Remarks by Angela Conley
28 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 2
- Play at 39:43
“I'll gather my thoughts. Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair. And thank you so much, County Attorney Moriarty, for the fourth year of coming in under budget and for your service to the residents of Hennepin County for the four years that you have been our county attorney. I am super grateful for your service. how you've looked at justice, how you've looked at youth throughout your tenure. So thank you for that. I had just a couple of questions primarily out of the budget booklet, but I'll start with the slides. Very impressive work. I'm looking at slide number five. I'm really interested in, I…”
Committee · Oct 8, 2026
- Play at 44:07
“Thank you for that. That makes sense. And I think that that's prevention. That's proactive. That's keeping them out of a cycle of a carceral system. I'll say that. I'll also just comment that I very much appreciate, slide six, all of what you're doing to hold the federal government, ICE, CBP, accountable for the terror that our communities face this year. unprecedented attacks on our democracy on our neighborhoods on our residents resulting in two of our neighbors being killed. I appreciate that you have not stopped seeking justice for what happened during Operation Metro search. And I'm sure…”
Committee · Oct 8, 2026
- Play at 46:51
“And so that's the other, really, the other question that I had around that same is, could we do the same for the reduction for the restorative practices grant, which concludes June 30th, 2027, right? So restorative practices are important. They're something that should be incorporated into your office. And I think that your office has done that well. So my question was really, you know, if that is a grant that doesn't, that isn't something we can apply for next spring, could we also fund that work in-house?”
Committee · Oct 8, 2026
- Play at 49:13
“I just have a couple more things. I really, really appreciate that we are doing the gun on arrival work with funding from the city. I think that we could do that work and we could do it very well. Which brings me to, I think I'll close with just the work around domestic violence. One of the things that you said really stuck out. First, I just... I think that the work of DASC, our Victim and Witness Services, is outstanding. I've seen it for myself. I've seen them on the street. I've seen them respond in ways that I could not have imagined. And so that we are taking care of them as a staff, as…”
Committee · Oct 8, 2026
- Play at 53:07
“Thank you so much for that. I think that we all can support whatever it is that we need to do differently. It's something that we've talked about a lot as a board. So again, I just want to thank you for your service to the residents of this county and for your briefing today. Thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.”
Committee · Oct 8, 2026
- Play at 1:38:13
“Irene Pernano, District 2. Angela Conley, District 4. Heather Edelson, District 6.”
Committee · Oct 8, 2026
- Play at 2:25:25
“Unless you want to hear more about perimenopause.”
Committee · Oct 8, 2026
- Play at 2:26:53
“No, thank you so much for the presentation, for what your officers do every day out in the streets of Hennepin County. It's very much appreciated. I wanted to say that systems modernization is a big deal, I think, all over. Hennepin County has been trying to get updated systems for years because they're just outdated. Technology needs to advance within government the way that it's advancing everywhere else in society. I couldn't agree with you more. One of the things that I was thinking about, oh, and unfunded mandates? You're speaking our language because we have been dealing with that for…”
Committee · Oct 8, 2026
- Play at 2:28:34
“Yeah. And so annexing is happening, all of that. But I'm curious about this Jail Population Oversight Committee because we, well, I'll speak for me. I first heard about it when the annexing first started because of the DOC order, right? Um, and one of the questions that I thought of immediately, and this was what a couple of years ago was like, what did we do when it was COVID and we had to get a bunch of people out of the jail? What I heard was we were able to do that. And I think population was down to like 500, but. population of like the types of offenses that are in the jail right now…”
Committee · Oct 8, 2026
- Play at 2:32:00
“So you're talking about a larger jail? Yes, ma'am.”
Committee · Oct 8, 2026
- Play at 2:36:09
“I'm going to speed up so Marion has some time down there.”
Committee · Oct 8, 2026
- Play at 2:36:13
“We're good. Okay. So I'm going to move to the budget booklet. I just want to understand and get some clarity. Page 15, there's local revenue sources and there's fees for services. Local is always zero. Fees for services have gone up. So I'm wondering if, because when I think local, I'm thinking of like your city, park police, metro transit, other things, but maybe is fees for services where like the JPAs for other jurisdiction, patrol, like that type of work, where that is accounted for?”
Committee · Oct 8, 2026
- Play at 2:37:03
“So mostly fees for services is what you're getting in for serving other jurisdictions? Got it. Thank you for that. The last two I have is just, I want to go back to the, and maybe this is something that we can continue to have conversations on as budget season continues. Budget season has really been all year, but just the staffing, right? So on page 16, it's been mentioned, right, that there's a bit of a difference between your office and OBF around positioning of vacant, or reallocation of positions. So I'm wondering if in June, those positions were vacant, are they still vacant now?”
Committee · Oct 8, 2026
- Play at 2:38:37
“And so thank you. Here's where I need to understand, because all across the county and every department, we're reallocating positions because of how financially constrained we are. So the increase in the budget, the 13% increase of property tax, is specifically for staffing, is what I've seen in this budget booklet, critical area staffing, so the jail, records, et cetera. So there's additional dollars. over 13% over this year for hiring, right? Because of what we learned from the matrix study, because of all the work that was done there, which I'm certainly grateful for. So with the…”
Committee · Oct 8, 2026
- Play at 2:42:15
“Yeah, and Mr. Chair, we've discussed that, and I agree with you. I think the positions themselves, not the people, right, are something that we can think about. And as you all continue to talk, like, If there needs to be licensed peace officers doing something other than being in the jail, then if there's vacant positions that need to be reallocated, we look at the positions and not the people.”
Committee · Oct 8, 2026
- Play at 2:43:39
“I agree. And that's a refrain that it's a theme that we're hearing throughout budget season. I will say that I do not disagree. I think that the major focus this year has been on the jail for obvious reasons, right? We had to staff up that jail. And so perhaps there is another staffing study. But I think the ones that we've done that really gave us insight as to vacancy factor and what the staffing level should be for the jail, because that was the big driver this year, I think were important. But I hear what you're saying about looking at the other parts of the office. So thank you for that.…”
Committee · Oct 8, 2026
- Play at 2:44:21
“Increasing by $4.7 million for a total of?”
Committee · Oct 8, 2026
- Play at 2:45:20
“So then that begs the question then, is the $10 million that's budgeted for 2027 over time something that you can stay within as an office?”
Committee · Oct 8, 2026
- Play at 2:47:08
“That's quite all right. I just want us to get to a number that is a sustainable number, that is a number that you can stay within so that there isn't overages. What that looks like depends, as you stated, as you discussed, on a number of different things. But I want to be able to approve a budget for 2027 that includes a number that is comfortable. So I know that we've got two more months to keep talking. We've got lots of conversations happening, but I want to really, I know you do too, want to feel comfortable with a number for overtime that makes sense for you and for your office and what…”
Committee · Oct 8, 2026
- Play at 15:30
“Thank you, Madam Chair. I was just going to ask how many of our libraries are leased versus county-owned buildings?”
Committee · Oct 6, 2026
- Play at 16:19
“Thank you so much, Madam Chair. So yes, colleagues, this bar is very straightforward. I have had some really good conversations with county administration about this. You'll see a bar later in the Law, Safety, and Justice Committee. That's a pretty hefty dollar amount. And what I'm looking for with this board action is to do a few things. One of the whereas clauses is what stands out the most, and that's that the cost of providing comprehensive medical care in three spaces, the adult detention center, adult corrections facility, and juvenile detention center have just been increasing, and…”
Committee · Oct 6, 2026
- Play at 31:55
“Go ahead, Commissioner Conley. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you to the three of you for bringing this before us. I lost track that we were nearing the end of the Child Welfare Committee, and so this just makes perfect sense. I think we should continue the work. When I was transitioning off as chair of this committee, our vice chair. I think we were on together. We're co-chairs. We were co-chair. We were really heavily involved in the passage, and it's in here in the warehouse clauses, the African American Family Preservation and Child Welfare Disproportionality Act. It's the first time…”
Committee · Oct 6, 2026
- Play at 13:08
“Thank you. Commissioner Conley. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you for the update. What really hit me was the dollar amounts, right? So there was a slide that showed the dollar amounts that are broken out via the federal government and the state. And these are all cost shifts that total around $27 million. So could you, for 2027, jumps way up to $51 million by 2028. So we're seeing cost shifts that we have to account for Right now, we've already got hit with the $8 million in SNAP. What is the state contributing? Because this is all based on error rate. Can you clarify that part?”
Committee · Aug 25, 2026
- Play at 14:16
“Thank you, Madam Chair. That's exactly where I was going. We've got a state platform coming up, colleagues. And so I'm sure with the help of AMC, all 87 counties are feeling this. And so we will need to do some advocacy to change what the state is chipping in. That's an entirely too big cost shift to property tax that we can't absorb, especially if there's talk at the federal government of a delay. If we don't get that, that's looking pretty dim for us for 2028. I don't think we've seen this level of disinvestment from the state and feds combined before, at least since I've been here. Can you…”
Committee · Aug 25, 2026
- Play at 44:09
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Committee · Aug 25, 2026