New Hope Mayor says lawmakers should return power back to cities for group home oversight

Before an MPR and APM investigation revealed that a Liberian government official overseas had been operating group homes in Minnesota, one city was already trying to stop some of the businesses linked to Sekou Dukuly.

For years, police in New Hope had been responding to 911 calls about group homes in the city that included drug overdoses, noise violations, fights, and one instance where staff found a gun in a resident's room.

According to local police, they responded to calls at two addresses linked to Dukuly and his brother 133 times. In 2022, the death of a resident at one of the facilities led to the New Hope City Council revoking its rental licenses. This was a city power that was overturned by legislators just a couple of years later.

Former law enforcement officer John Elder was on the New Hope city council when they originally voted to revoke the Dukulys’ license. Now, as the mayor of the city, he said he wants lawmakers to return power to the municipalities.

“I don't believe the state has the ability or the bandwidth to be able to address all of these group homes,” he said. “We have the city inspectors. We have the police department. We have social workers.”

Listen to the full conversation by clicking the player above.

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