Minneapolis City Council Slammed For George Floyd Square Delay
December 8, 2024
Murals of Floyd still remain up on business walls, five years after Floyd’s death.
After reports suggested the Minneapolis City Council was considering two proposals for George Floyd Square, a community-run memorial site created after his murder by Minneapolis police, the council voted on Dec. 5 to return the plans to a planning committee.
Floyd was a Black man murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis during an arrest on May 25, 2020.
According to NPR, murals of Floyd still remain up on business walls, five years after Floyd’s death, in contrast to the continual walking back of numerous DEI pledges from corporations that also sprang up in the wake of Floyd’s death.
The wishes of the city, according to their reporting, are to revitalize the area, and to create a new memorial and new city streets in the area, a plan that some in the community-run space, like Dwight Alexander, are behind.
“We want the best for this neighborhood. You know what I’m saying? We want to see the new development. You know, anytime you get something new in the city, everybody will come see it,” Alexander, the co-owner of a barbecue shop in the area, told NPR.
However, another plan, put forth by Councilmember Jason Chavez threatens to stall the city’s desire for progress in the area.
Chavez’s proposal to create a pedestrian plaza closed to traffic has been labeled a “delay” by Andrea Jenkins, the councilmember representing the area where George Floyd Square is located.
“It would take years of community engagement, of designing a pedestrian mall. So it is a delay,” Jenkins told NPR.
She continued, “It completely disregards thousands of hours of community engagement, of staff time, of staff recommendation.”
According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey seems to agree with Jenkins’ take on the proposal spearheaded by Chavez.
Although Frey indicated that he could support a pedestrian mall, he said he can not support what he called the council’s “continuous indecision” and its choices that Frey told the outlet “continues to kick the can down the road” because “We need to make a decision. It’s been years (since Floyd’s police killing).”
In a city council meeting in November, Jenkins, who has long advocated for investment into the area well before Floyd was killed, reiterated her calls for investment.
“It’s really important that we invest in this community to demonstrate that we do recognize the disinvestments that created the conditions that led to that murder, but also to lay a foundation so that we can create a place of social justice,” Jenkins said. “I think this intersection has an opportunity to do just that.”
According to Minnesota Public Radio, Chavez, meanwhile, couched the delay as a concern for the community inside George Floyd Way.
“This resolution is supporting a pathway forward,” Chavez said. “I am saying that we will be building a pedestrian mall moving forward, but we will also be hearing from community to address the concerns that they have about livability, about housing, about economic development.”
Margaret Anderson Kelliher, the operations officer for Minneapolis, told the outlet that the area does need to incorporate feedback from residents when it is re-envisioned.
“George Floyd Square needs to be re-envisioned…both to honor the memory of George Floyd and to really have the area that people live in be vibrant and also respectful of the events of the murder of George Floyd,” Kelliher said.
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