Minneapolis City Council Rejects Barnette Reappointment; Mayor Frey Vows to Veto

Toddrick Barnette is in charge of the Office of Community Safety which oversees the Minneapolis Police, Fire, Emergency Management, 911 and Neighborhood Safety departments.

The Minneapolis City Council voted 7–6 on Thursday to reject Toddrick Barnette for a second term as Community Safety Commissioner. Mayor Jacob Frey quickly announced he would veto the decision and keep Barnette in his cabinet.

“We can't just spend another year doing a search, another year getting someone with the necessary experience to run a very complex office,” Frey said.

Barnette, a former Hennepin County Chief Judge, has served as commissioner since 2023, when he was initially appointed with overwhelming council support. He is the second person to hold the position, which oversees the city’s Office of Community Safety.

Ahead of the council vote, Frey strongly defended Barnette’s leadership, describing him as a steady presence during a challenging period for the city. Frey also credited Barnette with improving coordination across departments and strengthening emergency management systems.

Despite that support from the mayor, several council members voiced deep concerns about Barnette’s performance and the effectiveness of the Office of Community Safety itself.

Council Member Robin Wonsley, who voted against the appointment, delivered a sweeping critique of both Barnette and the office.

“A huge part of my time on council has been trying to prevent the Office of Community Safety from sabotaging key pieces of the comprehensive public safety system,” Wonsley said. She added that “year after year, this office has failed to do anything meaningful to advance public safety beyond policing.”

Wonsley went further, arguing that the structure itself is flawed.

“I feel very confident that the outcomes of that trial has failed, and it has not been a worthwhile investment,” she said, suggesting the city could redirect funding toward violence prevention services instead.

Council Member Aisha Chughtai also opposed the reappointment, citing concerns about transparency, responsiveness, and incomplete information provided to the council.

“The consequence of this approach is that council members are put in the position of considering items without having the necessary details,” Chughtai said. She added that the office has failed to adequately engage with residents, calling the lack of responsiveness “disqualifying for this role.”

Following the vote, Council President Elliott Payne issued a statement criticizing Barnette’s leadership and performance in the high-profile role. Here's his full statement:

The Commissioner of Community Safety makes well over $300,000 a year, making it one of the highest paid jobs in government across the entire state. Such a high salary rightfully comes with very high expectations from the person in that role.

The Commissioner of Community Safety leads the City’s wholistic approach to public safety in Minneapolis, overseeing the Police Department, Fire Department, 911, the Office of Emergency Management, and the Office of Neighborhood Safety.

Overseeing these crucial departments requires a very active and involved leader with deep knowledge and expertise of the capabilities these departments and their relationship with our community.

To put it plainly, in his time in this role, I don’t believe Toddrick Barnette has met the mark. In my experience, Mr. Barnette has been far too absent and often disconnected from the role. Other Council Members have brought up his and his staff lack of presence at important meetings and lack of transparency and communication from his office.

Further, the preventable tragedies and mishandling of the cases of Davis Moturi, Allison Lussier, and Mariah Samuels during Mr. Barnette’s tenure are gravely concerning. I also have been disappointed by his leadership and supervision of the Office of Neighborhood Safety where we’ve had multiple issues with contract management of our important violence prevention work.

Mr. Barnette is a very nice person and a respected judge, but our constituents deserve more from this very important and highly compensated role. - Elliott Payne