Minneapolis Charter Commission discusses cutting City Council pay and making them part time

The Minneapolis Charter Commission may look at making the City Council part time, re-examining how much council members are paid and changing the way they’re elected.

The commission, an appointed body that has a role in how the city is governed, re-elected Peter Ginder as its chair Wednesday. Ginder said during the meeting that the commission might want to look at “just in general, City Council.”

Specific areas, he said, include members’ salaries and where they rank compared with other governmental entities. Other areas, Ginder said, include whether the council should be full or part time and other methods of allocating members.

Voters would have to approve any changes to the city charter.

Ginder is a retired deputy city attorney who briefly stepped away from the Charter Commission in 2022 when Mayor Jacob Frey named him interim city attorney. He had retired in 2016 after more than three decades working for the city.

The council’s 13 members currently are full time and paid nearly $110,000 a year. By comparison, a study by the city in 2023 found that the median salary of council members of U.S. cities of comparable size was $81,330.

The report, commissioned by the council, found the Minneapolis mayor, with an annual salary of nearly $141,000, is paid less than peers. The council voted at the time to leave the salaries unchanged for at least two years.

Council members are now elected by ward, as opposed to representing a wider district, or at-large — representing the entire city.

Most Minnesota cities have at-large city councils, but most home-rule charter cities, such as Minneapolis, vote for council members by ward, which supporters say increases local control.

Last year, state lawmakers passed a bill allowing statutory cities to switch to election of ward-based city council members rather than just at-large members. Previously, only home-rule charter cities could vote for council members by ward.

Rep. Emma Greenman, DFL-Minneapolis, sponsored the legislation, saying wards give each area of a city more direct representation. Greenman, a voting rights attorney, said during debate on the bill that minority populations or communities with 40% of votes may never elect a candidate of their choice if they’re elected at large.

Council Member Jason Chavez released a statement saying, “It’s disheartening to hear about continued attempts at power grabs by unelected bodies. This [will] only benefit wealthier areas of Minneapolis and further marginalizes areas who struggle with poverty and are home to Black, Indigenous, communities of color and immigrant communities.”

The 15 members of the Charter Commission are older and whiter than the City Council, and the commission has clashed with the council in recent years.

The commissioners are not elected; they are appointed by the Hennepin County chief judge, and in the past, council allies have threatened to change state law so commissioners must be elected.

The commission blocked the council from letting voters decide whether to strip the Minneapolis Police Department from the city charter in 2020 in the wake of George Floyd’s police killing. The commission exercised its authority to take more time to review the council’s proposed charter amendment, effectively keeping it off the ballot in 2020. A similar proposal made the ballot in 2021, and voters rejected it.

The Charter Commission is also considering changing the city charter, which is akin to a constitution, to conform with the changes to government structure made in 2021 to give the mayor more authority over departments.

Ginder suggested the commission may conduct surveys on how the new government structure is working.