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THE VOICE OF BLACK MINNESOTA SINCE 1934
November 9 - 15, 2023
Vol. 90
No. 15
Phone: 612-827-4021
www.spokesman-recorder.com
Public safety leadership reboot
Minneapolis’ new Community Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette brings decades-long experience to the role By Abdi Mohamed Contributing Writer
Minneapolis’ new Public Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette Photos by Abdi Mohamed
Department, but he stated in an interview that the report would help guide change in the city. The Office of Community Safety is made up of five separate departments that cover Fire, 911, the Minneapolis Police Department, Neighborhood Safety, and Emergency Management. The role of commissioner is a four-year-term and earns a base salary of $300,000. Barnette is no stranger to administering a large governmental organization. He managed the Hennepin County court system as chief judge, the first person of color to hold the position when he took helm in 2020. Barnette oversaw the state’s largest trial court with 63 judges and 584 staff, which processes roughly 40 percent of cases filed in Minnesota. He took the position of Hennepin County chief judge shortly after the police-involved killing of George Floyd, where he coordinated the trials of Derek Chauvin and the other officers charged in Floyd’s murder.
inneapolis welcomed a new community safety commissioner as Hennepin County Chief Judge Todd Barnette was sworn in Monday morning, October 23, just days after the City Council voted to confirm him 12-1. Barnette was nominated by Mayor Jacob Frey last month following the departure of Dr. Cedric Alexander, who held the position for nearly a year. Alexander previously worked as the director of public safety for Dekalb County in Georgia and led various law enforcement organizations for several years. He announced his departure shortly after the Department of Justice released its report that found patterns of abuse in the Min- Holistic approach to public safety neapolis Police In the years following George
Floyd’s murder, Minneapolis officials and residents have grappled with their vision for public safety. Barnette now transitions into a role that calls for someone with a perspective that can factor in the different aspects of the criminal justice system and divert resources to the appropriate circumstances.
its this experience in shaping his approach to public safety and said it would inform his work in this role. “I think that’s helpful. My view is not particular to any one of these departments, but it’s more like a high-level view of what’s going on,” he said referring to his previous roles. Barnette said he was motivated to apply for the role after seeing the city taking a “holistic approach” toward public safety, where neighborhood safety is at the beginning of the road and police are at the end. He stated that crime prevention should be built to the point that people won’t have to contact police and will be able to differentiate when to dial 311, as opposed to 911. In this public-safety model, Barnette envisions an individual receiving the appropriate services they need from one of the five departments and reducing the chance of being a repeat offender. It also With over three decades of pro- helps residents get the resources fessional experience in the criminal they need for a sustainable solution. “This approach of having a hojustice system, Barnette served as a public defender, prosecutor and listic view means that you could ■ See BARNETTE on page 7 judge in Hennepin County. He cred-
“It just can’t be words. We have to make sure that if we’re saying we’re going to be transparent, we have to be.”
Biden visits Dakota County farm to tout achievements By H. Jiahong Pan Contributing Writer
fuel, and corporate profits. “People are feeling the economic pinch,” said Center for Rural Strategies President REENVALE TOWNDee Davis. “Rural Americans SHIP, MN — Presiare pretty angry at the cordent Joe Biden visited Minnesota for a second porations. They’re mad about time this year, this time to price-gouging, about the cost tout his achievements for rural of gasoline, the cost of insufarmers. lin. They want government out Biden spoke at Dutch Creek of their way, but at the same Farms, an 81-acre farm that time they want government to raises pigs, corn and soybeans, intervene.” in rural Dakota County’s Angela Dawson, who owns Greenvale Township, about a hemp farm in Pine County four miles north of Northin northern Minnesota and does nursery seeds and starts, field. Biden’s visit comes at a agrees that the government crossroads: Voters are mixed should do something to adabout his performance as he faces reelection next year. Address corporate control of our food supply. “The pandemic ditionally, the pandemic and corporate consolidation are President Biden at Dutch Creek Farms Photo by Chris Juhn showed us that corporations controlling all of the food sysaffecting the food supply and aspiring farmers, while climate ral Strategies, a Kentucky and survey, however, found just tem really leaves us vulnerable change threatens our exis- Tennessee rural-focused policy over one-third of rural voters to shortages,” said Dawson. Indeed, the Biden administence and that of the food we think tank, show Biden faces may be amenable to voting need to sustain ourselves. low approval ratings in rural one way or another if candi- tration is working to address Polls conducted by Reuters, communities across America. dates address affordable hous- the corporate monopoly of Gallup and the Center for Ru- The Center for Rural Strategies ing, the high cost of food and the food system. To ensure
Angela Dawson, a hemp farmer from Pine County in northern Minnesota Photo by S. Whiting small family farms have a fighting chance, while addressing climate change and fostering local food economies, the Inflation Reduction Act provides
$20 billion to invest in smart agriculture and cover crops to manage soil erosion, soil quality, water and biodiversity. ■ See BIDEN on page 7
Black men struggle with obstacles to health and longevity Minnesota’s racial equity gaps are part of the problem
By Niara Savage Contributing Writer
predictors of life expectancy, these racial disparities spell disastrous consequences for n Minnesota, racial dispari- Black longevity. The impact of ties in life expectancy for these gaps on life expectancy is Black men and other men of especially evident for Black men, color are fueled in part by gaps who live an average of just unin socioeconomic status and der 67 years in Minnesota. educational inequalities. The Beyond the institutional state’s racial wealth gap is one factors at play in life expecof the worst in the nation. The tancy gaps, healthcare-related income inequality gap between habits passed down through Blacks and Whites is only worse generations may further comin Washington, D.C. Minnesota plicate Black men’s health. also ranks worst of all 50 states Dr. James Hill is a commufor racial disparities in high nity internal medicine doctor school graduation rates. with the Mayo Clinic in RochAs educational attainment ester, Minnesota. Principles of and wealth remain significant human learning and behavior,
including modeling, impact the Black community’s complex relationship with healthcare providers, Hill said. Mistrust of medical community “From my experience, skepticism and mistrust of doctors and the healthcare system have a role to play in not seeking care, and in avoiding recommended care,” Hill said. “This mistrust has roots in very real atrocities. But the past should not completely affect us today.” Hill noted that the top 10 causes of death for Black men Dr. James Hill, Community Internal Medicine with the Mayo Clinic Photo courtesy of Instagram ■ See BLACK HEALTH on page 7