This vote was a genuinely difficult one. This is exactly the kind of issue where reasonable people, debating in good faith, can disagree because those of us on both sides agree on so much.
We agree the federal government created a genuine crisis through the economic disruption caused by Operation Metro Surge, especially in our immigrant community.
We agree we want our immigrant neighbors to remain part of the vibrant cultural fabric that makes Minneapolis so great.
We agree eviction is associated with serious social and public health consequences.
And we agree this problem can be solved with money, in the form of emergency rental assistance.
Where we disagree is whether more time will make the problem of evictions better or worse.
The strongest argument for extending the notice period is that what we are dealing with here is a special case.
The people experiencing severe income disruption because of Operation Metro Surge do not necessarily fit the profile of clients regularly served by large housing nonprofits.
The argument goes that the expertise of those organizations may not fully apply in these specific circumstances.
Millions of dollars in mutual aid have been activated and thousands of people have received rental assistance through community-driven efforts.
That generosity matters, and the argument is that more time would allow those resources to reach families before eviction proceedings begin.
I understand that argument. But I do not believe it holds up.
If someone is already two months behind on rent, adding another 30 days only increases the size of the financial hole they are in.
It increases the amount of money needed to make them whole. Even in these circumstances, time is only going to make the road to recovery steeper.
I will concede what I think is true. There are certainly individual circumstances where 30 more days would help someone stay in their current housing.
But that is outweighed by evidence pointing to more people being harmed in the long run through larger debt balances that push them past the reach of rental assistance programs, higher rates of eviction and a gradual erosion of the affordable housing supply as smaller landlords face financial pressure that forces them to sell.
“If someone is already two months behind on rent, adding another 30 days only increases the size of the financial hole they are in.”
Consider one concrete example. Align Minneapolis’ Emergency Rental Assistance program, one of the community-based tools our neighbors rely on, caps eligibility at back-due rent not exceeding three months and $2,000. Both conditions must be met.
A tenant who crosses either threshold does not get less help. They get no help at all. Extending the notice period makes it more likely that tenants in crisis cross that line before anyone intervenes.
The same logic applies to mutual aid. We have heard from people on the ground that many of these funds are already tapped out or will not be able to continue past March. More time, more debt and fewer donations is not a path forward. It is a deeper hole.
The organizations we heard from, including Aeon, Agate, CommonBond, Catholic Charities, Project for Pride in Living and Simpson Housing, are trusted partners we fund through the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
Their whole mission is preventing evictions, not enabling them. They spoke with a united voice at great political risk that this proposal is counterproductive.
When they tell us a longer notice period leads to larger balances and higher rates of eviction, we have a responsibility to listen. They have been engaged in this work for decades.
None of this diminishes my respect for those who hold the opposite position or the awe I feel for the thousands of Minneapolitans who have sacrificed money, time and personal safety to protect our neighbors. The compassion behind this advocacy has inspired the world and me.
But our responsibility as policymakers is not just to pass something that feels like help. It is to pass policies that actually help.
The most effective tool for preventing eviction is rental assistance, not longer timelines.
That is why I supported the mayor’s additional $1 million in emergency rental assistance and continued lobbying at the Capitol for resources at the scale this crisis requires.
My door is always open to those with perspectives different from my own. Those are exactly the conversations I value most.
On difficult questions like this one, good faith disagreement is not a weakness of our politics. It is part of how we do our best work.
Elizabeth Shaffer represents Ward 7 on the Minneapolis City Council. She lives in Lowry Hill.
