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An ex-racial equity boss at Minneapolis City Hall who asked to expense a three-day ‘leadership conference’ involving yoga and oversaw a reported $500,000 underwhelming black expo event has accused her former colleagues of racism.
Tyeastia Green is alleging a ‘toxic work culture environment’ and claims she was made to work in an office where she could hear nearby jail inmates crying through the walls.
She has also accused several senior black officials – including President Andrea Jenkins and member LaTrisha Vetaw – of being ‘anti-black.’
However Jenkins shot back claiming she is ‘not anti-black, I am anti-incompetent.’
Green took up the role of Racial Equity, Inclusion and Belonging in the city where George Floyd was murdered in March 2022. She departed from the job this month.
Tyeastia Green is alleging a ‘toxic work culture environment’ at City Hall and claims she was made to work in an office where she could hear nearby jail inmates crying through the walls
In a 14-page memo Green accused black seniors in the council including council member LaTrisha Vetaw, left, and council president Andrea Jenkins, right
In a scathing memo sent to city officials, Green complained she was put in a ‘mouse-infested space’ on her first day that shared a wall with jail inmates.
Some cells belonging to the Hennepin County Jail are located within the City Hall.
She also alleged she was denied funding to attend a leadership conference by interim City Operations Officer Heather Johnston.
‘Who decides what is and is not a leadership conference,’ she wrote in the 14-page memo.
Green doesn’t name the event but city records seen by the Star Tribune show it was for See Change Sessions, a three-day event in Burlington, Vermont. Green is reported to have lived in Vermont prior to taking up the Minneapolis role.
The See Change agenda lists activities such as snow kiting and yoga and a series of talks including two titled ‘letting go of your climate guilt and ‘demystifying climate justice.’
Though other events on the agenda are relevant to racial equity and inclusion including a talk on ‘lived experiences’ and supporting autism in employment.
Green sought $2,433.21 for event registration, airfare and a travel agent fee, claims the City, which denied the request.
Her memo also included a flow-chart explaining the problems women of color face in the workplace.
But much of the tension between Green and her colleagues stemmed from Minneapolis’s inaugural ‘I am Ancestors Wildest Dreams’ business expo which she was tasked with organizing.
The full scale of the budget is not known but the City Council told the Star Tribune it allocated $435,000 to the event on February 17.
Green – pictured on her Facebook page – complained she was put in a ‘mouse-infested space’ on her first day that shared a wall with jail inmates
Green, pictured far left, sought $2,433.21 for a ‘leadership conference’ in Vermont which involved yoga and snow kiting. Though some talks at the event were relevant to her role
It added the ‘total amount budgeted outside the action taken on February 17 is still being assessed by the city.’
A week before the event the council is reported to have held an emergency meeting to plug a funding shortfall – at which point Green claimed racial equality charity the Bush Foundation had offered $3 million to sponsor it.
This claim was contested by City officials. In emails posted by her allies on Twitter, Green says she was offered the $3 million figure but the foundation stipulated the mayor and city council could not be involved in the event – conditions she could not agree to.
‘I didn’t want to say all that on the council floor because it’s an embarrassment to the council and the mayor.’
In all the expo on February 25 was considered a failure by local businesses, with one telling KSTP it was a ‘complete disappointment.’
Markella Smith, who owns The Dream Shop, added she was promised 20,000 people were expected to attend but in reality it was only a few hundred turned up.
Green served her final day in her role on March 12.
She claims she resigned on February 21 but was encouraged to reconsider her resignation.
On March 13 she was then informed she had been ‘unappointed.’
In her scathing 14-page memo Green included a flow chart of the problems women of color face at work
She adds she was given the opportunity to either resign or be unappointed – concluding she retains her February 21 resignation.
Since then she has slammed the City Hall in the memo which begins with a quote from Zora Neale Hurston which reads: ‘If you are silent about your pain they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it.’
She goes onto accuse council president Jenkins of ‘spreading rumors about the lack of work coming from Race & Equity.’
She adds: ‘Six months into the job the expectation from the council president was that I should have solved racism in the enterprise.’
She goes onto accuse Jenkins and La’Trisha Vetaw – both of whom are black – of creating ‘an unsafe and unhealthy work environment for black people.’
She claims Vetaw ‘sneered’ and ‘stared at me with disgust’ during one council hearing.
Some of the sentiments mirror those by her predecessor in the role, Joy Marsh, who wrote a public letter alleging non-white workers in the council were ‘subjected to ‘gaslighting, marginalization and tokenism.’
In her response Vetaw focused on her disappointment with the Expo event and did not engage with the criticism outlined by Green
‘Even though I had numerous concerns about the Expo, I did my part to make the event a success,’ she said in a statement handed to the Star Tribune.
Green claims council president Andrea Jenkins, pictured, spread rumors about her lack of work
La’Trisha Vetaw is accused of sneering at Green during a council meeting. She said she was looking forward to seeing the results of the expo audit
‘At the end of the day, I don’t think this event was satisfactory for a variety of reasons.
‘Primarily, we let our small black-owned businesses down. I look forward to seeing the results of the audit. … I will work to ensure that the lessons learned from the audit are put into practice and that we put in the work to regain trust.’
Meanwhile Jenkins told the outlet: ‘I am not anti-Black, but I am anti-incompetent.’
Prior to her role in Minneapolis Green was the first-ever director of racial equity, inclusion and belonging for the City of Burlington.
She resigned after two years in the job reportedly due to tensions with Mayor Miro Weinberger.
Dailymail.com reached out to Green and the City Hall for comment.
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