Samantha Pree-Stinson - Minneapolis BET Vice President

Congrats to the C/O 2024. Can’t wait to see you change the world. Everything is possible.

Today is memorial day and I want to honor all of our fallen soldiers but especially those from 10th Mountain Division.

SGT. Wakkuna Jackson was my best friend and team leader. She was god mother to our son Gabe that is graduating this weekend.

I will forever love and honor her.

May 22, 2024 Board of Estimate and Taxation For more information on this meeting, visit https://lims.minneapolismn.gov. To report issues with captions, contact [email protected] or 612-673-2216.

The best way to honor someone is to continue to speak their name and lift up their work. Rest in peace and honor Sammy McDowell. Thank you for giving so much to community- especially the youth. You will be remembered.

Meet Sammy McDowell of 'Sammy's Avenue Eatery' | Small Business Revolution Season 6 Meet Season 6 small business owner Sammy of Sammy's Avenue Eatery! Sammy opened his community cafe in 2012 after 20 years in the hospitality industry. The la...

Warming centers. It is going to be a cold one!

The gavel has been passed. I shared some words at the end of the meeting about my time as President. 2 years in and I have delivered everything I promised. Looking forward to supporting now President Steve Brandt - Minneapolis BET Vice President. Welcome new Commissioners CP Payne and VP Chughtai. Congratulations Park Commissioner Abene for being re-seated.

January 10, 2024 Board of Estimate and Taxation Additional information at:https://lims.minneapolismn.govSubmit written comments about agenda items to: [email protected] or https://www.minnea...

While our city, county, and state continues the work of solving our housing and unhoused crisis in both policy and funding, I wanted to share these severe cold warming options. Please share.

612 204 8200 is the poc number for questions, comments, etc.

If you had a tree removed from your yard by MPRB between 1/1/22 and now, you have until Nov 15th to select financial hardship. If you don’t, a 5 year levy will be automatically applied to your property taxes. If you fail to pay, a lien could be placed on your home. Unresolved liens can lead to loss of property.

Wards 4, 5, and 1 had some of the largest impacts and increaes to property taxes this year as it is.

There is MPRB public comment on 11/15/23 from 530-630 at 2117 W River Road.

Please share and ask for a hardship if you need it!

Happy Veterans Day to all who served and may we all use our influence to stop unnecessary wars, particpate in and protect our communities, and speak up for those who are erased, made to be invisible, or are unable to advocate for themselves. Until we are all free, none of us are free.

Looking forward to election results. 🙌🏾 You can still make it, Vote!

Good afternoon.

Many people have asked what is next for the now approved levy of 5 million. The Board of Estimate and taxation is not a policy or programmatic decision making body. Our role and responsibility is to set and approve the maximum tax levies for various items such as the general operating fund and Public Housing.

Another hot topic question I have been asked is how to we even decide to have a levy. The state legislation actually decides on what levies we can have. This is not a new levy. It is just one that went unfunded for over a decade.

To hear the detailed 5 year plan for the 5 million allocation, please watch the last section of our BET meeting below where Director Warsame and his team present those details.

September 13, 2023 Board of Estimate and Taxation Additional information at:https://lims.minneapolismn.govSubmit written comments about agenda items to: [email protected] or https://www.minnea...

Did y'all know that telegrams were still a thing?? Our supporters in Minnesota decided to send one to State Attorney Susan Lopez demanding that she drop the charges on the - I think this might get her attention!
Big thanks to:
AFSCME 3800 Anti-War Committee Climate Justice Committee MN Abortion Action Committee MIRAC - Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee Minnesota Peace Action Coalition MN Workers United Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar Students for a Democratic Society at UMN Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) Adriana Cerrillo Jason Chavez for Ward 9 City Council Aisha Chughtai for Ward 10 Samantha Pree-Stinson - Minneapolis BET President

🎉👏🏾🎉👏🏾🎉👏🏾🎉👏🏾🎉👏🏾🎉👏🏾🎉👏🏾🎉
A historic moment to celebrate.

Years of organizing with MPHA residents has finally been fruitful. Next week we will vote on our decision to fund the Public Housing Levy.

A 5 million ongoing investment. Thank you to our residents for your tireless advocacy. Thank you to community members. Thank you to my colleauges and espcially our staff at the City and at MPHA.

I will share specifics next week but save the date for September 20th at 4 pm. The levy has remained unfunded for a decade and never in our cities history have we made such a critical investment.

The levy is not the solution but it is absolutely a variable in the solution equation. I will continue to advocate with our residents and engage with our federal, regional, county, and state partners to have them join us at the table.

Housing, quality housing is a human right and I am proud of what we were able to do by working together.

This is what cooperation, community driven solutions look like. This is what good governance looks like.

You can continue to send your comments to [email protected]
Subject: Levy

🚨One more hour left to submit levy comment🚨

Please email [email protected]
Subject: Maximum levy public

You can watch live or at your convenience below.

September 13, 2023 Board of Estimate and Taxation Additional information at:https://lims.minneapolismn.govSubmit written comments about agenda items to: [email protected] or https://www.minnea...

Tomorrow is the public hearing for the Mayor’s proposed levy. Please show up tomorrow.

As many of you know, Public Housing residents have been asking for this levy to be funded for a decade. Some residents have felt so unheard and dismissed that they feel the poor standards of living are intentional.

We have heard testimony and I have done site visits with residents to see with my own eyes what is happening in their homes. As a housing organizer, I can say these types of conditions are exactly why I stand with our residents and their families.

They suffer from poor ventilation, black mold, no air conditioning and a fee for a window unit that they have to buy, water leakes from other apartments, asthma and other respiratory issues, lack of fire suppression systems, ADA compliance issues, and various electrical issues.

The majority of these tenants across Public Housing buildings in our city are elders. After a lifetime of working class wages, it is abhorrent that these are the conditions we relegate them to. It is absolutely unacceptable. I highly doubt that any decision maker would allow their loved ones to live in substandard conditions. I know I wouldn’t.

This is not a vanity project. They deserve the best. For the last 2 years I have been hard at work raising awareness, writing op-eds, door knocking, talking to neighbors, and being very public about why this matters, most specifically in the form of a levy. My self interest in this matter is that I myself grew up in public housing for several years with my parents and 3 siblings. My father currently lives in public housing.

When I first took office, I immediately contacted Director Warsame about his strategic plan for public housing maintenance and prevention efforts. A few months ago he came to present on the topic with his team. We had record attendance for a BET meeting and for public comment. That says a lot.

I am happy to see that the Mayor recently held a press conference where he stated his support of a yearly dedication which his office confirmed would be through a levy ask. It is time for us to vote in the interest of the public good, responsible governance, and yes it is also fiscally responsible.

The Mayor’s request is just that. He is a board member and has no power to act on his own. I will vote yes to this levy and urge my colleagues to do the same.

If we simply approve the Mayor’s max property tax rate request for the general fund- he and City Council can put that money whetever they want to include eliminating it entirely. But in a levy, that money has one use and they cannot change our decision.

Please make sure that you attend the public hearing tomorrow. It starts at 505 pm at City Hall, 3rd floor, Council Chambers.

I unapologetically stand with our residents and support a maximum levy specifically to the housing levy. It can’t wait and will save us money in the long run. We have already lost lives to fires in buildings that were behind the times in infrastructure needs.

We have no issue raising taxes when it harms residents by having a disproportionate impact on our most diverse and working class Wards. Last year taxes soared in Wards 4 and 5 and those same residents were hit harder by the EAB tree removals. Let’s vote for our community interest and support our elders.

Thank you to Jason Chavez - Minneapolis Ward 9 Elliott Payne - Minneapolis Ward 1
Jamal Osman - Minneapolis Ward 6 for attending our joint press conference and being vocal about this critical need.

Thank you Robin Wonsley - Minneapolis Ward 2 and Rep. Esther Agbaje for leading from the front with me and our residrnts.

See you tomorrow Maximum Tax Levy Public Comment and Controller Report.

Can’t join us? Please send your comments to [email protected]
Subject: Maximum tax levy

For immediate release
August 10th 2023, 5:30pm
Contact: Celeste Robinson: [email protected], 612-271-9177.

Resident Organizing and Advocacy by City Council and BET Wins Unprecedented Victory for Public Housing Funding

MINNEAPOLIS- Following months of activism by residents of Minneapolis Public Housing, along with strident advocacy by City Council Member Robin Wonsley and Board of Estimates and Taxation (BET) Chair Samantha Pree-Stinson, Mayor Frey has announced an intention to include $5 million for the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority (MPHA) in his proposed 2024 budget. MPHA leadership has informed residents, Council Members, and BET leadership that the funding will be administered through the public housing levy.

In the last year, Black women leadership at the state, city, and board level have taken the initiative to use every available tool to fund public housing. Residents of MPHA housing, over 80% of whom are Black or African American, have packed Council and BET meetings, brought City Council Members to their buildings to speak with residents directly, and testified about the need for funding to address urgent safety and livability issues in their buildings.

“Six months ago there was a lot of lip service for public housing but just a handful of elected officials who were willing to make the commitment to funding,” said City Council Member Robin Wonsley. “Resident organizing and bold advocacy for a fully funded public housing levy is what made this happen. This is a good start, and we need to keep organizing and advocating for full funding.”

Council Member Wonsley has worked with public housing residents and various stakeholders to deliver on public housing investments at the city level. This past Tuesday, Council Member Wonsley, along with Council Member Aisha Chughtai, passed a resolution through the Business, Inspections, Housing, and Zoning Committee expressing a commitment to using the Council’s full authority to support MPHA. The resolution is headed to a vote of the full Council next week. In April, Council Member Wonsley testified alongside Mayor Frey and BET President Samantha Pree-Stinson at the Capitol for additional dollars for MPHA. In May, Council Member Wonsley spoke alongside Council Members Payne, Osman, and Chavez in support of a fully funded public housing levy. In 2022, Council Member Wonsley led the Council to allocate $1.2 million for fire sprinklers in five public housing high rises that did not have them.

During the 2023 state legislative session, Representative Esther Agbaje led the initiative to give MPHA an unprecedented direct allocation of $5 million from the state to support the scattered site portfolio, which primarily serves larger families.
"It's time that we as leaders took public housing seriously. I'm glad for the increased funding from the legislature this year and appreciate the city taking its own steps to support public housing,” said Representative Agbaje. “By working together, we can provide for our families and neighbors to ensure that they have safe, stable, and dignified places to live."

BET Chair Samantha Pree-Stinson has advocated for the need for a public housing levy since taking office in 2022. In May, Pree-Stinson presided over a meeting of the BET where MPHA made their request for a levy, followed by time for resident testimony. Pree-Stinson was intentional about including time for public comment in the meeting.

“Residents showed up and told us what they needed. They told us they need a fully funded levy. We have the responsibility to take these residents’ and their needs seriously. The proposed $5 million in ongoing funding is a big win by residents, for residents,” said Chair Pree-Stinson. “I will bring the proposal for a fully funded levy to the September 20th meeting of the BET and look forward to seeing residents and supporters there.”

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Really proud of our Finance Staff. Our bonding rating is like a credit score and it was possible for this high honor and achievement to happen due to our sound financial staff and our boards sound financial decisions. 🙌🏾

Minneapolis lifted to triple-A with Fitch upgrade Fitch joined S&P Global Ratings in assigning a gilt-edged rating to the city, ahead of a planned general obligation deal later this month.

‘What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?’: Why Frederick Douglass’ 1852 speech still resonates | MinnPost “It’s an important speech,” said Augsburg University professor and historian William Green. “I think people should read it .... It provides a different view of what that moment in history meant to hundreds of thousands of Americans."

Our community has lost another beautiful soul. Stephanie was a powerful community organizer, loving mother, and the kind of friend that showed up fully. She should be celebrated and remembered especially on a day like today.

Thank you for sharing your light with us and being a beacon for all things just.

Nuestra comunidad ha perdido otra alma hermosa. Stephanie era una poderosa organizadora de la comunidad, una madre amorosa y el tipo de amiga que se presentaba plenamente. Ella debe ser celebrada y recordada especialmente en un día como hoy.

Gracias por compartir tu luz con nosotros y ser un faro para todas las cosas.

Our community lost an amazing indigenous community leader, mother, and unhoused advocate yesterday, Fawn Mason. She will be greatly missed. Her life deserves to be celebrated and may her memory always inspire us and give us strength to continue on together in our community work.

Thank you Fawn for sharing your heart and spirit with us.

Happy Pride! Today and every single day I hope that we can continue to build a movement that can sustain and maintain a world where we can all be who we are and not be relegated to be what antiquated societal norms try to force us to be.

I see you. I hear you. I value you. I am thankful for your contributions and stand united with you in revolutionary solidarity.

$137,515,000 signed for capital bonding. Great way to end the week.