It's hard not to sense a little disdain for democracy in this assessment of the city's governing structure, produced by three members of the Charter Commission (I'm assuming it's mostly written by Barry Clegg). https://twitter.com/mplsclerk/status/1338508189856370688

No mention of the (unelected, yet still highly politicized) Charter Commission's role in stalling that "forward momentum and progress," in that brief window when elected policymakers actually came together after George Floyd was murdered by city employees.

Anyone know what this is a reference to?

Well this is all wrong. The real problem with government structure IN OUR AREA is that I have no idea who at Hennepin County I need to fuck up to prevent Lyndale Avenue from trying to kill me. This is a love letter to less responsive government.

I should mention this document is a summary of feedback from unnamed department heads, as told by three charter commission members.

Prepare for a strong mayor charter amendment?

A few pages prior they describe how differently our police department operates from other city departments, with clear lines of authority to the mayor. Yet that clear authority failed to stop the city from burning. Mayor runs the disastrous department that kicked it all off.

The real disaster of 2020: elected policymakers responding to calls for change. Ugh.

Not to disparage any particular mayor... but the thing about mayors is that they are significantly more likely to be captured by the downtown business community and the high turnout/moneyed/whitest parts of the city. So that's the direction a strong mayor takes you.

Nobody loves a spectacle more than me, but I think this overstates the number of public floggings we've had at city hall.

Can you imagine vetting nominees in a public forum? Open to members of the public? With public comment?

Some call it the "deep state." Barry Clegg calls it "organizational stickiness." I call it "elections without consequences."

One tool we could use to measure public opinion would be elections.

At large representation is a racial equity disaster. Diverting political power away from BIPOC residents and giving it to far South/Southwest Minneapolis.

Last year, the Charter Commission rejected a proposal to eliminate some district-based seats in favor of at-large/citywide council seats. City Clerk Casey Carl, who is the city's chief elections officer, testified to the reasons it is a bad idea. https://wedgelive.com/2019/03/plan-to-eliminate-city-council-seats-and-overhaul-ward-boundaries-would-empower-wealthier-whiter-south-minneapolis.html

In an email obtained by Wedge LIVE, Commissioner Clegg already has an outline for a "strong mayor" amendment. Includes a line item veto. Does away with the executive committee, which is made up of council members and the mayor. Dept heads would serve at the pleasure of the mayor.

Here's the email soliciting feedback from former Minneapolis mayors and council members. Clegg writes that the three commissioners are avoiding a public record of these discussions by limiting participation to less than a quorum of the commission.