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A win for the new strong-mayor system in Minneapolis
The now-ended contract with Our Streets was essentially a mechanism by which the city paid the organization to lobby the city.
By Lisa McDonald
August 23, 2023 at 10:30PM
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Kudos to the city of Minneapolis for finally ending its contract with Our Streets Minneapolis for the "Open Streets" festivals (front page, Aug. 22).
Our Streets Minneapolis is a registered lobbying organization, previously known as the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition. It agreed to pay a civil penalty of $4,000 to the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board for failure to file lobbyist principal reports in a timely fashion. It also was fined by the city of Minneapolis for violating past contracts.
The city had an agreement with Our Streets to put on the "Open Streets" festivals. The city would pay for street closures, public safety, garbage collections, emergency medical responders and the other costs of putting on a festival. Our Streets would sell spaces to vendors and get sponsorships, keeping all the money it made. It would then use the profits to lobby the city on behalf of bicyclists. In essence, the city of Minneapolis was hiring Our Streets to put on a fundraiser for Our Streets to lobby the city of Minneapolis. An ongoing lobbying machine paid for by the city to lobby the city.
But that wasn't enough. Our Streets not only asked to retain all of its profits from the "Open Streets" program, but it also wanted to be paid $851,000 by the city to host five festivals. The profits would have gone back to lobby the city. Thankfully, this request was denied, and the relationship terminated.
Terminating this contract is a win for the strong-mayor system approved by voters with a charter amendment in 2021. The Our Streets arrangement had been created by the previous City Council president, who was a founder of the Bicycle Coalition. With the new city structure, the council focuses on broad policy, not doling out goodies to activists. And the mayor is responsible for managing the city, as it should be.
Lisa McDonald is a former member of the Minneapolis City Council.
about the writer
Lisa McDonald
Comparing the justifications of the national security states that rose after World War II with circumstances in the U.S. today.
