We interviewed new Ward 10 Council Member Aisha Chughtai. You can find the full interview here.

Thanks for sending in all the great questions. Here are a couple of quotes from her answers:

"I’m really excited to bring the actual day-to-day experiences of people who rent in the city to the forefront and into decision-making spaces."

"If there's anything the pandemic taught us, it’s that we are nothing without the workers that make our economy run."

"You know, we hear a lot about safety in Ward 10, and in Minneapolis broadly, and something that I’ve always seen missing from the conversation is the way that we design our streets."

The city's next budget meeting will take place tomorrow (Wednesday) at 6:05 PM. This will be the last public hearing for this budget. Here's a video from the city about how the process works, but next up will be a vote by the full City Council, which should come later in December.

Wedge Live has a great breakdown of the changes at the last budget session here, which included more funding for the Office of Violence Prevention, $1.8M to move the city's 911 services at city hall, a 2% raise for the mayor and council, an additional $250k for legal services for renters, and more.

Here's how to submit a comment online, here's a form to sign up to speak (select "City Council" under meeting type and "Dec. 8 - 6:05 PM - City Council"), and here's a visualization of the budget for the past few years.

Chief Arradondo announced his retirement yesterday. He'll serve until his term ends in mid-January. Mayor Frey will announce the appointment of an interim Police Chief next week.

LINK ROUNDUP

Heavy Table has a great guide to all of the local restaurants requiring vaccinations. The only venues in Southwest on the list right now at Namaste Cafe and Mortimer's, but the list is expanding by the day, so be sure to check back. (Heavy Table)

The Orange Line, connecting downtown, Lake Street, and all the way out to Burnsville on 35W, is now open. This is a good chance to check out what bus rapid transit routes like the E Line will be like. (Spokesman Recorder)

GET INVOLVED

The Lake Street Council is running a promotion through December 12th – spend $25 on Lake Street, get another $25 to a great Lake Street business. Check out the details here.

Applications for the basic income pilot that will pay residents a small amount of money are open now.

STUFF TO DO‍

The Hennepin History Museum in Whittier is hosting a virtual event from 7:00 - 8:30 PM tonight with African-American elders discussing the middle-class, integrated community in South Minneapolis that was destroyed by the construction of 35W.

Application for Village Parks, a Park Board program to conduct language and culture learning through Concordia Language Villages for free, are open now. Programs are offered at Bryant Square Park, Northeast Park, and North Commons Park.