Vision

My number one priority is to ensure the safety of all residents and visitors in Minneapolis. ​​As a renter in Loring Heights, Safety is the most pressing issue impacting the livability of our neighborhoods. We deserve fast and effective emergency response and our current system is failing.

• I will establish a community safety system that provides Ward 7 residents and businesses with confidence in the city and its operations. A robust emergency response workforce is essential to that.

• In the short term, we can bolster the complementary and alternative public safety workforce to free up police capacity for cases of violent crime.

• In the long term, I will support expanding hiring pathways to help MPD meet the minimum staffing number in the city charter, and work with all public safety departments to prevent violence through innovative, data-driven strategies.

• We must be proactive in preventing the conditions for crime. Adequate upkeep to our streets, sidewalks, storefronts, and street lighting set the tone for high quality neighborhoods. Activating our public spaces through festivals and events also helps our safety goals. I am committed to listening to neighbors and business owners’ experiences with crime and restoring community trust in our police force.

Housing is a basic human need. In Minneapolis, we face interlocking housing challenges. Most urgently, people without shelter need a pathway to stable housing. To improve housing stability, we must protect tenants’ rights and invest in preserving and building affordable housing. Finally, we must expand and diversify housing options as our population grows, with a regional strategy.

• Address Unsheltered Homelessness. We cannot allow our parks and forests to have encampments. We need a humane approach to addressing safety concerns associated with unsheltered homelessness in Minneapolis. I will introduce a public health and data-driven Housing First policy to create more shelter space in Minneapolis and remove barriers to accessing shelters, adding co-ed and gender neutral options, and piloting safe use sites.

• Support existing affordable housing programs, like inclusionary zoning, tax incentives, the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, and Stable Homes Stable Schools. Prioritize long-term affordability on rental projects and encourage housing cooperatives and land trusts.

• Pilot new policies downtown to incentivize the conversion of vacant office space to housing and the replacement of underused parking lots with housing.

• Improve Renters’ Housing Stability by Fully funding the right to legal counsel for renters facing evictions and passing a “Know Your Rights” ordinance to ensure that renters know their rights when signing a lease.

• Encourage regional authorities to ensure all Twin Cities communities provide their fair share of affordable housing, sharing the benefits and burdens of housing construction.

• Work with the Metropolitan Council to strengthen the metropolitan growth boundary, limiting sprawl.

As a connector and a problem-solver, I’m committed to ensuring residents in Ward 7 have the services they need and can easily navigate city processes. As your City Council Member, you will be able to share your concerns and needs with me at any time. I will always be available by phone or email to talk with Ward 7 residents, find solutions to the issues you care about and mediate any issues that arise.

• I will host forums ahead of the city’s Budget process to ensure our investments reflect our values.

• I will host regular community office hours and community meetings to hear feedback from constituents and solve constituent cases.

• I will send regularly bi-weekly newsletters with updates on city policies and services.

• I will attend neighborhood association meetings to speak about city updates and listen to neighborhood concerns.

Confronting the climate crisis will take years. It will take small steps by individuals and large steps coordinated by the City. Minneapolis can be a nationwide leader in the green transition. I will lead on equity-based climate solutions to ensure that everyone in Minneapolis has healthy air, clean water, and a clean energy future. We have the resources to respond to the climate crisis while improving our quality of life in the process.

Mitigate Greenhouse Gas Pollution

• Acquire federal and state funding for climate action and deliver climate action investments in Ward 7 and city-wide.

• Expand our renewable energy infrastructure by exploring district geothermal energy downtown, delivering air-source and ground-source heat pumps, and advancing distributed solar.

• Hold Xcel Energy accountable to decarbonizing our electricity supply.

• Expand the Green Cost Share program to fund residential energy efficiency and solar implementation.

• Pursue a building retrofit program that eliminates dependency on gas appliances. ​​

Adapt to and Prevent Climate Impacts

• Ensure resilience to extreme weather events through stormwater infrastructure, rain gardens, and increased tree planting and maintenance.

• Maximize carbon sequestration in soils, including through community composting and the use of biochar.

• Support the lawns to legumes program and other pollinator garden initiatives

Our commercial corridors are failing and we are developing in Minneapolis without adequate input from residents. I will lead alongside Ward 7 residents and businesses to bring life back to Minneapolis, especially to Nicollet Mall and Hennepin Ave.

Support Small Business:

• Coordinate with building owners, brokers, and small businesses to make retail leases affordable. Develop strategies to include smaller and more affordable commercial tenant spaces in new developments.

• Work to create incubator and co-op spaces, including shared commercial kitchens, art studios, and co-working spaces. Leverage the power of collaboration to share costs, customers, technology, equipment and resources.

• Expand the City’s financial and technical assistance capacity to help small businesses navigate regulations, licenses and permits.

• Expand the Facade Improvement Matching Grant Program to fund building enhancements and storefront improvements that attract more customers.​​ Support local businesses with lighting improvements and sidewalk maintenance.

• Expand the Commercial Property Development Fund to help BIPOC business owners purchase commercial real estate.

Invest in Neighborhoods and Placemaking:

• Deliver neighborhood-scale placemaking investments that increase foot traffic. Work with neighborhood associations, special service districts, and Downtown institutions, prioritizing the voices of residents and local business owners.

• Support Skyway businesses by improving skyway access, open hours, and promoting events.

• Support creative uses of vacant space, such as murals, pop-ups, events, and festivals. Enable pathways for food trucks to set up shop in vacant parking lots throughout Ward 7.

Government, at its best, elevates the working class and protects the most vulnerable communities among us. I am committed to strengthening unions and partnering with them to make our city a more just and equitable place to live and work.

• I support workers’ legal right to organize, unionize and bargain collectively and showing up at worker actions in support of strong contracts and worker power.

• Create a multi-industry Labor Standards Board in Minneapolis to bring workers, management and stakeholders together to set workplace standards.

• Require increased safety training in dangerous industries.

• Require project labor agreements on all public construction projects.

• Increase "co-enforcement" funding to expand outreach to workers by organizations they trust, and thereby improve labor law compliance.

• Ensure that our green transition and housing construction are built on union labor through project labor agreements, prevailing wages, and workforce development.

Our streets should make it safe and comfortable for everyone to get around, no matter how they choose to do so. Our transportation system should prioritize safety and accessibility for all people. I understand the needs of transit users, bikers, and walkers to be able to safely navigate the city.

• Invest in expanding our bus system to be more reliable, frequent, and able to get every rider to their destination efficiently.

• Work with regional and state transportation agencies to implement community-oriented safety programming on our buses and trains, deliver transit investments and ensure that transit investments benefit local businesses.

• Support the development of safe biking and walking infrastructure so that working families, as well as children and elderly neighbors, can access their jobs, homes and services, safely, without needing to drive.

• Fund the electrification of our buses.

• Work with partners at the state and county to better maintain our roads.

• Support efforts to keep our sidewalks cleared of snow and ice, especially for our seniors and vulnerable community members.

• Implement Vision Zero Action Plan to end traffic deaths and injuries.

Our Zero Waste goals are strong, but the city’s existing Zero Waste Plan is not being implemented. I will lead on waste management strategies. By expanding composting for homes, apartments and businesses, we will divert trash from the HERC trash incinerator and county landfills, improving our air and water quality while sequestering carbon in the soil.

• Ensure every home and business has access to composting and recycling.

• Organize education efforts to teach residents about what products are compostable and recyclable and how waste impacts people and the environment.

• Provide incentives for residents and businesses to reduce waste and divert materials from the trash.

• Expand access to electronic and other hazardous waste disposal and recycling.

• Develop and grow re-use, repair, and recycled markets, and incentivize zero-waste business development.

• Enforce compliance of existing rules on large waste generators.

• Leverage partnerships with Hennepin County and other organizations to combine resources, expand existing programs and develop new programs with available federal funds.

• Explore additional ways to disincentivize or prohibit disposable packaging, containers, and single-use carryout bags.