Taylor Dahlin and Josh Martin join me for a conversation about something none of us has witnessed before: a mayoral appointee getting voted down by the Minneapolis City Council. On Thursday, Todd Barnette failed to secure the majority vote required to be reappointed as the Commissioner of Community Safety. Mayor Jacob Frey says the council's action has nothing to do with Barnette's job performance; the council is simply acting to spite the mayor. In reality, as we discuss, there is plenty of fault to find with Barnette's tenure. Plus we blow your mind with the philosophical question: can a mayor veto the absence of an action? We also talk about the successful reappointment of City Operations Officer Margaret Anderson Kelliher and City Attorney Kristyn Anderson.

In the second half of the show we go into detail on the Minneapolis Charter Commission's attempt to eliminate the public hearing and confirmation process for a handful of mayoral appointees (Civil Rights, Regulatory Services, Health, and Assessor's Office). If approved, this proposal would be decided by voters via a ballot question during this year's general election. This is an idea so bad, it's uniting people from across the political spectrum against it.

Email all 15 members of the Charter Commission using the addresses found at this link: https://lims.minneapolismn.gov/boards/charterc

Public Hearing on the Charter Proposal:

Wednesday, May 6, 2026 Wednesday, May 6, 2026

4:00 PM

Charter Commission

Regular Meeting

Location: Room 350, Public Service Center

250 S 4th St, Minneapolis, MN 55415

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