Minneapolis City Council denies reappointment of community safety head Todd Barnette
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The Minneapolis City Council on Thursday voted against reappointing Community Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette to his post.
Mayor Jacob Frey said he plans to veto that and keep Barnette in the job.
The council voted 7-6 against reappointing Barnette. Council members voting against his reappointment took issue with his communication with the council, and cited concerns with the police department during his tenure, including the department overspending its budget by $20 million in 2025.
Council member Robin Wonsley said Barnette hasn’t done enough in the role to advance alternatives to policing.
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“Year after year, this office has failed to do anything meaningful to advance public safety beyond policing, and time after time, it's become clear that it's just simply not a priority for this administration,” council member Robin Wonsley said.
Frey had renominated Barnette. At the council meeting, he said Barnette’s experience as a prosecutor and the chief judge in Hennepin County are valuable to the role. He said Barnette has been an effective leader in emergency situations, including the shooting at Annunciation Church and School.
“He has this unbelievable sense of integrity, and I can tell you that during some of the hardest moments, especially over this last year, having that sense of calm and clarity in the room saved lives,” Frey said.
The city created the job and the office in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020, amid pressure to reform public safety. The office oversees the city’s police, fire, emergency response and neighborhood safety efforts.
At a press conference after the council’s vote, Frey said council members who opposed his reappointment did so out of “vote trading and political gamesmanship.” He said he believes opponents voted out of frustration with the structure of the Office of Community Safety, and with his policies as mayor.
“It certainly was not about public safety in the city of Minneapolis,” Frey said.
Barnette said at the press conference that he wants to keep the job.
“I feel like I've had a really great opportunity to work on safety for the city,” Barnette said. “I think we built a really good foundation, when you look at the responses we had, especially to annunciation, where all of the training came into play.”
Barnette was appointed in 2023. He was the second person on the job; his predecessor retired after a year.
The council will need a two-thirds majority — nine votes — to override the veto.
At its meeting Thursday, the council also reappointed Kristyn Anderson as city attorney and Margaret Anderson Kelliher as city operations officer. Anderson was reappointed on a 10-3 vote, and Kelliher on a narrow 7-6 vote.
