Minneapolis City Council Votes Against Putting Rent Control on November’s Ballot—While Three Muslim Councilmembers Are Absent for Eid

With Aisha Chughtai, Jeremiah Ellison, and Jamal Osman absent for Eid, the Minneapolis City Council voted 5-4 against putting rent control on November’s ballot.

There are conflicting reports about how the vote ended up on Wednesday’s religious holiday, and whether or not the schedule had been agreed to by the Council’s Muslim members. Regardless, the move certainly appears to be strategically pro-landlord.

After the vote, Chughtai, Ellison, and Osman released a statement which we’ve shared excerpts from below:

“Community, Eid Mubarak!

The policy that Councilmembers Chughtai and Osman brought was the recommendation of the Work Group created by the Council — it was a framework to start a conversation between Councilmembers. To vote against this process step is to cut off the conversation before it’s even started, and it shows that we are still not a Council ready to put renters, working people, and democratic policymaking first.

Minneapolis is a majority renter city. Nearly 70% of Ward 5 residents, 95% of Ward 6 residents, and 80% of Ward 10 residents are renters. Our constituents voted to approve Question 3 in 2021. They deserve a transparent exploration of this policy.

Rent Stabilization is out of reach for this year’s ballot. It’s a denial of our democratic process and obligation. This is not transparent policymaking. Further, by taking this action at the expense of their Muslim colleagues, the Council took an action that not only neglected the will of the voters, but the manner in which they did it violated trust and understanding with a significant portion of our community. Reasonable people can ultimately disagree on the issues, but the alienation will linger. Our colleagues will have to figure out how they plan to repair this harm.”