An executive with the Minneapolis Regional Chamber would provide Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey with advice on how to improve office efficiency if the City Council signs off on the arrangement later this week.
Minneapolis chamber would offer Mayor Frey advice on how to improve efficiency, if council signs off
New services would not be crafting policies, chamber officials say.
April 25, 2022 at 8:38PM
"As we look at the mayor's second term and the new executive powers that he has, it made sense to offer up, to provide some audit and counseling and perspectives into how to make the mayor's office run more efficiently," said Jonathan Weinhagen, the chamber's president and CEO.
Local officials did not name the specific staffer who would be providing those services but said she previously has done similar work for a governor, lieutenant governors and the Minnesota Department of Health. Katie Lauer, a spokeswoman for Frey, said they hope to receive guidance on a variety of issues, such as on how to improve schedules, how to best run meetings and how to best compile internal documents.
A couple of council members spoke in favor of the arrangement in a Monday afternoon meeting of the council's Policy and Government Oversight Committee. "In my opinion, the city of Minneapolis should consider ourselves lucky that we are able to have this type of support and they have permission from their employer to provide this," said Council Member Emily Koski.
Council Member Robin Wonsley Worlobah called for greater transparency. "The perception that special interest groups have direct and unfettered access to City Hall is something that a lot of constituents believe to be true," she said.
Throughout last year's election season, the chamber funded several initiatives that supported Frey and a ballot question that granted him more control over the city government's daily operations. Weinhagen and Lauer said the new services would focus only on how to improve efficiency in the mayor's office, not on crafting policy.
"This isn't about an issue," Weinhagen said. "This isn't about anything but creating a space where the mayor has a better and more effective operation."
The City Council is expected to vote on the arrangement Thursday.
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