Minneapolis, Minnesota

:This article is about the city in Minnesota, USA. There are two other cities named Minneapolis in the United States: Minneapolis, Kansas and Minneapolis, North Carolina. For an overview of the Twin Cities metropolitan area, see Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Law and government

Minneapolis has an arguably convoluted set of different government entities that oversee actions in the city. The most prominent is the Minneapolis City Council, which holds the most power. The mayor has some power to appoint certain individuals, such as the chief of police, but is otherwise relatively weak and must coordinate with the city council for most other activities. Other groups in the city include the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, Minneapolis Public Library's Board of Trustees, the Neighborhood Revitalization Program, the Public Housing Authority, and the Board of Estimate and Taxation. These councils tend to be semi-independent, and some can levy their own taxes and fees. The school board exists as a separate legal entity from the city as Special School District Number 1, commonly called the Minneapolis Public Schools.

Related Topics:
Minneapolis City Council - Police - Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board - Minneapolis Public Library - Neighborhood Revitalization Program - Board of Estimate and Taxation - School board - Special School District Number 1

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There are some efforts currently underway to examine how the city government can be streamlined, though it is hard to say how quickly any changes might come about. A number of the city boards were created by the Minnesota Legislature between the time of the city's founding and 1920 when the city finally gained home rule by passing a new charter (simply an agglomeration of the various laws that had been specifically written for the city at the time).

Related Topics:
Minnesota Legislature - 1920 - Home rule - Charter

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Mayor

The current mayor of Minneapolis is R.T. Rybak. There have been a number of notable individuals who have held the office. Most are known for their positive influences on the city. Hubert H. Humphrey, who became mayor in 1945, started what may be the first equal employment commission while he was in office. He later went on to serve as US vice president and ran for president in 1968. Arthur Naftalin was the first Jewish mayor, while Sharon Sayles Belton became the first woman and the first African-American to hold the office. The city government has not been immune to corruption, however, and the man who exemplified that was "Doc" Ames. He essentially turned the police force into a group of organized criminals before an investigation forced him out of office more than a century ago.

Related Topics:
Mayor - R.T. Rybak - Hubert H. Humphrey - 1945 - Equal employment - US vice president - President - 1968 - Arthur Naftalin - Jew - Sharon Sayles Belton - African-American - "Doc" Ames - Organized criminals

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See also: List of mayors of Minneapolis

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City Council

The Minneapolis City Council is composed of 13 single member districts, called wards. The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) dominates the council, with ten members, and Paul Ostrow (DFL, Ward 1) is council president. The Green Party has two members, and there is one independent.

Related Topics:
Wards - Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party - Paul Ostrow - Green Party

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