About Elliott Payne

Council President Elliott Payne has represented Ward 1 on the Minneapolis City Council since 2022 and has served as President since 2024.

Since taking office, Elliott has been a champion for expanding unarmed responses to public safety, authoring budget amendments to expand Minneapolis’ Behavioral Crisis Response (BCR)—the City’s first ever dedicated unarmed mental health response. He also championed the creating the community safety ambassador program and investing in violence prevention programs.  

Before joining the City Council, Elliott worked in the City of Minneapolis’ Office of Performance & Innovation, where he helped create the Behavioral Crisis Response team.

Elliott bikes to City Hall every day and enjoys being on his bike year-round. He is a strong advocate for infrastructure improvement and reconstruction projects and has seen many reconstruction projects completed in Ward 1 since he’s been in office, like Saint Anthony Parkway, Ridgeway Parkway, Lowry Ave, Monroe St. NE, 29th Ave NE, and 37th Ave NE with more big improvements coming soon.

He happily resides in Ward 1 with his wife Lindsay, where they’ve lived for over 20 years.

Council committees

• Budget Committee
• Committee of the Whole
• Intergovernmental Relations Committee
• Public Health, Safety & Equity Committee
• Settlement Agreement and Consent Decree Subcommittee (Chair)

Boards and commissions

• Audit Committee (Chair)
• Meet Minneapolis
• Metropolitan Emergency Services Board