Category: Minneapolis, Minnesota Local News

While the Minneapolis City Council voted to boost pay for Uber and Lyft drivers in the city Thursday, the people who use the apps regularly are wondering if it’s about to get harder to get home.

The council met for the final vote on a measure meant to raise pay for rideshare drivers. It passed 9 to 4, a veto-proof majority. Mayor Jacob Frey vetoed a similar measure last year, but the council majority has tipped further to the left since then.

Uber and Lyft have amped up a campaign against the measure, taking steps to signal they intend to pull out of Minneapolis on May 1.

The departure of rideshare services would impact greatly impact Maggie Leese’s commute to work, she said Thursday after the council vote. In her experience, she said, it’s much more affordable than parking in an expensive parking garage. Plus Uber also allows pets, she said, as she patted her dog Luna.

“Our friends that we work with a live a couple blocks away, we share a car (ride share),” Leese said. “I think it’d be more problematic than anything if there are no companies.”

Late Wednesday at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, incoming travelers monitored the location of their drivers by phone while waiting in the airport Uber/Lyft pickup zone.

Mark Phelps, of Eden Prairie, said he frequently uses both Lyft and Uber to travel in and out of Minneapolis. He looks at both apps for the cheapest ride and if one is up he uses the other, he said.

“We’ve taken a cab from the airport, but otherwise calling a cab? I haven’t done it in years,” Phelps said, calling the prospect “a pain.”

The Minneapolis council’s plan would boost pay for ride share drivers who say they’ve seen less income in recent years and that they struggle to make enough to cover more than their expenses.

The plan would pay drivers a minimum of $1.40 per mile and 51 cents per minute while transporting riders on any trip within the city limits. Lyft and Uber have defended their pay as fair.

Jen Lenzmeier typically drives to the airport, but she and her husband opted for rideshare on Wednesday after returning from a long international trip. And the Chisago City couple goes for rideshare any time they head into the city.

“When we’re in Minneapolis, when we come spend the night and go out, we always Uber,” Lenzmeier said.

Ellie Thurston sat atop her suitcase in the pickup bay while waiting for her ride to Northfield, Minn. Without rideshare apps, what is already a 40-minute car ride would turn into an hours-long complicated bus trip, she said. While it’s unclear how an Uber and Lyft pullout from Minneapolis would affect the greater region, Thurston noted that the two companies have a large amount of sway in an area that still lacks plentiful transit options.

“They are practically holding the city hostage,” she said.

Dismissing Uber and Lyft’s vows to leave town and declaring a victory for a sector of underpaid workers, a veto-proof majority of the Minneapolis City Council on Thursday approved a pay increase for rideshare drivers that Mayor Jacob Frey immediately pledged to veto.

The vote was 9 to 4, enough to override a veto if that vote were to hold.

If the council overrides the promised veto this month, both ride-hailing companies said Thursday they would cease operations in the city — and perhaps Minnesota — on May 1, the day the pay increase would take effect.

Uber and Lyft are the only two rideshare operations licensed to operate in Minneapolis, although several entities have indicated an interest in starting up in the city.

Supporters, including organized groups of drivers and some labor advocates, say the approved minimum pay scales and other protections are the best way to ensure drivers earn the equivalent of the city’s $15.57 hourly minimum wage. While driving for Uber or Lyft is often seen as a side gig, it has become the sole source of income for many drivers.

“If employers leave because they are paying sub-minimum wages and companies step in who pay minimum wages, I believe that’s a win for our city,” said Council Member Jason Chavez.

Uber and Lyft, however, say the minimums are too high to make doing business in the city worthwhile. To preserve their margins, the companies say, they would have to nearly double fares, resulting in so few riders that their business model would collapse.

The vote came on the eve of a state report that could explain which rates would equate to specific actual earnings for drivers — a tricky figure to nail down in the dynamic pricing universe of ridesharing.

An attempt to delay the council vote until that report, which is being conducted for the Department of Labor and Industry, was available fell short Thursday.

Before the vote, Frey pleaded for the council to wait for the report and soften its demands to a level that he said Uber and Lyft would accept — but would still effectively nearly double the rates drivers earn.

The measure approved Thursday is similar to one the mayor vetoed last year.

Opponents of the plan include business leaders and bar and restaurant associations. Some in the disability community also are concerned. They note that some people unable to drive rely on rideshare companies, often with public aid vouchers, to travel to work and medical appointments or to see friends and family.

However, David Dively, executive director of the Minnesota Council on Disabilities, said Uber and Lyft shouldn’t be considered an integral part of transportation for people with disabilities because few rideshare vehicles are wheelchair-accessible.

In the past week, the rideshare companies increased pressure on City Council to reject the pay increase. Uber took out ads on the home page of the Star Tribune and on local radio, and Lyft wrote to council members, appealing to their sense of economic justice by offering figures showing that the typical Minneapolis rider is working class.

During the second quarter of 2023, some 7,000 Uber drivers provided nearly 300,000 rides in the metro area, according to figures the company supplied.

Companies react

Following Thursday’s vote, Uber issued a statement suggesting it would seek to pre-empt the city’s ordinance via state law, implicitly as a way to return after leaving.

“Uber supports comprehensive statewide legislation that guarantees drivers $35/hr minimum earnings while working and protects their flexibility and independence,” the statement read. “If this ordinance is enacted, we look forward to working with drivers, riders and the legislature to bring rideshare back.”

Lyft released a statement restating its intent to leave if nothing changes.

“For the second time in less than a year, the bill sponsors have willfully chosen to ignore offers to collaborate, instead choosing to rush through the most extreme figures possible,” the statement read.

“We implore Mayor Frey to veto this legislation and instead join our efforts to pass a statewide minimum earnings standard that can balance the needs of all. Otherwise, we will no longer be able to operate in the city once the bill takes effect on May 1.”

Drivers react

It’s difficult to gauge driver sentiment. More than 300 Lyft drivers signed an online petition opposing the plan, and some have complained that a small, vocal group of supporters dominated the public discourse.

The drivers who attended the council’s vote Thursday overwhelmingly cheered.

“This is great! This is historic! Thank you, council members,” driver Farhan Badel shouted.

Matthew McGlory, who said he’s driven more than 10,000 trips for Lyft and nearly as many for Uber, said he earns less than half the price the rideshare app shows to riders — with tip included.

He said he doubts Uber and Lyft would leave Minneapolis because of the amount of business travel, the Delta Air Lines hub at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and the large number of national events held in the city.

“I think that is a poker bluff,” McGlory said.

Seeing big companies make 60% of ride income when the drivers provide the service doesn’t make sense, said Marianna Brown, who was a rideshare driver in New York before driving in Minneapolis.

“Why should we let the big corporations make all the money when we as little people make nothing?” Brown asked.

What drivers get

The plan approved Thursday guarantees a floor of $1.40 per mile and 51 cents per minute. The driver of a wheelchair-accessible vehicle would get $1.81 per mile. Frey had pushed for a minimum payment of $1.20 per mile and 35 cents per minute.

The approved plan includes additional provisions, including a $5 minimum payment for any ride, annual increases for drivers and restrictions on how money can be deducted from drivers’ wages.

How they voted

Voting in favor were Council President Elliott Payne, Vice President Aisha Chughtai and Members Robin Wonsley, Jeremiah Ellison, Jamal Osman, Katie Cashman, Andrea Jenkins, Jason Chavez and Aurin Chowdhury.

Voting against were Council Members Michael Rainville, LaTrisha Vetaw, Emily Koski and Linea Palmisano.

What’s next

The state study, which is expected to be released Friday, comes amid a push to raise the pay and working standards of rideshare drivers across Minnesota.

The Legislature passed a driver pay plan last year, but Gov. Tim Walz vetoed it amid opposition from Uber and Lyft.

Walz established a task force, including drivers and company representatives, to look into the matter and recommend a plan. The group finished its work without specific rate recommendations but before the new study had concluded.

The study is the first in Minnesota to examine aggregate data from the rideshare companies and one Frey said the council should have waited for.

“The statewide report is literally going to be released tomorrow,” Frey said Thursday. “It’s irresponsible to pass policy today when we’ll have the data tomorrow.

Supporters of the council’s plan said they could change the rates before they become effective May 1.

Gerard and Brittney Klass, Klassics Kitchen + Cocktails, 428 S 2nd Street

Gerard and Brittney Klass launch full-service restaurant, Klassics Kitchen + Cocktails, in the Mill District

Chef Gerard Klass, a Guyanese American deeply rooted in Minneapolis’ vibrant hospitality scene, has embarked on the next leg of his culinary journey with the launch of Klassics Kitchen + Cocktails. This full-service restaurant has been seven years in the making and is located in the former Smith & Porter Restaurant space.

“Minneapolis has been my home, my inspiration, and my canvas for culinary creativity. The unwavering support and encouragement from this community have been instrumental in shaping my culinary journey, and I am deeply thankful for the opportunity to share my passion with you all.”  Chef Gerard

Bahn Mi Lettuce Wraps

Drawing inspiration from his diverse cultural background and extensive travels, Chef Gerard promises Klassics Kitchen + Cocktails will be a vibrant tapestry of flavors: “The menu is my food sermon, a masterful blend of tradition and innovation, crafted with love and care to tantalize the senses and ignite culinary curiosity.”

Brittney and Gerard Klass also own C.R.E.A.M. Cafe (next door to Klassics Kitchen) and Soul Bowl, which operates in Graze Food Hall, U.S. Bank Stadium, Target Field, Target Center and the Minnesota State Fair. They are also co-partners in The Camden Social. They extend a heartfelt invitation to the Minneapolis community to experience the warmth, hospitality, and culinary excellence that await them!

Minneapolis and Hennepin County residents should soon have access to $18 million in federal funding to help low-income homeowners remove and replace trees infested with the emerald ash borer.

The Hennepin County Board accepted a $10 million grant Tuesday from the U.S. Forest Service, which is distributing money from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Minneapolis leaders OK’d a similar $8 million grant last year.

The money will primarily be used to pay for the removal and replacement of ash trees infested with the emerald ash borer. The borer was first found in Hennepin County in 2010 and is expected to kill more than a million ash trees, roughly 15% of the county’s tree canopy.

Removing an infested ash tree can cost thousands of dollars. In Minneapolis, residents who cannot pay up front can end up having the cost added to their property taxes — driving up housing costs.

Hennepin County Board Chair Irene Fernando said she heard from so many frustrated residents about tree removal costs being added to their property taxes that she wrote to Minneapolis Park Board members in November, asking them to change course.

“It is unreasonable to place this amount of financial burden on residents,” Fernando wrote. She said the tree removal costs have a “pronounced and disparate impact” on low-income and residents of color, including in north Minneapolis where she lives.

Fernando’s November letter urged the Park Board to find state and federal funds to help offset the costs. She noted recently that the grant money heading to the county could not be used to pay for previously removed trees.

The resolution asking the County Board to approve the federal grant acknowledges that Hennepin County has some of the lowest rates of homeownership in the nation for people of color. The resolution also said that lower-income homeowners were unlikely to replace trees that were removed due to emerald ash borer because of the cost.

“We pursued this funding specifically due to the response we heard from the community about the financial burden relating to tree condemnations associated with emerald ash borer,” said John Evans of the county’s Environment and Energy Department.

The grant money should last for about five years and Hennepin County leaders plan to plant two trees for every one they remove, for a total of about 4,500 new trees, Evans said. In addition to helping low-income residents pay to remove infested ash trees, the federal grant money will be used to improve the tree canopy in neighborhoods with few mature trees and little shade.

County leaders plan to hire at least three people to help administer the grant and will also expand opportunities for residents to learn more about tree care and forestry careers, Evans said. An informational campaign about the tree replacement program is planned for later this year.

Commissioner Debbie Goettel said the grant money would also help the county reach its goal of planting a million trees. “This is wonderful and it is going to where it is needed,” Goettel said. “This couldn’t have come at a better time.”

If you thought Minnesota was due for some Michelin stars, you are not alone.

Gavin Kaysen is taking matters into his own hands.

A hypothetical contender for recognition from the French dining guide for his work at Spoon and Stable, Demi and Mara — should Michelin ever turn its attention to our state — Kaysen has invited three decorated chefs from other cities to Demi for a new visiting chef series, called the North Star Series. (North star, get it?)

“It is no surprise why I have chosen these teams and restaurants to come and cook with us,” Kaysen said in an announcement. “For years, they have focused on perfecting their craft of cooking and hospitality; something we believe in so much at Demi. It is also a perfect opportunity to showcase what it means to have earned a Michelin star. Our guests will have a chance to taste, and see up close, the distinct qualities of a 1-, 2- and 3-Michelin star dining experience. I am a firm believer that we are only as good as the people we surround ourselves with, and these fine professionals are some of the best there has ever been. I’m looking forward to sharing that with our guests.”

The series launches May 3 with chef Ian Palazzola and master sommelier Bobby Stuckey from one-star Boulder, Colo., restaurant Frasca Food and Wine.

On Aug. 2, Swedish chef Emma Bengtsson visits from New York City’s two-star Nordic dream Aquavit — a restaurant that’s still missed locally for its stint in downtown Minneapolis, when Marcus Samuelsson was at the helm.

And on Oct. 4, chef/director William Bradley flies in from Addison in San Diego. It’s the only three-star Michelin restaurant in Southern California.

The experience promises to be intimate, with all 20 of Demi’s seats in a U-shape around the open kitchen.

Tickets are $695 per person for each nine-course dinner, an all-inclusive price tag that covers drink pairings, service fees, tax and a gift bag. Tickets for the North Star Series go on sale on the first day of the month before the event, at exploretock.com/demi.

For perspective, a dinner at Frasca with wine pairings will run almost $400 before tax and tip, and Bengtsson’s chef’s tasting menu at Aquavit, with wine, goes for $500.

If Minnesota wants Michelin stars, be prepared to pay the price.

Pangea World Theater presents Hecuba

April 5 – 21 at The Southern Theater

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Pangea World Theater presents Hecuba by Marina Carr, a compelling reimagining of the aftermath of the Fall of Troy, on stage at The Southern Theater in Minneapolis, April 5 – 21, 2024. Ticket info

Hecuba follows Agamemnon, the victor, as he locks horns with Hecuba, the vanquished queen. Both have suffered intimate loss — the sacrifice of a daughter and the murder of a son. In Marina Carr’s bold engagement with Euripides’ play of the same name written c. 424 BC (“the most intensely tragic of all poets” — Aristotle) there’s a demand for further bloodshed. In a brilliant display of ventriloquism, the drama weaves threads of inconsolable rage and grief with fate, revenge, and inevitable carnage. The show explores the shreds of duty and honor as well as the terrible deeds hatred breeds as it touches bravely on Hecuba’s heroic nature and “the endless tears of women.”

The Hecuba ensemble includes Suzanne Victoria Cross, Ankita Ashrit, Anne Guadagnino, Matthew Saxe, Ernest Briggs, Tyler Stamm, J. Antonio Teodro, Nathan Berglund, and Neel Shah.

Director Dipankar Mukherjee’s artistic team features lighting design by Mike Grogan, set design by Orin Herfindal, costume design by Mary Ann Kelling, composition, live music and sound design by Bethany Lacktorin, assistant direction by Sir Curtis Kirby III, with stage management by Cassi Henning.

“As artists in Pangea, we are in search of understanding the complexity of the time we live in,” said Pangea’s Artistic Director Dipankar Mukherjee. “Marina Carr’s adaptation of Hecuba opens one portal to our current truth. Mythology holds many answers and many secrets. Myth is the repository of truths, both spoken and unspoken. It is up to us to learn from them. In our search for collective accountability, moments are marked when our conscience is put on trial, as during the current moment. This can be covered up with the dust of rhetoric, but the truth never fails to stare at our face. Hecuba asks us, “Can we salvage our humanity when women and children’s bodies are weaponized in the name of war anywhere in the world?”

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund. 

About the Playwright

Marina Carr is an Irish playwright who has written nearly 30 plays. She came to notoriety in the 1990s and is known for writing intense and often dark plays, and for being a particularly prolific and skillful voice in Irish drama. She often writes about human tragedy, and her work often takes its inspiration from classical texts.

Carr was born in County Offaly to an artistic family and was educated at University College Dublin. In addition to Hecuba, her works include a take on Lorca’s Blood Wedding, an adaptation of Anna Karenina, By the Bog of Cats, The Map of Argentina, Phaedra Backwards, Portia Coughlan, The Mai, Ullaloo, This Love Thing, and The Deer Surrender.

Carr often writes about disturbing situations and unsympathetic characters. When a revival of her play On Raftery’s Hill received backlash for depicting a scene of incestuous rape, Carr told The Guardian, “The moral police will be the death of art. Political correctness is destroying our literature and our poetry. There is a place for the moral high ground, but it is not art. You can’t have the thought police looking over your shoulder when you are writing a play. You have to let the characters have their say. Plays are written with the imagination, not with the head.”

She has been Writer-in-Residence at Trinity College, the Abbey Theatre, Princeton University and was the first John McGahern Writer-in-Residence in St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra/DCU. Marina Carr is a member of Aosdána and lives with her family in Dublin.