Amid backlash, Minneapolis re-opens search for services to fight sex trafficking

Minneapolis' Office of Community Safety will re-open the bidding process for services to fight sex trafficking following criticism from local anti-trafficking groups.

The city had chosen the group Our Rescue to train police at the new city-owned South Minneapolis Community Safety Center set to open next year, according to Our Rescue and local groups.

Our Rescue is in the process of moving its headquarters from Salt Lake City to Minneapolis as it attempts to re-establish itself following backlash over the actions of its founder, Tim Ballard, who was accused by multiple women of sexual abuse. The group was formerly called Operation Underground Railroad (OUR) and was the focus of the hit 2023 Christian thriller movie “Sound of Freedom.”

Local agencies objected, both because of the allegations as well as Our Rescue’s approach to trafficking, which they believe does not follow best practices based on research conducted in Minnesota.

City Council members then asked the administration to explain what has been happening behind the scenes with the contracting process, and the Minneapolis Office of Community Safety announced Thursday that it would re-solicit the contract.

Late last year, the city asked anti-sex trafficking service providers to apply for the chance to work out of the South Minneapolis Community Safety Center alongside police. It was a no-cost opportunity, meaning the city did not plan to provide any funding for the services.

A local collaborative of service providers, including the Link, Cornerstone and the Family Partnership, said city staff informed them their application had scored the highest. The groups agreed to provide the city with both police training and victim services. Later, city staff called back and said Our Rescue could receive the police training aspect of the contract instead, according to the collaborative.

Our Rescue, now under the guidance of a new board and new CEO with Minnesota ties, said it would invest at least $1 million in the Minneapolis Police Department’s anti-trafficking efforts, but riled local service providers with public statements that appeared to exaggerate the state’s problems with sex trafficking.

Office of Community Safety spokesperson Brian Feintech said this week the city was reopening its request for proposals in order to offer funding this time. “The city’s ability to provide funding resource for vendors will greatly enhance services to victims and survivors of trafficking,” he said.

In Minneapolis, only contracts worth more than $175,000 require City Council approval. Feintech said Friday that when the RFP is re-released in the coming weeks, the funding amount will not be disclosed “as to not influence responses.”

However, he assured that the amount — including the value of office space allotted in the South Minneapolis Community Safety Center — will meet a threshold requiring City Council approval before any contract is awarded.

The scope of the new RFP will be expanded to cover both labor and sex trafficking, Feintech said.

Council Member Emily Koski, who is running for mayor, said at a news conference on Friday morning that she was not aware Our Rescue was being considered for a place in the facility until the Minnesota Star Tribune reported it this week. She said she would ask the public safety audit team to conduct a comprehensive review of the process, and formally request a report from Mayor Jacob Frey’s administration on all city contracts under $175,000 issued since 2015.

“These proposals should be public,” Koski said.

Our Rescue sent the Star Tribune an email Wednesday afternoon, saying Council Member Linea Palmisano invited the organization to provide services for the new community safety center, based on new CEO Tammy Lee’s experience fighting sex trafficking.

On Friday, Palmisano clarified that it’s not the role of a council member to promise anyone a contract. She said all she did was introduce Lee, whom she knew as a renowned “turnaround expert,” to city staff after learning Our Rescue wanted to potentially headquarter in Minneapolis. Palmisano emphasized that Our Rescue had enough money to give grants to other organizations and pay their own way while providing services to the city.

“In my mind, [Community Safety Commissioner] Todd [Barnette] and his organization should have been reaching out and introducing them the way that they need to be introduced, as the new kid in town, to my colleagues who eventually would need to approve a contract,” Palmisano said. “And they didn’t, and now it’s biting them.”

Barnette held a news conference Friday afternoon in which he accused council members of “playing political games.”

“We have a strong procurement process and we have accountability measures in place,” he said. “The people of Minneapolis have asked for a new approach to community safety, and they deserve it, and we’re doing the work. Unfortunately, council members continue to chip way at this work, and it’s almost like it’s death by a thousand cuts.”