OUR VISION FOR MINNEAPOLIS
MAKING SURE NORTHSIDERS HAVE HOMES THEY CAN AFFORD & BE PROUD OF
KEEPING OUR COMMUNITY SAFE
HELPING NORTHSIDERS AND OUR BUSINESSES GROW & THRIVE
CLEANER AIR, CLEANER WATER, AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
The best policies are those that are created in community. Nowhere is that more true than in a neighborhood like the Northside, where we have been systematically shoved aside and divested from.
We wanted to share a set of principles that will guide my decision making at City Hall, both in developing policy with Northsiders, and in negotiating with Council Members and the mayor.
Making Sure Northsiders Have Homes They Can Afford & Be Proud Of
I co-authored the city’s Tenant Protection ordinance, putting a cap on how much landlords can charge for security deposits and expanding housing accessibility; the Renter First policy, changing the way the city does housing inspections to ensure housing stability for the city’s most vulnerable tenants, holding landlords accountable without punishing their tenants, establishing the city’s Tenant Relocation Ordinance, Emergency Repair Board, and Emergency Stabilization pilot program.
I am currently co-authoring a Tenant Opportunity to Purchase ordnance, which would give tenants first right to buy the houses and buildings they live in; the city’s Rent Stabilization ballot initiative which gives City Council permission to pursue a rent stabilization ordinance; and, Right to Counsel, which would ensure all tenants have legal representation in housing court
Keeping Our Community Safe
I worked with my colleagues to fund upstream solutions to violence, including establishing the Office of Violence Prevention in 2018, and in the past 3 years, the office has grown from a capacity of $500,000 to a capacity of $2.5 million. The Office of Violence Prevention aims to break the cycle of violence by using a community-centered, public health approach
I continued to expand how we keep each other safe by taking co-responders with mental health professionals citywide, as well as funding a standalone mental health response unit. I will also continue to work to proactively to address youth violence through proven public health approaches, rather than through a police-only approach.
HELPING NORTHSIDERS AND OUR BUSINESSES GROW & THRIVE
In my first term, I was inspired by Northside businesses to establish the Commercial Property Development Fund. Which gives greater opportunity for local, Black- and POC-owned businesses to buy commercial buildings in the communities they live in and serve.
I also worked to increase funding to the city’s Business Technical Assistance program, including expanding technical assistance services to small developers, worker cooperatives, and artists.
I have connected businesses to state and federal funding, including securing LGA dollars to Renewable Energy Partners on Plymouth Ave. I am currently working with Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s office to connect Northside businesses to her COVID-19 recovery proposal.
Cleaner Air, Cleaner Water, and Environmental Justice
I worked with community activists, MN Pollution Control, and the Attorney General’s office to shut down the Northern Metal’s shredder ahead of schedule.
I have also worked to promote cleaner soil by securing dollars from the states Brown Field Program to remediate toxic soils. I am currently working on the city’s Zero Lead Poisoning plan to increase the disclosure of lead in homes, the remediation of lead in homes and soil, and the reduction of lead that Northside children are exposed to.
I am working on a proposal to get the HERC incinerator de-classified as “renewable energy”, and to ensure that any new highway construction does not result in added lanes and increased emissions from car traffic. Like with Northern Metals, I will continue to work with state agencies to monitor industrial uses on the river to prevent further environmental harm to the Northside.
OUR VISION FOR ADVANCING RACIAL EQUITY
You cannot separate our current condition from the role that race – namely, anti-blackness – played in shaping our neighborhoods and region. Given that, it must continue to be a central consideration for our community building, community organizing, and community development efforts.
Our interventions must be race conscious and grounded in our history.
Our efforts to strengthen North Minneapolis must address the systemic barriers that lie at the root of so much of our economic and social inequity, many of which have been built on institutional and structural racism.
We need to advance public policies and strategies that are targeted specifically to address how communities of color, Indigenous communities, and immigrant communities are situated in our neighborhoods. This might be in relationship to public safety, housing, education or jobs.
We cannot achieve racial equity by recognizing differences in outcomes among different segments of our community and then ignoring their differences when we implement interventions. We cannot achieve equity by ignoring a history of institutional and structural racism. We cannot achieve equity by treating those who are situated differently the same way.
A rising tide does not lift all boats. One size does not fit all.
Above all, our strategies and policies must be universal, designed to improve outcomes for all, and targeted specifically to address the unique needs and conditions of those in our community experiencing inequitable outcomes.