Mayor’s Minutes: Brooklyn Center’s April Graves
Brooklyn Center Mayor April Graves provided some updates as part of her recent taping for Mayor’s Minutes at CCX Media with host Dave Kiser.
The city continues its aim of reforming its law enforcement model after the shooting death of Daunte Wright by a city police officer in 2021. Mayor Graves said the city council recently received some recommendations from the city’s implementation committee, as well as some feedback from staff and the police department.
“There wasn’t a full consensus of staff nor council so we’ve tabled (any motions or decisions) to have some deeper discussions with the police department as well as with the council members and potentially with community members and come back to the table,” said Mayor Graves.
The city is also in the middle of working with MNDOT and other regional leaders on possible changes to the congested and outdated Highway 252 corridor. Mayor Graves said there were many concerns shared with MNDOT that she said the state agency did not take into consideration when putting out possible solutions–even after public feedback.
“Community members and council members are continuing to push back and ask that we have more robust alternatives to consider as part of that process,” she said.
The city continues in its budget and strategic planning processes. Graves said the preliminary budget levy is 8.5%, meaning any increase passed in the final budget for next year can not be any higher than that.