As tree bills hit the neighborhood, Mitchel Hansen had questions
Mitchel Hansen was among the first people to see a pattern of harm to low-income Northsiders caused by tree removal costs. Photo by David Pierini
By David Pierini, Editor
Mitchel Hansen is a gadfly, his persistence matched only by the green beetle currently eating its way through the Minneapolis tree canopy.
The emerald ash borer burrows under the bark of ash trees; Hansen gets under the skin of government officials who are being forced by him and other environmental justice advocates to change a tree removal policy that has stuck several fixed-income Northside residents with the bills.
Hansen, the outreach coordinator for the Harrison Neighborhood Association, was among the first to see the growing hardships caused by tree condemnations and sounded the alarm.
His obsession with data played a significant role in a group effort that capped a contentious year with several wins for residents. The Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board has committed to changes in engagement with disadvantaged communities, easier access to information and a growing list of hardship options now in place or in the works.
“I think Mitchel is a genuine human being who can put himself out there very courageously and be supportive of community members,” said Roxxanne O’Brien, of Parks and Power, whose elderly mother received a tree removal order at her home. “And he was relentless, night and day, requesting data and trying to find anyone who would listen.”
What Hansen brought to the fight can be traced to a fast-moving sled near his home outside of Milwaukee, Wisc., when he was 6. He lost control of the sled and collided with a tree.
Brain energy
The accident left him with a traumatic brain injury. After he came around, new behaviors surfaced. Hansen was diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome, a condition known for obvious tics that can be difficult to quell.
Hansen grew up with relentless teasing and one of his tics, mimicking back what was said to him, frustrated teachers who kicked him out of class. He was later diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
The injury, the Tourette’s and OCD gave Hansen a kind of superpower – an ability to hyperfocus. When something looked askew, Hansen would fixate on the thing causing the problem.
When a ball was kicked out of bounds in soccer, Hanson locked on the player designated to toss the ball in bounds. He’d repeat, “Throw the ball in, throw the ball in, throw the ball in.”
Tourette’s syndrome also taught him how to read people. He could tell when people were focusing on his tics rather than what he was saying.
For Hansen, Tourette’s is a condition, not a disability. Proof can be found in Grammy-winning singer Billy Eilish, soccer legend David Beckham and former Minnesota Twin and World Series champion Jim Eisenreich. Mozart, too.
“Growing up, I never read or heard about someone successful with my condition winning, or changing the world,” Hansen said. “Even if we win a world series, people still focus on our disorder instead of our unique abilities.
“I want kids to see that someone with Tourette’s syndrome can walk up to a podium, speak truth to power, and not be afraid. We are smart, strong, powerful, and unique.”
His mother passed when he was in college and the grief gutted him. “I was in pretty bad shape,” he said. As the depression made him question his life, he had an epiphany: “If I’m going to live, I am going to help people,” he said.
This revealed to him a clear path. After studying everything from technical writing and landscape architecture, he moved to Minneapolis to be with extended family. From his new home, he finished his bachelor’s degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and went on to the University of Minnesota for a master’s degree in social work.
As a social worker, Hansen co-created a Special Olympics team in Saint Paul in 2012. Later, he worked with kids with severe emotional behavior. Hansen’s experience growing up gave him the empathy to work with deeply troubled kids.
The emotional drain from the work led him to try something new. In 2020, he accepted the job with the Harrison Neighborhood Association. After the first couple of Harrison residents came to him with tree orders and bills, he went to a Green Zone meeting where he met O’Brien, a skilled organizer unafraid to challenge halls of power.
Hansen is comfortable raising his voice and using his abundant energy to fire off countless emails or data requests, develop his own maps showing tree removal hot zones, and question discrepancies he finds in timelines and other data points.
Hansen wore a path to the podium at Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board meetings in 2023. Photo by David Pierini
The emails went to forestry, the finance department and park board directors. He sent notes to anyone tied to trees, government or environmental justice. Through the emails, he connected with state workers, scientists, and city officials. Some on the team gave guidance, while others helped write a successful grant proposal that awarded the city $8 million to help defray the costs for people on fixed incomes. But not for those already assessed the costs.
It was a start, though. Park Board Supt. Al Bangoura began to search for donors that could cover folks assessed further back. On Dec. 1, the park board announced it had received a $500,000 grant from the Margaret A. Cargill Fund to cover some of the city’s most needy property owners.
“Mitchel became my data guy,” Bethany Turnwell, senior policy aide for City Councilman Jeremiah Ellison. “If I need some insight on a topic, especially around emerald ash borer, it’s not a small set of data. He’s like, ‘Let me just dump this entire information on you.’ He has this ability to dig deep into a topic and see the nuance that exists. He can see how the nuance harms other people.”
One staff member privately said MPRB has adopted some of Hansen’s ideas since the backlash began.
Some on the board, including Director Becka Thompson, who represents the Northside, and Bangoura, have publicly acknowledged the change that is resulting from feedback from residents and activists.
Those changes include the new grant and donations to help with tree removal costs and better communication in multiple languages with communities around tree removals and education on tree treatment when it’s an option. MPRB staff improved the website and adopted a 20-year option for spreading costs on property taxes.
The board voted on Dec. 6 to pause tree removals so that more people who need help can be eligible when applications begin for the $8 million fund.
Bangoura said the community made an excellent case to the Cargill fund that will be used to help low-income property owners going back to last year.
“I want to make sure I express my gratitude to community,” Bangoura said. “This (donation) was (because) of a lot of people. We did the backend work, but the community expressed their concerns. They were very vocal and we heard them. So, I want to say thank you.”
It would be against Hansen’s nature to relax and feel MPRB will do right moving forward. His data searches have helped him connect dots that go beyond ash trees and give him insights into what may motivate some of the city’s most influential people.
“I’m glad people are getting help, but it’s hard to see the toll that this takes on them,” he said.