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Faribault declines CAC request for emergency rental assistance funding
By Chloe Kucera, Faribault Daily News
February 19, 2026
The city council chambers were packed with people for Tuesday’s work session, with everyone’s eyes trained on the front of the room as a tense uneasiness hung in the air. Individuals held signs that read “HELP NOW, SAVE LATER” and “Unstable Housing = Economic Collapse.” The group was anxiously waiting for a final decision about whether the city council would provide the Community Action Center with $50,000 of emergency rental assistance.
After a long conversation at the last city council meeting about the funding request, the council decided to wait until Tuesday’s work session to make a decision. The council ultimately decided not to provide funding for rental assistance.
The CAC submitted the request to the city due to the high volume of people seeking rental assistance from the organization, as many have become afraid to leave their homes amid Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent activity in the community.
The proposed funding source was from State Affordable Housing Aid, money which was given from the state to the city to use on emergency rental assistance or affordable housing projects.
At Tuesday’s work session, the City Administrator Jessica Kinser shared some clarification they received about the usage of funds.
“The funds should only be used for those who are U.S. citizens or legal residents, meaning they have a green card,” she said. “So that was a point of clarification we didn’t have last week that we do have now.”
CAC resource manager Becky Ford spoke to the council, asking to “redirect the conversation back to housing and housing stability and away from immigration.”
“We are seeing a lot of rental requests come in by people that are afraid of the federal enforcement that was going on and that has subsequently impacted their ability to go to work,” she said. “I think one of the myths that we’re maybe battling here is that everyone who’s asking for rental assistance is undocumented, and that’s just not simply the case. We know that there are U.S. citizens, and there are green card holders that are just as afraid of going out, and that has impacted their ability to work and to pay rent.”
Councilor Chuck Thiele asked Kinser if the SAHA funds could be used for the community land trust that has been discussed in the past. Kinser confirmed that it could.
Thiele then noted that the request was originally brought to the HRA but was not supported, and asked why it had come forward to the council.
Kinser explained that she was the one who made the connection that the request could be funded with SAHA funds the city had been given and that the money fell under the guidelines for what it could be used for.
“I feel like part of my job is to be a connector within the community,” she said. “And so this is funding that can be used for emergency rental housing.”
Councilor Adama Doumbouya expressed his support to give the funding.
“This is our responsibility as a council. We are here to solve problems, this is one of the problems that we have,” Doumbouya said, referring to the increased number of people unable to pay rent.
Councilor Mandy Barnes said that if they were to give the funding, she felt that it would only be a “temporary fix.” She also emphasized how difficult the decision was.
“We’ve lost sleep over this,” she said. “We really are mulling over this. It’s a very difficult feeling. We, as council, have to take emotion out of it. We have to make an executive decision.”
Mayor Tom Spooner said in his eight years on the city council, this is the first time that a decision they had to make became a “real partisan issue.” He also expressed that he felt the $50,000 would be better spent through programs that would benefit the city as a whole and “go to people that are under the 80% of the median income.”
“Our role in council is to do what’s right for the community and be stewards of this community, and that’s for everybody,” he said. “That’s for 24,000 people out there.”
Thiele expressed how difficult it had been to consider the funding and to deal with the flood of emails on the issue. He read one of the emails out loud.
“Our city has an unfortunate reputation for being racist,” the email stated. “True or not, it’s the perception, and it’s not a good look. As council members have the opportunity to do the right thing and prove that we as a city support all of our citizens, not just the white ones.”
The room erupted in applause in support of what the email was saying.
Thiele said it upset him that the perception of the decision on whether to approve the funding had become a race issue for some people.
“That insinuation that if I vote no for this, that I’m a racist, is disgusting, and it makes me so angry because I’m not,” he said. “I’m not in favor of this. I think it’s too small of a band-aid for way too big of a problem. It’s just one drop in a big bucket.”
Ford then came back up to the podium. She said that the CAC has been helping put on “band-aids” for years, and sometimes it’s all people need to get back on their feet. As it was evident the council would not accept the request, Ford asked the council to help in other ways.
“I just want to say that your nonprofits in the community see the hardest things that you never will see come through your chambers, and we are simply asking for help to help,” she said. “If this isn’t the right approach, the appropriate use for that money, that is fine. What I’m asking you is to help us. Then help us raise money.”
The request did not receive the support needed from the council to move forward for approval.
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