A New Path for Ward 7: What Sets Me Apart
People have been submitting questions to my campaign website, and they’re great. One question I get quite a bit is, “How would you be different from the incumbent council member?” I wanted to let everyone know my thoughts on this. Here are five ways I can see I would be different – I’ll be going into each one in detail in subsequent emails.
I would take different votes.
I would focus my attention on different issues.
I or my staff would promptly respond to all constituent inquiries.
I would show up differently in the ward.
I would present differently on social media.
Part 1: I would take different votes from the incumbent. I would have not voted to pass the ceasefire resolution in the Middle East, the Uber/Lyft minimum wage ordinance without seeing the data from the state, nor would I have voted for the most recent budget. While I care deeply about human life and peace in the Middle East, I believe Minneapolis council members should focus their efforts on the areas in which they have jurisdiction – Minneapolis. Anything outside of that should strive for unity, such as the Saint Paul city council was able to accomplish with its unanimously passed ceasefire resolution.
The Uber/Lyft ordinance created chaos in how it was carried out. The state had commissioned a rideshare pay study, and the results were scheduled to come out the day after the city council voted to pass the ordinance! The fact that the city council passed this ordinance knowing the data would be out the next day boggles my mind. I want to govern by paying attention to data and studies. This sudden move from the city council had real-life detrimental outcomes for many rideshare drivers who rented their vehicles, and the state had to intervene to pre-empt the city, which created more last-minute chaos at the state legislature. I am supportive of the wage increases that the state eventually set for rideshare drivers, which were not substantially different from what Mayor Frey had originally proposed.
Finally, I would not have voted to pass the 2024 budget. I found it problematic insofar as many non-profits received money last-minute without a proper vetting process. I also would not have voted to take money away from a successful police recruitment program and the mounted patrol.
A recent Axios article found that on split-council votes, the Ward 7 incumbent voted with the mayor’s critics 60% of the time, and 34% of the time with the mayor. Several people in the ward have described to me their surprise at this voting record given how she presented herself as a candidate. I want to let you know how I would vote on things as honestly as possible.