Minneapolis ELR Committee Meeting July 20, 2026: Consent Items, Director Position, Work Plan
Minneapolis Enterprise and Labor Relations Committee Regular Meeting – July 20, 2026
The Enterprise and Labor Relations (ELR) Committee of the Minneapolis City Council met on July 20, 2026, at 6:32 PM (UTC) under Chair Linne Palmasano. The meeting was broadcast live with real-time captioning. A quorum of six members was present (Councilmembers Vita, Stevenson, Chavez, Vice Chair Whiting, Chair Palmasano; Councilmember Chipp was absent). The agenda included consent items, a discussion on establishing an unclassified Director of Environmental Health position, and approval of the 2026–2029 ELR Committee Work Plan.
Consent Calendar
Chair Palmasano read ten consent items and then offered brief explanations for two items, which were unanimously approved by voice vote (all ayes, no nays). Items included:
- Item 1: Staff direction for the city clerk's office on legislative process reform research and recommendations (updated to incorporate Councilmember Chavez's additions).
- Item 2: Low bid for the fire department training apparatus expansion project.
- Item 3: Contract amendment with Shawn Lundquist Associates for City Hall Restack Phase Three.
- Item 4: Contract amendment with SABA Software (Canada Inc.) for enterprise-wide performance management system support.
- Item 5: Legal settlement of Cameron Chickeny vs. City of Minneapolis.
- Item 6: Legal settlement of workers' compensation complaints of Terrence Floyd.
- Item 7: Claim settlement of the convention center against Northern States Power Company (doing business as Excel Energy).
- Item 8: Resolution authorizing refunding bond issuance for outstanding 2018 capital improvement bonds (callable December 1, 2026). Dave Wheeler (city finance) explained this is analogous to refinancing a home mortgage, with preliminary estimates showing approximately $1.9 million in interest cost savings over ten years if maturities through 2036 are refunded.
- Items 9–10: Receiving and filing standard financial reports for Q2 2026, including lists of staff purchasing letters and professional services contracts between $5,000 and $175,000.
Discussion Items
Director of Environmental Health (Unclassified Position) Brenda Miller, classification supervisor, presented changes to the pay and points for the Director of Environmental Health (a vacant position previously held by Cindy Weckworth, who recently retired). The position reports to the Commissioner of Health, oversees disease/injury prevention at businesses regulated by the health code, and meets the criteria of Section 2010.10 of the Minneapolis Code of Ordinances. The job was evaluated at 3,575 points, Grade 12, with a 2026 salary range of $132,000–$156,000. The incremental cost increase of about $5,000 is included in the health department's budget. Councilmember Chavez asked for clarification (repurposing of an existing position, re-evaluation for salary increase). Councilmember Stevenson asked about the timing (position had not been reevaluated in a while; now vacant). The committee unanimously approved the ordinance adopting findings and establishing the position, effective July 30, 2026.
2026–2029 ELR Committee Work Plan Dwight Miller (Legislative Policy & Research, no relation to Brenda Miller) presented the work plan. The process involved: the LRO team supporting committees in creating measurable strategic goals; meetings with the chair and vice chair; a survey sent via Smartsheet; and compilation of input. Two strategic goals were highlighted: (A) Promote an efficient and accountable enterprise, and (B) Support collaborative labor relations and an equitable city workforce. Objectives include enterprise oversight, modernization of city operations (linked to legislative process reform), and workforce sustainability and equity. Chair Palmasano noted the priorities reflect committee member conversations and survey feedback, emphasizing enterprise-wide processes (legislative reform, city operations, accountability, HR, labor relations, and the 311 system). Councilmember Whiting praised the work plan. The committee unanimously approved the work plan.
Key Outcomes
- Consent calendar (10 items) approved unanimously.
- Ordinance establishing the unclassified Director of Environmental Health position (with a salary range of $132K–$156K and an incremental cost of ~$5K) approved unanimously, effective July 30, 2026.
- 2026–2029 ELR Committee Work Plan approved unanimously.
- Meeting adjourned without objection after all business was concluded.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon and welcome. My name is Linne Palmasano, and I'm the chair of the Enterprise and Labor Relations Committee, and I'll call to order our regular meeting for July 20th. Before we begin, I want to offer a friendly reminder to all committee members, staff, and the public that these meetings are broadcast live to enable greater public participation. These broadcasts include real-time captioning as a further method to increase accessibility to the community, and therefore all speakers, please be mindful of the rate of your speech so our captioners can fully transcribe all comments for the broadcast. We ask all speakers to moderate the speed and clarity of their comments. I'll ask the clerk to please call the roll. Councilmember Vita. Present. Present. Stevenson. Present. Chavez? Present. Chip time is absent. Vice Chair Waiting. Present. Chair Palmasano. Present. We have six present. Thank you. Let the record reflect we have a quorum, and I will remind my colleagues that we have speaker management queued up today. So please sign in. We'll start with our consent items, which I'll read first for the record. Item number one is a staff direction for the city clerk's office related to legislative process reform research and recommendations. Item number two is the low bid for the fire department training apparatus expansion project. Item three is authorizing a contract amendment with Shawn Lundquist Associates for the City Hall Restack Phase Three Project. Item number four is a contract amendment with SABA software, also known as Canada Inc. for Enterprise Wide Performance Management System Support and Maintenance. Item five is a legal settlement of Cameron Chickeny with versus the City of Minneapolis. Item number six is the legal settlement the workers' complaints of Terrence Floyd. Item seven is a claim settlement of the convention center against Northern States Power Company doing business as Excel Energy, but we still call it Northern States Power Company. Item number eight is a resolution related to indebtedness and refund bond issuance for outstanding capital improvement bonds. I'll ask Dave Wheeler to stand up and give us the five cent tour of what that means. Items nine and ten are receiving and filing standard financial reports for the second quarter of 2026. Item nine is a list of staff purchasing letters and joint purchase letters. Item 10 is a report for professional services contracts between five and 175,000. Is there any discussion on any of these items? I put myself in cue for item one and item eight. Are there any others? All right. Um I'll start with item number one. As a legislative body, we started the complex job of legislative process reform back in 2023. We did not get it finished in that term, and I plan to bring it back to committee to this committee in this term. This first step is a staff directive asking for research and recommendations from the city clerk. It's essentially give us a fresh look. At its core, this is about better systems and more consistent rules that lead to an open, transparent, and knowable process for both us and also the public. As our city clerk has said, we are five years into our new government structure, and we are still using processes from before in the old government structure. This is about us, a legislative body looking at the way we conduct our own legislative policy making and oversight work. And I firmly believe that better processes lead to better policy. I've met or spoken with almost every council member about this.
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