Brian O'hara met with community in North Minneapolis Monday afternoon just days ahead of the city council vote for his position. A room in the Capri theater was filled with a few dozen people as O'hara arrived, addressing the entire room as a whole just one time a few minutes after he got there. Outside of that he spent about two hours engaging directly with people one-on-one.
One Indigenous resident asked O'hara to acknowledge the land he was on and encouraged him to have a conversation with the entire room because his time was limited. She shared with him how she felt the lack of community centers has impacted the youth. O'hara's response to her redirected his efforts to engage with her individually as opposed to addressing the room as she had encouraged.
Mayor Frey arrived for the last portion of the meet and greet. A vote is expected to come down from city council on Wednesday with an anticipation that O'hara will be selected as the next chief of police in Minneapolis.