Minneapolis City Council

City Council meeting in 2005

Council chambers in 1900

The Minneapolis City Council is the governing body of the City of Minneapolis. The City Council is composed of 13 single member districts, called wards. Barbara Johnson (Democratic-Farmer-Labor [or DFL], Ward 4) is president of the council. The council is dominated by members of the DFL Party with 12 members. The Green Party has one member. The city has never had more than 13 wards, but at one time there were three representatives from each area, for a total of 39 city council members. The council assumed its current size in the 1950s. Because of a quirk in the election cycle, 2005 marks the first Council races since post-2000-Census redistricting. There were no Republican candidates for either Mayor or any City Council post in the 2005 election, however one Republican ran for the Library Board.

The council elected in 2009, and which took office in January 2010, is composed of:

Ward	member	party
1st	Kevin Reich	DFL
2nd	Cam Gordon	Green
3rd	Diane Hofstede	DFL
4th	Barbara Johnson (President)	DFL
5th	Don Samuels	DFL
6th	Robert Lilligren (Vice President)	DFL
7th	Lisa Goodman	DFL
8th	Elizabeth Glidden	DFL
9th	Gary Schiff	DFL
10th	Meg Tuthill	DFL
11th	John Quincy	DFL
12th	Sandy Colvin Roy	DFL
13th	Betsy Hodges	DFL

Council Member corruption

In July 2001, Brian Herron (DFL) pleaded guilty to one count of felony extortion. He admitted to accepting a $10,000 bribe from a business owner who faced numerous health and safety inspections violations.^[1] Herron served a one year sentence in federal prison.^[2]

On November 21, 2002 10 year Council Member Joe Biernat (DFL) was convicted of five federal felony charges, one count of embezzlement, three counts of mail fraud, and one count of making a false statement.^[3] Biernat was found not guilty on extortion and conspiracy to extort charges.^[4]

In September 2005 Green Party Council Member Dean Zimmermann was served with a federal search warrant to his home by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The affidavit attached to the warrant revealed that the FBI has Zimmermann on video and audiotape accepting bribes for a zoning change.^[5] Zimmermann subsequently lost his re-election campaign, and was convicted in federal court on three counts of accepting cash from a developer and found not guilty of soliciting property from people with business with the city. Zimmermann was released from prison in July 2008.^[6]

In 2009, council president Barbara Johnson was accused of misusing campaign funds for personal spending. An administrative hearing was held January 26, 2010, which could have charged her with a civil violation or recommend criminal charges.^[7] The administrative judges at the hearing dismissed 6 of the 8 charges against her, and upheld 2 (AAA services were paid for both her & her husband's vehicle, and not all charges for hairstyling & dry cleaning were reasonably related to the campaign). She paid a $200 fine for these violations.^[8]

See also

• Minneapolis municipal elections, 2009
• Minneapolis municipal elections, 2005
• Minneapolis City Hall

References

1. ^ "City council member Brian Herron's disgrace left a vacuum in his Minneapolis district". City Pages. October 10, 2001. http://citypages.com/databank/22/1088/article9861.asp. Retrieved 2007-12-01. 
2. ^ "Feds Indict Minneapolis City Councilman & Union Boss". UNION CORRUPTION UPDATE. National Legal and Policy Center. April 29, 2002. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. http://web.archive.org/web/20071011175328/http://www.nlpc.org/olap/UCU3/05_09_05.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-01. 
3. ^ "Criminal Actions 2002". U.S. Department of Labor. 05/01/06. http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/olms/criminal_enforce/criminal_actions_2002.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-01. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ Brandt Williams (November 21, 2002). "Minneapolis councilman convicted on five fraud charges". Minnesota Public Radio. http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/200211/21_williamsb_biernat/. Retrieved 2007-12-01. 
5. ^ FBI says it has Zimmermann on tape accepting bribe
6. ^ Back from prison 'sabbatical'
7. ^ Steve Brandt (December 21, 2009). "Mpls. council president faces hearing over campaign spending". Minneapolis Star Tribune. http://www.startribune.com/local/79868182.html. Retrieved 2009-12-22. 
8. ^ "Findings of Fact, Conclusions, and Order". State of Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings. 03/02/2010. http://www.oah.state.mn.us/aljBase/032520970.finrt.htm. Retrieved 2010-12-06. 

External links

• Minneapolis City Council official page