Fruit, Payne, Strahan meet ahead of election: Ward 1 forum recap

On an unseasonably warm September 25 fall evening, the Northeast Recreation Center had a room filled up with dozens of residents attending the Minneapolis City Council Ward 1 Candidate Forum.

The forum, organized by the League of Women Voters (LWV), gave candidates a chance to make their case to voters ahead of the November 4 election. The format of the forum saw each candidate take turns answering questions based on community concerns. The questions were developed by the LWV committee with information submitted in advance from co-sponsor surveys and solicited from the community at large.

Candidates for this year’s Ward 1 election include incumbent Elliott Payne, who was first elected in 2021, and became Council President after winning re-election in 2023. He also serves on several city committees.

Candidate, Brian Strahan is the founder and owner of Keep Smiling Builders, a remodeling company that focuses on preserving homes in Northeast, with a focus on making them more energy-efficient.

Candidate Edwin Fruit, represents the Socialist Workers Party and is also currently a member of the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco and Grain Millers Union Local 22. He previously ran for the Ward 1 seat in 2023.

First, each candidate was asked to explain their qualifications and why they were running.

Payne shared a message that the ongoing work in transforming public safety in Minneapolis is not finished.

“I want to take (the) near-decade of experience making sure that we are delivering the vision that our community wants to see in reality here,” Payne said.

Strahan shared the sentiment of getting “back to the basics” on city council.

“The current city council has moved so far away from its core responsibilities of land management permitting and first responders that it’s unable to address the issues facing the ward and the city as a whole — housing, livability and public safety.”

Throughout the forum, Fruit’s answers connected to ongoing geopolitical issues happening across the globe. He responded, in part, that, “My party fights for the unity of the working class. We call for a union-led fight to demand amnesty for immigrant workers and oppose the arrests and deportations.”

When candidates were asked about the two biggest challenges facing Ward 1, both Payne and Strahan shared responses about housing affordability and public safety. Fruit said the city as a whole needs to break from the two-party system.

“We think we need a party of working people to begin to address these needs, no matter what it is — housing, affordability, all those kinds of things,” Fruit said. 

Candidates were asked which specific policies or partnerships they would advocate for to help combat gun violence. Strahan discussed strengthening extreme risk protection orders, commonly known as “red flag” laws, which allow courts to temporarily remove firearms from individuals deemed a risk to themselves or others. The state implemented this order in 2024. Strahan also stressed the need for fully staffed police departments.

Payne shared his experience on the day of the shooting at Annunciation Church and School, saying it reinvigorated his and the rest of the council’s need to address gun violence and gun control. He also said the council urged support of a special session for Minnesota state lawmakers to pursue legislation on gun control, among other actions.

When asked about issues around housing affordability, Payne called it the “one of the most complex issues” covered at city council and advocated for rent-stabilization policies.(Rent-stabilization is a government policy that places limits on how much landlords are able to increase rent.)

“I think we need a much more forceful subsidy for housing. And I think we should be looking at our triple-bond rating to leverage debt financing to build affordable housing that is also climate resilient,” Payne said in part. “I think that these are going to be some of the most successful strategies that we have, but it’s going to take a budget larger than the city, and it’s not going to come from the federal government anytime soon. So, I believe that something like a rent stabilization policy can help prevent displacement while we ramp up the type of direct investment necessary to build affordable housing.”

Strahan approaches the issue through a plan to allow for the organic growth of more units throughout the ward and the city.

“The only way to fix affordability is to add more houses,” Strahan said. “We can provide more organic housing by allowing individuals to pull their own permits and build their own units.”

Fruit called for a federal jobs program to build housing and other infrastructure to provide union wage jobs.

On the issue of homelessness, candidates were asked which policies or programs they would support or introduce.

“We need to be able to treat everybody with the dignity and respect that they need,” Strahan said in part. “Allowing these encampments is not treating them with dignity or respect, nor the people who live around them. This takes real work to find housing, medicine, treatment, jobs and long-term care for whoever’s in there.”

Payne called “housing first” the proven model for solving unsheltered homelessness, explaining that the council has put together short, medium and long-term plans.

“For the short term, we need safe outdoor spaces,” Payne said. “We can’t have unregulated people living in encampments where a lot of problems arise. We need to have wash stations, Porta Potties and wraparound services that can help get people into more stable housing. In the medium term, we need to stabilize our existing shelter providers who are facing a fiscal cliff, and over the long term, I’m pursuing social housing as a model so that we can have more direct ownership and control and have housing that is sustainably affordable for our community.”

Fruit referenced capitalism as a cause, saying “this problem has been going on for a long time and it will continue to go on as long as we have the system we live under.”

On the issue of transportation, Fruit advocated for expanded public transit. Payne said there is a need to future-proof roads for a 50-year timeline as well as to take a “climate aware approach.”

Strahan called for a “whole street design” and advocated for a more localized focus on Northeast’s roads.

On a brief “yes” or “no” question, candidates were asked if they would support increased funding for neighborhood associations. Strahan and Payne both answered yes, with Fruit answering “maybe.”

A written question by an audience member asked, “What would you do to protect vulnerable residents? What services should be added or improved?” All candidates addressed the question through their perspective on immigration.

Strahan acknowledged there is a “real danger” facing immigrant communities right now and advocated for strengthening legal avenues to protect those communities.

“We need to make sure that the law offices that are providing for them (are funded) through the city, and we need to make sure that that is strengthened, that all of our communities know where they can get the help and where they can get protected,” Strahan said. “This (presidential) administration is looking to fight with the city. We do not need to take his bait for political gains. It will only hurt our immigrant communities if we are trying to provoke for our own political careers.”

Payne said the best response to a crisis is to “have a plan when you’re not in crisis,” explaining that he has worked with neighborhood leaders to distribute support resources for immigrant communities, as well as fund legal support through the last city budget, increase staff in the city’s Office of Immigrant Refugee Affairs and partner with other city governments to ensure federal funding is secure, among other actions.

Fruit called for a union-led fight for amnesty for undocumented workers.

“We have to fight, and we’re going to need a mass movement to do that,” said Fruit.

Other issues discussed throughout the forum included climate goals, funding youth programming and more.