In reply to Trent.

The idea that Lisa Bender was divisive is somewhat belied by the fact that so much of her agenda was passed by unanimous or near-unanimous votes on the council. It seems clear to me that she very effectively sold a vision for how Minneapolis could move forward among her colleagues.

Claims of "divisiveness" are frequently the last refuge of people who have lost a substantive argument. You see people making the same claims that things like vaccine mandates are "divisive" because people know that they cannot argue directly against the vaccines, so they choose instead to pretend that the fault lies in not waiting around until everyone magically agrees. But of course, vaccine mandates enjoy strong public support in poll after poll, and CM Bender won two elections decisively and I think the most recent results make it beyond doubt that had she run again, she would've won decisively a third time.

As for the CNN interview, I'm sure she wishes she had made the point differently. But if you actually watch it in context, her point is very clear that 911 is functionally a privilege because not everyone has an expectation of safety from the police. Her argument was that this is a bad thing and that 911 emergency services should be something that everyone, the privileged and the underprivileged feel comfortable using.