Good evening. Welcome to this organizational meeting of the Board of Estimate Taxation for January 14th, 2026. I am Ken Daylor with the Minneapolis City Clerk's Office, and I will convene this evening's meeting in order to conduct this body's election of officers for 2026. Before we begin the meeting, I want to offer a friendly reminder to all members, staff, and the public that these meetings are broadcast live to enable greater public participation. These broadcasts include real-time captioning as a further method to increase the accessibility of our proceedings to the community. Therefore, all speakers need to be mindful of the rate of their speech so that our captioners can fully capture and transcribe all comments for the broadcast. We ask all speakers to moderate the speed and clarity of their comments. At this time, I will ask the clerk to call the role so we may verify the presence of a quorum. >> Member Brandt >> here. >> Bernstein >> present. >> Chugai is absent. Fry is absent. Olsen >> here. >> Payne >> present. >> There are four members present. >> Let the record reflect that we do have a quorum. We will now proceed to our agenda, a copy of which was posted for public access to the city's legislative information management system, which is available at limbs.mmin.gov. May I please have a motion to adopt the agenda as presented? >> So moved. >> Second. We have a proper motion and a second. Is there any discussion? >> Captions are on. >> Okay. Please hold on one moment. We may have a tech issue. >> Too many streamers crashing. system. Okay. Looks like we might be paused for just a few minutes. So, please hold. Wait, where did the other go? >> I took Isn't that >> two? Right. >> Yeah, right. >> Yeah, you took one. >> Yeah. >> Did you take two bags? >> Nice try, Steve. All right. Uh, welcome back. We had some tech issues, but we are uh resuming now. I will begin back at the beginning for uh uh for uh clarity of the record. Uh but I am Ken Daylor with the Minneapolis City Clerk's Office and I am convening uh tonight's organizational meeting of the board of estimate and taxation for January 14th, 2026 in order to conduct this body's election of officers for 2026. Uh just a friendly reminder for uh all members and the public that these meetings are broadcast live to enable greater public participation, which is why we needed to pause. Uh these broadcasts include real-time captioning and all speakers should be mindful of the rate of their speech so that our captioners can fully capture and transcribe all comments for the broadcast. Um the the clerk called the role earlier so I I will just state for the record that we do have a quorum uh with commissioners uh Bern Bernstein, Brandt Olsen and Payne here as well as Commissioner Fry who has also joined us uh since the beginning of the meeting. Uh we will now proceed to our agenda uh which is available on the city's legislative information management system and I will again ask for a motion to adopt the agenda. >> So moved >> and that that has been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion on the agenda? Seeing none. Uh all those in favor say I. >> I. >> Those opposed say nay. The eyes have it and the agenda is adopted. members. Uh item number three on the agenda is the simple uh receipt of the park and recreation board's appointment of Commissioner Tom Olsen to serve as the park board's representative to the board of estimate taxation. So, welcome Commissioner Olsen. Uh but I will proceed directly then to item number four on our agenda, which is the election of the body's officers as set forth in section 3.2 two of the BET's bylaws uh which uh the uh body conducts elections every year um for uh the roles of vice president uh president and vice president. Uh in terms of procedure, I will administer uh the election for both president and vice president and we will follow the same procedure for both offices. First, I will open the floor for nominations. After all nominations have been made, I will close the nominating period. Once the nomination period is closed, no further nominations will be accepted. After the nominations period is closed, we will proceed to take the vote by roll call. There will be a separate vote on each nominee. If there are multiple nominees, uh we will consider an act on each nomination in the order it was received and um the the nominee who receives the majority vote will be declared the winner of the election. Once the president and vice president have been announced and elected, I will turn the meeting over to the newly elected president to preside over the remainder of the agenda. Are there any questions on the procedure process I have outlined? >> Uh, Commissioner Bernstein, >> President and then Vice President, >> correct? >> Okay. >> Commissioner Brandt, uh, your microphone isn't on. We'll have a recess to reset the >> Yeah, we'll just take a short two-minute recess to ensure the chair uh can the president can sit in the middle at at the chair's spot. Okay, so at this point we will proceed to the election of the president of the board of estimate taxation. The floor is now open for nominations and I will ask if there are any nominations. >> I'd like to nominate Commissioner Brandt for president of the board of estimate taxation. Commissioner Bernstein has nominated uh pres uh Commissioner Brandt. Are there any additional nominations for the office of president? Any additional nominations? Okay, seeing none, uh the nominating period for president is now closed. Is there any discussion on the nomination of Commissioner Brandt as president? All right. Seeing no uh further requests for comment, uh we will proceed to a vote on the nomination to elect Commissioner Steve Brandt to the office of president. The clerk will call the role. [clears throat] >> Brand. >> Bernstein I. >> Chuck Tai is absent. Fry >> I. Olsen >> I. >> Payne >> I. >> There are five eyes. >> That motion carries and Commissioner Brandt has been elected president. I will now open the floor to nominations for the office of vice president. Are there any nominations for vice president? >> Uh, I nominated Commissioner Harris Bernstein for vice president. >> Uh, Commissioner Payne has nominated uh, Commissioner Bernstein for vice president. Any other nominations? Any other nominations? Seeing no additional nominations, I will uh close the nominating period. Is there any discussion? Okay, seeing none, I will ask the clerk to call the role on the nomination of Commissioner Bernstein as vice president. >> Brandt >> I. >> Bernstein >> I. >> Chuck Tai is absent. Fry >> I. >> Olsen >> I. >> Payne >> I. There are five eyes. >> That motion carries. And Commissioner Bernstein has been elected vice president. Uh congratulations to our newly elected president, vice president. And we'll take a brief uh two-minute recess in order to receat uh the newly elected president and vice president. >> Can't believe my coup failed. All right. uh communications we are ready to resume that as a backup. >> Oh, okay. >> All right. The board of estimate will uh return from uh our uh recess and I would like to um I think the most appropriate thing is to welcome our newcomer to the board uh Commissioner Olsen uh from the park board uh the president of the park board who was nominated by the received the support of the park board for this position and of course Commissioner Bernstein who was elected by the vote ers of Minneapolis. And we welcome back uh Mayor Fry, uh Council President Payne, and Council Member Chuktai. I'm glad to have that experience returning. All right. Um I uh before we go on with the um agenda, we skipped over something we normally start with fairly early in the meeting, and that is our acknowledgement. And it's traditional at BET meetings to acknowledge that we meet on Dakota and Inishab lands. Today, I'd like to go a step further than that normal statement to acknowledge the trauma that resulted from that land disposition with which my ancestors have some personal experience. I'd also like to acknowledge that today there is new trauma sweeping the city of Minneapolis as we deal with the militarized invasion of an overreaching federal government. That trauma affects some of the same tribal people. Some of them were snatched days ago from their shelter under a bridge. It affects other indigenous peoples who have migrated to Minnesota from elsewhere in the Americas. It affects Somali people who have built new lives here. It affects other African people brought here against their will as well as those who came more recently and voluntarily. It affects M and Vietnamese who arrived as refugees from war torn countries. It affects people who arrived uh here from the greater Asian diaspora like my daughter-in-law. And it even affects European Americans, whether because some bear a Hispanic name or because others have thrown themselves into allyship by delivering food, giving rides under the cover of darkness or even in vehicle trunks to get people to the doctor or other destinations, by taking to the streets as observers or protesters, by donating money and in countless other ways. All these Minopolitans are our neighbors. They are our co-workers. They are our fellow worshippers. I commend the principled stands taken by our public officials at the city and state levels. Thank you, Mayor Fry. Thank you, Attorney General Ellison. Thank you, Governor Walsh. And I want to differ from some of my friends. And I that I also appreciate Minneapolis police for taking on the difficult job of serving as a buffer between the feds and us, protecting our merchants and our public facilities as well as private property. This department has come a long way from 2020 and its officers better reflect the city. Let us honor that by not making these officers our enemies. Let us stay strong and disciplined in the face of this invasion and its provocations. Raise your voices, raise your banners, but let's not return our city to the destruction of 2020 that we are working so hard from which to rebuild. Stay strong, Minneapolis. Your public officials are with you, including at least two on this very board who have been stopped by federal agents. We will prevail. >> Thank you. We will now proceed to the annual review of our bylaws which was sent out as part of your uh packet and I raised the issue for discussion. Is anybody prepared to discuss a change in bylaws or propose a change in bylaws? Okay, seeing none, we will uh receive and file or just uh >> approval. >> Adoption and approval of the current bylaws. Okay. May I have a motion to adopt the current read the current bylaws? >> So moved. >> Okay. Second. >> Seconded. >> Okay. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I opposed. Okay. The bylaws are adopted as they came into the meeting. We also now uh take up our annual calendar of regular meetings um which was sent out as part of your agenda packet. Uh is there anyone who has a proposal to amend the calendar of annual meetings that was tenatively presented to the board last year u but is never final until it's adopted by the newly elected newly seated board. Are there any changes any proposals? Okay. Uh we can amend I think during the year if need be. Uh but otherwise uh let us uh entertain a motion to adopt the annual calendar. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Second. >> All right. Thank you. We have a duly u made seconded motion before us. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. Opposed. Nay. All right. That concludes the business to come before us unless there are any announcements that people would like to make. Uh any int any any introductory remarks by the park board president or the council president or Mr. Bernstein or the mayor? Uh council member commissioner uh pain. >> Uh thank you president Brent. I just want to welcome commissioners Olsen and Harris Bernstein to this body. Um and uh as new members I want to [clears throat] get you up to speed a little bit at least on some of the debates that have happened over the time that I've been here. And uh it it's really actually grounded in my belief that uh this body is an independent governing body from the city council, from the mayor um and is enshrined very specific powers that I think that we have a real opportunity to maximize. There is a debate about whether or not this body ought to exist and it is my belief that um if it's going to exist, we should do it well and we should do it independently or it shouldn't exist. And so, um, that's just kind of some grounding that I wanted to bring as we you enter into your participation in this independent governing body. >> Any further discussion? Uh, Commissioner Bernstein, >> thanks for that. Uh, Commissioner Payne, um, I just, uh, wanted as during my first meeting and sort of in light of the comments, uh, the wonderful, uh, opening remarks that you gave, President Brandt, um, uh, just to state, you know, it was, uh, an interesting, uh, strange week uh, to begin this tenure. Um, we have pretty limited, you know, role on this board. Um but I don't think it is um altogether separate from the crisis that we're facing right now. our ability as a city uh to provide the monetary resources to invest in the programs that care for motans um Minipolitans uh that keep them safe, that build safe infrastructure, that fund a public safety system that keeps us safe. Um that enables uh our businesses to function um you know well um that all comes down to the tax base that we have and the resources that we marshall collectively to invest in all of our well-being. And so although today um introductory meeting of the board of estimate and taxation does not feel like perhaps the most pressing matter, I'm very [snorts] grateful to see all of you here. And I think that the work we're going to do over the next several um years together um very much has to do with the safety of the residents of this city and the prosperity that we hopefully will all share together. So it's a dark day to begin this work, but uh it is important work and it is not unrelated to what's happening right now. Thanks. Are there any other announcements? All right. Then seeing no further business to come before the board, we stand adjourned.