St. Paul Extends Eviction Notice Period as Minneapolis Veto Override Fails
St. Paul unanimously passed an ordinance extending its pre-eviction notice period to 60 days while Minneapolis failed to override Mayor Jacob Frey's veto of a similar measure, as council chamber tensions boiled over during a separate debate.
The St. Paul City Council unanimously passed an ordinance extending its pre-eviction notice period from 30 days to 60 days. The next day in Minneapolis, the city council fell two votes short of overriding Mayor Jacob Frey’s veto of a similar measure — a result that sent activists into the halls singing while a heated chamber confrontation briefly stopped the meeting.
St. Paul Acts
St. Paul’s City Council passed its ordinance 7-0, a veto-proof margin that would require landlords to give tenants 60 days’ notice before filing a case in eviction court. The ordinance takes effect in May if Mayor Kaohly Her signs the measure.
Before the final vote, the council rejected 5-2 an amendment that would have exempted the St. Paul Public Housing Agency from the extended notice requirement. Council Member Cheniqua Johnson said carving out the city’s largest landlord would undermine the very purpose of the ordinance.
“When we talk about income-based and adjusting the rent, there are still individuals that are housed within the St. Paul Public Housing Agency whom are evicted due to the inability to pay and non-payment of rent,” said Johnson.
Johnson pushed back on the notion that federal funding concerns justified the exemption. She pointed to the catastrophic consequences an eviction record brings and the precedent an exemption would set.
“It’s really hard to find options, including here in the city of St. Paul, once you have an eviction filed,” said Johnson. “It’s hard to say this individual gets 30 days, this individual does not when we are posing the option.”
With the amendment defeated, the full ordinance passed without the carve-out.
Community members in both cities have called for a temporary extension amid the Trump administration’s deployment of federal immigration agents that forced many renters to shelter in place. Supporters argue the extension would give renters more time to pay landlords before an eviction case is filed. Affordable housing nonprofits opposed the measure, arguing the additional 30 days would allow residents to accumulate more unmanageable debt.
Minneapolis Falls Short
Across the river, Minneapolis told a different story.
After the council fell two votes short of the nine needed to override Mayor Jacob Frey’s veto, more than a dozen activists responded immediately, holding a singing demonstration outside the council gallery as the result became clear.
But even as that protest swelled in the hallway, a separate and sharper conflict was brewing inside the chamber.
During debate over a resolution supporting the normalization of relations with Cuba — which ultimately passed 7-6 — Council Member Aurin Chowdhury addressed what she described as a pattern of disrespect directed at her while she spoke.
“I am also really disappointed as I’m making comments hearing my colleagues laugh and make snide remarks,” said Chowdhury. A crowd in the gallery responded with applause.
Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw pushed back, denying the behavior was directed at Chowdhury and turning the accusation against Council President Elliot Payne.
“You all need to learn how to monitor the entire body and not certain people on the body,” said Vetaw. Vetaw accused Chowdhury of “throwing a tantrum” because council members had not supported the Cuba resolution unopposed. “I can vote how I want to,” said Vetaw. “If she wants to have a tantrum because we’re not giving her a unanimous vote that’s her problem.”
Council President Elliot Payne attempted to calm the situation. “You’re ascribing motives,” Payne said. “All I heard was some cross talk while Council Member Shaffer had the floor.”
Chowdhury took a breath before responding, emphasizing that her grievance was not with the vote tally.
“I’m not going to sit here and pretend that it’s not hurtful when I’m talking and people are laughing and making remarks. Maybe it’s not on this specific one but it happens constantly,” said Chowdhury. “When I’m chairing a meeting and someone calls me a ‘fucking child.'”
The comment referred to an incident two days earlier. Council Member Michael Rainville had been overheard on a hot microphone at the Committee of the Whole meeting March 24. “Excuse — when are we going to break for lunch,” Rainville said. “What the fuck. These fucking children.”
“I do not want to come to work to be bullied,” said Chowdhury.
It was not the first time Rainville had been caught on an open mic. Last year, while Council Member Linea Palmisano described being scammed after clicking on a fraudulent constituent email, Rainville could be heard laughing and saying, “You got chumped.”
After a five-minute recess, Council Member Pearll Warren addressed community activists’ claims of a “grave disconnect” between her and Northside residents.
“What ICE is doing is disgusting. But I’ve been ICEed my whole life,” said Warren. “There’s a difference between trauma and choice.”
“I don’t see protesters pulling up to stop the violence that continues to perpetuate in North Minneapolis,” Warren continued. “You don’t understand where I stand cause you never sat where I sat.”
The council also passed a divestment measure from companies that support ICE, 9-4, and approved a solidarity ordinance supporting University of Minnesota fellow workers, 11-2.
The week left St. Paul with a new rental protection for tenants awaiting Mayor Her’s signature and Minneapolis with deepening internal conflict between progressive and moderate council members.