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MPR News Staff

Mayor Hodges looks back on 2015: Protests, the pope and racial inequities

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Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges
Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges was peppered with questions from protesters about police violence this November.
Kyndell Harkness | Star Tribune via AP

2015 was a busy year for Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges. She began the year acknowledging that the city had some of the biggest racial disparities in the country, and ended it amid a storm of criticism from protestors calling for change after the police shooting of Jamar Clark.

In between, she pulled back on her controversial "fair scheduling" proposal and met with the pope about issues of climate change and human trafficking.

Mayor Hodges joined MPR News host Tom Weber to discuss the events of 2015, and the initiatives she'll be pursuing in 2016.

On the protests at the Fourth Precinct

"We are one of the first cities in the country to have gotten through it with a peaceful ending the way that we did. I think there's a lot that happened behind the scenes, and there's a lot I was doing behind the scenes for those 18 days that I'm not sure people are aware of.

...

"There were many, many things going on behind the scenes to make sure we had as safe and peaceful an ending as we could. Walking into work every day — and mostly it was around-the-clock for 18 days — my top concern was public safety: How do we make sure that protesters, that neighbors, that police officers all make it home safe at the end of the day? Or are all safe at the end of the day?"

On the criticism she's received about her response to the protests

"I haven't been communicating well enough about the work I've been doing. I put my head down, I do the policy work, I do my best to get results for people, but if people don't know that, then they don't have a complete picture of the way their city government is serving them."

On how the city can move forward

"The shooting was a tragedy for everyone involved. From stem to stern, it's a tragic event. I'm not someone who believes things like that have inherent meaning, but if we want to give meaning to it, this is our opportunity to come together as a community and to move forward on some of the day-to-day work that is hard and that can be painful, but to do it together, for the good of the community, and for our own futures as people, as a city, as a region."

To hear the full discussion with Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges, including her plans for sick time reform, educational initiatives and organics recycling, use the audio player above.