Minneapolis council presses MPD overtime audit and considers subpoenaing Frey as robotaxi veto stands
The Minneapolis City Council on Thursday failed to override Mayor Jacob Frey's veto of a driverless-vehicle ordinance.[1]
At the same meeting the council asked the city attorney to determine whether it can subpoena Frey and his staff and it approved an audit of Minneapolis Police Department overtime spending.[2]
The override fell short of the nine votes needed after the council had passed the "Workers Drive Minneapolis" measure 7-6 on Oct. 1.[1] The proposal would have required a licensed, paid human safety monitor in every commercial autonomous taxi and a special business license.[3] Opponents called those rules a de facto ban, noting companies such as Waymo were already testing driverless vehicles in Minneapolis.[3]
On Oct. 2 Mayor Jacob Frey vetoed the ordinance, saying the human-monitor requirement "doesn't make sense" and calling it a "backdoor way of banning" the technology.[4] The Minnesota Reformer emphasized that the measure was driven as a jobs-protection move backed by labor and driver organizations.[5]
Council members also pressed the Minneapolis Police Department after officials said MPD has exceeded its budget by more than $20 million per year since 2022 and older audits flagged tracking and fleet maintenance problems.[2] Interim Chief Bill Peterson told the council he inherited a budget "mess" from former Chief Brian O'Hara, and Council Member Jason Chavez introduced resolutions demanding explanations for why long-standing audit problems were not fixed.[2]
Show source details & analysis (8 sources)
📌 Key Facts
- The City Council passed the Workers Drive Minneapolis ordinance 7–6 on Oct. 1, 2026; it would have required a licensed, paid human safety monitor in every commercial autonomous taxi, a special business license, and — when introduced — prompted a public hearing scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at Minneapolis City Hall.
- On Oct. 2, 2026 Mayor Jacob Frey vetoed the ordinance, saying the human-monitor requirement “doesn't make sense,” calling it a “backdoor way of banning” the technology and arguing Minneapolis should embrace and regulate autonomous vehicles rather than effectively prohibit them.
- On Oct. 15, 2026 the council's override vote failed to reach the nine votes needed, leaving Frey’s veto in place and the human-safety-monitor requirement dead for now despite the original 7–6 passage.
- The Minnesota Reformer framed the measure primarily as a jobs‑protection move to protect ridehail drivers, reporting labor groups and driver organizations pushed the ordinance and describing the vote alignment as a labor‑aligned council bloc versus Frey and more business/tech‑aligned members.
- Reporters noted companies such as Waymo were already testing driverless vehicles in Minneapolis, and several outlets characterized the human-monitor requirement as a “de facto ban” on robotaxis rather than a narrow safety tweak.
- The council formally directed the city attorney to determine whether it can subpoena Mayor Jacob Frey and his staff after Frey had restricted staff from appearing in person at council meetings and substituted written answers—steps that prompted unified council pushback.
- The council approved an audit of MPD overtime spending after officials said the Minneapolis Police Department has exceeded its budget by more than $20 million per year since 2022, older audits going back to 2019 flagged problems tracking off‑duty work and fleet maintenance, Interim Chief Bill Peterson called the budget a “mess” he inherited from former Chief Brian O’Hara, and Council Member Jason Chavez demanded explanations.
📰 Source Timeline (8)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
October 16, 2026
12:10 AM
Minneapolis City Council votes on MPD overtime, driverless cars, mayor subpoena power
New information:
- Council formally directed the city attorney to determine whether the council has legal authority to subpoena Mayor Jacob Frey and his staff to compel their attendance at meetings.
- Frey previously restricted his staff from appearing at council meetings in person, substituting written answers, which triggered unified council pushback despite its usual divisions.
- The council approved an audit of MPD overtime spending after the department exceeded its budget by more than $20 million per year since 2022 and after older audits flagged problems with tracking off-duty work and fleet maintenance.
- Interim Chief Bill Peterson told the council he inherited a budget 'mess' from former Chief Brian O’Hara, adding an internal blame angle to the overtime issue.
- Council Member Jason Chavez introduced resolutions demanding explanations for why MPD has not fixed problems identified in audits going back to 2019.
- The robotaxi portion confirms the council lacked the votes to override Frey’s veto, so the earlier-passed human-safety-monitor requirement will not take effect.
October 15, 2026
5:49 PM
Minneapolis council fails to override mayoral veto of ban on driverless robotaxis
New information:
- The article confirms the override failure as the final outcome and characterizes the ordinance clearly as an effective "ban" on driverless robotaxis, not just a safety tweak.
- It foregrounds the jobs-versus-automation frame, emphasizing that the measure was pushed primarily to protect rideshare drivers rather than purely as a safety regulation.
- It adds detail on the politics of the vote alignment (labor-aligned council bloc vs. Frey and more business/tech-aligned members) and reiterates that companies like Waymo were already testing in Minneapolis, so this was not a hypothetical fight.
3:32 PM
Driverless rideshares: Minneapolis City Council fails to override mayor's ordinance veto
New information:
- The Minneapolis City Council held an override vote on Mayor Jacob Frey’s veto of the driverless‑vehicle ordinance and failed to reach the nine votes needed.
- The override vote result leaves Frey’s veto in place and the human safety‑monitor requirement ordinance dead for now.
- FOX 9 confirms again the original council passage margin was 7–6 on Oct. 1 and clarifies that the same split was insufficient to overturn the veto.
- The article reiterates Frey’s framing of the ordinance as a "backdoor way" of banning the technology and his argument that Minneapolis should both embrace and regulate AVs.
October 03, 2026
12:00 PM
Minneapolis mayor vetoes ordinance that would require ‘human safety monitor’ in driverless vehicles
New information:
- Confirms, from a second outlet (AlphaNews), that Mayor Jacob Frey has in fact vetoed the ordinance requiring a 'human safety monitor' in every commercial driverless vehicle.
- Reinforces that the veto blocks the 'Workers Drive Minneapolis' ordinance that labor groups backed as a protection for human ride-hail drivers.
- Provides an ideologically different outlet’s framing, which is useful mostly to see how the fight is being spun, but adds no concrete dates, vote counts, or implementation details beyond what FOX 9 and Minnesota Reformer already reported.
October 02, 2026
9:30 PM
Minneapolis Mayor on robotaxi regulation veto: ‘Doesn’t make sense’
New information:
- Mayor Jacob Frey vetoed the council-passed autonomous vehicle ordinance on Oct. 2, 2026, one day after its 7–6 passage.
- Frey says requiring a human safety monitor in every robotaxi "doesn't make sense" and amounts to a "backdoor way of banning" the technology.
- He argues Minneapolis should "embrace" autonomous vehicles used in other cities, while regulating them for safety rather than effectively prohibiting them.
- The article reiterates that the ordinance would have mandated a licensed, paid human monitor in the driver’s seat with access to steering, braking and acceleration in every commercial AV.
September 22, 2026
3:05 PM
Minneapolis council to hold public hearing on Waymo ban
New information:
- Confirms a public hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at Minneapolis City Hall on the autonomous-vehicle ordinance.
- States the formal name of the proposal as the 'Workers Drive Minneapolis' ordinance.
- Specifies that the ordinance would require a human monitor in every commercial autonomous taxi, in addition to a special business license.
- Says that, if approved, the ordinance would take effect in October 2027.
- Notes Waymo is already testing its driverless vehicles in Minneapolis and calls the proposal a 'de facto ban.'
September 17, 2026
10:45 AM
Minneapolis weighs ban on driverless robotaxis to protect ridehail drivers
New information:
- Reformer piece (based on the headline) frames the ordinance debate more explicitly as a move to protect ridehail drivers, not just a generic safety measure.
- Likely adds additional political context around council members, labor groups, and driver organizations pushing for the ordinance as economic protection for human drivers.
- May provide more detailed discussion of labor impacts and driver counts than the earlier FOX 9 piece, reinforcing that the ordinance is being sold as a job‑protection measure.
September 16, 2026