Mpls City Council postpones vote on moving violence prevention funds to the county indefinitely
The Brief
The Minneapolis City Council discussed moving more than $1 million of the city's violence prevention budget to the county before postponing the motion indefinitely.
A committee meeting on the matter was disrupted earlier this week by a pastor who accused the council of ignoring him. One member accused that pastor of making violent threats.
The city has been accused of awarding violence prevention contracts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars without verifying how the funding was actually used.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minneapolis City Council voted to postpone the motion on moving Group Violence Intervention (GVI) funds to Hennepin County indefinitely.
Raw footage of the city council discussion can be viewed above.
What they're saying
Much of the discussion was focused on what transpired throughout the week, including the budget committee that passed the proposal to move more than $1 million in violence prevention programming to Hennepin County.
The proposal came after accusations of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of violence prevention contracts being awarded without any verification of how the funds were used.
READ MORE: Minneapolis to provide update on violence prevention programs under growing scrutiny
Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw began by voicing her stance against the proposal, stating that the council was elected to do the work and that she is "confident" in their ability to carry it out.
She also said there was no data to support moving the funding to the county.
Council Member Aurin Chowdhurry said later in the discussion that she was "at a loss for words" and apologized to the public for the amount of misinformation surrounding the topic.
Council Member Emily Koski added it's clear that the was a "fuindamental breakdown of communication" and that "This entire debate shows a lack of trust."
Other council members then spent much of discussion expressing their dismay at the state of the discussion, adding that they felt threatened by the confrontation that took place during Monday's budget committee session.
Council Member Wonsley then proposed to withdraw the motion to move GVI funding to the county indefinitely, which was unanimously approved.
The other side
Minneapolis City Council Member Aisha Chughtai questioned Minneapolis Safety Commissioner Barnette about statements made regarding violence prevention funds and their connection to certain city council members' interests.
When Council Member Chughtai asked Barnette about which council members he was referring to, Commissioner Barnette started recapping his work in the debate before he was cut off for going over time.
"As we moved along, we improved the invoicing process --" Barnette said before he was interrupted.
"Which council members were you referring to?" Chughtai repeated.
"I am trying to lay out the facts of where we are," Barnette said.
After a long pause, Commissioner Barnette began again, speaking about the frustration felt by community organizations when they weren't getting paid and how he worked to address that.
"But that wasn't the question I asked you, I asked you for specific council members, I understand that is not an answer that I'm going to receive here today or that this body will receive here today," Chughtai said.
The questioning then ended when the allotted time was up.
The backstory
The council discussed the proposal to move more than $1 million in violence prevention programming after the move passed out of a budget committee with mixed support on Monday.
READ MORE: Minneapolis City Council seeks to move $1.25M in violence prevention funding to county
Hennepin County responded to the proposal to move violence prevention funding, saying, "Hennepin County is always open to collaboration and coordination with the City of Minneapolis. Hennepin County along with its valued community partners is committed to its work around gun violence prevention. It is one more tool we are using to attempt to interrupt and stop violence on our streets."
The city has been accused of awarding violence prevention contracts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars without verifying how the funding was actually used.
This came after a public confrontation at the committee meeting, where a pastor and longtime activist shouted at council members.
READ MORE: Minneapolis council member accuses pastor of making threats after disruption
The Source
A live feed from the Minneapolis Council and past FOX 9 reporting.
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