Minneapolis City Council members say Mayor Jacob Frey bypassed them to award $300K security contract

A group of City Council members clashed Thursday with Mayor Jacob Frey for giving a community group more than $300,000 to prevent violence and help reopen George Floyd Square, the semi-autonomous zone at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue.

The Agape Movement, a Central neighborhood organization that hires ex-gang members to interrupt gang violence, stood at the ready to guard city workers as they removed street barricades from the square in early June.

Invoking his COVID-19 emergency powers, Frey authorized a $359,000 contract with the group to monitor security concerns and "address the compounding impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in this area while preserving spaces for healing and the remembrance of George Floyd."

https://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-city-council-members-say-mayor-jacob-frey-bypassed-them-to-award-300k-security-contract/600069367/