My plan to improve Minneapolis for All
Public Safety
Minneapolis needs leaders that support responsible allocation of funds to Public Safety which includes Police and Violence Interrupter work. I will work closely with our Police chief to improve recruitment and retention of our officers while spending responsibly on programs that can prove that they are working. Incumbent Robin Wonsley aspires to defund the Police.
Budget Crisis and Rising Taxes
Minneapolis income per person has been declining over the last ten years. Now we have a budget crisis, with nearly 10% property tax increases planned for the next few years to cover the collapse in property values downtown. We need to rethink how we spend money and attract investment in our city. I will not increase taxes unless a serious review of all government agency spending is completed. I also will not create any new spending programs or public works projects while in our budget crisis. I will look at ways we can remove layers of bureaucracy and inefficient spending. Lastly, I will look at ways we can properly share the tax burden with the suburbs for developments such as the US Bank Stadium which lies fully on the heads of Minneapolis’s residents. Incumbent Robin Wonsley has pushed for wasteful programs such as City funded personal sidewalk plowing, potentially costing the taxpayers millions of dollars.
Rethinking City Planning
It is time to reexamine the way that Minneapolis does urban planning in the 2040 Plan. Minneapolis is not developing thriving neighborhoods and shopping corridors with this plan but instead a patchwork of undesirable developments. Small businesses are leaving the city in droves. Traffic issues have increased and the interest of suburbanites to live in or enter the city for entertainment has also fallen off. With the current zoning, there was nothing to stop a new homeless shelter at 1801 Nicollet Ave from being approved in the heart of a struggling, drug hotspot which had received millions in investment in a turnaround attempt. The way Minneapolis is doing City Planning now is reckless and naive. We need to create thriving neighborhoods, not hope they happen organically.
Education
Ward 2 encompasses the University of Minnesota campus, the jewel of the public University system in the State. I will work to ensure that all students on campus are heard and provided with responsive services. For too long, the students have often felt unsafe near campus and have had poor housing options, on and off campus. I will work with University Administrators to build a better partnership between city, University and private developers to grow investment in Dinkytown and the surrounding neighborhoods, unleashing the potential of the area. Incumbent Robin Wonsley has actively discouraged improved public safety presence in the off-campus housing and demonized local developers building high quality housing for new students.
Homelessness
Affordable Housing
Affordable housing is important. However, many Minneapolis Affordable Housing Buildings are being placed on the market and sold to potential redevelopment due to insufficient demand for the housing and high maintenance costs due to tenant behavior. The focus needs to be on smart policy based on facts and data. The City just spent 18 million subsidizing new housing for developers with a history of failure. This is not smart policy. Incumbent Robin Wonsley supported giving tax dollars to a bankrupt temporary housing center called Agate without any oversight of the financial viability of the investment or following a fair process for other local businesses in need . In the end, the building Agate ran closed anyways, and the city had wasted its time and efforts for showmanship.
BIPOC Success
It is critical to focus on improving the lives and neighborhoods of Minneapolis BIPOC community. I will work hand in hand to listen to the unique issues faced by underserved areas of the city and raise those voices and concerns. Our neighborhoods need better jobs, better safety, and I will be a leader to make sure that all government funds provided by the city require an accompanying investment in our neighborhoods.
Good Jobs
Inexperience
Many on the current council have only ever worked in politics and lack the context provided by life experience to lead the city to a prosperous future. With years working for both small and large companies and an engineer and manager, as well as time as an organizer with Bernie Sanders and the Census Bureau, I have the breadth of background to stabilize the city. Incumbent Robin Wonsley spent much of her time in office focused on international politics, state law issues, and others outside the scope of the City Council. This inexperience wastes your tax dollars. It needs to end.