“R.T.” Raymond Thomas Rybak is an American Democrat politician, journalist and community activist who served as the 46th Mayor of Minneapolis.
Born November 12th, 1955 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Rybak was a journalist for Minneapolis Tribune and headed local publications before being elected as mayor of Minneapolis in 2001. He served multiple terms, spanning 2002 to 2014. His tenure was noted for crime reduction, job creation, affordable housing, and balanced city budget. Rybak has been honored with a rare “non-musician” star on the outside mural of the Minneapolis nightclub First Avenue.
December 22, 2003 - Minneapolis Police Chief Robert Olson bid farewell in a City Hall sendoff today. Olson's term expires just after the new year, but today was the day set aside for looking back on his nine years on the job. Meanwhile, Mayor R.T. Rybak officially moved to replace Olson with Dayton, Ohio Police Chief William McManus. However, the mayor still has to convince a majority of the City Council to confirm McManus' nomination. Minnesota Public Radio's Art Hughes reports.
December 22, 2003 - MPR’s Cathy Wurzer interviews Eddie Roth, an editorial writer for the Dayton Daily News, about his take on Dayton Police Chief William McManus. At a committee meeting today, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak is expected to officially nominate Dayton, Ohio Police Chief William McManus as his pick to be the city's next police chief. McManus will need to be confirmed by the Minneapolis City Council. Eddie Roth discusses impact of McManus’s two year tenure in Dayton.
January 2, 2004 - MPR’s Cathy Wurzer interviews Minneapolis Police Chief Robert Olson a day before he leaves his position. Minneapolis Police Chief Robert Olson's contract expires tomorrow, after a nine-year tenure. When he took over the police department, crime was high, and some people started calling the city Murderapolis. But Olson brought a new approach to crime fighting, including an initiative called CODEFOR, which uses computers to track problems around the city in “real time" and crime went down under his watch. More recently, the department finalized a mediation agreement with parts of the community that's expected to address allegations of police misconduct, use of deadly force and other issues. During his time, Olson even survived Mayor R.T. Rybak's attempt to buy out his contract two years early. Rybak has recently named Bill McManus, Police Chief in Dayton, Ohio, to take over for Olson later this month, if McManus gets the necessary votes on the city council. Chief Olson is going to stay on the job for a while to ensure a smooth transition. As his time as Minneapolis Police Chief ends, Olson says it's still a tough job.
January 7, 2004 - Mayor R.T. Rybak's pick for police chief, William McManus, met with residents at a south Minneapolis community center last night. The mayor's office organized the meeting in anticipation of two key council actions today. With the full council vote a week and a half away, Rybak is applying pressure on those council members who are still not supporting McManus.
January 16, 2004 - MPR’s Michael Khoo reports on stadium discussions in the Twin Cities. More than two dozen cities, counties, and private citizens have pitched their ballpark solutions to Governor Tim Pawlenty's Stadium Screening Committee. The governor solicited outside input to help him decide what role, if any, the state might play in financing new facilities for the Minnesota Twins and Vikings. The plans cover a range of sites sprinkled across the metropolitan area and offer funding options from local taxes to state dollars to casino revenues.
January 31, 2005 - MPR’s Art Hughes reports on Mayor Rybak’s desire to run again. R.T. Rybak, mayor of Minneapolis, formally announced his re-election bid Sunday near the place he started his first campaign for elected office four years ago, almost to the day. At that time, he waged a grassroots battle against an established incumbent he felt was out of touch residents. Now, Rybak has a political track record that makes him the target for challengers. Report includes comments from Linda Longino, mother of slain child Tyesha Edwards; Don Samuels, City Council member; among others.
May 15, 2005 - MPR’s Art Hughes reports on Minneapolis DFL convention results. A 12-hour convention for the Minneapolis DFL party over the weekend failed to produce an endorsement for either Mayor R.T. Rybak or challenger Peter McLaughlin. After five ballots, McLaughlin was leading 53 percent to Rybak's 45 percent before the delegates voted to award no endorsement. The two candidates now head for the primary.
July 15, 2005 - Minneapolis police officials say they may be able to hire and deploy 20 new officers by next month. Mayor RT Rybak says the new officers are part of a plan to hire a total of 60 new cops by the middle of next year. State lawmakers restored 6.2 million dollars in Local Government Aid funds. The city had been expecting a nearly 30 million dollar reduction in state aid. That restored money is helping to free up funds to pay for the new officers. Police officials say they are committed to hiring a racially and ethnically diverse group of new officers. Ron Edwards, a member of the Police Community Relations Council, says he'd like the department to present formal diversity goals.
July 19, 2005 - MPR’s Tom Scheck reports on brewing battle in Minneapolis mayoral race. The Minneapolis mayor's race has sparked what has already become an intense intra-party feud. R.T. Rybak, current Mayor of Minneapolis; and Peter McLaughlin, Hennepin County Commissioner, have both filed the official paperwork for mayor. The two democrats say public safety and city finances are the top issues in the race for mayor of the state's largest city. The potential influence of unions is highlighted in report.
July 29, 2005 - Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak's 2006 budget proposal is 1.3 billion dollars - a nearly three percent increase over 2005. Most of that increase will go to adding police officers and funding public safety programs. Public safety is a key issue because this is an election year and violent crime has gone up in the state's largest city. Several city council members say Rybak's budget will reduce crime while others say he should have addressed the city's public safety concerns earlier.