Government

Main articles: Minneapolis City Council, Neighborhoods of Minneapolis, and Law and government of Minneapolis

Spring art party, North Commons Park, Willard-Hay, one of the eighty one neighborhoods of Minneapolis

Minneapolis is a stronghold for the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), an affiliate of the Democratic Party. The Minneapolis City Council holds the most power and represents the city's thirteen districts called wards. The city adopted instant-runoff voting in 2006, first using it in the 2009 elections.^[216] The council has 12 DFL members and one from the Green Party.^[217] Election issues in 2013 included funding for a new Vikings stadium over which some incumbents lost their positions.^[216] That year, Minneapolis elected Abdi Warsame, Alondra Cano, and Blong Yang, the city's first Somali-American, Mexican-American, and Hmong-American city councilpeople, respectively.^{[216][218][219]}
Betsy Hodges of the DFL is the current mayor of Minneapolis.^[218] The office of mayor is relatively weak but has some power to appoint individuals such as the chief of police. Parks, taxation, and public housing are semi-independent boards and levy their own taxes and fees subject to Board of Estimate and Taxation limits.^[220]
At the federal level, Minneapolis proper sits within Minnesota's 5th congressional district, which has been represented since 2006 by Democrat Keith Ellison, the first practicing Muslim in the United States Congress. Both of Minnesota's two U.S. Senators, Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, were also elected while living in Minneapolis and are also Democrats.^[221]
The Republican Party of Minnesota in January 2014 moved its state headquarters from Saint Paul to the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis.^[222]
Citizens had a unique and powerful influence in neighborhood government. Neighborhoods coordinated activities under the Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP), which ended in 2009.^[223] Minneapolis is divided into communities, each containing neighborhoods. In some cases two or more neighborhoods act together under one organization. Some areas are commonly known by nicknames of business associations.^[224]
The organizers of Earth Day scored Minneapolis ninth best overall and second among mid-sized cities in their 2007 Urban Environment Report, a study based on indicators of environmental health and their effect on people.^[225]

Minneapolis City Hall

Early Minneapolis experienced a period of corruption in local government and crime was common until an economic downturn in the mid-1900s. Since 1950 the population decreased and much of downtown was lost to urban renewal and highway construction. The result was a "moribund and peaceful" environment until the 1990s.^[226] Along with economic recovery the murder rate climbed. The Minneapolis Police Department imported a computer system from New York City that sent officers to high crime areas. Despite accusations of racial profiling; the result was a drop in major crime. Since 1999 the number of homicides increased during four years.^[227] Politicians debated the causes and solutions, including increasing the number of police officers, providing youths with alternatives to gangs and drugs, and helping families in poverty.^[228]

[show]Crime in Minneapolis by neighborhood (2013)[229]

From 2006 to 2012, under chief Tim Dolan, the crime rate steadily dropped, and the police benefited from new video and gunfire locator resources, although Dolan was criticized for expensive city settlements for police misconduct.^[230] While violent crime dropped (from 6,374 in 2006 to 3,720 in 2011^[230]), homicides rose by 105%^[231] and rape was at the highest rate among large cities.^[232] U.S. News & World Report said in 2011 that Minneapolis tied with Cleveland, Ohio as the 10th most dangerous city in the United States.^[233]
Janeé Harteau was confirmed as the new police chief in 2012. A member of the force since 1987, Harteau, who was nominated by mayor R.T. Rybak and is the city's first female and first openly gay police chief, already served as deputy chief, inspector, and patrol bureau commander.^[234][235]
The City Council passed a resolution in March 2015 making fossil fuel divestment city policy.^[236] With encouragement from Mayor Hodges, Minneapolis joined seventeen cities worldwide in the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance. The city's climate plan is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 15 percent in 2015 "compared to 2006 levels, 30 percent by 2025 and 80 percent by 2050".^[237]