My partner and I run a reparations-based mutual aid site in Uptown called Speakeasy MPLS. It’s our effort to dismantle capitalism, which is rooted in white supremacy, and to “go get our people” while using what we have to meet the needs of the community.

Public Safety

How will you keep young Black and brown kids safe — those who are simultaneously the most at risk from gun violence but also most at risk during interactions with the police? What do you believe are best practices for solving these issues in tandem, and how will you involve the communities most affected in problem solving and determining next steps?

As an abolitionist living in SW Minneapolis, I recognize that we have a lot of work to do before a police-free future is possible. I will do everything I can to support communities in their own efforts to reduce their reliance on police, not the least of which is obtaining more resources and funding for local organizers.

Resources are a major factor as to why Southwest is considered a safer part of the city. We need to empower the school districts and park boards to provide the same level and quality of programming for kids regardless of where they live, and they should empower the communities they serve by asking residents what kinds of programs they want for their kids. When these are in place, spend the last week of school talking about the activities and opportunities and getting kids excited about them. I’d love to see some programs that focus on things that aren’t necessarily taught or are neglected in school, like art and music, theatre, storytelling, playing games and other types of things that enrich a person’s life but can’t always be summarized by grades.

This will not only enrich the lives of kids and teens throughout the year, it also gives them something to occupy their time. This would help minimize interactions with police, but also studies have shown that kids who have opportunities like these are less likely to find themselves under the influence of gangs.

People of color in Minneapolis are killed or otherwise harmed by law enforcement at disproportionately high rates, despite many attempts at reform over several election cycles. How do you intend to reshape a policing system that has been resistant to change, and slow to show meaningful strides toward equitable community outcomes?

As a supporter of Yes4Minneapolis, I realize that the Minneapolis Police Department has no interest in reforming or changing their current methods. Residents of Minneapolis have been asking for change for over 50 years, and here we are, still asking for change. It’s plain to see that MPD doesn’t want to change or be held accountable, and so they must go. But this will not be something that happens overnight, because we need to have a solid and well-planned replacement before we disband the police department.

I want to reallocate funds away from police and put them towards expanding the scope of public safety. I would like to see all 911 calls begin with the question, “Do you require an armed police officer?” If the answer is no, then the dispatchers can start sourcing an alternative that fits the need, whether it’s violence prevention, mental health intervention, or EMS. The more options we can introduce to our current public safety system, the less we will be relying on MPD.

I also support the decriminalization of marijuana and expunging the records of those who are or were incarcerated on drug charges. The War on Drugs has caused immeasurable harm on Black and brown communities, and has enabled the police to justify their disproportionate targeting of them.

What are your stances on memorializing public spaces when our community is grieving, and/or demanding action through constitutionally-protected protests? What policies would you put in place or what organizations would you engage to ensure residents can do these things safely?

I fully support the folks who have been holding George Floyd Square since he was murdered last May. Creating the autonomous zone was a community effort, and George’s murder was certainly a tragedy that brought us together. In the time since, we’ve seen a lot of white attention to, and support of, the Black Lives Matter movement fade away, while the 24 Demands continues to go unanswered (and even unaddressed) by city officials. These folks have a right to be heard, and it’s insulting the way nobody in a position of power seems to take them seriously.

As far as doing it safely, I believe that the groups that are managing places like GFS can’t do it alone, not because they don’t have the will, but because the city is trying to shut them down rather than come alongside and collaborate with them. There are several groups in the area who have spent countless hours organizing around these very issues, like Black Visions Collective and Reclaim the Block, and I would like to see collaborative planning between them and groups managing the square.

Housing

Rental assistance from the federal government has helped keep people in their homes through the pandemic. This funding is not permanent, however, and inability to pay is the leading cause of evictions. What is your stance on more permanent rental assistance, rent stabilization, and/or rent control measures in Minneapolis?

I think one of the primary things we need is a livable minimum wage. $15 an hour is not a solution, and merely ensures that adults at that pay rate have to work a second job with no time to further their education or spend quality time with their families. Until we are able to enact a minimum wage that provides a decent quality of life, we need to continue to assist our residents who find themselves in this difficult situation.

As a renter (and one who enjoys renting), I’m fortunate to have had good landlords, past and present. But not everyone is so lucky. We need rent control that protects renters from slumlords and faceless property corporations, but we also need to ensure that those good, conscientious landlords don’t end up with their hands bound. If policies are put in place that prohibit them from being able to manage and care for their properties, we’ll end up causing harm for their renters.

Gentrification results in cultural loss for communities and major economic impacts for those priced out of their longtime neighborhoods. As our city grows, what plans do you have to combat gentrification and increase the amount of affordable housing available in Minneapolis?

As much as possible, I want to block large corporate developers from coming in and changing the landscape of our communities. They knock down old homes and buildings and put up cheap apartment buildings in their place, with only a small fraction of those apartments being allocated towards affordable housing. I want to see the city take back control of public housing and run it efficiently, rather than constantly trying to privatize it and sell it out to for-profit organizations that have no interest in preserving neighborhoods and helping residents. I want to see the city buy back single- and multi-family homes, get them up to code, and make them available to lower-income families through a path to home ownership, since owning a home is one of the quickest and most solid ways to build wealth.

In the last few years, Minneapolis has experienced a spike in encampments of unhoused people on public land — a high percentage of whom are Black and/or Indigenous. Many of our unhoused neighbors see this as their best housing option over shelters (for reasons of personal safety, pet ownership, or having to abandon property). What will you do to protect these neighbors and connect them with safe and stable housing?

I want the city to treat these neighbors with respect, dignity, and empathy. I mentioned public housing, and I would like City Council to exert more control over MPHA and make it work for our unhoused neighbors. We have several organizations throughout the city that assist unhoused folks with finding more long-term housing, and I want us to support them more fully with subsidies or other municipal assistance.

Jobs and Economy

Black, Indigenous, and Minneapolis residents of color pay local taxes and contribute to our local economy, but often do not receive the same shared economic benefits as their white counterparts. Through generations of oppression via policy and unequal systems, wealth has been chronically and systematically extracted from BIPOC communities—how do you envision addressing this legacy of economic harm, in both the short term and the long term?

I strongly advocate for reparations, both voluntarily and through city taxation, and as both a short- and long-term solution. The rampant capitalism we live under now has done no service to BIPOC communities, and merely encourages people to feel comfortable with the status quo and the widening wealth gap. By having conversations with residents and reparations experts about the importance of reparations and how to do them well, I believe we can have a huge impact on economic inequality. As I mentioned, I want to decriminalize cannabis in the city, and work with my counterparts at the State level to decriminalize it throughout Minnesota. When that happens I’d love to see dispensaries set up by the very people who were criminalized, and for the money generated from taxes on cannabis to go back into BIPOC community development.

The quality of services that we enjoy here in Southwest should be equally available to BIPOC residents regardless of their neighborhood. I will work with the financial departments within the city to ensure that funding for neighborhood resources are given equitably.

The power dynamics of work are heavily tilted against low-wage workers, especially immigrant workers. What actions have you taken or what plans do you have to protect and support these workers?

Many immigrant workers don’t report hostile workplace environments and other kinds of violations out of fear that it would lead to them harassed, fired, or in some cases separated from their families and deported. I would like to see Minneapolis take a stand as a sanctuary city and put protections in place that shield undocumented immigrant workers from retaliation and empower them to report wrongdoing. I’d like to see the city establish a workplace abuse hotline for people to call, anonymously if they wish, and get help from a team dedicated to investigating wage theft and other workplace violations.

I support worker groups that want to unionize, and will push hard for a $20/hour minimum wage (because $15/hour is not livable).

Racial Justice

Explain your understanding of systemic racism, and how—or whether—you believe it affects Minneapolis’s education systems & outcomes, our housing market, our environment, public safety, healthcare, or other major systems.

Systemic racism is a system that was designed to benefit one people group while simultaneously oppressing another. Systemic racism is driving a highway through a prosperous Black neighborhood. Systemic racism is nearly 60% of people currently serving life sentences in prison being Black, despite Black people making up only 13% of the entire U.S. population. Systemic racism is redlining, or adding racial covenants into property deeds that prevent Black and brown people from owning that property. Systemic racism is pulling over a Black driver for a burned-out taillight, giving them a ticket, revoking their license when they can’t pay for the ticket, and then arresting them for driving with a suspended license because they still have to get to work to provide for their family. Systemic racism is creating a “Green Zone” in communities dealing with pollution, and then not dealing with the pollution or creating ordinances that hold accountable the companies that create or add to the pollution. Systemic racism is crafting city ordinances that direct the best funding to wealthy white neighborhoods and schools, while letting other, largely Black and brown neighborhoods try to keep up with pothole-filled streets, fewer trees, more pollution, more industrial centers, lower property values, and more police.

Our community suffers from some of the greatest racial disparities in the country across many social, educational, and economic metrics—and has for some time. If you’re in government now, what have you done to address this, and do you feel your efforts have been enough despite the lack of change? And if you’re seeking office for the first time, what ideas are you going to put forward that haven’t already failed?

As I mentioned before, reparations is a huge part of my platform, and it’s long, long overdue. They’re making this happen in St. Paul, and it’s time for us to do that here in Minneapolis. We need to make reparations happen on an individual basis, but also at a city level by massively increasing the funding allocated to BIPOC communities.

Climate

Climate change is already upon us, and its causes are on such a large scale that we can’t expect everyday Minneapolitans to recycle or LED bulb our way to a solution. How would you encourage businesses in our city to adopt practices to mitigate climate change, and/or hold them accountable for practices that worsen it?

You’re absolutely right, that we need to make drastic changes now, and deciding to buy reusable shopping bags isn’t nearly enough. We need to make a concerted effort to hold businesses that pollute accountable. We should incentivize businesses to innovate eco-friendly ways of operating, whether it’s manufacturing or food services or retail. Businesses seeking to apply for or renew their license within the city would need to provide a type of “green charter” that would show how they are being conscientious and protective of the environment.

Voters’ Rights

What have you done or what will you do to protect and expand voter access in your ward/Minneapolis?

Voter turnout in my ward is already the highest in the city, with a lot of white-collar workers who have the opportunity to take time off of work to go vote. But I know in other parts of the city many factors contribute to poorer voter turnout, whether transportation poverty, employers not giving workers the time, or workers not being able to afford to take unpaid time off. I would like the city to offer shuttle services to communities that experience transportation poverty, and impose fines on businesses that don’t give their employees paid time off to vote. I would also like to encourage local businesses to offer their buildings as polling places so that every voter can have a polling location close to their home.

Governance

Who are the people and/or organizations that would be part of your decision-making process in office?

As a white woman who wasn’t previously very interested in politics, there are a lot of issues that I don’t have personal experience with, and some issues that I never will. My decision-making teams will include both professional experts, local organizers, and community groups from my ward. I especially want to use this position to amplify the voices of BIPOC, the LGBTQ+ community, and others who are frequently marginalized and overlooked by the white majority.

Last Word

What’s one thing you think Minneapolis does well that you’d like to build upon if elected?

We are so fortunate to have a beautiful city filled with lush, green parks, and I want to really give parks a boost. I want to partner with the Park Board and create more green spaces for all of our residents to enjoy.

I’m not a career politician. I believe the best ideas start with people on the ground pushing for the changes that will help their families, friends, and neighbors. That’s why I support the Yes4Minneapolis-led public safety charter amendment to create a comprehensive Department of Public Safety. Earlier this year, I went to the Lake Harriet bandshell to collect signatures for the petition to get the people-led version of this amendment on the ballot. Minneapolis residents have made it clear that it’s time for significant changes to our public safety system. Under our current charter, the Mayor has unilateral control over the police department, so our council members don’t have the power to make any of the changes residents are asking for. The public safety charter amendment is a necessary first step to any significant changes to policing.

Public Safety

How will you keep young Black and brown kids safe — those who are simultaneously the most at risk from gun violence but also most at risk during interactions with the police? What do you believe are best practices for solving these issues in tandem, and how will you involve the communities most affected in problem solving and determining next steps?

We currently spend more than one third of our General Fund on policing, and that doesn’t include the more than $50 million spent on police misconduct settlements in the past five years. A significant portion of this money pays for our police to make discriminatory stops and arrests that don’t reduce crime, but merely criminalize vulnerable populations.

We should be prioritizing public safety efforts that do the most societal good. The sensationalized crime trends of the past year did highlight an overlooked detail: many of those arrested were young teens who would have been in school before the pandemic. This indicates some very simple first steps: provide at-risk kids with healthy things to do and places to go through creative programs, mentoring, and outreach. We have long known about the disparities in academic achievement between white and BIPOC students in Minneapolis. We need to prioritize the voices of teachers, parents, and the teens themselves when asking why we continue to fail these students.

As leaders, we can’t continue imposing solutions on vulnerable populations who weren’t involved in the policy-making process. Solutions that last are built by and with the people who need them most.

People of color in Minneapolis are killed or otherwise harmed by law enforcement at disproportionately high rates, despite many attempts at reform over several election cycles. How do you intend to reshape a policing system that has been resistant to change, and slow to show meaningful strides toward equitable community outcomes?

Since George Floyd was murdered last summer, at least four other Black men have been killed by law enforcement in Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs. Many elected officials, including Ward 13’s Council Member Palmisano, are either actively increasing tensions with protestors demanding change, or have only made vague promises of incremental reforms.

I will step up by supporting the Yes4Minneapolis ballot measure to create a new Department of Public Safety. This change will transfer oversight of the MPD to an apolitical Commissioner nominated by the Mayor and appointed by the City Council. This will provide significantly more transparency and accountability of the MPD to residents.

Council Member Palmisano says that she wants to transform our public safety system, but does not support this charter amendment. Under the current department structure, she and the rest of the council don’t have any power over MPD’s policies.

I also support reallocating some of the MPD budget to alternate evidence-based public safety initiatives. Ticketing or arrests for minor crimes like drug possession and solicitation disproportionately affect Black residents and criminalize issues like mental illness, addiction, and homelessness. Giving fines or jail time to vulnerable people with no ill intent does not make our community safer.

What are your stances on memorializing public spaces when our community is grieving, and/or demanding action through constitutionally-protected protests? What policies would you put in place or what organizations would you engage to ensure residents can do these things safely?

Before George Floyd Square was forcefully “reopened” by the Mayor and other groups contracted by the city, I visited it multiple times. The media likes to report on the Square as a lawless, crime-ridden autonomous zone. That’s not what I experienced when I was there. It’s a beautiful and inclusive place that provides an important public service. Minneapolis has been publicly protesting and grieving regular police violence for years now, and maintaining places like this is vital for community healing.

Forcefully reopening George Floyd Square in a pre-dawn raid is not leadership. Neither was leveling the community garden built at the site of Winston Smith’s killing in Uptown. As a city council member, my first priority will be to show up and listen to anyone exercising their first amendment rights in protest against injustice. I will listen to exactly what the community is asking for, and explore what concrete actions I could take to meet that need. If there are significant obstacles to meeting the need, council members are responsible for being open and transparent about what is holding up progress. Many of our current elected officials haven’t taken any of these basic steps, which is extremely disappointing.

Housing

Rental assistance from the federal government has helped keep people in their homes through the pandemic. This funding is not permanent, however, and inability to pay is the leading cause of evictions. What is your stance on more permanent rental assistance, rent stabilization, and/or rent control measures in Minneapolis?

Ward 13 has the highest percentage of homeowners in Minneapolis. But 25% of our residents are renters, and their needs have been largely ignored by Council Member Palmisano. We can’t build a safe, thriving community without protecting renters.

With the Delta variant spreading rapidly as I write this, it’s clear that the pandemic is not over. If the federal or state government does not step up with additional rental assistance soon, we must do so at the city level.

Even when the pandemic is over, rental instability will continue to affect everyone from landlords to tenants to neighbors. I want our renting neighbors to be able to stay in our neighborhoods. Currently, the City Council has no power to regulate rental costs in Minneapolis, which is why I support the proposed charter amendment to give them that ability. And for those renters who do want to buy a home, we should offer “opportunity to buy” clauses in rental agreements as well as a greater supply of available, truly affordable housing options. Another way to make housing more affordable is to pay a livable wage. I support a citywide minimum wage of $20/hr in Minneapolis.

Gentrification results in cultural loss for communities and major economic impacts for those priced out of their longtime neighborhoods. As our city grows, what plans do you have to combat gentrification and increase the amount of affordable housing available in Minneapolis?

I support public housing. When we tear it down instead of maintaining it, we fail to recognize the human cost for the families who live there. The privatization of low-income housing is displacing Minneapolitans by using area median income calculations that aren’t “affordable” at all. We need to start being honest about what is affordable to families when forming these guidelines.

We must also recognize that for every trendy brewery or cafe in our city, there are essential employees keeping it running. They, like all residents, deserve to thrive in our city. Increasing housing density would help keep housing affordable for them and make Minneapolis more walkable. And for those who want or need to live in another part of the city, we need to provide safe, affordable, and green ways to commute. This means expanding access to bus rapid transit and protected, not just painted, bike lanes.

In the last few years, Minneapolis has experienced a spike in encampments of unhoused people on public land — a high percentage of whom are Black and/or Indigenous. Many of our unhoused neighbors see this as their best housing option over shelters (for reasons of personal safety, pet ownership, or having to abandon property). What will you do to protect these neighbors and connect them with safe and stable housing?

In a place with summer heat waves, lethal winter cold, tornadoes, and thunderstorms, it’s unconscionable for us to leave people to fend for themselves outside. I’ve heard Mayor Frey say several times recently that there is open space in our shelters for people currently in encampments. This is a dangerous oversimplification of a complex problem.

As with every other issue, we need to center the residents themselves rather than treating encampments as an abstract problem to be fixed. Residents of encampments have families, pets, jobs, belongings, and deserve privacy and safety like everyone else. These factors cannot always be accommodated by shelters. And, of course, shelters are not a permanent solution for anyone.

These are just some of the complex, but very solvable, problems we have a responsibility to tackle with urgency. Why did we have money for hotel rooms during the polar vortex but not public SROs or tiny homes to provide a more permanent solution? People live in encampments for a variety of reasons, which means we need to provide a variety of solutions: housing that supports people in active addiction, storage locker access, and more pet-friendly shelters are all options we can more aggressively pursue.

Jobs and Economy

Black, Indigenous, and Minneapolis residents of color pay local taxes and contribute to our local economy, but often do not receive the same shared economic benefits as their white counterparts. Through generations of oppression via policy and unequal systems, wealth has been chronically and systematically extracted from BIPOC communities—how do you envision addressing this legacy of economic harm, in both the short term and the long term?

BIPOC communities are disproportionately affected by property taxes, as these areas tend to be overvalued, while whiter, wealthier areas tend to be undervalued. A simple first step is proactive communication to let residents know that they have the legal right to contest their property taxes if they have been affected by this.

Minneapolis also has a history of racial segregation—prohibiting residents of color from buying homes in entire neighborhoods, and destroying BIPOC neighborhoods to make way for freeways. There are homes in our city that have (albeit unenforceable) racial covenants on them to this day. I support exploring a pathway toward a reparations program for families and communities who were shut out of homeownership and wealth building by these policies.

I also support the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act. Renters deserve a fair chance to stay in their homes when faced with potential sale of the property.

The power dynamics of work are heavily tilted against low-wage workers, especially immigrant workers. What actions have you taken or what plans do you have to protect and support these workers?

I support a liveable $20 minimum wage to empower all workers. I also want to empower immigrant workers to know their rights and feel safe at work. Many labor unions and workers rights organizations, such as Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha (CTUL), are already doing this important work. We should follow their lead and support their efforts.

In 2019, Hennepin County successfully prosecuted its first case of labor trafficking—the practice of intimidating workers (usually immigrants) into working in poor conditions with little pay and no benefits. This was a significant win for workers’ rights and we should continue to prosecute employers using these inhumane tactics.

We do have a strong wage theft ordinance that helps address this, but there are loopholes we should close to further protect immigrants. For example, unlike our regular employee wage theft ordinance, our freelance worker protections don’t include requirements about providing written contracts in multiple languages. Every worker deserves to fully understand the terms of their employment and how to protect themselves if their rights are violated.

Racial Justice

Explain your understanding of systemic racism, and how—or whether—you believe it affects Minneapolis’s education systems & outcomes, our housing market, our environment, public safety, healthcare, or other major systems.

I really started to understand systemic racism when I realized the number of advantages that I had when I started my business from my dining room table. At first, I thought I was starting from zero because all I had was a laptop and a good idea. But I also didn’t have any student loan debt, I had a strong enough credit score to have access to financing, and I had a spouse with an income that could support the household by herself—all things that I would be less likely to have access to if I weren’t white.

My idea was also based on what I had learned from other family members running their own businesses, starting with my grandfather in the 1950s. At that same time, my grandfather would not have been able to buy a house in Southwest Minneapolis if he were Black.

My guess is a lot of white people in Minneapolis had help getting to where they are. When only 59% of the city is white, but the highest property values are concentrated in Southwest, an area that’s over 80% white, something needs to change.

Our community suffers from some of the greatest racial disparities in the country across many social, educational, and economic metrics—and has for some time. If you’re in government now, what have you done to address this, and do you feel your efforts have been enough despite the lack of change? And if you’re seeking office for the first time, what ideas are you going to put forward that haven’t already failed?

Something we haven’t tried is direct reparations. As I mentioned when discussing housing inequality, our city has a long history of discriminatory housing practices. While we create more equitable policies, we also need to directly invest in the people and neighborhoods who were harmed by these practices. I support exploring a reparations program for people who were refused the opportunity to establish economic stability and start building wealth in Minneapolis.

We also need to invest more in our BIPOC youth. Minnesota’s graduation rates have improved overall despite slightly decreasing for Black students and English learners. We can implement evidence-based programs to combat this. Studies have shown that mentoring is a successful strategy. We may be able to fund mentoring programs through a new Department of Public Safety. Keeping kids in school is part of a holistic effort to not only help them graduate but also help them stay out of trouble. We can also promote dual credit, early college, and union trade skills programs. Kids are more likely to graduate when they have attainable goals that depend on a diploma.

Climate

Climate change is already upon us, and its causes are on such a large scale that we can’t expect everyday Minneapolitans to recycle or LED bulb our way to a solution. How would you encourage businesses in our city to adopt practices to mitigate climate change, and/or hold them accountable for practices that worsen it?

I believe we as a ward can be good neighbors by demanding the same things for all of Minneapolis that we would demand for ourselves. One thing we’d never allow in Linden Hills is for a place like Northern Metals to poison the air our children breathe. We have repeatedly failed to hold them accountable for environmental violations; I would fight to shut it down entirely.

Thanks to Minnesota’s climate, a huge part of our city’s carbon emissions come from the natural gas heating our buildings. Many homes in our city aren’t adequately weatherized or insulated. We can educate residents about this and provide more financial assistance to make upgrades that will help cut emissions and reduce their energy costs. For businesses, we should explore financial incentives to build greener, encouraging new construction that goes beyond the bare minimum in energy efficiency.

Council Member Palmisano opposed the city’s involvement in a low-carbon geothermal incentive for a major construction project. I would have supported this—the energy and emissions savings, and the potential energy-sharing benefits to the surrounding neighborhood, vastly outweighed the initial investment.

Voters’ Rights

What have you done or what will you do to protect and expand voter access in your ward/Minneapolis?

Ward 13 consistently has the highest voter turnout in both municipal and general elections. It’s great that so many of my neighbors are participating in our democratic process. What troubles me is that my ward also has the highest percentage of white residents and the highest median income in the city.

Ward 13 is only one thirteenth of Minneapolis and should not have such a disproportionate impact on city-wide politics. As a city council member, I will listen to my colleagues on the council, learn what barriers to voting their constituents are facing, and how I can help break them down.

I also support restoring voting rights to felons who have completed their prison sentence. According to the ACLU of Minnesota, more than 53,000 Minnesotans living in our communities do not have the right to vote because they are on probation, parole, or supervised release. Many more who have completed probation or parole have not registered to vote because they have not been properly informed of their rights. If the courts have decided that these individuals should return home to their communities, they should have a say in who represents them.

Governance

Who are the people and/or organizations that would be part of your decision-making process in office?

As a city council member, I will aim to get a wide variety of perspectives before making decisions and prioritize the voices of those who would be most impacted. Fortunately, we have no shortage of great sources of information in Minneapolis.

There are excellent reporters at the Minnesota Reformer, Star Tribune, Minnesota Public Radio, and Sahan Journal that I follow closely. I am also looking forward to the launch of the new Racket news site, led by great members of the former City Pages team. There are city-wide community activist organizations like Community Power and ISAIAH that I really respect, along with neighborhood groups in Ward 13 like Kenny Organizing for Racial Equity (KORE) and Armatage Reparations & Equity Action (AREA). I also highly value the opinions and activism of labor unions and workers and will prioritize their voices in policy decisions.

Finally, even the best reporting and community engagement processes can’t be a substitute for being in the community to see and hear what’s happening firsthand. My campaign has been centered around being visible and available to residents both in Ward 13 and the rest of the city, and I will continue that focus when elected.

Last Word

What’s one thing you think Minneapolis does well that you’d like to build upon if elected?

Very few American cities can compete with the beautiful, accessible lakes and parks we have in Minneapolis. Hats off to the city planners who made sure our lakes would always be open to the public. I think one of the best ways to enjoy our lakes, green spaces, and our city as a whole, is by bike. Whether exercising, going on a family picnic, or taking in the city as a tourist, the Grand Rounds and Greenway are an awesome foundation for a safe, efficient, and scenic bike ride.

Our next step should be to connect more neighborhoods to this system with equally family-friendly and beginner-friendly bike routes. Much of our current bike infrastructure works okay for experienced commuters, but I don’t know many people who would feel safe with their kids biking on the “bike lanes” designated by paint lines on our roads. We know how to create safe and efficient biking infrastructure—we just need to commit to it.