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.

• I am working to develop a comprehensive 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.

• Working to bolster the complementary and alternative public safety workforce to free up police capacity for cases of violent crime.

•  I have supported expanding hiring pathways to help MPD meet the minimum staffing number in the city charter, and worked 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 continuing to listen 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.

• We need to 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. On the Council, I will continue to advocate for Housing First policies, permitting more shelter space in Minneapolis, removing barriers to accessing shelters, supporting pet- and family-friendly, co-ed and gender-neutral options, and supporting safe use sites.

• We need more support for existing affordable housing programs, like inclusionary zoning, the 4d tax incentives, the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, and Stable Homes Stable Schools. We need to be prioritizing long-term affordability on rental projects and encouraging housing cooperatives and land trusts.

• I support passing an ordinance to incentivize the conversion of vacant office space to housing to grow the downtown residential population.

• 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.

• We need to work with our neighboring communities and regional authorities to ensure all Twin Cities communities provide their fair share of affordable housing, sharing the benefits and burdens of housing construction.

• I will continue to work with the Metropolitan Council to strengthen the metropolitan growth boundary, limiting sprawl.

The Uptown commercial core, anchored at Lake Street and Hennepin Ave, was impacted by the triple threat of the recession, civil unrest, and street reconstructions. Big box retail like Heartbreaker, Victoria’s Secret and the Apple Store took off during the pandemic and left vast vacancies. Some absentee building owners have kept rents too high for small and local businesses to afford and are unreachable for brokerage opportunities. The City is stepping up to play a role in matchmaking brokerage opportunities, renovating and revitalizing buildings, and incubating new businesses and we need more partners at the table.

Since I came into office in 2024, through the budget process and policymaking, I have brought forth a myriad of initiatives, pilots, programs, and support structures to assist the economic corridor. Here is a summary of those initiatives and my vision for revitalization through local business and housing development.

1. Business District Support - We budgeted for hundreds of thousands of dollars in business support this year. The first round of funding supported the development of the Uptown Farmer’s Market by East Isles neighbors, launching this summer on Thursdays. This will bring residents and visitors to the area and provide much-needed foot traffic for new and longstanding businesses alike. More Business District Support is rolling out this year for targeted initiatives. 

2. Vibrant Storefronts -Uptown was and has been a hub for creatives and entrepreneurs for decades, anchored by institutions like the Uptown Theater. It’s important to me thst we maintain the importance of the creative community in Uptown revitalization. With 6 Uptown properties now participating in Vibrant Storefronts pays rent for creatives and entrepreneurs to set up shop in formerly vacant spaces, allowing them to renovate and bring creative design solutions to the space and launch their businesses. The participating storefronts are in the Rainbow Building, the former Urban Outfitters, and 7 points. Eligible arts organization and entrepreneurs will be selected in the coming months. 

3. New Housing Development- with Bus Rapid Transit corridors opening up on both Lake Street (B Line opening in June) and Hennepin Ave (E Line opening in November), the corridor is ripe for more housing development. I am aware of two multi-family housing developments in the planning stages along Hennepin and I support housing development. I am working with the architects and developers to bring designs and plans forward to the Planning Commission and City Council for approval. This will support a ripple effect of investment in the housing stock. It’s important that we ensure affordable housing is built through policies like inclusionary zoning so that this new development can boost development without displacing the current community. 

4. Commissioned a Long-range plan for the area – Building a resilient local economy necessitate a process to create a collective vision for the future of this important area with input from residents., The City has recently initiated similar efforts in other locations like the former Kmart site and the Warehouse District downtown, both of which are under development. I included this in the City budget for the year and staff have identified a partner to convene land use and economic revitalization experts, community stakeholders, and other key entities to examine the current conditions, identify unique opportunities, to set Uptown back on track to full strength and vibrancy in the years to come. 

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 can share your concerns and needs with me at any time. I am 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 continue to host regular community office hours and community meetings in every neighborhood of Ward 7 to hear feedback from constituents and solve constituent cases.

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

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

• I will continue to seek feedback from residents ahead of the city’s budget processes to ensure our investments reflect our values.

Our commercial corridors in Downtown and Uptown are struggling and small businesses need support. I lead alongside Ward 7 residents and businesses to deliver resources to commercial corridors in Ward 7, especially  Nicollet Mall, Hennepin Ave S, and West Lake Street.

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 Ownership and Opportunity 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.

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.

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

Adapt to and Prevent Climate Impacts

• Ensure resilience to extreme weather events and the heat island effect through stormwater infrastructure, rain gardens, and increased tree planting and boulevard 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 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.

• 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.