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Matt Sepic

Mpls. approves $1.2B budget, drops controversial 4th Precinct upgrades

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Michael McDowell
Michael McDowell, a Black Lives Matter organizer, speaks at a Minneapolis City Council meeting on Dec. 9, 2015.
Matt Sepic | MPR News

The Minneapolis City Council approved Mayor Betsy Hodges' $1.2 billion budget Wednesday night but dropped a last-minute, $605,000-plan for improvements to the 4th Precinct police station.

Black Lives Matter demonstrators occupied the building's front lawn for more than two weeks following the fatal police shooting of Jamar Clark.

Dozens of them spoke out against the proposal at Wednesday night's council meeting, and said they oppose using tax dollars to "fortify" the police station.

Black Lives Matter organizer Kandace Montgomery said the council should never have considered the plan.

"We shouldn't have had to be here. It shouldn't have even been a conversation to allocate this much money," Montgomery said. "So yes, it technically is a victory, but clearly we have a lot more work to do."

Council President Barb Johnson said the money would have paid for repairs. She said the council now has more time to look at exactly what's needed.

"We knew we had to replace windows. We knew we had to replace cameras. We knew we needed to put a new kind of coating on the stucco so that it's anti-graffiti, graffiti-proof, and so those numbers were really very preliminary," she said.

Johnson said the council may revisit the proposal in January.