A Minneapolis City Council meeting grew contentious Thursday, as council members voted to override a mayoral veto about the future of George Floyd Square.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and some council members have been at odds about the future of the intersection where Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police officers in May 2020.
The council asked city staff earlier this month to study creating a pedestrian plaza at the intersection – E. 38th Street and Chicago Avenue – through a legislative directive. Frey, who wants to keep the intersection open to vehicle traffic, vetoed that action on Feb. 19.
The council overrode the veto in a 9-4 vote Thursday. Council Members Elliott Payne, Robin Wonsley, Jeremiah Ellison, Jamal Osman, Katie Cashman, Jason Chavez, Aisha Chughtai, Emily Koski and Aurin Chowdhury voted to overturn the veto. Council Members Michael Rainville, LaTrisha Vetaw, Andrea Jenkins and Linea Palmisano voted against doing so.
Al Flowers, a community activist who lives near the square, interrupted the meeting after the council’s vote. He told council members that a pedestrian plaza would hurt Black businesses in the neighborhood.
Flowers told the council he was “sick of people telling Black folks what to do.”
The council meeting was recessed, and city security officers asked Flowers to leave.
Several Black business owners from the neighborhood stood alongside Frey and the council members who voted against overriding the veto. Like Flowers, they worry that a pedestrian plaza will hurt business.
“This breaks my heart,” said P.J. Hill, a local business owner. “Hopefully we can continue to fight and speak up on behalf of the community and the small businesses, so that way we can have a thriving community and continue to move forward.”
Mileesha Smith co-leads the Community Visioning Council, a group that meets monthly to discuss the square’s future. She attended Thursday’s council meeting, and said the council’s decision allows more time to figure out what should happen next, whether that be a pedestrian plaza or an open streets concept.
Community members are still traumatized from the events of 2020, she said.
“It’s not about the plaza,” she said. “It was really to pause everything. Why are we rushing our healing process? Why are we rushing to make a decision?”
Community members who previously spoke with Sahan Journal are also divided on what the intersection should look like. Some agree that an open street plan will support businesses. Others see the space as “sacred ground,” and want a pedestrian-only designation that can provide more space for reflection and increase safety for pedestrians.
The council is expected to receive an update in December about how the city could create a pedestrian plaza.
Tim Sexton, the city’s public works director, said it’s unclear what would happen after that, but that the earliest construction could start would be in 2026.
After the council receives the results of the study, it will still have to approve a plan, whether that be to develop the square as a pedestrian plaza or to allow vehicle traffic through the intersection.
A “flexible open” plan backed by Frey and other city officials would keep the streets open to vehicular traffic. The council voted earlier this month to table that plan for now.
Council Member Emily Koski was previously against delaying action on the flexible open street plan. But she voted Thursday to override Frey’s veto, giving the council the minimum nine votes required to successfully overturn his decision.
Koski said in a statement that Floyd’s family called on her to vote to override the veto.
“To them, this is sacred ground, a place of resilience, justice, and humanity. When decisions are made without centering the needs of those most affected, they disregard the heart of justice,” she said. “This city must choose justice over convenience. Healing over indifference. Action over empty rhetoric. Today, I choose justice.”
Council Member Robin Wonsley said during the meeting that the city’s desire to move forward with the open streets plan would “erase” what happened at the site.
“The way in which the city is approaching that is saying, essentially, ‘Let’s run buses up and down that same street. Let’s run buses and cars across the very place where George Floyd was killed.’ And that, for me, is a signal of erasure.”
Margaret Anderson Kelliher, the city’s operations officer, said at a news conference with Frey that cars and buses will not drive on the exact spot where Floyd was killed.
Frey said in a statement that the council’s decision is a “betrayal of the community’s wishes.”
“Why the Council is content to let this site sit idle, without any meaningful development and no legitimate plan, is beyond me,” he said. “Our City staff have worked tirelessly alongside the community to bring forward a thoughtful, community-centered vision. Yet, this plan is being ignored by a small minority, which is simply not good governance.”
The city had unveiled three development proposals for the square last July based on community engagement efforts held by the city — an open street plan, a pedestrian plaza and a transit mall. In October, city officials announced they wanted to move forward with a “flexible open” concept that would allow vehicle traffic to continue through the intersection. The square could be closed off for events such as the anniversary of Floyd’s murder and protests.
Frey said a state statute bars the city from creating a pedestrian plaza if most of the property owners aren’t on board with the idea. The city surveyed property owners in the area, he said, and of those that responded, none supported the concept.
More than $2.2 million was spent on city-led community engagement sessions about how to develop the square. Frey said those results showed that a majority of community members who participated support the flexible open plan.
Anderson Kelliher said the council’s decision to override the veto left her “speechless.”
“We never see that sort of investment in community engagement in a project in the city,” she said. “So to ignore, to disregard what the community has told us is something that might take your breath away.”
