St. Paul City Hall drama spills into public view

The big picture: There are serious policy disagreements between the City Council and Mayor Melvin Carter, including the fight that nearly interrupted citywide trash collection.

• But some of the tension is about process and workplace behavior.

The latest: Last week, Carter appointed Matt Privratsky to the vacant Ward 4 seat — a duty that fell to him after weeks of unsuccessful council deliberation.

• Nearly every member, including Council President Rebecca Noecker, has publicly said the process was a disaster.

Case in point: Amid the appointment drama, Council Member Cheniqua Johnson called reporters into her office to complain that "personal vendettas" and backroom horse-trading had tainted the process.

• "I am uncomfortable, extremely, with the culture that we're creating when we do that," she said.

Flashback: This isn't the first time council members have clashed behind the scenes.

• An outside attorney concluded in December that Council Member Anika Bowie's decision to circulate an email about Johnson's then-aide, Jon Berry, "rises to the level of prohibited offensive, bullying and harassing behavior," according to a memo Axios obtained through a records request.
• Late last month, the former aide sued Bowie and the city for defamation over the email (which was later leaked to the Pioneer Press).
• Bowie and the city attorney haven't responded to Axios' requests for comment on the lawsuit.

Yes, but: Council members have also shown solidarity, such as when they locked arms and voted 5-1 to rewrite the city budget as Carter publicly campaigned against their revisions.

• "The budget fight was actually the council working the best I've seen it in my 10 years," Noecker told Axios.

Friction points: Noecker attributes any souring of the vibe at City Hall to "the way [Mayor Carter's] administration is responding to the council's independence."

• She feels the mayor has framed the council's well-reasoned pushback as chaotic or unprincipled.
• Noecker argues better communication with Carter's staff might have headed off some of the crises, like the fight that resulted in the trash pickup debacle.

What they're saying: Carter tells Axios that talk of friction between his office and the council is overblown.

• There are many points of agreement on top priorities, he says, which "gives us an enormous set of things to work together on."
• "We've had moments where we've had disagreements. Our charter language … gives us a road map through those things."

What's next: A new council member — and two key votes

The St. Paul City Council's newest member may be temporary, but Privratsky doesn't have the luxury to be only a caretaker for the seat.

Driving the news: In early May, the council expects to take two potentially career-defining votes: a partial rollback of the city's rent control ordinance and new protections for rental tenants.

The intrigue: Carter is calling for these changes — but the rent control proposal may not have the fourth vote it needs unless the two proposals advance as a package.

Zoom in: "I'm very happy to see these two proposals come through together," Privratsky told Axios early last week, adding he's "open to considering" both.

• He didn't say which way he'd vote, though he noted being a "big champion of tenant protections."
• He worked on that issue while serving as an aide to Ward 4 predecessor Mitra Jalali.

Privratsky added his experience working for Jalali and in other political settings has prepared him for taking on the "complicated" and "messy" work of operating in City Hall.

• "These council members have all their different strengths and weaknesses, the way I have my own strengths and weaknesses," he said, "and I think it's still very possible for there to be, like, real improvement and for this group to work together — not only amongst ourselves, but with the administration."