Mayor Betsy Hodges will give her State of the City address May 23 at a mosque in north Minneapolis.
Mayor Hodges to give State of the City address at Minneapolis mosque May 23
The mayor says she wants to send a signal to Muslims that the city stands with them.
![Mayor Betsy Hodges gave her opening remarks. ] ANTHONY SOUFFLE ï anthony.souffle@startribune.com Candidates participated in a mayoral forum Saturday, April 15, 2017 at Herbert M. Hanson Jr. Hall on the grounds of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. ORG XMIT: MIN1704151755360855](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/J66BQQQSYA53WFCIOHFRRAG63A.jpg?&w=712)
The speech, which counts as an official Minneapolis City Council meeting, will be at 11 a.m. at the Masjid An-Nur (the Mosque of the Light), at 1729 Lyndale Ave N.
Hodges, who is campaigning ahead of November mayoral elections, last gave a prepared public speech at the Shir Tikvah synagogue in south Minneapolis on April 18, where she outlined what she called the "pernicious" threat of Donald Trump's presidency for cities like Minneapolis.
City Council members and Imam Makram N. El-Amin will be present for Hodges' State of the City address later this month.
"I am grateful to Masjid An-Nur and Imam El-Amin for hosting this important annual event in the life of our city," Hodges said in a statement. "At a time when our Muslim community is under attack from the highest levels of the federal government, I want to send a strong signal to the community that their mayor and their city stands with them."
Hodges faces several challengers in her re-election bid, including Nekima Levy-Pounds, Ray Dehn, Jacob Frey and Tom Hoch.
Adam Belz • 612-673-4405
Twitter: @adambelz