Copyright Star Tribune
Cashman, a first-term incumbent, lost the DFL endorsement in May to Shaffer, a member of the Park and Recreation Board, and Shaffer has more than doubled Cashman’s fundraising efforts in a ward that includes some of the city’s wealthiest enclaves. Shaffer has made her case by casting Cashman as a member of the democratic socialist-aligned left flank of the party — too progressive for the comparatively moderate ward. Cashman says her record of two years in office shows she’s paved a more nuanced lane, straddling the ideological factions on the council while delivering prudent policy for her constituents. Political action committees have stepped into Minneapolis politics in a powerful way this year: The Frey-aligned All of Minneapolis and We Love Minneapolis back Shaffer, while the more progressive Minneapolis for the Many has endorsed Cashman. Both candidates acknowledge the huge receipts in ways favorable to their campaigns: Shaffer said her record-busting $248,378 in contributions is proof of the desire among her supporters for a change; Cashman, who has raised $119,438, says it’s proof that she’s fighting against powerful forces. Cashman’s campaign has focused on affordability and the climate, highlighting her sponsorship or support for city ordinances that would impose a carbon fee, create a Labor Standards Board and raise the minimum pay for Uber and Lyft drivers (a measure eventually barred by state laws setting new minimums). It’s her stand with labor that Cashman mentions among her first priorities, saying she’s proud to have stood with workers, including Park Board employees who went on strike last year for the first time in the agency’s 141-year history. That led to her vote to create the Minneapolis Labor Standards Board, which she describes as a straightforward measure to allow service employees or other low-wage workers to “have a seat at City Hall and … voice their concerns,” she said. Despite the basic idea having support among the entire council as well as Frey, the details of how it would be composed became a sticking point, largely divided between the city’s two political factions. Cashman ultimately sided with the more progressive wing. The council passed the measure 9-3 — a theoretically veto-proof majority; Frey vetoed it, and the override vote failed after two council members flipped their votes. The measure had been opposed by business groups, including the Minneapolis Regional Chamber, the Mpls Downtown Council, Hospitality Minnesota and Minnesota Retailers. Cashman said it was her support of such policies that led to her drawing a challenger. Cashman objected to the idea that she’s an anti-Frey vote but said it’s a strength on which she’s been willing to differ with the mayor. She supported the carbon fees legislation that passed the council but vetoed by Frey — who was overridden by the council — and she’s been critical of city contracts for the violence interrupters group run by the Rev. Jerry McAfee. “We are supposed to make sure that the taxpayer money that is going out has measurable impact and there’s accountability for that,” she said. Cashman said she wants to see stronger protections for renters but doesn’t support rent control. She said she was proud to vote for the police contract last year and for zoning code reforms that cleared a path for a developer, Sherman Associates, to convert an office building to some 200 residential units in Northstar Center’s east building. Cashman was also one of three council members to sponsor a new ordinance, passed in June, that uses a 2% fee tacked onto hotel room stays to promote tourism. The Minneapolis Tourism Improvement District fee should raise about $6 million a year. A committee of hoteliers will decide how it gets spent. Cashman said she’s worked with the mayor, the council and the county, and most of her ordinances have passed unanimously because she works ahead of time to get buy-in. “I don’t see myself as a controversial figure in politics,” she said. “People are frustrated with how our City Council has been representing themselves on a lot of different levels,” Shaffer said. She said she’s heard that on the campaign trail and saw it at the precinct caucuses, where she met a lot of first-time caucusgoers. Shaffer dinged her opponent for what’s happened with George Floyd Square, blaming the delays in resolving the space with Cashman, who voted with the majority against a plan that was supported by local businesses. And the Labor Standards Board backed by Cashman would have put additional burdens on restaurant owners, Shaffer said. “This council has been anti-business on a lot of fronts, and I believe you can be a yes to business and yes to labor. We can be both,” she said. Downtown office towers saw their valuations plummet after the pandemic as workers clocked in from home. That’s left commercial property taxes dropping off their historic levels and placing more burden on residential property taxes as a result. Given that shift, Shaffer said it’s time to tighten the city’s belt rather than raise taxes. Call it belt tightening or reprioritizing, “it’s not going to be fun,” Shaffer said. “Unless we demonstrate to the residents that we’re willing to sacrifice and have some pain as well, it’s very difficult for us to continue to increase the levy that we have been in the last five to ten years,” she said. Converting some of that empty office tower space to residential is important, Shaffer said, and the city should look at every option on the table. But she said she wants to see businesses return to the city as well. “I don’t want to give up on knocking on the door of businesses and reminding them that Minneapolis is a great place to have your business,” she said.
