MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee food truck operators are fearing for their livelihoods after city leaders voted to limit their hours of operation in the name of public safety.

The Common Council unanimously passed a rule that will force food trucks downtown to close by 10 p.m.

It goes into effect May 9. Aldermen argue it will help prevent people from gathering after bars close.

Food truck owners showed up at City Hall on Thursday morning to say they’re not the problem.

Abdallah Ismail runs the Fatty Patty food truck. He said closing his truck at 10 p.m. will be devastating for his business.

“Most of our sales happen during that time,” said Ismail. “It’s the core of our business at 10 p.m. We need the city to let us talk. We need them to listen to us and find a better solution for us if they can.”

Ismail confronted Ald. Robert Bauman at the city hall demonstration.

Bauman represents downtown, and he said the curfew was put in place at the request of the Milwaukee Police.

He also said the police department believes late-night gatherings at food trucks are a contributing factor to the downtown violence.

Bauman said safety is a top priority.

“If the causation issue is correct that they are a part of the problem then we need to act and if there is collateral damage, that’s unfortunate,” said Bauman. “We regret that but the bigger issue here is economic viability of an entire downtown.”

Ismail said the curfew is unnecessary. He said that’s because the food truck operators have always been willing to cooperate with the police.

“When the police came to us and say close it because there is a problem, we close right away even if it’s a busy day, even if we have a line of people,” said Ismail. “We are already helping the city.”

Bauman said the curfew will move forward as planned, and if it doesn’t work, the Common Council could reconsider the measure.

In the meantime, the food truck operators just hope they can protect their financial livelihood.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey vetoed the second attempt by the Minneapolis City Council to give tenants more time to pay rent in the aftermath of Operation Metro Surge, which has pushed immigrant families into housing instability.

Currently, housing providers are required to give renters in Minneapolis 30 days to come up with money to pay their rent before filing an eviction case against them, which is called a pre-eviction notice period. The City Council voted last week to increase that timeframe to 45 days through the end of August.

During the federal operation, many immigrants sheltered at home and did not go to work because they feared being detained by federal immigration agents. As a result, many are struggling to pay rent. Supporters of the ordinance said the measure will give renters more time to access rental assistance, mutual aid or another paycheck to avoid an eviction case in court. 

Other council members, housing providers, and Frey have voiced concern that giving residents more time to pay rent will push them into more debt. In his veto letter on Thursday, Frey wrote that rental assistance is the best solution to support renters. 

“The City of Minneapolis has a longer pre-eviction notice period than most cities in the country,” Frey wrote in his veto letter. “I am not convinced that more time will result in improved outcomes.”

The city has allocated $3.8 million in emergency funds, and the Wilson Foundation agreed to match another $3 million.

Rental assistance at the state level to help immigrant renters due to the surge has stalled at the Legislature. A bill that would allocate $40 million in rental assistance passed the Senate, but is unlikely to pass a divided House. 

“This would have been a tremendous relief for all families, as we would have more time to apply for rental assistance without facing the threat of eviction,” said Alibella Rodriguez, a member of Inquilinxs Unidxs por Justicia (United Renters for Justice) in a statement. “Instead, the Mayor’s veto is a terrible blow to all families, leaving us vulnerable to losing our homes through eviction — homes that served as the greatest refuge we had during the occupation.”

The 45-day pre-eviction notice period ordinance passed with a 8-5 vote. Nine votes are needed to override a mayoral veto. The council will likely vote on overriding the veto at their next meeting on May 7.

This is not the first time the council has tried to extend the pre-eviction notice period.

Last month, Frey vetoed the council’s vote to increase the pre-eviction notice period from 30 to 60 days. The council failed to override that vote. Council members brought forward an ordinance with a shorter time period hoping it would gain more support. 

“We’re looking at a mere 15 days,” Council Member Aurin Chowdhury said at a news conference last week. “We changed the policy, we compromised, and it was so consequential, it was worthy of us taking up another cycle to bring it back.”

The St. Paul City Council unanimously approved temporarily extending the city’s pre-eviction notice period to 60 days last month.

According to data from the tenant advocacy group Home Line, eviction filings in Minneapolis increased by 3.4% in the first quarter of the year compared to the average between 2023 and 2025. Housing advocates have said that mutual aid efforts have likely helped keep many renters in their homes for now. 

The city will be rolling out more than $6 million in rental assistance to help those affected by the surge. Information about how to access the Minneapolis specific funding can be found here. The Minneapolis funding does not require an eviction case to be filed against the tenant already. Funding is also available through Hennepin County, but an eviction case is required. 

Hogsett promised this would be his “final term.” But in weighing another run, he may be looking to overcome scandals and project delays, experts say.

• Announcing his last reelection bid, Hogsett said he was seeking a “third and final term.”
• Hogsett’s comments about unfinished development projects and campaign fundraising signal he’s weighing another run.
• Political experts say Hogsett may want to secure more wins to overshadow scandals and development delays in his third term.

As Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett openly considers a fourth term, political experts say that Hogsett’s musing shows he may want to exit office on stronger footing after a third term dogged by scandals and development delays.

With three Democrats already running for Indianapolis mayor in 2027, Hogsett, 69, refused to rule out a reelection bid when reporters asked him about his plans on April 29.

“Any mayor who has put enough time into the development of our downtown would like to see it completed. So it’s one thing to shovel in a new development. It’s another thing to open the doors and welcome people in and see them enjoy it,” Hogsett told reporters with WISH-TV and WRTV.

“So that tugs at my heartstrings,” he added. “But ultimately, I’ll make a decision that’s based on whatever legacy I’d like to leave our city and how far along we are in promoting that legacy.”

Hogsett did not agree to IndyStar’s request for an interview April 30, made through campaign spokesperson Emily Gurwitz. In a statement, Gurwitz said the mayor remains focused on finishing out his third term by delivering investments in roads and public safety, as well as stewarding the Indianapolis Public Education Corp., the state-mandated entity tasked with reshaping public education in Indianapolis.

“Mayor Hogsett made it clear in his comments yesterday: with the 2027 election still more than a year and a half away, he is focused on the work immediately before him to continue shaping a safer and more vibrant Indianapolis,” Gurwitz said. “This includes developing the 2027 City-County budget, moving forward the critical work of the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, delivering on important infrastructure investments with triple the funding in the strip-patching budget in 2026, and continuing to drive meaningful public safety improvements for neighborhoods across the city.”

When he announced his reelection bid in 2022, Hogsett said multiple times that he was seeking his “third and final term.” But the mayor’s recent comments and campaign finance reports have sparked curiosity about his intentions now. Hogsett raised more than half a million dollars in 2025 and ended the year with $1.2 million on hand.

Hogsett, who would be 76 at the end of a fourth term, told reporters that he will announce his decision toward the end of this year, ahead of the May 2027 city primary election.

If he enters, he’ll compete with fellow Democrats Indianapolis City-County Councilor Vop Osili, Indiana Sen. Andrea Hunley and Department of Public Works official David Bride.

Each mayoral candidate told IndyStar April 30 that the mayor’s remarks don’t affect their plans.

“I’m running for mayor. I’m talking with residents, visiting every corner of our city, and focused on affordability, housing, roads, and public safety,” Osili said in a written statement April 30. “Everyone has the right to decide their own political future, but the real question isn’t about one candidate, it’s about the future of our city.”

Will Hogsett move beyond ‘third and final term’ he promised?

The 2022 speech where Hogsett announced his bid for a third term — which came after he’d previously called for mayors to be limited to two four-year terms during his 2015 campaign — may shed light on some of the unfinished business he has in mind.

Addressing a crowd gathered inside City Market in November 2022, he mentioned several major redevelopment projects that he hoped to see finished in a third term, after the COVID-19 pandemic brought the “train of progress” to a “screeching halt.”