Why are you running for office?
Running for City Council is a real opportunity to connect with and serve the city I love, and to put the outreach, organizing, policy research, and business experience I’ve accumulated to good use. I’m really attracted to the immediacy of local government – to the tangible outcomes we can produce through policy on equity issues I’ve worked on for years. We have a chance, as a city, to improve people’s lives, and I’d be honored to represent our Ward in that process.
Tell Us About Yourself
Pronouns: he/him/his
Party Affiliation: DFL, Endorsed
Do you own or rent your home? Rent
Let’s Get To Know You
What is your favorite album?
The Hold Steady – “Boys and Girls in America”
Who are your heroes?
Like a lot of DFLers, Paul Wellstone had a powerful impact on me.
How do you plan to engage with and be held accountable by community once you are elected?
One of my strengths is my organizing background, which includes community outreach projects that engaged people by a lot of different methods, and explicit efforts to engage traditionally under-represented voices in the process. I’ve also worked in tech on open data projects, and I’ll work to get people adequate information to hold elected officials accountable. I’ll improve transparency, and be highly accessible to constituents at City Hall, and in frequent meetings in Ward 3 neighborhoods.
What’s your favorite thing about Minneapolis?
For me, Minneapolis is a city that invites people to be bold and creative. I love our city’s sense of possibility.
The Issues
Why should young people be invested in local politics?
The decisions we make together in the coming years are going to shape the city for decades. At the city level, you can really have a voice.
Where do the inequities in our city stem from?
As a city and state, we’ve never reckoned with our inherited structural racism and a legacy of genocide and land theft. We’ve allowed patterns of segregation from decades ago to persist, replacing explicitly racist redlining practices with more nuanced exclusionary zoning that may have different intentions, but still serves to prevent the disruption of patterns that racially segregate non-white residents to the least desirable parts of the city, near high-polluting industry.
What single issue could have the biggest impact in closing racial disparities in our city?
Affordable housing can be a game-changer to lower crime, improve health, boost education outcomes, and more.
Do you believe that we could ever have a city without police?
No
What would you do, as an elected official, to bring us closer to police abolition?
I don’t advocate abolition – I think the emergency management function will persist – but I can picture a future where police are a smaller piece of our budget. We need to re-focus policing on de-escalating tough situations, and reduce arrests. We should shift mental health crisis response away from police to trained mental health professionals. The best long-term strategy to reduce crime and the police budget is to invest in housing, education, and jobs for everyone in this city.
How do we continue to grow our city without displacing the people that want to stay here?
We have to increase our investment in affordable housing. The market will not naturally build housing for low-income residents, so we must incentivize and/or require inclusion of affordable units in new developments, and create incentives for property owners to maintain currently affordable housing.
We also need to pursue rental policies that help stabilize housing and neighborhoods for renters. We can prevent displacement by exploring the tools other cities have already enacted – just cause eviction, improved inspections and repairs, right of first refusal, and some version of rent control. By giving renters more leverage and clearer rights, we can help people stay in a neighborhood even as a neighborhood grows and changes.
How will you fight against state preemption of local control?
Thankfully, a big coalition was able to block the most recent pre-emption bill, but the state still pre-empts us on a range of issues including requiring police to live in the city, rent control, and limits on handguns. I have a track record of testifying at the legislature, rallying at the Capitol, and marching in the streets to stop pre-emption bills. As a Council Member, I’ll continue to stand up for our city’s rights.
What policy changes are necessary to improve the health of all Minneapolis residents?
First recognizing the racial equity component of health:
How can the city improve our transportation infrastructure?
I support continued investment in the Complete Streets implementation, which is re-designing streets to be safer for pedestrians, bicyclists, and cars. I also want to work with Metro Transit to improve bus routes, including routes that connect neighborhoods directly.
The final task that would let more people live without owning a car is attracting or developing a robust car-sharing service for occasional trips.
How will you work to improve conditions for workers in our city?
Every worker deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. Now that the city has passed earned safe and sick time and a new minimum wage, it’s critical that we invest in enforcement, to make sure the rules are being implemented fairly for everyone.
The city also has a role in ensuring workplace safety. We need to make sure that in addition to making sure we’re building housing that’s good for workers to live in, that we’re building in a way that creates good, safe jobs.
How do you define sanctuary city? Do you believe that Minneapolis should fill this role and what would you do to make this happen?
In a sanctuary city, people can live free of fear of being deported or punished over their immigration status – it’s a city that rejects the notion that a person can be illegal. I believe we should strive to be a sanctuary city, and that we’ve taken some of the right steps to separate civic interactions from immigration checks, which is a good start. We have work to do to be a true sanctuary city, safe from the County and ICE, and we should continue taking steps to keep our neighbors safe.
What is the role of city government in shaping Minneapolis as the city of the future?
If we’re not active in shaping the future, Uber and AirBnb will do it for us, so we have to seize the opportunity to speak up for the future of work, of transportation, of our economy.
It’s the city’s role to balance a long-term vision with the present, so that, for example, we don’t overbuild parking for our less car-dependent future, and we don’t make things too hard now while most people have yet to change their driving habits. That’s a constant, productive tension that is part of governing.
Anything else you want people to know?
I love these questions, and… there’s a lot of nuance missing in these short character-limit answers. Please feel free to get in touch at (612) 293-8683 or [email protected] if you want to talk through these issues in more detail.
For more information, visit www.stevefletcher.org.
Why are you running for office?
I’m running for City Council to build a new kind of politics, based on the needs of people and the environment. As Executive Director of 15 Now Minnesota, I played a leading role in passing a $15/hr minimum wage in Mpls. $15 will benefit 71,000 Mpls workers: 42% of black workers, 54% of Latino workers, and 29% of working single mothers. The most important lesson from that campaign is this: we cannot limit ourselves to what is deemed acceptable by the political establishment and big business.
Tell Us About Yourself
Pronouns: She / Her
Party Affiliation: Socialist Alternative
Do you own or rent your home? Rent
Let’s Get To Know You
What is your favorite album?
L7: Smell the Magic
Who are your heroes?
Kshama Sawant, Nina Simone, Fred Hampton, Rosa Luxemburg
How do you plan to engage with and be held accountable by community once you are elected?
I believe elected officials should be rooted in social justice movements: the driving force of progressive change. I would see my role as a member of City Council to stand side by side and organizing with movements, amplifying their demands inside City Hall. To stay accountable, I pledge to refuse donations from big developers and corporate executives. While City Council pays themselves $80,000/year, I pledge to take the average wage of a worker in Ward 3, and donate the rest to social movements.
What’s your favorite thing about Minneapolis?
The vibrant history of labor and social justice movements.
The Issues
Why should young people be invested in local politics?
From housing to the MPD, City Hall impacts young people. Thousands of students face a crisis of debt and affordability in Ward 3.
Where do the inequities in our city stem from?
Decades of pro-big business and developers policies, and the systematic oppression and disenfranchisement of communities of color.
What single issue could have the biggest impact in closing racial disparities in our city?
Affordable housing. A recent study found that for a median-income black family, there’s not a single Mpls neighborhood that’s affordable.
Do you believe that we could ever have a city without police?
Yes
What would you do, as an elected official, to bring us closer to police abolition?
End racist “stop and frisk” policing, which amounts to profiling people of color and immigrants, fuels mass incarceration and deportations. Get militarized SRO’s out of schools. Decriminalize marijuana and other nonviolent, low-level drug offenses. Implement restorative justice practices, avoiding arrests for minor crimes, instead referring people to social programs, mental health services or shelters. We need a democratically elected civilian oversight board with real powers over the MPD.
How do we continue to grow our city without displacing the people that want to stay here?
Too often housing policy is dictated by big developers and people who own mansions. Key to changing this is to unapologetically support the efforts organizations like InquilinXs UnidXs who organize residents directly. I’d fight for strong rent control policies, using “linkage fees” to tax high-end development to fund affordable housing, and taxing the rich to expand and improve our city owned public housing instead of privatizing it, like what’s happening at Glendale Townhomes. Discrimination puts de facto restrictions on access to housing. A 2011 report showed that 19% of transgender people reported having been refused a home or apartment and 11% reported being evicted because of their gender identity/expression.
How will you fight against state preemption of local control?
Big business tried to preempt $15/hour weeks before it passed, and big developers successfully fought to preempt rent control at the state legislature back in the 1980s. Tenants, unions, and community organizations need to organize, and build major protests in the state legislature to demand an end to the broad preemption on rent regulation. I believe that laws are a reflection of who has power and resources in society, and that social movements are the key force to change that.
What policy changes are necessary to improve the health of all Minneapolis residents?
Build a zero waste city: Shut down the HERC. The Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC) lies on the edge of Ward 3, blowing poisonous smoke from burning garbage collected from the entire county, much of which is entirely recyclable, directly over one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city, largely populated by people of color. Issues like Trumpcare can undermine even the best conceived local policies. We should explore all ways of taxing the rich and corporations to fund health care programs and Planned Parenthood, and build the movement for a statewide single-payer healthcare system as a step toward a national, improved Medicare-for-all system.
How can the city improve our transportation infrastructure?
We need to massively expand bus and light rail service to create a world-class public transit system including 24-hour, late-night service. We need to make transit truly affordable: reverse the fare hikes, provide free transit passes for students, youth, seniors, and disabled riders. Make MetroTransit faster and more efficient: add signal priority and dedicated bus lanes in heavy transit corridors. All of this should be funded by taxes on the big developers and super-rich, not working people.
How will you work to improve conditions for workers in our city?
We won $15, but it needs to be enforced! Fully fund a Labor Standards Enforcement Division to enforce strong penalties against wage theft. City Hall should pass 12 weeks of paid family leave for all Minneapolis workers, “fair scheduling” legislation, and support the efforts of all workers to unionize. We need to take immediate action to fully fund anti-discrimination initiatives and city departments, especially for LGBTQ and people of color.
How do you define sanctuary city? Do you believe that Minneapolis should fill this role and what would you do to make this happen?
We can’t have a “sanctuary city” if immigrants can’t afford to live here. Our ‘Sanctuary City’ laws at present provide very few protections. We should end racist “stop-and-frisk” policing, which criminalizes immigrants and people of color, feeding Trump’s deportation machine. Anyone suspected of a crime that ends up in Hennepin County Jail or the court still risks being deported. Sever ties with the the FBI’s Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) program, which feeds racism and Islamophobia.
What is the role of city government in shaping Minneapolis as the city of the future?
City government played a major role in shaping the current reality of Minneapolis having some of the worst racial disparities in the nation through “redlining” and other de facto segregation policies, underfunding public education, adopting a “let the market handle it” approach to development, and failing to reign in the Minneapolis Police Department. City government can play a key role in undoing that legacy. Passing $15/hr was a huge step in that direction, but more needs to be done.
Anything else you want people to know?
The Twin Cities are home to 17 Fortune 500 companies – the highest concentration in the country – yet also some of the worst racial inequities. A staggering 48% of black people in Mpls live in poverty. We need a political alternative to the domination of the super-rich over the system. My campaign is endorsed by the Minnesota Nurses Association, Communications Workers of America, and Our Revolution MN-TC, and we’ve raised over $80,000 without taking a penny from big developers or corporations.
For more information, visit gingerjentzen.org.
Why are you running for office?
As a mother, veteran and human rights advocate, I think the residents voice should come first and decisions should be community-based and data driven. Our identity as a ward is because of the diverse cultures that exist here. That identity should be celebrated and protected.
Tell Us About Yourself
Pronouns: She, her, hers
Party Affiliation: Green Party
Do you own or rent your home? Rent
Let’s Get To Know You
What is your favorite album?
The Roots-Illadelph Halflife
Who are your heroes?
Shirley Chisolm, my sons and husband, SGT. Wakkuna A. Jackson, Harriet Tubman.
How do you plan to engage with and be held accountable by community once you are elected?
Use a public visual management board to capture the work that I am committed to with milestones, dates and progress statuses, combined with monthly town halls that are handicap accessible, has translators, and are on a busline.
What’s your favorite thing about Minneapolis?
Arts, culture, food, music, the outdoors, my husband and my sons. Mpls is a big city with a small-town feel where you can truly build community.
The Issues
Why should young people be invested in local politics?
Ageism can go both ways, against the elders and against the youth. Age should not determine one’s ability to be empowered to lead.
Where do the inequities in our city stem from?
Leadership created it and then ignored it. Social programs fail when they provide just enough to get by and have no pathway for progress and stability. No more treating symptoms of the problem. Time to invest in those on the margins with a strong economic plan for growth and development that is sustainable and provides opportunities.
What single issue could have the biggest impact in closing racial disparities in our city?
Acknowledge that disparity exists and invest back into our communities with boots on the ground organizers who can make an actual impact.
Do you believe that we could ever have a city without police?
No
What would you do, as an elected official, to bring us closer to police abolition?
I am an advocate for a community policing model. The culture of policing is the root of the problem. We start at the core with a truly civilian-led police board that is reflective of the community and has “teeth”. I believe in a model that gets to the root cause of the crime and does not just focus only on the criminal. The model that I strongly support considering and adjusting to fit our needs can be found here: civilianledpolicing.org/#info.
How do we continue to grow our city without displacing the people that want to stay here?
We cannot make back-room smoky deals at the expense of our residents. We can have strong commerce, support workers, develop our city and experience growth by changing our expectations. The old mantra that developers will not build here if we do not give them the best incentives is not true. We need to be accountable and require developers to build affordable units that do not expire every five to ten years and then run up to market rate. They should be building green with a zero-waste plan. We should be looking at data and not the size of the developers’ checkbook. Density alone means nothing without a cost strategy. We should also be creating home ownership pathways and offering our residents incentives to build.
How will you fight against state preemption of local control?
Yes, from the front lines, partnering with organizers/organizations as well as meeting with state legislators to keep pressure on them to act.
What policy changes are necessary to improve the health of all Minneapolis residents?
We need to address the industrial area in my ward and sister wards in the North community. No more burning garbage. We need to raise the bar for industrial business in the city limits, develop better thresholds, and halt the operation of any facility that is endangering the community immediately. We cannot afford anymore eco-health disasters. That includes using pesticides, rubber tires in parks, using tar, the increasing smell of GAF, the HERC, and general dumping in NE.
How can the city improve our transportation infrastructure?
I support acting on research that shows 40% of our neighborhoods are dense enough to add rail lines, and as more neighborhoods meet recommended density and employment levels, extending rail lines to them. High frequency means nothing when it takes too long to get where you are going. We need efficiency and frequency implementations. Street cars will not meet this need either. Without replacing jobs, autonomous shuttle rides for short trips.
How will you work to improve conditions for workers in our city?
Our workforce needs to be supported foundationally by our city. They need their working conditions to be safe and free of intimidation. The best way I can think of to help our workers is to address the cost of living in this city. We need to hold developers to higher standards and accountable to meeting our future infrastructure needs to avoid constant retrofitting.
How do you define sanctuary city? Do you believe that Minneapolis should fill this role and what would you do to make this happen?
A sanctuary city is one that does not do the work of federal law enforcement or help them accomplish their anti-immigration goals. Residents, regardless of naturalization status, are protected in the city they live in. However, Minneapolis has three sets of police enforcement, one of which is not controlled by the city but rather by the MET council. The best option would be for this to be a county wide initiative with cooperation from all levels of law enforcement and intergovernmental agencies.
What is the role of city government in shaping Minneapolis as the city of the future?
We should always be thinking two steps ahead. Use predictive analysis to determine our needs for elder care, veterans, education, housing, roads, energy, and the environment. We also need to be willing to run pilot programs and take risks. What got us here is not going to get us there. We need proactive leadership, committed to building workforce and infrastructure needs to make Minneapolis a self-sustaining model of progress that ensures its residents and future generations come first.
Anything else you want people to know?
City government should not be a closed door operation. It is a partnership between those trusted to lead and the communities that they serve. I want to create a City Hall that is open, collaborative, proactive, efficient and represents who we are as a community. Local politics are one of the last strongholds that we have to effectively make change and we need representation committed to moving forward, not left and right. It’s your voice, your choice!
For more information, visit preefor3.ruck.us.
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Tim Bildsoe is a DFL candidate running for the office of City Council for Ward 3.