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Tracey Blasenheim

@bunsngutter.bsky.social

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Daniel Suitor@danielsuitor.com · 2w ago

Fred Melo of the Pioneer Press, @frederickmelo.bsky.social, got the memo and posted it on Twitter. Here's what he posted. My opinion? It's pure hackery. Anyone who relied on this memo got snowed or was looking for permission to kill this version Right to Repair.

BACKGROUND On July 20, 2026, residents submitted a citizen-led proposed-ordinance to the City Clerk, which was accepted. The proposed-ordinance is what’s known as a right-to-repair law—meaning, it would let tenants fix parts of their apartments without landlord approval or oversight. But this proposed-ordinance goes even further than typical right-to-repair laws and imposes harsh penalties on landlords if those tenant-repairs are not inspected in time— even if the landlord pulls every possible lever to meet that deadline. After review, the Saint Paul City Attorney’s Office concludes that the current version of this proposed right-to-repair ordinance is unlawful. Specifically, the proposed-ordinance conflicts with state law, violates the Minnesota and United States constitutions’ due-process clauses, and is unconstitutionally void-for-vagueness. This Memo will discuss these issues in more depth. LEGAL ANALYSIS A municipal ordinance will be upheld unless it is inconsistent with the Federal or State Constitution or state statute. 57. Paul Citizens for Human Rights v. City Council, 289 N.W.2d. 402, 405 (Minn. 1979). This is because municipalities have no inherent powers and can enact regulations only as expressly conferred by statute or implied as necessary in aid of those powers which have expressly been conferred. State r. Kubiman, 729 N.W.2d. 577, 580 (Minn. 2007); Mangold Midwest Co. v. Willage of Richfield, 143 N.W.2d. 813, 820 (Minn 1966). In other words, state law may limit the power of a city to act in a particular area. City of Morris r. Sax Invs., Inc, 749 N.W'.2d. 1, 6 (Minn. 2008). Placing an unlawful or unconstitutional amendment on the ballot is a futile gesture that we do not require. Housing ¢» Redevelopment Auth. WV. City of Minneapolis, 198 N.W.2d. 531, 536 (Minn. 1972) (holding that a district court properly enjoined an election on a proposed Page | 1 amendment to a city charter rather than permit the administration and the voters of Minneapolis…amendment to a city charter rather than permit the administration and the voters of Minneapolis to experience the frustration and expense of setting up election machinery and going to the polls in a process which was ultimately destined to be futile). The Court will turn to conflict preemption, because a municipality cannot enact a local regulation that conflicts with state law or enact a regulation when state law fully occupies a particular field of legislation. Bicking vr. City of Minneapolis, 891 N.WX’.2d. 304, 313 (Minn. 2017). A conflict exists between state law and a municipal regulation when the law and the regulation “contain express or implied terms that are irreconcilable with each other, when the ordinance permits what the statue forbids, or when the ordinance forbids with the statute expressly permits. Id. (citing Mangold Midwest Co., 143 N.W’.2d. at 816; City of Duluth r. Cerveny, 16 N.W.2d. 779, 785 (Minn. 1944). In the recent case of I “assear v. City of Minneapolis, a group filed a petition with the City of Minneapolis to create a city-wide minimum wage in the City Charter. 887 N.W’.2d. 467, 468 (Minn. 2016). After the petition was certified by the Minneapolis City Council as having sufficient signatures, the Minneapolis City Attorney issued an opinion to the City Council that the initiative was illegal because Minneapolis does not have a procedure in its charter to allow ballot initiatives for legislanve ordinances. Id. The Council did not certify the question for a ballot and the petitoner brought a temporary restraining order requiring the City to place the initiative on the ballot. Jd. While the district court granted the petitioner’s motion, the matter was appealed immediately to the Minnesota Supreme Court, which ruled that the matter should not appear on the ballot because the city charter does not permit legislative ordinances to be incorporated into the charter. Id. Similarly, in Bicking v. City of Minneapolis, a petitioner submitted a ba…In the present case, there are several provisions in the ordinance that potentially conflict with the law or are irreconcilable with the law and Consutution. First, under Section 34A.03(a) of the ordinance, the tenant is given authority to make a required repair after a 14- day opportunity for the landlord to complete the repair. However, the tenant lacks authority to obtain a permit to perform many of the required repairs allowed in the proposed ordinance. For instance, under the State Building Code, an owner or authorized agent who intends to construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish, or change the occupancy of a building or structure, or to erect, install, enlarge, alter, repair, remove, convert, or replace any gas, mechanical, electrical, plumbing system, or other equipment, the installation of which is regulated by the code; or cause any such work to be done, shall first make application to the building official and obtain the required permit. Minn. R. 1300.0120, subp. 1 (emphasis added). But the proposed right-to-repair ordinance flouts this state-level requirement by allowing tenants to unilaterally make these changes without these permits. This tension strikes at the heart of the rule Minnesota’s appellate courts constantly reiterate in preemption cases, namely, that that cities cannot pass ordinances that “‘require building code provisions regulating components or systems of any structure that are different from any provision of the State Building Code.” Builders 155'n of Minnesota v. City of St. Paul, 819 N.W.2d 172, 181 (Minn. App. 2012). In fact, state law explicitly forbids cities from enacting ordinances “that are different from any provision of the State Building Code.” Minn. Stat. § 326B.121, subd. 2(c) (2026). And the Minnesota Supreme Court has interpreted this statute to mean that even a local ordinance “that is merely additional and complementary to a provision in the State Building Code is prohibited.” City of Morris r. Sax Inves…ordinance, the repair for the code-violation must only be scheduled within 14 days, so the ordinance both allows serious major repairs to take longer to repair, than the Building Official deems reasonable, and may also require general maintenance to be completed in a time that is quicker than what is reasonable, because the repair does not pose any immediate safety hazard. The proposed ordinance is simultaneously stricter and more lenient than the existing Building Code, which is likely an unlawful conflict between the proposed-ordinance and state law. Also, the 30-day time-limit for the City Building Official to conduct an inspection under the proposed-ordinance may also violate the landlord’s due-process rights under the State and Federal Constitution. The City has only one Building Official with many existing duties under State Law. Given the very high number of renters living in Saint Paul, there could potentially be thousands of annual requests for inspections under the proposed ordinance. Under Section 34A.05(c), if the City is unable to make the inspection within 30 days, the tenant is automatically given the right to repair and withhold rent. If the Building Official is unable to meet this arbitrary 30-day deadline, then the landlord will be deprived of its right to collect rent, through no fault of its own. Additionally, Section 34A.09(b) of the proposed-ordinance allows the City authority to punish a landlord with up to 90 days in jail for a violation of the proposed-ordinance, under Saint Paul Legislative Code, Section 1.05. As the proposed-ordinance is currently written, a landlord could be deprived of their right to liberty, simply because the Building Official was too busy to perform an inspection within 30 days. This is another potential deprivation of freedom that could occur without the due process of law, as required by the State and Federal Constitution. The proposed ordinance also conflicts with another area of state law because pursuant to Sec…
Daniel Suitor@danielsuitor.com · 2w ago

As someone who's spent a lot of time considering conflict preemption btwn state landlord-tenant law & local ordinances, I can confidently say the St. Paul City Attorney is full of shit. Nothing in Right to Repair conflicts with state law, and our courts are clear that cities can go beyond state law

taylr@taylordahlin.com · 4w ago

minnesota state senator john hoffman revealed tonight at the peggy flanagan rally in st. paul that angie craig asked him for his endorsement for US senate while he was still in the ICU after vance boelter shot him really appalling anecdote!

taylr@taylordahlin.com · 5mo ago

john hoffman, MN state senator who survived an assassination attempt by vance boelter, who killed mark and melissa hortman, is here supporting omar fateh. he said fateh was his first visitor when he was in hospital. gave him a note saying “we’ll get that fucker” that is still on his fridge

AAUP@aaup.org · 2mo ago

Today, the AAUP & Texas AAUP sued Texas Tech Chancellor Brandon Creighton over directives he gave that mandated the censorship & thought policing of thousands of faculty & students leading to the suppression of academic freedom & the pursuit of knowledge. More Here: www.aaup.org/news/aaup-te... 🧵

Lawsuit cover page: TEXAS AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS-AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS and the AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS, Plaintiffs, V. BRANDON CREIGHTON in his official capacity as Chancellor of the Texas Tech University System, and ARCILIA ACOSTA, CODY CAMPBELL, CLAY CASH, TIM CULP, SHELLEY SWEATT, DOUG MCREAKEN, DON SINCLAIR, DUSTIN WOMBLE, and RACHEL MCLELLAND, in their official capacities as members of the Texas Tech University System Board of Regents, Defendants.
Taniel@taniel.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Two ICE agents tracked down a woman *inside a polling place* yesterday. Why? They demanded that she take down an Instagram post in which she named Jonathan Ross as the man who shot & killed Renee Good (after the Star Tribune identified Ross). www.syracuse.com/news/2026/06...

Federal agents track down Syracuse woman, demand she remove Instagram post about ICE

She believes the warning was related to a post about the ICE agent who shot Renee Good in Minneapolis.

syracuse.com

Daniel Suitor@danielsuitor.com · 2mo ago

We were really supposed to believe Anders Folk was a good DFLer when he joined DOJ under Bush, left during Obama's first term, rejoined during Trump's first term, and left for Jones Day less than 2 years into Biden's term. The same Jones Day that's been hand-in-glove with Trump and Republican causes

NYC Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO@nyclabor.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Unionized staff at ProPublica have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike after more than two years of bargaining their first contract. Let them know you’ll honor the picket line. nycclc.org/news/take-ac...

Take Action: Tell ProPublica You'll Honor a Digital Picket Line

Unionized staff at ProPublica have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike after more than two years of bargaining their first contract.ProPublica management has:

nycclc.org

Tom Basgen, Mr. Saint Paul@tombasgen.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Regarding yesterday’s brain dead Strib op Ed from the finance bro: If you’re bemoaning the struggle of local street life and retail and your analysis doesn’t include Amazon and online shopping; you are dumb. Your opinion is junk and should be discarded immediately with hostility.

Stephen Judkins@stephenjudkins.bsky.social · 5mo ago

I asked myself "how do golf courses possibly afford property taxes" so I looked it up and came away convinced we could virtually eliminate the entire sport by simply removing several dumb tax loopholes

Brad Lander@bradlander.bsky.social · 5mo ago

According to documents filed this morning by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of NY, ICE has been lying for a year — not only to the public, but to the courts and to prosecutors — about being authorized to make arrests at 26 Federal Plaza and other immigration courts. (1/2)

Documents filed this morning by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of NY exposing how ICE has been lying for a year — not only to the public, but to the courts and to prosecutors — about being authorized to make arrests at 26 Federal Plaza and other immigration courts. Documents filed this morning by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of NY exposing how ICE has been lying for a year — not only to the public, but to the courts and to prosecutors — about being authorized to make arrests at 26 Federal Plaza and other immigration courts.
Norm Charlatan@normcharlatan.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Being represented by a bunch of joyless guys led by a leader who doesn’t know the most basic rules and suffering ignoble defeats at the hands of adversaries who all come across as far more likable. I guess every day is our own little World Baseball Classic.

Stina@stinah.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Hot girls call their Minneapolis mayor's office to ask him to sign the Pause Evictions, Save Lives ordinance. I did it while doing my hair for a dinner party tonight. 612-673-2100 and leave a voicemail. Keep our neighbors safe and home.

Robin for Ward 2@robin4mpls.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Today, the MPLS City Council passed Pause Evictions, Save Lives, an ordinance to temporarily extend the pre-filing eviction notice from 30 days to 60 days through August 31, 2026. This temporary extension gives renters more time to access rental assistance and the resources they need to stay housed.

Norm Charlatan@normcharlatan.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Angie Craig saying that she regrets the vote that tons of Minnesotans told her not to make at the time and saying it now only after everyone has suffered for two months of a federal occupation that has killed two Minnesotans and destroyed thousands of neighbors lives. Fuck off.

Nick Kristof@nickkristof.bsky.social · 6mo ago

US immigration officials picked up a blind Rohingya refugee last week in Buffalo, NY. Then, realizing they had no basis to deport him, they released him five miles from his home. He needed a walking stick and died trying to make his way back to his house: www.investigativepost.org/2026/02/25/b...

Blind refugee abandoned by Border Patrol dies in Buffalo.

A nearly blind refugee abandoned by Border Patrol miles from his home dies in Buffalo after having been missing for nearly a week.

investigativepost.org

Wedge LIVE!™@wedge.live · 6mo ago

The ICE surge must ramp down as quickly as possible so we can get on with important recovery efforts, such as purging from public life anyone seeking statewide office who thought the federal government brutalizing Minnesota was a fine idea and just what we deserved.

taylr@taylordahlin.com · 6mo ago

right wingers have been very mad at rep brad tabke for openly helping ICE resistance and everything they share just makes him look cool as hell and don’t forget he won this seat by only 14 votes!

BildBildBildBild
Will Stancil@whstancil.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Also, many ICE arrests were random or nearly random. Scooping up anyone who wasn’t white. There’s a reason they use “arrests” and not deportations or detentions - because a huge number of their arrests were pointless terror tactics.

Hurley@hurley.bsky.social · 6mo ago

They sent 3000 troops to arrest 4000 people. It likely cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per person on top of the permanent distrust they created for decades. What an absolute failure.

Wedge LIVE!™@wedge.live · 6mo ago

They crush the local economy, deplete city budgets, illegally withhold congressionally allocated funds. In exchange we get masked Texans running wild in the streets, paid for with tax money that was supposed to be used on our healthcare. Thank you to our federal partners.

Elliott Payne@elliottpayne.org · 6mo ago

The goal of Tom Homan switching out for Gregory Bovino is purely optics and damage control. It's not actually a change in their tactics of intimidation and indiscriminate apprehension. www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

Minneapolis City Council president says immigration enforcement still active in Minneapolis

Five days after federal officials announced hundreds of immigration agents would be leaving Minneapolis, City Council President Elliott Payne says U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is still vis...

mprnews.org