St. Paul council candidates detail priorities for Ward 1

Source: Pioneer Press, St.迷你倉 Paul, Minn.Oct. 26--Residents of St. Paul's Frogtown and Summit-University neighborhoods will vote Nov. 5 on a new city council member.Seven candidates are vying for the Ward 1 seat held by Melvin Carter III for nearly six years. He left the council this summer when he took a state appointment.Running are Johnny Howard, a community organizer and retired autoworker; Noel Nix, Carter's former legislative aide; Mark Voerding, past president of the District 7 Planning Council; Dai Thao, an information technology professional known for his work in Hmong organizing circles with groups such as TakeAction Minnesota; Kazoua Kong-Thao, who sat on the St. Paul Public Schools board for eight years; Debbie Montgomery, a former police commander who held the seat before Carter; and Paul Holmgren, an accountant and retail worker.There will be no political primary for the seat, which is officially nonpartisan. The city's ranked-choice election process will allow voters to choose up to six candidates for the position, ranked in order of preference.Complete bios and platforms submitted by the candidates are online at tinyurl.com/stpward1. Selections from those submissions are reprinted below.More information about ranked-choice voting is on Ramsey County's website, .co.ramsey.mn.us/elections.JOHNNY HOWARDWebsite: JohnnyHoward.netPriority: "Ward One is wildly diverse. New immigrants, refugees and people trapped in generational poverty live practically next door to others who vacation in Europe. The biggest issue here is to make Ward One work for everyone.We must seize the opportunities before us. Light-rail development will bring new people who will be served by new businesses. Ward One residents need to be ready not only to take those jobs, but to run those businesses. The city can help through training and by cutting unnecessary red tape.We need to give all kids a chance to prosper. We can do better by looking at our rec centers and asking whether it's enough for kids to bounce a ball. What about music, art, theater -- the types of enrichment that build success and, in many families, are taken for granted?We have got to be about the future. The future is the place where travel is increasingly human-powered or via transit systems. We need more safe bikeways and walking paths that connect to neighborhood shopping nodes. That's how cohesive neighborhoods are built. We need north/south transit routes that link to light rail."NOEL NIXWebsite: noelnix.comPriority: "One of the biggest challenges before us is the task of strengthening our neighborhoods. Frogtown and Aurora-St. Anthony were hit particularly hard by the foreclosure crisis. Light rail brings the opportunity for revitalization but also the threat of gentrification and further displacement. All of our neighborhoods are facing issues related to public safety as well as potential impacts of new development. Making our neighborhoods stronger requires working with residents to identify specific areas of concern, partnering with local nonprofits to leverage community resources, and working with city staff to ensure our public resources are put to work as part of the solution.As the legislative aide in the Ward 1 office I have been helping to do just that. Earlier this year, the Ward 1 office helped partner on the Promise Neighborhood Safe Summer Initiative, a collaboration between the city, the county, and community organizations to work with young people who violate curfew and connect them with positive alternatives before they become involved in more serious criminal activity."KAZOUA KONG-THAOWebsite: kazoua4ward1.orgPriority: "I plan to assist Ward 1 to resolve its identity issue. In many ways, Ward 1 is like the United States motto found on all of our coins: E Pluribus Unum -- Out of Many, One. Ward 1 is made up of so many different groups, with so many stories, and so many different backgrounds. Sometimes this diversity and collection of identities works well and for us, and sometimes as a ward we are like the rowing crew that is out of sync -- our oars are in and out of the water and pulling in different directions. My personal and professional background has been one of working to connect and build cultural competency across different communities. We could be a more united Ward 1.For all of us, our first unifying force is our home and family. City government is one of the service providers that can help families provide stability and a place for each member to prosper and grow. Partnering our city services with our schools and nonprofits is an area that I will be able to provide collaborative leadership on. Working to make housing affordable and attainable will be one of my priorities along with neighborhood safety."MARK VOERDINGWmini storagebsite: N/APriority: "My first priority is to end the continued destruction of houses in this community, especially in Frogtown. The city needs to stop its 'tear down at any cost' policy because it is simply a reinvention of the failed urban-renewal policies of the 1970s. Under the current ordinances and practices the Irvine Park and Ramsey Hill areas, two of the city's 'desirable' neighborhoods, would have been leveled. Further, the city's stockpiling practices place a huge burden on remaining property-tax payers.Instead, the city needs to work harder to get people into the houses that have the capacity to rebuild them. That builds community. First, the city must provide owners with the option to sell level 3 vacant properties in an 'as is' condition so that new residents can use their skills, talents and resources to build equity and rebuild neighborhoods. Secondly, the city needs to stop stockpiling houses and vacant property and get them back on the tax rolls even if it means selling them at nominal cost and providing financing assistance."DAI THAOWebsite: daithao.orgPriority: "Lack of access to secure, living-wage jobs that provide full health benefits is Ward 1's biggest issue. This problem affects our schools, student achievement, parental involvement in education, food security, the stability and safety of our neighborhoods, health, public safety, and economic development. Solving it requires a set of interconnected policies; but also the determination to win good deals for Ward 1 communities, residents, and workers.I will address the jobs concern by: 1) passing and enforcing ordinances and policies that require businesses accepting city money or support to provide living-wage jobs and offer them to Ward 1 residents first -- no exceptions; 2) bringing unions, employers, and community partners together to help identify, support, mentor, and connect Ward 1 residents with job opportunities; 3) protecting people from unemployment as a result of lost housing due to property-tax increases or unscrupulous foreclosure practices, and 4) putting pressure on the Met Council to make sure that transit resources -- from buses to trains -- provide Ward 1 residents and workers with affordable, reliable, convenient access to job opportunities throughout the metro."DEBBIE MONTGOMERYWebsite: N/APriority: "Ward 1 faces many issues that are important to its well-being -- poverty, education, opportunities for our young people, health costs, substance abuse, domestic violence, public safety, vacant housing, seniors being able to afford to stay in their homes, and foreclosures -- to name a few. Many of these issues can be resolved through economic-development opportunities and the creation of good, well-paying, and meaningful jobs with benefits and making them available to residents.In my first term as council member, I was able to help create 1,350 of these types of jobs, many of which were filled by residents of Ward 1. In my next term I will continue to make economic development and job creation my number one priority. St. Paul must become known as a city that is friendly to employers who offer these types of jobs.We must help current St. Paul companies and businesses thrive and expand, provide incentives for non-St. Paul companies and small businesses to relocate here, and create a strong economic environment through business incubators, strategic and targeted investments, streamlined government bureaucracy, and more to encourage entrepreneurs to start new businesses which can thrive."PAUL HOLMGRENWebsite: facebook.com/holmgrenforcitycouncilPriority: "The main issue I will address is how the laws from various levels of government (federal, state, county, city, etc.) which affect our freedom of association as citizens of St. Paul. Many of us are not able to work in the city in which we live, truly own properly, or develop the businesses which will bring adequate personal income to remain in this city.The results of high taxes and multiple layers of excessive restrictions on the citizens and businesses of all sizes located in this city has resulted in a perception of poverty and a seeking of assistance from the several levels of government to maintain residence or physical presence in the city.I will seek as a member of the city council to reduce both the tax burden and reduce the restrictions from the city level. To be fair there are true costs to operate a city government, but the best way to pay for St. Paul's budget is to bring private income and investment into the city to reduce the burden on all citizens and every business in St. Paul."Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.) Visit the Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.) at .twincities.com Distributed by MCT Information Services儲存