Mill City Hall: Minneapolis politics, slightly ground down

Roundup: Bathhouses Re-Legalized and Another Bad MPD Report from the Evaluator

The City un-banned bathhouses as part of a Pride month policy agenda. We talk about this ordinance in context of query history, and discuss some of the past city dynamics around regulating business and sex. This is a round-up episode, so we also talked about the latest semi-annual report on Minneapolis Police Department reform progress. In short: not looking good! Recorded 6/24/26. Read the show notes and find links for further reading [https://millcityhall.com/episodes/2026-06-29-roundup-bathhouses-mpd-report/index.html]

Data Centers, Office Conversions and the Vacancy Dilemma

As anger at the Big Tech data center boom seems to be boiling across layers of society, data center politics landed in Minneapolis last month. The City Council passed a temporary moratorium - with generous exceptions - on new data centers in the city. We look at some of the data center projects that exist today, and those that appear to be in-progress. How do we think about hyperscale? We also examine the downtown vacancy dilemma, and the challenges and tradeoffs between data center conversions and housing conversions. When and how do data centers make sense in Minneapolis? Recorded 6/10/26. Read the show notes and find links for further reading [https://millcityhall.com/episodes/2026-06-15-data-centers/index.html]

Police Chief Resigns Just Weeks After Nomination

Just weeks after Mayor Frey challenged the City Council to support the re-nomination of his Police Chief, that same Chief has resigned under threat of discharge by that same Mayor. It is hard to remember a more dramatic climbdown in recent city politics. But for this Mayor, it is one of a series of high profile public safety hires to end in disappointment. We talk through what was said, speculate on what actually happened, review the last four years of MPD leadership, and talk about what could and should happen next. Stick around past hour two if you want some Rocco Forte talk. Recorded 5/27/26. Read the show notes and find links for further reading [https://millcityhall.com/episodes/2026-06-01-ohara-resigns/index.html]

The Basically Serious State of the City

Mayor Frey instructed us to basically get serious in his annual State of the City address. Or to seriously get back to the basics? Whatever the case, it was a somewhat jarring call for goverment to do less after Minneapolis communities went above and beyond to push out ICE. Cam and Jesse talk through the speech, and ask what a parallel address by a more visionary mayor might have sounded like, in this historic moment. We also recap the victory at the Charter Commission. Recorded 5/20/26. Read the show notes and find links for further reading [https://millcityhall.com/episodes/2026-05-26-state-of-city/index.html]

Interview: Chicago Bike Grid, Now!

The vision: build pedestrian and bike safety on 10% of all streets - 450 miles - connected in a grid throughout Chicago. Mill City Hall is in the Windy City this week, and we interviewed Charna Albert and Chris Buie-Gentry from the Chicago Bike Grid, Now! steering committee. Turns out they have built some real momentum, with endorsements from mayoral candidates and legislation moving at the state level. What can we learn this efforts to create a truly systemic solution for active transportation? Recorded 5/11/26. Read the show notes and find links for further reading [https://millcityhall.com/episodes/2026-05-15-chicago-bike-grid-now/index.html]