Irene Fernando

12 June

Eight years of results — documented. Housing built and preserved. HCMC kept open. The Blue Line advanced. Veteran homelessness effectively ended. Democracy defended. Our full Eight Years of Results governing record, across 15 issue areas, is now live at hennepinD2.com/results

Apply to serve on the new hospital board! Hennepin County is accepting applications for the new Board of Directors, the board that will govern the hospital (HCMC). Apply at kpcompanies.com/careers. Nominations and referrals are welcome. Details: www.hennepind2.com/statements/2...

We need professional expertise, from hospital leadership and finance to labor relations and health equity, and people with deep ties to the communities HCMC serves. If you or your family have received care at HCMC, your experience belongs in that boardroom.

The board will oversee finances, quality, and patient safety, and select and evaluate the CEO. It has historically met at least six times a year. We all have an HCMC story. Apply or tell someone who should.

Donald Trump is weaponizing the Department of Justice against political opponents. The search of Ilhan’s home this morning proves our country has plunged deeper into fascism, authoritarianism, and autocracy. I am proud to stand with Ilhan. Statement: www.hennepind2.com/statements/2...

People ask me: "Dr. Commish, you've built the case that we need to build the Blue Line Extension. So how do we make it happen?" The next step is to formally apply for $752 million of federal funding. But we can't apply until every dollar of local funding is accounted for. 🧵

Transit is a public good. And public goods should serve everyone. If Minnesotans found a way to build Light Rail for Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, and Hopkins, then let's do the same for North Minneapolis, Robbinsdale, Crystal, and Brooklyn Park. 6/

bluelineext.org METRO Blue Line Extension - Metropolitan Council

I've asked Met Council to use existing, unallocated Northstar funds to close the 5% gap. If you agree, tell the Met Council: close the Blue Line gap and build this train. Learn more at BlueLineExt.org. 7/7

And the timing is urgent. The federal government is expected to change its transit funding rules soon. So let's stick to the plan and keep our promises. For over a year, the public plan has been to apply by the end of this month. 4/

Every year of delay adds up to $70 million to the total cost. Met Council has the money. When the Northstar commuter line shut down, nearly $500 million in federal funding freed up — and there are unallocated federal formula dollars eligible for the Blue Line Extension. 5/

Hennepin County has committed $2.25 billion — every allowable dollar, and the single largest investment for public transit in Minnesota's history. That's 95% of the local funding needed. The remaining 5% is $224 million. 2/

To date, the Met Council has committed zero capital dollars to building this project. Met Council can either fill that 5% gap, or work with the County to reduce the project's scope and make the gap smaller. Either way, we need action from them before we can apply. 3/

Today, the @hennepin.bsky.social County Board set the 2027 maximum levy at 8.15%. I was proud to vote for it. All year, this Board set clear direction to protect democracy, public services, and our most vulnerable neighbors. This budget meets that direction. www.hennepind2.com/statements/2...

This is the first time in my time on the Board that the overall budget has decreased, and to be honest I felt saddened when I first saw it. We will not shrink our way to the future our kids deserve and our elders have earned.

Hennepin's levy increase means the median-value Hennepin home would pay $139 more a year in 2027, about $11.50 a month. That will be combined with other jurisdictions' increases on the property tax bill you receive. The Board votes on the final budget on December 15.

The budget is smaller and the levy is higher because federal and state funding for mandated human services drops by nearly $28 million next year. We’re looking at losing $51 million in 2028. The scale of disinvestment in services our residents rely on is truly unprecedented.

When that funding is cut, the need does not go away. It lands on the County, and on our neighbors. Local government is the last line of defense. We are making up for some of it this year with property tax, and we know that is not sustainable.

Because Commissioners and County staff started this process early and in public, we solved problems before they reached the proposed budget. We preserved library hours. We avoided mass County layoffs. Our proposed levy came in lower than the 8.5% that was projected.

We faced an 18.5% increase in employee health insurance costs and reached an agreement with 16 unions to share it in a predictable and sustainable way. These are all meaningful at a time when service cuts and layoffs are being proposed at local governments across Minnesota.

The Green Line Extension opens June 12, 2027. I follow a long line of @hennepin.bsky.social County Chairs who pushed this project forward. I’m a lifelong transit user. When my family was new to the country, they relied on transit to get everywhere we needed to go. Transit was our lifeline.

The good news is we're not stopping here. The Green Line Extension benefits will of course be extended to the Blue Line Extension, where I live. I am proud to represent that corridor and residents who certainly will not quit.

Thank you to everyone who's dedicated their time, their energy, and maybe a little bit of their sanity to get this project done. I'll see you on June 12 to cut some ribbon.

Almost 6,000 people in 72 of our 87 Minnesota counties have brought home a paycheck by working on this project: 2,200 skilled and general laborers, 1,400 equipment operators, 370 carpenters, 336 electricians, 317 ironworkers. Btw, Metro Transit is hiring! Spread the word.

Light rail drives development like nothing else. In 2026 alone, this new development is generating $35.7 million in property tax revenue that isn't falling to existing property owners, including $7.7 million for the City of Minneapolis and $4 million for Minneapolis Public Schools.

Green Line riders will be able to access thousands more jobs by transit. For people living in this corridor, a third of all jobs in the entire region will be within reach with no more than one transfer.

September is National Workforce Development Month. At our September 15 @hennepin.bsky.social Board Meeting, I recognized the county programs doing this work and the people behind them. When we invest in the workforce, we invest in people.

Coming up: an "Investing in People" panel on Tuesday, September 29, and the Hennepin GO Expo on Thursday, November 19 — plus ongoing career fairs and events across the county. CareerForce.MN.Gov

hennepincounty.govHome | Hennepin CountyThe official website for Hennepin County, Minnesota.

This Workforce Development Month, I am reaffirming my commitment to advancing this work, and to reducing and eliminating income and employment disparities in Hennepin County. Thank you to our partners and our staff. hennepincounty.gov

Our Department of Workforce Development works through a Develop, Support, Employ framework. From July 2025 to June 2026: 12,234 residents served, up 16.5% over the year before. $22.6M in contract spending with 77 community providers.

849 residents were placed in employment in high-demand industries, at a median wage of $21.43 an hour. For those who were already working when they started, wages rose by an average of $9.64 an hour.

Workforce development connects people to meaningful careers, cultivates a diverse talent ecosystem, and accelerates economic prosperity. It is essential to all of our county work: our programs need workers, and residents need pathways to economic stability.

I sent a letter to the Minneapolis Board of Estimate and Taxation on the 2027 property tax levies. About 100,000 of my constituents live in Minneapolis. They get one tax bill based on all of our decisions. Read the letter: www.hennepind2.com/statements/2... 1/7

MPD Overtime: Study and manage law enforcement overtime costs, don't just budget for them. MPD overspent its 2025 budget by $20 million. I ask that MPD present its overtime review on September 28, and the Mayor file an overtime management plan before markup on December 10. 6/7

Taxes are the government word for revenue, and a levy is not just a number on a spreadsheet. Levies fund teachers, snowplow drivers, social workers, libraries, and emergency response. 7/7

TIF: On October 14, I ask the City to present a numerical analysis on how Minneapolis TIF decisions affect all local levies — Minneapolis Public Schools, the City, and the County. Every dollar captured through TIF raises the rate paid by everyone else. 4/7

Shelter: I ask the Council to prioritize an ongoing contribution from the City levy toward shelter and homelessness response. In 2025, City property taxes provided $400,000 for street outreach and no ongoing shelter funding. County property taxes provided nearly $14.4 million. 5/7

The median-value Minneapolis home would pay over $540 more in 2027. Over 75% comes from the City, even as it proposes reduced services and layoffs. I am concerned about asking residents for so much more while cutting the very services they are asking us to protect. 2/7

I made four specific asks. Parks: On September 23, set the Park Board's maximum levy at its full 5.86% request. The gap from the Mayor's 2.5% is $3.1 million: 26 positions, maintained parks, and full recreation center hours. 3/7

26 Aug

Yesterday, meeting as the Resident Services Committee, the Hennepin County Board unanimously affirmed our commitment to free and fair elections. We reaffirmed our oaths, and directed county leadership to oppose unlawful requests for elections data. 🧵

Then right before the Primary Election, the Department of Justice asked to monitor inside our polling places. We did not approve access. Minnesota law keeps monitors 100 feet back. On primary day, federal monitors still had to be asked, several times, to move away. 5/6

hennepinmn.legistar.comhennepinmn.legistar.com

26 Aug

By statute, Hennepin County administers fair, accurate, and impartial elections. By choice, we go further. Election judges and officials must be able to do their lawful work without threats, intimidation, or interference. Read Board Action 26-0316: hennepinmn.legistar.com/LegislationD... 6/6

On July 2: Hennepin filed comments opposing a proposed federal rule that would give the Postal Service a role in deciding whether ballots are delivered. We said plainly that the rule exceeds the Postal Service's legal authority. 3/6

26 Aug

On August 2: Hennepin joined other local governments and election officials in an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court. We asked the Court to keep blocking Executive Order 14399, which directs federal agencies to build and enforce an eligible voter list for every state. 4/6

This is not an abstract commitment. The federal government has reached into and attempted to interfere with how states run elections from three directions: the mail, the courts, and the polling place. Here is what each one looked like, and what we did. 2/6

For months, the federal government withheld evidence about what happened to Renee Good, Julio Sosa-Celis, and Alex Pretti — from state investigators, from their families, and from a community that refused to look away. We kept demanding answers. 🧵 Read: www.hennepind2.com/statements/2...

We have spent six months forcing evidence into the light, and the federal government has spent half a billion of our tax dollars building a place designed so that there is no evidence to force. 6/

Local government is a last line of defense for our residents, and I will not surrender that line. We will not stop until the full truth is told — for Renee, for Alex, for Julio, for Lorenzo, for Joan, and for every family still waiting for answers. Find courage. Don't waver. 7/

The violence present in Minnesota has not stopped — it has spread across our nation. ICE agents murdered Lorenzo Salgado Araujo of Texas and Joan Sebastain Guerrero of Maine, leaving families broken and communities without answers. 4/

Minnesota is facing permanent consequences as the Homeland Security Department purchased a prison in Appleton for $495.6 million. After sixteen years empty, it will reopen as the first dedicated immigrant detention facility in our state's history — one with 1,600 beds. 5/

In June, a federal judge quashed subpoenas that attempted to block Hennepin’s ability to represent our neighbors. The court upheld the rule of law and the principles of fairness, accountability, and constitutional process that protect our institutions and enable public trust. 2/