Whittier Solidarity Network

Welcome – May 2026 Recap

Ben

Welcome to the Whittier Solidarity Network (WSN) blog! We look forward to sharing some recent activities in the neighborhood including events, news, opinions, and more. May was a busy month in Minneapolis and Whittier, in part due to the arrival of the sun and some consistently warm weather, and in part due to the variety of events hosted in the neighborhood throughout the month.

The Really Really Free Market (RRFM), which occurs on the first Saturday of the month, was held in combination with Whittier Alliance’s neighborhood day event, and a local block party event. This union of neighborhood activities came together at the Whittier Recreation Center on a windy Saturday, and the attendance was far reaching. We look forward to seeing you all at the next RRFM event on June 6th from 1:00pm to 4:00pm.

Members of the community started a WSN bike ride with the most recent ride occurring on Sunday May 24th. The riders biked around Bde Maka Ska and Lake of the Isles and had a mid-ride picnic, and we look forward to the next ride and we are happy to have more riders join. See the upcoming events schedule below for details on the next event and many other upcoming events, but first some news.

What’s news in….

in Minneapolis

City Council

The City Council meetings this month offered ranging opinions from the council members primarily around a few topics including:

  • Mayor Frey’s nominations for specific department leads has created several debates thus far in 2026. Recently the mayor nominated Toddrick Barnette for Commission of Community Safety. The city council initially denied this nomination earlier in the year. The mayor did not respond to the councils denial, and asked again for the nomination to be heard at the May 11 council session. The council voted again to deny the nomination for a second time at the May 11 session.
  • Data Center development was put on a 6-month moratorium for data centers larger than 350,000 square feet. This was a close vote, so if you have knowledge or an opinion on the topic, please reach out to your council member to let them know your thoughts. This is a dynamic topic around the country, so expect to hear a lot of discussion on this throughout the year.
  • The council voted to deny the City’s proposal to purchase a parcel of land in south Minneapolis. The plan was to potentially construct a training facility of sorts for the police department.

Minneapolis Police Department

Police Chief Brian O’Hara resigned from his position as police chief after an investigation shed light on some of his wrongdoings. Although AP news titled one of their stories as “The police chief’s sudden resignation puts Minneapolis back in tumult after years of crisis”, things actually seem to be operating as usual in the City!

in Whittier

Lyndale Ave Reconstruction

Vibrant Lyndale, a group of business owners, hosted a meeting at the VFW on Lyndale on Monday May 18th to discuss the design for the upcoming reconstruction of Lyndale Avenue, which isn’t slated to start construction until 2028. However, the 30% conceptual design is nearing completion, and this means that the City Council is the next major milestone for approvals. If and when the City Council approves the design, the approval needs to clear the mayor’s desk.

The room was filled with a large majority of business owners, and Hennepin County Commissioner, Marion Greene, was in attendance as part of the meeting to address questions. Council Member Elizabeth Shaffer was also seen in attendance taking pictures of the crowd.

The business group has a variety of issues with the project, but the logic behind those issues remains unclear. The business group is rigidly anti-bike, and they are leaning on the possibility that Mayor Frey could veto any city council approval. They have gathered enough demand from the City to grab the mayor’s attention such that they are hosting another meeting tomorrow with the mayor planning to be in attendance, Monday June 1st again at the VFW @ 6pm. We encourage any and all pro-transit-pedestrian-bike community members to attend to show their support for the project and its more pedestrian friendly features!

Watch this recent excellent episode of Wedge LIVE! for more information on the project.

Upcoming Events

WSN events:

  • Saturday June 6th – Really Really Free Market
    • Location: Whittier Rec Center (425 W 26th St), outdoors unless there is bad weather which then it will be hosted inside the rec center
    • Time: 1:00pm-4:00pm
    • Note: This event occurs on the first Saturday of the Month
    • Click here to sign up to support the event as we are always looking for helpers
  • Sunday June 7th – Urban Design Meeting
    • Location: Bob’s Java Hut
    • Time: 3:30pm-5:00pm
    • Note: This event occurs on the first Sunday of the Month
    • This specific instance is occurring during the Open Streets event on Lyndale, so it might be a bit different, but it is still planned to happen
  • Sunday June 14th and Sunday June 28th – Whittier Organizer Meeting
    • Location: Whittier Alliance Office (10 E 25th St)
    • Time: 1:00pm-2:30pm
    • Join us as we chat about ways to collaborate and organize in our community!
  • Sunday June 7th and Sunday June 21st – Coffee Club
    • Location: Bob’s Java Hut
    • Time: 3:00pm-5:00pm
    • Note that this event will likely not occur on the 7th due to Open Streets, but still encourage people to get out to Lyndale that day!
    • Attendance has been light in recent weeks, so we are looking for feedback to get folks interested and engaged in regular meetups!
  • Saturday June 27th – WSN Monthly Tech Meeting
    • Location: Whittier Alliance Office (10 E 25th St)
    • Time: 4:00pm-5:00pm
  • Sunday June 28th – WSN Monthly Bike Ride
    • Location: Meet at MIA/Washburn Fair Oaks on 24th St
    • Time: Meet between 9:45am-10:00am, depart @ 10:00am, return to neighborhood between 11:00am and 12:00pm

WSN Adjacent Events

Reminders and Connections

We are always looking for more neighbors who are interested in participating or starting events like the coffee club or bike ride. In the past we have hosted one-off like events for other activities such as crafting clubs, book clubs, videogame nights, movie nights, and more. If you are interested in participating in something like this, please feel free to reach out to a WSN organizer for assistance, or feel free to use the WSN discord as a means to organize around your specific interest!

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