During Operation Metro Surge, the people of Minneapolis rose up with clarity and conviction. While Minneapolis residents put their bodies between federal agents and their neighbors, the city stood by. Now, as an eviction extension puts affordable housing nonprofits at odds with the community members most aligned with their work, it’s time we ask ourselves a different question: Is our local government meeting us in this moment of great suffering and need? Are they doing enough?
In February, the city of Minneapolis published a report outlining a roughly $16 million monthly rental subsidy needed to support families most impacted by Operation Metro Surge. To date, the city’s response to the deficit has been to send $3.8 million to Hennepin County and to extend the 30-day pre-eviction requirement. But the $3.8 million in rental assistance can be accessed only after a renter enters the eviction process.
For 3.5 months, Minneapolis residents have stood between our neighbors and federal agents — keeping families housed, fed and moving safely through their lives. We drew on what we learned in 2020, when we formed community patrols to protect Black and brown neighbors in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder. We proved, then and now, that communities of dedicated people can protect each other when institutions fail. We took to the streets. We used our own resources. We maintained each other’s human dignity through personal self-sacrifice. And just as with 2020, we must ask ourselves: Where is our local government? Are they meeting us in this moment of great need? Are they doing enough? And should we demand more?
The Minneapolis City Council allocated $2.8 million from the city’s $2 billion annual budget for a rent subsidy, channeled through the Hennepin County emergency rental assistance program, which requires a renter to enter the pre-eviction process to access the funds. Later, Mayor Jacob Frey added an additional $1 million to the pot, bringing the city’s total contribution to $3.8 million — a fraction of the rolling $15.7 million gap.
Instead of applying a meaningful level of funds, the City Council has asked property owners, many of whom are small landlords or housing nonprofits, to carry the bulk of this deficit by extending the pre-eviction notice period instead of adequately addressing the issue financially. Additionally, the eviction extension ignores the fact that there are small landlords who are Black, brown, and immigrant neighbors, who have also been sheltering in place and fearing for their safety. This burdens them and does nothing to relieve the financial burden placed on their renters.
The majority of our local government didn’t stand with us in the streets; they didn’t put their bodies on the line. Our mayor didn’t call on the local police to intervene on our behalf and protect us in the face of the federal government’s disregard for our constitutional rights. And now, as the second part of Operation Metro Surge impacts neighbors financially across the city, they are failing to meet us in the crisis exacerbated by their inaction.
Words are not enough when your people are being gunned down in the streets, stripped violently from their homes, and pulled from the arms of their children. And in the face of our local government’s inaction, where is accountability? What is the role of our local government if it’s not to protect all its residents? What is the role of our local government if it’s not to be responsive to our present realities in the aftermath of state-sanctioned violence?
In the wake of Operation Metro Surge, what remains is a significant financial deficit that neighbors and foundations have been covering through aggressive, highly responsive mutual aid networks — but this is not sustainable.
Is this all we can expect from those we elect to office — mediocre, surface-level Band-Aids to systemic issues? Is this what we voted for? Rather than reallocating portions of the city’s $2 billion budget, our city asks more of us: an extension of the 30-day pre-eviction process so neighbors can continue fundraising to pay each other’s rent. And while small landlords, immigrant property owners, and housing nonprofits continue to shoulder the burden of unpaid rent, the amount of rent owed by renters only grows.
Don’t we deserve a government that recognizes our collective sacrifice? One that, if nothing else, uses its financial resources to support its people when the federal government has failed us?
We should refuse to let them pit us against each other or use us as scapegoats for their stagnation. And we should demand meaningful action: a significant reallocation of city funds to support all families in need right now.
