With Frey likely vacating his seat on the city council in order to run for mayor this year, people have begun stepping up for the race to represent the Third Ward on the Minneapolis City Council.
Five people are seeking endorsement from the Minneapolis DFL: Steve Fletcher, Cordelia Pierson, Susan Higgins, Samantha Pree-Stinson, and Ginger Jentzen.
Steve Fletcher
Fletcher spoke to a small gathering at his kickoff, attributing his run to the growing political unrest in Washington. While there’s not much a city council member could do at the national Capitol, he is running in an attempt to make Minneapolis a better place to live in spite of what he sees as an environment of political turmoil.
“The best way to resist the president’s divisiveness is to make this city a great place to live for everyone,” said Fletcher in his opening remarks. “We have the power locally to make Minneapolis a great place.”
“We have the power locally,” Fletcher’s speech kept coming back to that. He spoke on supporting small businesses, demanding more equity in police conduct, pushing for more affordable housing downtown. He also discussed raising the minimum wage, though he did acknowledge that even though he supports small, local businesses, he and some entrepreneurs don’t see eye to eye on that subject. Something that he values as a representative though is inclusiveness, and he wishes to create an environment where disagreement doesn’t mean division.
“One thing I’ve done a lot of in my career is find a way to bring more people into a conversation,” he said. “Sometimes, city hall is a bubble.”
In his career up until this point, Fletcher has held private-sector jobs in database design, but he went into public service after grad school. He is a founding member of Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, a group dedicated to advocating change in community policy and defending homeowners from foreclosure. Fletcher was also a part of the campaign to save North High School when it was threatened with closure in 2013. He ran Dori Eder’s campaign when she ran, albeit unsuccessfully, for the legislature, the seat now held by Diane Loeffler.
Fletcher used to live in the Sheridan neighborhood, but now lives downtown. He first came to Minneapolis from small town Colorado, and chose to stay because he came to love the open and inclusive quality of the city.
“Our cliches are Wellstone quotes,” he said. “And I love that this is a place where there’s room to create.”
Cordelia Pierson
Cordelia Pierson had a similarly low-key opening to her campaign. Though it wasn’t an official kickoff, she held a small meet-and-greet on February 16 at the ballroom in the Grain Belt Terrace apartments, near Broadway and Marshall to introduce herself to potential voters. Pierson will officially kick off her campaign on Feb. 22 at the Wilde Roast Cafe.
“I want to start with a big word that means a lot to me, and it’s ‘hope,’” said Pierson, going on to say that even though the news may be hard to stay optimistic about sometimes, there’s no reason to lose hope for creating a better future.
One of the main points Pierson spoke about at the meet-and-greet was the preservation of the Mississippi River. She lauded the city’s efforts to create more public lands along the riverfront.
“Imagine our kind of access to the river in more than just Northeast,” she mused.
The people in attendance had a chance to discuss things they want to see Pierson address. Topics ranged from frustrations with big developers steamrolling community assets (Mulberry Junction community garden mentioned in particular), expensive developments longtime community members can’t afford, energy sustainability, and wage equality between different ethnic groups.
“Addressing affordability as we grow is something the city has control over, and it’s something we should look at,” Pierson replied. She went on to say “Coal is old business. That’s one good thing about Minnesota: we’re getting more and more clean energy here. The environment is a bi-partisan issue.”
She also said that while she supports equal pay, that there are other options for addressing income disparity. A higher minimum wage is one tool, but insuring affordable housing and job access are other issues that must be addressed.
Pierson is an attorney in environmental law and neighborhood land use. In 1996, she began working for the Trust for Public Land, and worked there for 12 years. She helped create the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary, and has since worked with the Minneapolis Riverfront Partnership, the Mississippi River Parkway Commission, and she was elected as the president of the Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association from 2013-2014. She said that she could bring a lot of professional law experience to the council if elected.
Pierson moved to Minneapolis 21 years ago for grad school after living in Japan working as a teacher for two years. She and her husband chose Minneapolis partially for the schools and the job market, but also because it was so apparent that people here care about the improvement of the city. She now lives in Marcy -Holmes, a neighborhood consisting of 85 percent renters, which she said makes organizing as a community difficult.
Before living in Minneapolis, Pierson grew up near New York City, and had never seen nature living inside of a city setting to the degree that it does in Minneapolis. She talked specifically about a pair of bald eagles that was sighted nesting near the 35W bridge. It was found out later that the eagles chose the nesting place because of the access to St. Anthony Falls, and the fish population underneath it. She would like to see that kind of relationship with the river continue to be mirrored in the community.
Susan Higgins
Officially labeling herself as a “professional volunteer,” Higgins is recently back into the political scene after taking a several-year hiatus. Though she has her Master’s degree in professional writing and publishing, Higgins delved into the realm of politics long before she came to Minnesota. During Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign in 2008, Higgins lived in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was the editorial assistant for the Harvard Law Review, when Obama served as the publication’s president. Higgins worked on the front line of Obama’s campaign knocking on doors and running fundraisers in the Carolinas.
“To watch that blossom. . .It was very exciting. I remember some dark days before his speech in Iowa,” said Higgins.
Higgins took a step back from politics and moved to Minnesota after the 2008 election. She considers the results of the 2016 election and the social fallout afterwards her call back into action.
“I’m somewhat distressed by the tone of things,” she said flatly, then going on to explain her frustration at the left and the right’s seeming inability to cooperate. She said many representatives get too hung up on small details and making sure they line up with party loyalties. “Sometimes ‘it works’ should be good enough. . .Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Compromise shouldn’t be a dirty word.”
When asked what she could bring to the city council, Higgins stated plainly that she could provide a fresh set of eyes. She explained that she believes after working for a long time in the same environment, representatives get set in a certain way of working, and it takes a new member of the team to envision a simpler way.
Cost of living is a hot-button issue for Higgins, specifically when it comes to affordable housing. She’d like to explore several alternative options. She spoke in detail on the possibility of adopting a mixed housing program similar to one recently implemented at New York University, which houses university students with senior citizens. This program is meant to reduce the price of housing for students while also encouraging more socialization for seniors. Higgins said she believes such a program could catch on in Minneapolis, citing the diversity and open-mindedness of the city’s people.
“Bringing people together is what we do,” she said.
Samantha Pree-Stinson
Samantha Pree-Stinson has always considered herself to be a democrat, but upon her decision to run for city council, she stopped to re-evaluate her position when it came time to seek endorsement. She said that she didn’t like the endorsement process the DFL uses, especially after the scrutiny it came under during the 2016 election. Turning to the Green Party, Pree-Stinson received endorsement from them at the end of February, though she kicked off her campaign much earlier, on January 18. According to her, the Green Party endorsement system is much more transparent and allows for greater voter input, a value that drew her to the party.
“As a leader, you need to make sure that you are transparent, accountable, visible, and engaging, and that is something that we don’t always see,” she said.
Pree-Stinson said that a successful city council is one that is able to make connections, both with its constituents, and with other council members. Making connections is a key value of hers, one that she has had plenty of time to develop over the course of her career. She began her professional métier in the medical field as a medical assistant straight out of high school. Later, she joined the military, serving 4 years as a combat medic, 14 months of which was spent deployed in Afghanistan. She worked her way up to Sergeant in a short amount of time, a position she sees as parallel with the council in decision making and responsibility.
When she returned home, Pree-Stinson taught medical assistance at Corinthian College, and became the associate director of education there for a short time, and then later worked for Medtronic up until her decision to run for office. Originally, she was going to run for school board, but decided to shoot for the Ward 3 seat on the council as she felt she could create a bigger impact there.
Pree-Stinson agreed with many other candidates in that affordable housing is one of the great hurdles facing the city right now, and talked briefly about options she’s considered, ranging from the concept of tiny homes, to bringing back the old model of treating studio apartments as micro apartments to bring down the pricing. A topic she believes doesn’t get enough attention is sex trafficking. She knows that many people are aware that sex trafficking still exists in America, but she’d like to see the city go from awareness to a plan of action.
“What is missing from the council is a true progressive voice. . .having the kind of future thought of Minneapolis in 10 years,” said Pree-Stinson. “Maintenance is not progress. Just because things aren’t getting worse does not mean that things are getting better.”
It was the day after the 2016 election that solidified her decision to run. According to her, she was approached at a bus stop by a car full of men who spat a series of racial slurs at her and demanded she “go back to Africa.”
Since declaring her candidacy, Pree- Stinson has apparently received a racist note following a conversation held on Facebook questioning where she lived and the legitimacy of her campaign. While the exact contents of the note have not been disclosed, Pree-Stinson did make a video on her Facebook page calling the author out. She said that the note read, “We know where you live,” and then went on to spout racial slurs and question whether she actually lived in Ward 3.
“I believe in transparency and visibility. I’ve said that all along, and that’s the type of leader that I am,” she said in her video. “Now I have to address it. . .You don’t have to vote for a black woman if that bothers you and makes you uncomfortable, but I have every support system I need to run this campaign and I intend to do it all the way until November. I don’t care how many racists want to put whatever they want to put on their fence. . .We will leave it to the voters.”
Pree-Stinson said she and her family were forced to move on short notice about a month ago, and the new home they will be moving into in July will still be within Ward 3. Official rules say that a candidate must live in the ward within 30 days of the election, a need that will be met even after the move is made. She believes this shake-up was the origin of the accusation made in the anonymous letter.
“There’s no rule that’s been broken, there’s no lie that’s been told,” she stated.
Ginger Jentzen
Ginger Jentzen is an activist fresh off the campaign trail for the $15 an Hour crusade. She was the executive director for the petition, and stepped down from that position in order to run for the Ward 3 seat under the Socialist Alternative party’s banner.
“It’s extremely important that we ask what are the needs of working people, and how do we address them,” said Jentzen about her work with the $15 an Hour campaign. “And it’s important to give credit to the low-wage workers who organized [the petition].”
Jentzen is modeling her campaign after that of Seattle council member Kshama Sawant, who also ran as a Socialist Alternative and campaigned for a higher minimum wage, affordable housing, and higher taxation of the wealthy to fund public works. Jentzen said that she doesn’t want to see the level of gentrification that happened in Seattle to happen in Minneapolis, so she wants to be proactive to prevent it rather than fight against it like Sawant did.
For her campaign, Jentzen believes Minneapolis needs to expand and address what it means to fight for the working class. Her strategies include implementing tenants’ unions, rent control, and taxes on big developers.
“We shouldn’t be contracting with antisocial developers,” she said, referring to the ever-vilified condo high rise.
Jentzen is also inspired by Bernie Sanders’s campaign, and will be seeking no corporate money to fund her campaign, which kicked off in late January, though she said she wants to hold an even larger kickoff in the coming months. The date is yet to be announced. Currently, she is seeking endorsement from community labor groups. Largely, Jentzen’s campaign is focusing on building independent politics.
According to Jentzen, she has worked in the service industry for most of her life in positions ranging from restaurant server to group home medical assistant, but got into politics during the Occupy movement. She started out working with the Green Party, but sought a more independent approach for this election. While she said she sympathizes with the DFL, she recognizes the need to work apart from them in the interest of creating more political parties and making a bigger voice for the working class.
“We really need a full seat in city hall,” Jentzen said. “How do we make it so working people don’t get priced out of Minneapolis?”
If elected, Jentzen plans to continue pursuing the push for $15 an Hour. She said she would like to see the wage hike phased in for small businesses, but still have the whole thing enforced by 2022. For struggling employers, she would like to see resources provided to help them keep up.
Grassroots politics are the driving force behind Jentzen’s campaign, and she said that seeing organized protests and petitions snowball into full-fledged movements like the Women’s March, or the protests against the president’s travel ban are examples of the kind of change she strives for.
“That’s a real testament to the kind of power we’re talking about,” she said.
Caucuses will be held on April 4.
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