Jacob Frey defends proposed budgets cuts, saying decisions were difficult but correct

Las Vegas was built for stars. And on August 22nd, two of boxing's biggest take center stage. Raleigh Romero never follows the script. This is my game. Tio Fimo Lopez has never needed one. This guy's got a big mouth. For years, they've had plenty to say. All your do is tall. But with world championship gold on the line, can they back it? Tio, I'm here. I'm going all in. It's time to put up or shut up. Raleigh Romero versus Tiofimo Lopez. August 22nd. I'll shut you up. Watch on Dazone, and Dazone on Prime. One of the biggest things I see, most women are not getting enough fiber. especially the right kinds of fiber, and they don't even realize it. That's why I like using chronometer. It makes it incredibly easy to actually see what you're eating and understand your nutrition on a deeper level. I especially appreciate that it tracks both soluble and insoluble fiber because they each play different roles in overall wellness, digestion, and metabolic health. What sets Chronometer apart for me is the accuracy and detail. A lot of tracking apps only focus on calories, but Chronometer gives you meaningful micronutrient data I can actually use. The platform is easy to use, reliable, and helps you make more informed nutrition choices without guesswork. If you want better insight into your nutrition during midlife and beyond, Download chronometer for free today at chronometer.com and start learning what your body may really need. Nerds! Today's episode is sponsored by NerdWallet's Smart Money podcast. Personal finance can feel like a pop quiz you didn't study for. This podcast is your study guide. On NerdWallet's Smart Money podcast, you'll hear from trusted journalists who explain the why behind major financial decisions. You'll get research-backed insights and clear pros and cons, whether you're planning a big purchase or just want to grow your wealth. Make your next financial move with confidence. Follow NerdWallet's Smart Money podcast on your favorite podcast app. Here we go on a Thursday afternoon, Shad Hartman, Dave Harrigan, News Talk, 830 WCCO. Guess right at the start, the mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, is here, like all guests on the John Schuster, Caldwell Banker Hotline. Jacob, as always, thanks so much. You announced yesterday that a $2.3 million budget. That will require an 11.3% increase in a property tax levy and the elimination of 100 positions and also bringing some departments together. How did we get here? And if you're a resident of Minneapolis who's angry about the property tax levy, what do you say to that individual?

Thanks so much for having me, Chad. 2.3 billion. I believe you said million. If it were a million, that would be a gods. Oh, I'm sorry. If I said a million. No worries. No worries at all. I know what you were getting at. You know, here's the bottom line here. We are experiencing in this year's budget, the repercussions of the low that we hit about two years ago. So. There's a bit of a lag time when real estate values go down. That took place in the latter part of 2024. We hit the low point then. And now, yeah, it's hitting our budget. So even though things are getting significantly better, even though vacancies are going down, businesses are coming back, people are getting back into the office, et cetera, we will feel that trajectory in two years from now. So for those that are frustrated about it, you know, look, I get it. They're right. We were certain coming in here that the two biggest critiques coming out of this budget are that the cuts are too deep. and that the cuts are not deep enough, and that is exactly what's playing out now. You know, we cut a ton, I mean, millions and millions of dollars worth of contracts. We cut 100 staff positions. We've consolidated operations, changed departments around to improve efficiencies. And still, yeah, there's the reality of where we are now. And look, it's my job to not just announce it, but try to show how we get through this two-year ring of fire that we're going to punch through here. And, you know, look, the decisions are mine. I own them and they're the right ones. In hindsight, do you believe you should have done anything different? knowing that the lack of individuals coming downtown and the property values were decreasing, is there something you could have adjusted over the last few years so the increases or the loss of jobs would not have been as dramatic? Well, Chad, as you know, I tried to, I did veto the budget a year and a half ago. And I believed that the budget was irresponsible and that it did not do right by the taxpayers. And I was overridden. And, you know, that's the, these are some of the tools that I've got in our toolkit. And simultaneously, there are things that we didn't anticipate. We didn't anticipate having three to four thousand ice agents come into our city. We didn't anticipate Operation Metro Surge. You know, overtime expenses obviously go up when there is a crisis in Minneapolis and you have to account for them. And.

federal funding is not as certain as it used to be. You know, we used to have the assurance that we would get grants to the tune of around $70 million a year. We no longer have that assurance. And so, yeah, we've got to be. smarter fiscally. We've got to be more efficient with the way we're operating right now. And my ask and my invitation to council members is, hey, let's work together. We've got to acknowledge the reality of where we are. And, you know, obviously budgets are about values, but the value that we've got to hold ahead of all of the rest right now is stewardship. Like we need to steward. the city through these next couple of years and get to, again, where the trajectory is already going. This is the mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, kind enough to join us. Adam Carter, show before ours, had Paul Ostroon. A former council member, like you were a former council member before you became mayor. And he was on with Adam. He said, I understand the difficulties the mayor is facing right now. But he wanted you to be even more dramatic to eliminate more groups, to combine more groups, to make this more of a long lasting significant change in the city. Did you consider more dramatic changes to the point where they would have been more permanent and more significant than what you've done, at least at this point? Did he suggest anything specific? He did. I don't have the full list in front of me, but he felt like a number of other aspects. of the running of the city could have been combined. I don't know it well enough. The two of you would know it better than I, but obviously you spent a lot of time on this with your staff. Did you think about even going further? Oh, we thought about everything. Everything was on the table. If Paul Ostro has specific suggestions, he could shoot us an email and tell us about him. You know, a lot of times cuts that you... perceived to have an impact on the budget, don't actually have an impact on the budget, you know. So there are, sometimes a position is funded by a grant. Sometimes the position is funded by a different source that doesn't impact the taxpayer directly. And so you say, hey, we don't need this job. Let's cut it. But then that cut wouldn't actually drive down taxes, if that makes sense. So, yeah, if Paul Osteros got some suggestions, God bless, you know, I'll take them. Of course, we looked at going deeper. I'm happy to go deeper to the extent that it doesn't impact core city service. That was the goal here.

the DSA side of the city council that you and that group don't always agree. What's your sense on how they're going to react to this budget proposal? Well, you know, again, I don't want to speak for them. My hope is that we're going to find a lot of alignment because, again, there aren't many options here. This is just the right thing to do to acknowledge the reality that we're in right now and to get Minneapolis through to the next two years. Again, the city is coming back in a massive way. We're just dealing the repercussions from two years ago. You know, look, I imagine that there will be some on the council. I bet about half the council is going to say deeper cuts and about half the council is going to say you cut too much. But again, once you get into the specifics, believe me, it's going to get a lot harder. If you believe there's deeper cuts, okay, to what? If you believe that you want to, you know, get rid of the cuts that we already made, in other words, replenish them. Okay, well, you then got to consider that that will increase people's property taxes. We don't have a magic calculator here. And so, again, my job is just to tell you the truth. And we did that in the budget yesterday. And I'm very optimistic. Again, if you looked at the, you know, strong majority of the speech, a lot of it was saying, hey, city is coming back beautifully right now. But we've got to be realistic about where our budget is and account for the fact that we don't have a federal government here that's going to come in to just help us. You've made this point a number of times here and elsewhere that the city. He's coming back in a significant way. For the folks who are objective about this, and they say, I don't know about that. I need to see more results. Not the folks who have just said, I'm never going downtown. It's a hellhole. That's utterly ridiculous. They're just wrong. I'll just flat out say it. But for the folks who want to see more tangible results to back up the words you're saying and what you see on a regular basis, what will they see the next six, 12, 18 months to back up what you're offering up? Well, those are the folks I'm trying to reach right now. Look, there's a group of people that just, I mean, they've lived for generations of Minneapolis. They love Minneapolis. They think, you know, they understand what we got going here. And yeah, there's another crew, of course, that will bash Minneapolis at every opportunity. It's the people that are saying, hey, we need to make some improvements and we want to see some tangible results. That's who I want to reach. And.

First, I'd say to them, look, in the first quarter of 2026, vacancies are down by 150,000 square feet in downtown alone. And so what that means is that there's 150,000 square feet of office space that is occupied now. that wasn't occupied at the beginning of the year. And that was just the first quarter. I imagine you probably saw another 100,000 square feet in the second quarter. And so, I mean, that's as objective as you can get. We are seeing businesses opening. We are seeing people come back into work. And we're making some real progress on that front. There's a couple areas, including on crime where we need to make more progress and happy to discuss that as well. Okay, let's jump in on that. Las Vegas was built for stars. And on August 22nd, two of boxing's biggest take center stage. Raleigh Romero never follows the script. This is my game. Tio Fimo Lopez has never needed one. This guy's got a big mouth. For years, they've had plenty to say. All you do is tall. But with world championship gold on the line, can they back it? Tio, I'm here. I'm going all in. It's time to put up or shut up. Raleighamero versus Tiofimo Lopez. August 22nd. I'll shut you up. Watch on DeZone and DeZone on Prime. One of the biggest things I see, most women are not getting enough fiber. especially the right kinds of fiber, and they don't even realize it. That's why I like using chronometer. It makes it incredibly easy to actually see what you're eating and understand your nutrition on a deeper level. I especially appreciate that it tracks both soluble and insoluble fiber because they each play different roles in overall wellness, digestion, and metabolic health. What sets Chronometer apart for me is the accuracy and detail. A lot of tracking apps only focus on calories, but Chronometer gives you meaningful micronutrient data I can actually use. The platform is easy to use, reliable, and helps you make more informed nutrition choices without guesswork. If you want better insight into your nutrition during midlife and beyond, Download chronometer for free today at chronometer.com and start learning what your body may really need.

Nerds! Today's episode is sponsored by NerdWallet's Smart Money podcast. Personal finance can feel like a pop quiz you didn't study for. This podcast is your study guide. On NerdWallet's Smart Money podcast, you'll hear from trusted journalists who explain the why behind major financial decisions. You'll get research-backed insights and clear pros and cons, whether you're planning a big purchase or just want to grow your wealth. Make your next financial move with confidence. Follow NerdWallet's Smart Money podcast on your favorite podcast app. What is your assessment of crime and the overall city so far this year? You've got areas where we're seeing some success. You've got areas where we're not. You know, last year we saw numbers trend down basically across the board. This year it's a bit more nuanced. Here's what we are seeing, though, and it's a problem. Juveniles. committing some pretty serious crimes. In some cases, they're with a gun and it's violence. In other cases, it's more than just a nuisance when you've got these smashing grabs that are preventing people from enjoying the city and coming in and having a great night out. And so, you know, I think, again, this is another area where we've got to be really straightforward and honest. I'm all for diversion. I'm all for making sure that these kids have second chances, but I'm not just going to tolerate someone jacking somebody's car with a gun repeatedly and not having consequences for it. There needs to be. Are the laws strong enough on the books or are the folks not enforcing the law strong enough? Our police officers are making arrests? Our police officers are conducting investigations. They're gathering evidence. There is a law that is presently on the books that went into effect at the beginning of August that we're still trying to figure out how to deal with it. And it's for the detention of juveniles. And in some cases, it prevents us from doing so. There's also just the reality that it's not enough to have an arrest. There needs to be some form of prosecution. And I think it should be acknowledged, both that we need compassionate places for juveniles that are committing crimes. It's not just a regular prison, you know, where they're in with full-blown adults. You need that. But again, you can't have everybody else in the community, including the kid themselves that is put in danger because these crimes keep getting committed. And so, you know, I do think that we need to be very clear-eyed about this. I do think we need to make sure that people that are getting arrested again and again and again actually get prosecuted. Needs to happen. Let me ask you about Todrick Barnett. He is going to leave when the year ends as the community safety commissioner. He was twice rejected by the city council. He was in a bit of limbo. Are you going to fill that position when Toddrick Barnett leaves?

I also am really grateful for interim chief Peterson. He's doing a hell of a job right now. He's stabilized the department. I think he's got a whole lot of respect, both internally and externally. And, you know, we're having communication with him virtually every day. I always appreciate it, sir. Thanks so much. We'll reach out again, and we'll see you at the fair in a couple weeks. You got it. Thanks so much, Shed. The mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey. What do you want to say? We covered a lot of topics. The budget safety is going to be huge. I know a lot of texts are coming in. What is your number one takeaway from our conversation with the mayor of the biggest city, the city that drives the economic engine in the state, the city of Minneapolis? 651-461-9-2-2-6. Water, water, water. You need it. But... You're way better off if you have water that you're drinking is the right type of water, that a lot of the contaminants, almost all the contaminants are out of there. That's what I have when I'm home with Aquarius Home Services and the fact they're a license authorized independent Connecticutico dealer. You get that fabulous Connecticutico drinking water system. And it's not just for when you're drinking, when you're making food, whatever it might be. You also want to get through Aquarius, the water softener. The water softener, and they had so much success with the deal in July, they're off for now. You can still trade in your older water soft. And get $500 off. a new, efficient, and already reasonably priced water softer from Aquarius. All of a sudden, the dishes are better. The laundry's better. When you're taking the shower, it's better. And if you have any repair issues with any of these items. including your conditioner and even thinking about the furnace for three, four months down the line. They are outstanding. Earning the right to be recommended since 1987, Aquarius homeservices.com. Girl, let's get real. Some pads are just diapers with a good PR team, but not the new Kotex BioCare. That's because Kotex BioCare helps defend against odor and irritants. And it's the first and only pad with this pH proactive system that helps optimize the pads pH. Just think of it as self-care for down there. Check out Kotex.com for more details on the all-new Kotex completely redesigned to meet your needs. You asked, we heard. Las Vegas was built for stars. And on August 22nd, two of boxing's biggest take center stage. Raleigh Romero never follows the script. This is my game. Tio Fimo Lopez has never needed one. This guy's got a big mouth. For years, they've had plenty to say. All you do is tall. But with world championship gold on the line, can they back it? Tio, I'm here. I'm going all in. It's time to put up or shut up. Raleighamero versus Tiofimo Lopez. August 22nd. I'll shut you up. Watch on DeZone, and DeZone on Prime.

One of the biggest things I see, most women are not getting enough fiber. especially the right kinds of fiber, and they don't even realize it. That's why I like using chronometer. It makes it incredibly easy to actually see what you're eating and understand your nutrition on a deeper level. I especially appreciate that it tracks both soluble and insoluble fiber because they each play different roles in overall wellness, digestion, and metabolic health. What sets Chronometer apart for me is the accuracy and detail. A lot of tracking apps only focus on calories, but Chronometer gives you meaningful micronutrient data I can actually use. The platform is easy to use, reliable, and helps you make more informed nutrition choices without guesswork. If you want better insight into your nutrition during midlife and beyond, Download chronometer for free today at chronometer.com and start learning what your body may really need. Nerds! Today's episode is sponsored by NerdWallet's Smart Money podcast. Personal finance can feel like a pop quiz you didn't study for. This podcast is your study guide. On NerdWallet's Smart Money podcast, you'll hear from trusted journalists who explain the why behind major financial decisions. You'll get research-backed insights and clear pros and cons, whether you're planning a big purchase or just want to grow your wealth. Make your next financial move with confidence. Follow NerdWallet's Smart Money podcast on your favorite podcast app. Would you look at that? It's time for some of our favorite Snapple Real Facts. Aheum. Real Fack 1433, Toe wrestling is a competitive sport. Real Fack 732, the chicken is the closest living relative of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. And Realtback 1599, a man once ate an entire airplane. Yautch. Did he have any hot sauce? Yeah, so anyways, this has been a refreshing break brought to you by Snapple. Real tea, real juice. With snaps and...