New Ward 7 Office Opens Its Doors: How to Reach Your Council Member

Shaffer was inaugurated Jan. 5, 2026, alongside Mayor Jacob Frey and other newly elected council members at the Pantages Theatre, after defeating incumbent Katie Cashman in the November 2025 election, MPR News reported. Her city page lists the office's contact information.

A council office handles the everyday business of city government: a streetlight out on a parkway, a missed garbage pickup, a pothole, a zoning or permit question, a noise complaint, a stalled development. Staff route requests to the right department and follow up. The office is also where residents register views before council votes on the budget, development or policy, and where neighborhood associations bring issues that need a council member's backing.

It helps to know the limits. A council office does not control the Park Board, Hennepin County or Minneapolis Public Schools, which are separate governments. Parkway, lake and boulevard-tree issues go to the Park Board; property-tax assessment questions go to the county.

The most reliable channels are the city's 311 service (dial 311 or 612-673-3000, or use the online and app request system) for clear-category service requests, and the Ward 7 office for policy questions and casework that has stalled. Full council meetings are generally held Thursdays, and most committee meetings take public comment on agenda items; schedules, agendas and remote-comment instructions are posted at minneapolismn.gov.

With a new member in the seat, the early months are a useful time to bring neighborhood priorities forward through groups like LHENA and the Kenwood, East Isles, Bryn Mawr and Cedar-Isles-Dean associations before the year's major votes. Keep a record: note the 311 reference number and save emails to the office, which makes follow-up far easier if a request stalls.