKuRb50ZgdoLlXrR6tTzc7GSLkUL22TQebxE3Mr7N9yIV-TsgSEg4WqTGyzfG4iF-pd2mHp24mO~paulndU0WG3fOdGtS17NW9RkMWTkPh~EI8raFfTfn9VOWj14bLs3HNijFG4oqut~w0M1BF6H0OK97QqIYyIkQBvw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","City Clerk Casey Carl presented an appointment March 25 for Kelly Geisler to serve as the newly created chief assistant city clerk, a position the clerk said will operate as day-to-day operational leader for the legislative department and a direct report to the city clerk.

Carl said Geisler, who served nearly five years as city clerk in Rochester, returns with a certified municipal clerk credential and a law degree from the University of St. Thomas. Under Minneapolis Code of Ordinances § 8.12(e), the clerk’s appointment of an assistant city clerk requires council consent.

Kelly Geisler addressed the committee, described her Minneapolis experience beginning in 2012 and her work in Rochester, and said she planned to begin the position April 7 if the council consented. Several council members welcomed her return and expressed support.

The committee moved the item forward; the council later recorded a roll-call consent vote of 13 ayes, approving the appointment. Geisler is scheduled to begin duties April 7, 2025.","The Committee of the Whole consented to City Clerk Casey Carl’s appointment of Kelly Geisler as chief assistant city clerk; the council later approved the consent by roll call, 13–0.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6082209,"Committee delays transfer of policy, research and oversight staff from city auditor to city clerk",2982,132000,3114000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2939078-8d3729e72001ecf0ab63d1e0daf42ef1&start=132&end=3114","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2939078-8d3729e72001ecf0ab63d1e0daf42ef1/thumbnail_132000.jpg","/articles/6082209/Minneapolis-City/Hennepin-County/Minnesota/Committee-delays-transfer-of-policy-research-and-oversight-staff-from-city-auditor-to-city-clerk","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6082209-8fe1997e6ae2e3bc852ab199f19c86c4/orig.mp4?Expires=1771160939&Signature=JaaF~ZMWMbFMvm3n4DLp7eveysUY-2h5SeMhfovM9XbQO11ZlhPfegtDaJBDc4LAaluJDhe-cYfSXlMVCsBf25lpdmzs3aj5YnPDRS32zcoYzxSmH~ViLmyDoci6pUnrvRCie78v2RL7eo7SLEObfxco1VWh4g0BX4B0QmPNzpgQYvXcAVLntLEm93Do-fol2Jx5iiuvG4vDvw0lb6EKGdyaI2sKdFrsH~5N2f62xLeACFo1D6Jmhd-oWYXd6UYwmFU~x7qDcpIM7tTPxt93iWc0v95QCPR5jinZADBfISlX4x6gATpQxwhZw38ImEa~iiqFvzaTvbIjpuQuYLbKww__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","City Clerk Casey Carl presented an ordinance March 25 to transfer the Policy, Research and Oversight (PAR&O) and Oversight & Evaluation divisions from the Office of the City Auditor to the Office of the City Clerk.

Carl said the transfer would place those teams under the clerk’s “professional, nonpartisan” council staff to avoid creating a conflict with the auditor’s charter-mandated independence. The ordinance would move 10 FTEs (five positions in Policy and Research and five in Oversight and Evaluation) into a new Policy, Research and Oversight division reporting to a chief assistant city clerk.

The proposal followed a written legal analysis from the city attorney that concluded housing council support functions inside the auditor’s office risked undermining the auditor’s independence. In committee discussion, the city attorney told members “the charter really hones in on the independence of the auditor,” and said the transfer was intended to preserve that independence while keeping the functions available to council.

Several council members said they supported the legal reasoning but asked for more time to review operational details, including the precise roles and staffing structures that would result after the transfer, how the new council staff would interact with the administration, and budget implications for 2026 and beyond. Council Member Wansley and others asked for fuller briefings and chance for council-wide input on the long-term structure and governance of the legislative department.

Council President Payne moved to continue the ordinance until April 29 to permit additional briefings and outreach to audit-committee members and other council members; the motion passed on a roll-call vote, 10–3 (ayes: Payne, Wansley, Rainville, Ellison, Osman, Cashman, Chipta/Chiktay, Koski, Vice Chair Choudhry, Chair Chavez; nays: Vita, Jenkins, Palmisano).

No public speakers signed up for the hearing; the committee opened and closed the public hearing with no testimony. City staff said next steps would include coordination with Human Resources and Finance to define position classifications, further review of comparable city legislative-staff models, and periodic reports back to the council as implementation proceeds.

Why this matters: the city charter creates both the City Clerk and an independent City Auditor. Council members and staff said the change aims to preserve audit independence while creating the “council staff” the charter envisioned, but members requested more detail about structure, safeguards, and budget before final passage.

The ordinance will return to the Committee of the Whole on April 29 for further consideration.","A Minneapolis Committee of the Whole heard a proposal to move policy, research and oversight functions from the city auditor’s office to the city clerk’s office, then voted 10–3 to continue the ordinance to April 29 to allow more briefings and deliberation.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Minneapolis names five vendors for violence-interrupter program; council debate continues over coverage gaps

Council confirms Kelly Geisler as chief assistant city clerk

Committee delays transfer of policy, research and oversight staff from city auditor to city clerk