The Issues That Matter

Environmental Justice

We all deserve to breathe clean air no matter what zip code we live in. However this is not the case for many neighborhoods in the 4th district and throughout Hennepin County. I will continue my focus on Environmental Justice and advocacy if re-elected to a 2nd term.

Urban Farming

How do we reimagine the use of County surplus land that repairs harm done to communities? I will look through a reparative lens to help sustain communities through advancing urban farming initiatives. The County owns acres of land that often sits in a portfolio not being used. Our communities are rich with urban agriculturalists, farmers and growers - it is the perfect match! We can build sustainable communities, increase food security and access to homegrown goodness targeting historically marginalized communities. We have examples already of surplus land turned to urban gardens along E. 29th Street in East Phillips.

Beyond Burning

I believe in a future where we don’t bury or burn trash. I believe in a zero-waste future and I know we can get there. I would like to start identifying alternative funding streams for our environment and energy work that is currently funded exclusively through revenue generated by the HERC facility (The HERC or Hennepin Energy Recovery Center, is the County’s trash burner). Burning garbage - as well as landfilling garbage - is not sustainable and does not promote environmental justice. We need to begin moving toward a zero-waste future now, especially as the County prepares to approve its Solid Waste Master Plan. I want to work with you to ensure community voice isn’t left out of this process and that climate justice is at the forefront, not profit.

Housing & Equitable Development

In 2020 I authored a resolution to re-envision the County’s 20 year old Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) guiding policy. As such, the policy that guides how our funds for housing are allocated has been updated to reflect our current goals and priorities as a County. In 2021, I authored a resolution to incorporate an Anti-Displacement Framework to our HRA practices. County staff will now learn from the Anti-Displacement Workgroup formed for the Blue Line light rail extension and apply those principles to housing.

Expand Supportive Housing Fund

Hennepin County’s Supportive Housing Strategy offers capital funding and technical assistance to develop long-term affordable supportive housing projects. Supportive housing serves some of Hennepin County’s most vulnerable residents, including those with a combination of extremely low-incomes and other conditions or challenges to stable housing. Currently, we are on pace to develop 1000 units over the next 10 years. I will work to discover ways to increase the number of units projected to better meet the need for this type of housing in our County. These units are at 30% of the AMI and below. Most residents in our district need housing that is at 30% and below of the AMI. We need to build for the need and I’m committed to partnering with State leaders who have a historic budget surplus this year, as well as community partners, to house more people permanently with rents they can afford.

Expand Single Room Occupancy (SRO) Housing

With a housing crunch comes a need to be creative in the types of housing we produce. Hennepin County purchased Steven's Square Residence, a former treatment facility, in November 2020 and made updates to the property. It was then leased to Alliance Housing to operate as SRO housing for people with very low incomes that could afford modest rent. The building has 31 sleeping rooms, and shared bathroom and shower facilities on each floor. Renters also share a large kitchen and laundry facilities. Each renter has an individual month-to-month lease and pays less than $400 per month. The county pays for some capital costs, but the property is otherwise financially supported by the modest rents. I am encouraged by the success of this project and will seek out more opportunities to build SRO housing.

Health & Wellness

As chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, operating the largest chunk of the County’s $2.4B budget, it is my primary focus to ensure that all residents of district four and Hennepin County in its entirety are healthy, housed, fed and well. All of us deserve the dignity of meeting our basic needs and the County certainly has a large role to play.

Maternal health and birthing centers/doula care

In 2021, I authored a resolution to support Maternal and Infant Health through utilization of $10M in American Rescue Plan dollars. Black and Indigenous babies and birthing people have the worst outcomes in care resulting in preterm birth and even death. With critical investments in Maternal Health like expanding existing birthing centers, culturally specific doula and midwife care and home visiting, we can keep babies healthy and improve outcomes.

Food security for students

Many University of Minnesota students have told me that food insecurity on and around campus is a real threat to their health and wellbeing. With a County Service Center on-site, it only makes sense to expand this space to include the ability for students to apply for basic, life-saving benefits like cash assistance, food supports, emergency assistance and medical benefits. I have initiated conversations with County Administration and know that logistics and coordination are happening now. Students should never have to worry about what they are going to eat.

Public Safety is Public Health

I supported the successful efforts of Commissioner Fernando (District 2) to expand the scope of our 911 centers to add social workers and other professionals outside of law enforcement. This embedded response has proven successful and I envision partnering with the City of Minneapolis to expand this critical work.

Child well-being

Children deserve to be with their families when it is the safest space for them. As chair of the Child Well-being Advisory Committee, I work with state leaders, judges, people with lived experience navigating the child protection system in our county and other experts. My goal is to ensure children aren’t taken from their relatives without just cause and that children who must be removed from their families have the holistic supports needed to thrive. This includes children in foster care and our justice system. We need space, within our community, that is safe for children of all ages. I have spent my first term as your Commissioner working with advocates and staff to envision what these spaces could look like and what the infrastructure needs might be. I am committed to reducing the rates of out-of-home placement for youth, especially Black, Brown and Indigenous youth, and ensuring no child is trapped in the vicious cycle of our judicial system.

Racial & Economic Justice

On May 25th, 2020, our lives changed forever after the brutal murder of George Floyd. The heart of district 4, the Lake Street corridor, sustained massive damage from the uprising that followed. A global movement for justice was reignited just 5 blocks from my home on E. 38th St. and Chicago Ave, otherwise known as George Floyd Square. We have an opportunity to invest in and uplift both racial and economic justice in the aftermath.

Rebuilding Lake Street

Hennepin County has invested into the rebuilding efforts on Lake Street through strategic partnerships with LISC, Twin Cities and Community Organizations. I would like to continue this work as there is still so much more to do. I will sustain partnerships to ensure Black, Brown and Indigenous small business owners have the tools and resources they need to rebuild. I chair the Health and Safety Committee of the Lake Street Greenway Partnership and will use my leadership to bring about safer communities in this rich corridor in our district.

Supporting BIPOC businesses and residents around George Floyd Square

In 2021, I included $300k into our 2022 budget to be allocated to the neighborhoods immediately surrounding George Floyd Square for the purposes of participating in Undoing Racism training. In the future I would like to help support this community through small business improvement grants, youth opportunity centers and a place to sustain the historic artwork that has adorned this space for two years. I will work in partnership with the City as they roll out East 38th Street as the city’s African-American Cultural Corridor.

Transportation & Mobility Justice

(Read the principles of Mobility Justice here)

Everyone deserves the right to safe and accessible transportation, equal access to our roads regardless of ability and street design that centers pedestrians and cyclists. I believe in safe County roads where, no matter how you get around, you are safe and protected.

Safer county roads for all modes of transportation

I live between Park and Portland Avenues and, on almost a weekly basis, my children and I hear crashes or near-misses. I’ve run outside numerous times to help injured motorists. This is not okay. Our roads should not be city freeways. They should be ways that we move from point A to point B in a way that is safe, slow and accessible. I have commissioned traffic studies on both Portland and Park Avenues and, in 2022 we will begin looking at improved road designs on these roads to reduce speed and protect pedestrians and cyclists. We don’t stop here. We are working on permanent safety solutions at Cedar/Edgewater and 47th and Cedar. I will continue to prioritize all modes of transportation on our roads and put the needs of walkers and rollers first. As we roll out new BRT lines, I support bus-only lanes on County roads to enhance rider experience and support the safety needs of the surrounding neighborhoods.

Supporting green fleets for new BRT lines

In 2019 and 2020, I successfully authored a resolution in support of the D-Line (route 5) Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), I testified in front of the House and Senate to help secure state funding to complete those lines. Since then, we’ve secured full funding for the D-Line, B-Line (route 21) and the E-Line (route 6). I will continue advocating for the expansion of BRT in our district and beyond. I firmly believe that these should be green fleets using electric buses and will partner with the Met Council to ensure environmental justice is upheld in this way.