Minneapolis City Council Stalls Rent Control for 2023

The prospect of Minneapolis rent control appearing on the November ballot disappeared this week as the result of a bit of political maneuvering by members of the Minneapolis City Council.

Three council members who support rent control were absent at Wednesday’s council meeting in observance of the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha.

The exact date of the start of the four-day holiday begins 10 days after the first sighting of the crescent moon by human eyes in the month. Astronomical calculations predicted the holiday would begin on Wednesday evening. The council meeting, therefore, was moved to Wednesday instead of the regular meeting day of Thursday to accommodate it. However, the moon was sighted earlier, which resulted in the holiday commencing Tuesday evening.

This scheduling change was made over a year ago. No council member voiced any concerns about the change in the holiday’s commencement date until Monday.

The vote, as to whether to refer the rent control issue to a committee was procedural. Most of the council members supported at least sending it to the committee. However, with Muslim members Aisha Chughtai, Jamal Osman and Jeremiah Ellison out for the holiday, there was no longer a majority among the remaining council members.

Five council members voted to stop rent control from appearing on the November ballot: Linea Palmisano, Lisa Goodman, Emily Koski, Michael Rainville and LaTrisha Vetaw.

Those who opposed were Council President Andrea Jenkins, Elliot Payne, Jason Chavez and Robin Wonsley. Council Member Andrew Johnson abstained from the vote.

Both Jenkins and Johnson have voiced their willingness to look at some sort of rent control ordinance other than the hard 3% annual cap submitted by the missing council members.

Of course, this political maneuver served to galvanize rent control proponents, who know all 13 city council seats will be on the ballot in November.

Housing providers need to get organized.

In spite of the temporary reprieve, the rent control battle in Minneapolis appears far from over.