The lights are back

I have good news — the lights are coming back!

I was thrilled last week to find a Minneapolis Public Works employee fixing lights around Lake of the Isles, which were stripped by copper thieves almost a year ago. He told me that fourteen had already been fixed and the rest of the lake should be complete by the end of this week!

Our beautiful lamp stands have been rewired with aluminum, accompanied by special screw heads for the access plates and warnings that the metal has no resale value. If you haven’t seen it already, WCCO ran a nice story on the subject after I posted about it online.

As your Park Commissioner, I have fielded many emails and calls about lights. I consistently directed your concerns to the Ward 7 office because the city is responsible for parkway lighting.

Last year, our incumbent Council Member voted in favor of Resolution 2024R-442. The Council approved this resolution over the mayor’s veto with 71 amendments to the 2025 budget, including a $500,000 reduction in street lighting repair (Amendment #17). Here’s a helpful article on the subject.

Since then, the mayor and other council leaders worked hard to restore funding, which will turn on the lights across our city as we head into shorter days this fall. Was this process to restore our street lighting needlessly complex? Seems like it, but I’m just glad we’re getting there. Providing functional lighting is a core city service that makes our community safer. Providing basic necessities to residents, from lights and well-paved streets to garbage pickup and emergency response, is foundational to any well-run municipality.

I’ve been a strong proponent for maintenance of our existing infrastructure as your Park Commissioner and I’ll continue that work on the City Council.