"The City Council voted to give itself the power to impose restrictions" Upon who? It would seem that your elected leaders bow to any vocal group that feel they are the voice of Minneapolis. If more attention was focused on law enforcement this would not be an issue. It is time to give a close at your ballot.

Very few on the City Council have ever had a real job for any length of time. In fact some do not even own property in the city.

Not surprising - half of the city council just voted to extend a tax for 30 years on their citizens to bring people downtown 8 days out of the year. Has to be the dumbest economic decision in the history of Minneapolis.

This attitude of the City Council (and others in government) goes back a long time. Neighborhood groups get $$ from the city government and then these groups impose their ofter irrational ideas on everybody else. Witness the days of Minneapolis' Project Area Committees (PACs) ; in the Riverside area the PAC there imposed crazy rules on businesses (what they could charge, or sell etc) because the people running the PACs with tax payers money had pseudo socialist beliefs about how the local economy should be structured. Most current city council members believe some or all of this drivel and surprise surprise, that's how they act against business etc. Until council members come from outside these philosophical belief system nothing will ever change or improve for ALL the people.

Why does it matter if a council person owns property in the city? I didn't realize there is a rule that renters can't run for city office. If you don't like career politicians then vote for someone the next time who has had a private job for a long time.

Let's see, who has been running the city for the past decade? Rybak and the City Council. If the regulations are a mess it has been on their watch.

@reader2580 if someone on the city council doesn't own property in Minneapolis how can we be sure that they actually have the city's best interests at heart? If they live in Apple Valley or whatever they are probably more concerned about that community than the one they are supposed to represent.