Frey's pick for Minneapolis civil rights director has council support to take on tough role

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey's pick for civil rights director has widespread support to be confirmed by the City Council next week, although many have wondered aloud: Why would she want the job?

The question for Michelle Phillips was posed — both tongue in cheek and sincerely — during a public hearing Wednesday and, council members revealed, in private conversations Phillips has had with officials since Frey nominated her earlier this month.

"I'm not here to oppose this," Stacey Gurian-Sherman, a member of the Community Commission on Police Oversight, said during the hearing. "I believe Michele Phillips is eminently qualified to take this job. I'm here to say I'm confused as to why she would want to come to Minneapolis."

While the remark elicited chuckles, there was truth beneath it.

"You're gonna encounter a lot of difficulties in this job," Council Member Jeremiah Ellison said. "Nobody's gonna sugarcoat that. Not only have a number of us asked you, 'Why Minneapolis?' but you heard it from the testimony, as well. This has become, in the last couple of years, known as a difficult place to get work done."

If confirmed, Phillips, 39, will step into a messy landscape.

Turnover and tension

Frey nominated her earlier this month to fill the void created in February when he fired the department's former director, Alberder Gillespie, from the $179,000-a-year post. The move came after Gillespie's superiors concluded she "poses an immediate threat" to the city's ability to reform policing in accordance with court-approved police reforms following the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

Gillespie was criticized for her department's slow handling of police misconduct complaints. While critics said they felt vindicated by her ouster, others publicly came to her defense, attesting to her integrity and questioning her firing; city officials promptly disseminated investigatory public records to the media while Gillespie was said to be out of town.

Compounding matters, there's been internal strife inside the department, where the city's top police oversight official was being investigated amid accusations of an assortment of inappropriate behaviors. That official, retired FBI agent John K. Jefferson, resigned at the same time that Gillespie was fired — but city officials released scant information.

Months later, the Star Tribune obtained public records detailing an eight-month investigation that substantiated claims that Jefferson physically intimidated staff, threatened violence and regularly demeaned female employees.

Gillespie was the latest among several senior Black officials in Frey's administration who resigned or were fired. Some of Frey's critics have suggested it's a pattern that demands scrutiny — especially following a 2022 episode where more than a dozen employees of a white cabinet official publicly alleged a "toxic, racist" workplace.

That tension surfaced Wednesday, when Frey and Council Member Robin Wonsley, his most vocal critic, sniped at each other — not about Phillips, or even civil rights, but about scheduling a meeting to discuss issues related to public safety reforms.

After the exchange, Council President Elliott Payne said to Phillips, "Clearly, you can see the weight of this challenge that we're facing."

Phillips' qualifications

But there was unanimity between Frey and the seven council members present at the meeting of the Public Health and Safety Committee that Phillips is qualified for the job.

In 2021, Phillips was named Oakland's first independent inspector general, a position created after voters approved a ballot measure to enhance police accountability. Before that, she worked on community policing in her native Baltimore.

Both cities have been subject to court-approved oversight of policing — the same scenario Minneapolis is now under.

In her own remarks Tuesday, Phillips described herself as a "lifelong public servant and accountability practitioner" and described civil rights as "a vital part of American past, present and future."

The civil rights director oversees 46 employees who investigate alleged discrimination that violates city regulations and promote the message of civil rights to the public. The department also oversees the Office of Police Conduct Review and has a role in implementing reform efforts required by the settlement agreement the city reached with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and anticipated federal court order following Floyd's murder.

Why Minneapolis?

As to that initial question, here's what Phillips said:

"My response is, 'Why not Minneapolis?' This city deserves commitment from its leadership to provide the best service possible in a collaborative, ethical and transparent manner. I am very passionate and committed to this work and public servantry, acknowledging [that] the despair and horrific past that has permeated through this city of Minneapolis must never be forgotten as we pledge to move forward collaboratively with city leadership and community to recognize where this city has been, restore and rebuild trust and stability, and reimagine a safe, economically sustainable, thriving and overall healthy city."