Housing advocates rally outside housing court after Frey vetoes renter protections

Renters' rights advocates and tenants gathered outside Hennepin County courtrooms Thursday to protest Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey's recent veto of an eviction notice extension ordinance.

Last week, the Minneapolis City Council passed a measure requiring landlords to wait 60 days to evict someone instead of 30. The council approved the ordinance 7-5, which was not enough votes to override a veto.

Supporters said Operation Metro Surge left residents out of work and relying on mutual aid networks to pay rent.

"It's no secret that Jacob Frey is a dream come true for the real estate industry, and their donations tell the story," said Farhan Badel, an organizer with Inquilinxs Unidxs Por Justicia.

Community members said a wave of evictions will be felt not just throughout the city, but the entire county.

Frida Mercado read a statement from her neighbor, Laura Perez, a mother of five who Mercado said was confined to her home during the ICE surge.

Interpreter Rebecca Song translated this message: "As tenants, we know we have to pay rent, but when we're forced to stay home from work and our communities are being violated, it's unfair and unjust. The landlords don't care if we cannot pay the rent from being absent from work."

Frey is instead proposing another $1 million in rental assistance.

"We don't have any evidence that evictions are increasing," Frey told WCCO on Wednesday.

Minneapolis City Council Member Robin Wonsley said she hopes the mayor and the six council members who voted no or abstained change their minds.

"We had thousands of residents doing the job of government officials who did not declare an eviction moratorium, who did not put in eviction protections, who did not raise tens of millions of dollars in rental assistance," Wonsley said.

The city council convenes again at the end of the month. Two more yes votes would be required to make the ordinance veto-proof.