[0:02] Hey everybody, we're going to be getting started here. Everybody's mic. [0:10] I'm just going to leave that there. I have people talking. Yes, I can pass it by. Yeah, [0:16] we're just doing things a little bit differently. We're changing up the format a little bit. Um making it a [0:21] little bit more relaxed for you. Um this is going to be very brief. Um just a conversation with you all at a time of [0:27] year where we know that a lot of the this news is at top of mind and we have some really good news to share today. [0:33] So, we thought we'd do something a little bit different. Hope that's okay with you and we appreciate that. Um, and [0:38] so I'll just turn it over to the mayor to kick things off. Thanks so much and thanks everybody for [0:44] uh joining us here in our new space whether you've been here or not. Um, my name is Jacob Fry. I'm the mayor of [0:50] Minneapolis and I'm here with Alfred Port who's the director of of housing with Enrique Velasquez who is the [0:57] director of regulatory services and with our director of CPED uh community planning economic development which is [1:03] Eric Hansen. Uh from the very beginnings of my time in office, affordable housing [1:09] has been a top priority and specifically deeply affordable homes so that we are giving people who are experiencing [1:16] homelessness the next rung on the ladder to pull themselves out. Uh as we've [1:22] mentioned, we are producing more deeply affordable homes than ever before. About 8 and a half times the amount uh that we [1:29] did just 8 years ago. And we want to continue that work. And that work [1:34] becomes all the more important, especially in light of the message that came out of the federal Trump [1:39] administration just this last weekend that uh recognized massive cuts to [1:45] housing and urban urban development. This is monies that cities and counties [1:50] around the country would get to provide shelter, to provide affordable housing, [1:56] to put up community centers. some of the most basic work that the people in our cities depend on, that work has since [2:04] been cut. But where the Trump administration is stepping back, the city of Minneapolis is stepping up. And [2:10] today we're announcing $14 million being allocated to a number of different [2:16] affordable housing projects and preservation of naturally occurring affordable housing projects so that we [2:22] in Minneapolis can continue to move forward to provide people with homes even if the federal government is not. [2:30] But on top of that, we are going to have an additional [2:36] 126 new shelter beds by the end of this year. an additional 123 new affordable housing [2:44] units set by the end of this year because we know uh that when times get [2:50] tough, when the weather literally gets cold, we in Minneapolis have every obligation to make sure that we're [2:57] providing dignified warm space so that people can live and so that they can be [3:03] safe. Uh, and look, you don't have to look too far to understand why that [3:08] matters. Um, there are families and moms out there that have to make really tough [3:15] decisions to bundle their kids up to go sleep in the car. There are other people that [3:23] have to ride the light rail or the bus, not to get to work or to get to a location, but literally just to get by [3:30] and survive because they need to be warm. There's no family. There's no mom that [3:36] should have to make those decisions. We in Minneapolis should make it so that they have a warm place to stay. And with [3:43] those 126 new shelter beds that we're putting up, uh we can make sure that [3:49] they have that ability. And by the way, we're not doing this by ourselves. Uh this is a partnership that we've got [3:55] alongside nonprofit partners, the county and the state, because this work does [4:00] not happen alone. the city is part of it, but we are a partner that is part of [4:06] a coalition that cares deeply about the people in this city. And since 2018, [4:11] uh we haven't just cared and talked about it. We've put those words into action and certainly put our money where [4:17] our mouth is. In fact, $400 million uh towards housing and homeless response. [4:23] Um that's one of the strongest, most sustained commitments of any city in the entire country. And so Minneapolis is [4:30] proving what happens when a city actually leads. We build affordable housing at scale. We get people inside [4:37] so that they're able to find stability. And we do that work even when Washington won't. So the bottom line is what I said [4:43] earlier. When federal partners pull back, uh, Minneapolis is going to step up. And I'm deeply proud of again our [4:50] other partners that we've worked with uh, and the leaders that I have with me uh, at this table. Um, and and I have [4:58] the honor of handing it over to our director of regulatory services, Enrique Velasquez. [5:03] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Enrique Velasquez, E N R I T UE, last name V E L A Z Q UZ. [5:10] I'm the director of regulatory services. Just kind of appending on to the mayor's comments. Homelessness is not just a [5:17] number that we track. It's a reminder of people, neighbors, residents who deserve [5:23] dignity and opportunity. Additional shelter beds are being added [5:28] as we collectively continue to expand safe options for those sleeping in spaces unfit for human habitation. Our [5:35] work is not only about beds and buildings. It's about restoring hope for people. Our homeless response team has [5:42] helped hundreds of people this year, not just through outreach, but by connecting individuals to housing, health care, and [5:50] hope. Each of these connections is a story of growth. It's a reminder that [5:55] people first strategies and housing first strategies work. This work continues daily in [6:01] collaboration with our partners across the entire continuum of care. Every organization, every outreach worker, [6:08] every case manager, every person committed to this work plays a vital role. Together, we're not just counting [6:15] outcomes. We're changing lives one person at a time. Awesome. Thank you. [6:22] I'll turn it over to you, director Port. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Alfred [6:27] Port. I'm the housing director here at um the city of Minneapolis within the department of community planning, [6:33] economic development. Name is spelled E LF R I C, last name P O RT. The mayor [6:40] referenced um the amount of investment um financial investment that he's um put [6:45] into affordable housing um housing and homelessness in particular. And I want to stress that that $400 million um [6:53] addresses the housing continuum. Today we're talking about affordable um rental [6:58] and own um and homelessness, but there is also a housing strategy for addressing um home ownership. So that [7:06] those resources are um span the entire um continuum, the housing continuum. the [7:13] trust fund. Um the affordable housing trust fund that we are um awarding $14 [7:18] million um to several developers to develop affordable rental housing units [7:24] is is a significant milestone. Um during the course of the year we also closed on [7:31] um several development projects and at by the end of the year we would have [7:36] closed on 10 um affordable rental projects totaling 678 affordable um [7:44] affordable housing units of which nearly half of those units are deeply affordable and deeply affordable is at [7:51] 30% of the area median income. 30% of the med median income for context is for [7:57] a family of four. It's about $39,000 annually. Embedded in um the mayor's um funding [8:05] there is funding strategy. There is also $5 million of levy dollars that went towards the support of affordable [8:12] housing. Min Minneapolis public housing authority used those resources to support the [8:20] springs expansion project. That project includes 221 public housing units that's [8:26] going to be rehabbed and 15 new affordable public housing units. This is [8:32] Minneapolis staying focused, following our plan and delivering on our commitments. I'm proud of the progress [8:38] that we've made and even more motivated um what what's to come. So, I appreciate it and I'll hand it back to the mayor, [8:44] please. And we'll open it to any questions you might have. How are we [8:50] hand Uh-huh. First and second. How about that? So, I'll ask Mayor um how are we doing [8:56] with our homeless population? Um you obviously track it. Are there camps that [9:02] are up with people? Is it just pockets of homelessness? I happened to drive down Cedar the other [9:08] day under the bridge of Haywaka and there was random tents. So, I just sort of wonder [9:13] about where you are that part of story. uh both homelessness and [9:20] specifically unsheltered homelessness in the city of Minneapolis and in Henipin County has continued to decline. Um [9:29] while other cities are seeing a pretty significant increase in homelessness and [9:34] unsheltered homelessness, Minneapolis is seeing it go down. Uh the most recent [9:40] wholesale statistic that we got was I believe a 33% reduction in unsheltered [9:45] homelessness. Uh now that's still not enough. Again, there are other cities including those [9:52] that have gotten a bunch of due credit a few years ago for uh reducing [9:58] homelessness like Houston that is now are now seeing increases. Um, and so [10:03] we're doing the kind of long-term work that is necessary to drive those numbers [10:08] down to provide people with homes. Unsheltered homelessness, as you know, is a subset of the overall group of [10:17] people who experience homelessness. Uh, unsheltered, you're not in shelter. So, [10:24] you mentioned people who are in an encampment or you mentioned people who are sleeping outside. That would be unsheltered. [10:30] Yeah. No, you it's a fair question. Um and so [10:35] especially and including that group, we need to make sure that we are getting them [10:41] inside, especially in a place like Minneapolis which is cold. We need to [10:47] make sure that we get people inside. We get them wraparound services. We get them support and then ultimately we get [10:52] them into permanent housing. Uh the first and quickest step there is getting them inside. And these 126 new shelter [11:00] beds is exactly what this is geared towards. Yes, please. Melody with um so I was going to ask a [11:09] similar question about a hot spot by Kmart that we keep seeing repopulate, but I think you answered the question. [11:16] So, I will ask about the fencing that has been popping up and I'm just wondering if with this great new news [11:21] about all the additional shelters if we're going to see if you're projecting [11:27] and anybody can answer this um as we see these new shelter beds come online if [11:33] some of your existing strategies with the fencing around some of those hot spots if some of that fencing might [11:40] start coming down or what's your what's your strategy moving forward with that? Right. Right. It's it's a good question [11:45] and I can turn it over to director Glacius here. Oh my god, that's funny. [11:50] The other end the other end. You could be my hero, baby. Um [11:56] um director Velasquez in a second here. Um [12:01] uh what was your question again? It's about fencing, right? I'm sorry about music if you want. Yeah, I will do that too. [12:07] Um about how all this new um with this new sheltering hopefully we're going to get some people Oh yes. Yes. Yes. [12:14] And so but with the fencing like is that strategy going to be going offline now? Yeah. Like what's your strategy with that [12:20] moving forward? Sure. Uh so some of the fencing is related to city of Minneapolis. Some of [12:26] the fencing is for instance department of transportation at the state level and the county. Uh and so I won't make [12:35] decisions for other jurisdictions but certainly we make a lot of these decisions in partnership. Um, in some [12:41] cases, fencing has gone up not because of a lack of beds or something related [12:48] to shelter. It's gone up because there is a drug trade that has been conducted [12:54] along those specific parcels where the fences are now located. Um, to get into [13:00] specifics about parcels and the likelihood of taking [13:05] down that fencing and the timeliness of doing so. By the way, these are not permanent solutions. [13:11] These are not good long-term or even medium-term solutions. Uh the fences in [13:17] some cases have been set up simply for the safety of the residents in that area uh as to prohibit a significant drug [13:25] trade which often results in serious violence along those corridors. Um but [13:31] I'll turn it over to Director Velasquez for a additional question. For sure. For sure. I'll be your hero. [13:38] Um so with respect to to fencing, some of the momentum around the fencing or [13:44] the focus was really temporary in nature. Um more so as the mayor [13:50] mentioned to interrupt that drug trade or the transactions that are constantly occurring and disrupting public safety, [13:57] public health, and community livability. So when we start to see some of those [14:03] different trends back down, then we can have the conversation with our partners about what a deescalation plan would [14:10] look like to remove that fencing in concert with one another. We don't want to move forward as a city to remove [14:17] fencing if the other partners are not quite ready to do that because then the problem will just metriculate into our [14:25] area versus theirs. At the same point, if one of our partners are ready, we're not quite ready. We don't want a problem [14:32] to just divert itself over to one of those other properties. So, we're working in concert with each other. [14:39] If I if I may add, some of the properties are in um CPIDs inventory, [14:46] the community planning development department, and those parcels are slated [14:52] for development for housing. Right. So, so we have some of those some of those fences will come down [14:58] eventually because development plans are in the works and once the development [15:03] the developer closes those fences will come down to commence the construction and advancement of that development. [15:10] Um, so uh regards to the federal news about reductions and funding [15:16] first off I'm just wondering what impact do you think that will lead to with in the city? Do you foresee that leading to [15:23] a big influx of people who are unshel experiencing unsheltered homelessness and what's your level of concern of if [15:30] these new shelters and other things you talked about here will um cover that or [15:36] will it lead to an increase experiencing [15:44] because I don't know the precise dollar figures yet I can't give you the precise level of impact but what I will say is [15:50] that It's deeply concerning and significant. Um, [15:55] look, when you shift administrations, you always expect there to be policy [16:01] differences. Uh, especially when the shift includes a differentiation between [16:07] parties. When you shift between Democrats to Republicans, of course, there are going to be changes. Um, [16:15] but in the past, we haven't seen this kind of wholesale cut of foundational service that cities and counties from [16:22] both Democrat and Republican areas rely on. It was kind of one of those obvious [16:29] streams of funding that we just need. We need them to house people. We need them [16:34] to provide shelter. We need that money to provide the kind of basic city service that gives people dignity. And [16:42] when those dollars are lost, we lose dignity along with it. Dignity that [16:48] should be had by our communities that are struggling and [16:56] hitting on rough times shouldn't be is not a partisan issue. You know, it's not like just Democrats [17:03] are homeless. Um and so it's deeply concerning about [17:09] these cuts that we're looking at. Is Minneapolis going to step up? The answer is absolutely. Is Henipin County going [17:15] to step up? While I don't speak for them, I imagine the answer is absolutely. State of Minnesota, uh, you [17:21] know, here in Minnesota, we have kind of these foundational values that we're going to stand on. And this these 126 [17:28] new shelter beds, that's one example of it. Um, but I'm quite confident that included in [17:35] those 126 new shelter beds was federal funding. Yes. So it makes it all the hard much harder [17:41] to do this in the future. Um, another thing I would ask is um [17:47] what's your response to the people in who have been critical of your response to homelessness in regards to [17:52] encampments whether it's um you know they feel as though such as [17:59] re-encampment or others that they don't think services are being tried enough before they're cleared. I had people [18:06] tell me that they were they could come back and get their things the next morning, but then came back there and it [18:14] was already closed down. They couldn't get their things. Um, you talking about the Sabri camp? Yeah. [18:20] Uh, we have uh with respect to the Sabri encampment and we can provide you plenty [18:26] of documentation on this. We went out there numerous times. [18:32] Uh, we offered access to shelter. We offered access to services, addiction [18:39] treatment. We went out there with a mobile medical unit on site to provide [18:45] people with additional health care, meeting them literally where they were at. And in [18:51] most cases, we did these things multiple times. Um, so look, I do have to call a spade a [18:58] spade. If if if the the argument is that we didn't offer services, that's just not true. Well, I mean for this last [19:05] during the clearing what? Well, during the clearing, you know, this is not the way that anybody, [19:10] including us, wanted to do it. We wanted to provide people with shelter options, [19:16] give people access to storage, do this the right way, which by the way, we had been advocating for for months. [19:24] We went so far as to sue the property owner. Um, and what ended up happening [19:32] was exactly what we told people would happen. Um, [19:38] these homeless encampments are not safe. Yeah. [19:44] Could you talk about what this money came out of and why this figure is chosen? [19:49] Uh, so the $14 million comes out of the affordable housing trust fund. Um, this is a fund that is set up so that [19:57] developers of wouldbe affordable housing can apply to it and based on a criteria and a point system, uh, Elfrick over [20:04] here and his excellent team is able to make selections. Um, the money for the [20:11] 126 new shelter beds, uh, K, I don't know exactly where that came from. Yes, the the resources for the 12 um six new [20:20] shelter beds came from a combination of the um ARPA dollars from the federal [20:26] government and um local and and um dollars from the from the county. [20:33] What's the 400 million? That's the total amount since 2018 that has gone into [20:39] that has gone into housing and homelessness response. I mean we we have invested heavily. Yes, [20:46] I do want to touch on [20:51] the harmony said that he paid about $400 out of [20:57] pocket for and then shows that with your name on [21:04] it. Do you recall why those services are cancelled? And is there any city policy [21:12] that prevents um property owners from installing [21:18] portable restrooms on homes? Yeah. So as we look at our operating [21:24] guide for encampments or even unsheltered homelessness which is available on the [21:29] city website portaotties handwashing stations those are the responsibility of the property [21:36] owner if they wish to install them. I made the connection between Mr. Sabri and the vendor when he discovered that [21:43] there weren't that many vendors willing to engage in this specific work or in this space. So with respect to why is my [21:52] name on that invoice ordering the removal, it was part of our protocol and process in response to the mass shooting [21:58] that took place. That was when we activated our emergency operations center. That was one of the steps that [22:05] we ran through and removed the portaotties. Had there not [22:11] been a shooting on that encampment, would you have [22:16] services? Not to No, I would not have [22:25] this homeless [22:32] gap. Are there more units? Where does that ratio sit? [22:42] Yeah. So with respect to unsheltered homelessness presently, taking a look at our most up-to-date data, we have [22:49] between 120 and 125 people who are living in spaces unfit for human habitation. That's vehicles, that's [22:57] encampments, it's doorways, it's on river bluffs, variety of different areas where people where we're finding people. [23:04] Um, so if they were ready and willing and [23:10] were signed up to get into the shelter spaces, it would almost be one to one. [23:16] If I may, if I may add, um, in the mayor's um, budget recommendation, there [23:21] is also a million dollars that's year mark for emergency shelters. So, it's [23:27] our hope that working with the county, we will add some additional um beds um [23:33] during the um winter winter winter seasons. Our argument all along has been let's [23:39] get people inside. To those that say we need wraparound services, we agree. To those that say we [23:46] need culturally sensitive addiction treatment, we agree. to those that say we need long-term ability to get people [23:53] in permanent housing. Of course, that has been foundational since my very first moment in politics. [24:00] But again, we can do all of those things inside from a shelter, not outside, [24:07] keeping people warm with propane tanks and open flames. And now [24:19] can I can I ask you one more thing? Just um just because I think people are like [24:24] the main criticisms I see sometimes are people who think that when responding to encampments um [24:32] they they feel like it's kind of like they describe as like whack and like just moving people out of the way of [24:37] being seen as public. Um So I guess just in terms of that and why [24:43] you know funding for clearing containments is necessary in some situations and um people who think that [24:52] this response is whereas Minneapolis is very staunchly like has opposed um you [24:59] know the Trump administration's anti-LGBT or uh racial equity stances [25:05] and things. Uh they feel as though with homelessness it's not as progressive as they would like. I guess just in terms [25:11] of that what you would say people who feel that way. Uh [25:16] look, we're straight up about this. Our goal is to get people in shelter and [25:21] permanent housing. That's why we're providing 126 new shelter beds before the end of the year. Um there's not a [25:30] single city in the entire country uh where large-scale homeless encampments [25:35] has been a good solution. Several have tried it. It hasn't worked anywhere. talk to the mayors of those cities. [25:40] Hasn't worked. Um, and here locally, I've said this a thousand times, it's [25:46] not safe. And we saw that with the mass shooting at the Sabre property, and [25:52] we've seen that with literal explosions happening countless times. Um, I have a deep responsibility [26:00] to this city to keep people safe. Large scale homeless encampments doesn't line up with it. So mayor, [26:08] we've seen huge not the chimneys and all the tents are you haven't seen those recently. [26:14] So you're hoping that you're preventing that this year? You don't imagine you'll [26:19] see any of those where the chimneys are. Yes. [26:24] Right. The obvious of course that's how but it's not it if people are mentally ill or high or [26:32] what have you. How do you actually Let's go to a shelter. They have all these [26:37] obstacles in them from opening up to that possibility. Yeah. Yeah. So again, we are seeing [26:44] unsheltered homelessness go down. Other cities, and you don't need to take my word for it, you can look at the [26:50] data. Other cities are seeing a substantial increase in unsheltered homelessness. In Minneapolis, it's down [26:55] over 33%. And continues to go down from there. Um, [27:02] here's the one of the real long-term issues. What we're talking about here, especially with unsheltered [27:08] homelessness, a large portion of it uh is in dealing with addiction, deep [27:14] addiction to drugs like fentinol and opioids. Uh now what we have seen is [27:21] that when people are either really high or they're going through withdrawal, [27:26] they're far less likely to accept service. But there is a happy middle zone there where they are. That happy [27:33] middle zone can be extended by a drug known as Brixadi. [27:39] Uh it's about a thousand bucks per pop, but it lasts an entire month. It's worth every penny because it curbs the [27:46] symptoms of withdrawal. giving people more time to make the decision themselves to accept the assistance. So [27:53] when we go out there countless times with the county and with our homeless response teams, we give people the [28:00] ability to make the decision and when they have those withdrawal symptoms curbed, they're more likely to say, [28:05] "Yeah, but there's a next step." But there's got to be a next step. And now he's really lame. All right. I'm sorry. Well, but let me [28:11] I'll finish. This is pretty new. Um, but there's a bunch of hurdles in order to administer [28:16] on site. A bunch of hurdles legally. Uh, there's also the problem of when you actually take somebody into the hospital [28:23] or into a treatment facility. They need help now, not in a week and a half when [28:28] they get an appointment because we all know what's going to happen then. They need help right now. That's where the gap is. That's where we all need to be [28:35] working together to make sure that those gaps are filled. We can do it. We can do it. It's gonna be hard and we [28:42] just got to get the job done. I gotta get to the next thing. All right. Thanks everybody. [28:48] Thank you. still here. [28:57] So, the city's 311 services are a service for people. [29:14] Is there any problems with staffing or anything? [29:25] So I don't I don't I don't oversee 311. However, the the agents there do if it's [29:32] specifically housing related or rental property related. Those two get funneled over to our inspection services division [29:38] of regulatory services uh which I do oversee. Uh we have set up response [29:43] times. So similar to MPD, there are priorities, priority one, priority two, priority threes with their own [29:50] designated response time in which we need to respond. It doesn't mean necessarily that we're going to address [29:55] that specific issue within 24 hours. However, we will respond to it in 24 [30:01] hours or if it's two days or three days, then that's that's the agreed upon [30:06] response time. Um, but to my knowledge, we're not delayed in providing a [30:12] response. And I think the most recent quarterly report from 311 shows that about 98% of the calls that we've [30:19] received we've been able to address within the response time. Okay. And there's four fulltime staffers [30:26] within the city's regulatory services in regards to homeless outreach. Is that correct? [30:32] Uh presently four. We have five positions. We're just wrapping up the [30:37] hiring of that fifth position right now. Okay. Is there any plans to expand those considering that [30:45] this is the city? Um, yeah, we're evaluating what options [30:50] we have. Uh, if we look at the 2026 mayor's recommended budget, there were [30:56] actually six positions and one of them is being removed because it has been hard to fill. Um, that doesn't mean that [31:02] we're disinvesting in homelessness response. We need to pivot as the state [31:08] of homelessness continues to shift. We used to see sizable encampments. That [31:14] was 2024 and 2025. We're not seeing that. We're seeing more need for [31:19] behavioral health services, more need for social work, more need for other [31:25] types of services. We're trying to figure out what the best complement is as we go into all these different spaces [31:31] that are unfit for human habitation. If if I can also add that [31:36] through the budget process. We have resources that we contract with the [31:43] county through a joint powers agreement and those dollars are then used to work [31:48] with um nonprofit providers who also provide street outreach activities. So, [31:54] it's not just the city's um staff, it's the county staff and our nonprofit um [32:00] providers. like everything that we do we do in collaboration with our partners. [32:06] Um probably answered this before but I guess uh what's the general criteria for [32:12] if it's like you have to get complaints or can it be for a number of reasons why [32:18] decided it needs to be clear. [32:25] So all encampments will be closed. The only question is when. So we do have [32:31] four specific criteria that we look at. It's public health, public safety, community livability, and then are there [32:37] other environmental factors or extenduating circumstances that would elevate one specific closure versus [32:44] another? Is it next to a vulnerable population or a school or at a bus stop [32:51] or something like that? So we evaluate all those different criteria when making the decision to close an encampment. [32:57] And when will the shelters be open again? at the Indian Women's Resource Center [33:03] and Kyle Garden. Are those open right now? I see the slide says projects open [33:09] 425. All but all but the Simpsons um apartments and shelters open. [33:16] You know when that um we believe by by the end of the year. [33:22] Um, and I guess I can look up later like what are they like in terms of low barrier having requirements for like [33:30] drug usage and stuff? Don't know the specifics and we can yeah we can follow up with you on that. [33:36] And when there was the uh news recently of the reduction and federal funding did [33:41] that start any conversations like we need to do additional things or um is that still ongoing that trigger? Henipin [33:50] County is the lead community um um um [33:56] continuum of care um provider in in the county and they're the responsible party [34:03] but we are having conversations um with them about you know resources and next [34:08] steps. [34:18] Thank you. Appreciate it. [Music] [34:35] Little sit over there.