Copyright Star Tribune
As a two-term Minneapolis City Council member, I’m in this with you, fighting for the things you care about. You know who I am and what I stand for. I’m brave enough to pass policies that make Minneapolis the city we love because I know my community and work hard to deliver what you need. That’s why I’m running for re-election to represent Ward 2. My progressive council colleagues and I are fighting to preserve what we love about Minneapolis and protect our most vulnerable residents. This year, the progressive majority on the council has responded to the Trump administration’s attacks by expanding civil rights, supporting immigrants, and holding the Minneapolis Police Department accountable for its cooperation with ICE. While U.S. democracy feels fragile, we’re making city government more democratic by responding to community members’ needs and ideas with policies like wage increases and protections for rideshare drivers and safer streetlights in Dinkytown. We’re making winter sidewalks safer, banning rent-fixing technologies to improve housing affordability, and enacting carbon fees on the big polluters to decrease emissions. Despite my consistent track record in delivering wins for working people, my opponents portray me as divisive or unproductive. That is simply untrue. I’ve negotiated with colleagues, regardless of their politics, to advance policies that improved lives in Ward 2 and citywide. I’ve authored nearly 40% of the council’s major legislative actions — roughly five times the average. I authored nine ordinances that the council passed unanimously and with support from the mayor. I’ve made myself accessible to my constituents, holding more than 250 meetings with constituents and community groups, and working directly with more than 150 students in classrooms, student organizations and internships. The people challenging progressive candidates during this election position themselves as “moderate” or “pragmatic” Democrats — yet their policies and their donors tell a different story: Their solution for problems like food deserts, homelessness and climate change is to maintain the status quo. Their donors are mostly wealthy and include corporate landlords, owners of fast-food franchises and Republican donors to President Donald Trump. I, meanwhile, have never accepted donations from Trump supporters or predatory landlords. I’ve remained committed to running a grass-roots campaign, and my average donation of $35 demonstrates that I’m accountable to everyday people. Not landlords. Not the wealthy elite. Just to ordinary people like you. My people-centered approach has positioned Ward 2 as a key battleground race in the upcoming city election. Conservative leaders and PACs like All of Mpls have poured hundreds of thousands of dollars and used voter-suppression tactics to accomplish this goal of unseating me. At this spring’s DFL endorsement convention, leaders aligned with Mayor Jacob Frey ejected nearly 90 Ward 2 residents from participation simply because they supported me. This fall, a Ward 2 landlord and All of Mpls supporter broke state law to deny door-knocking access to my campaign in his two apartment buildings, preventing me from speaking with over 300 voters. My campaign recently won a lawsuit against this landlord. Despite these messy distractions, I continue delivering things that matter most to working-class people. We’re putting more money back in residents’ pockets while redirecting resources where they’re needed. Last year, my council colleagues and I worked to reduce the mayor’s property tax levy from 8.3% to 6.9%. At the same time, we were able to make robust investments into homelessness response, public safety, affordable housing and effective city services. We also directed resources to overlooked issues like child care access and (un)affordability: I successfully moved $500,000 to invest in a city program that will expand child care access and address one of the largest barriers faced by so many working families. My progressive colleagues and I, along with thousands of our neighbors, are being bold and thoughtful in responding to working people’s needs. We’ve passed a number of policies that advance this vision, but there is more work to be done. To meet the moment, protect your neighbors, and build a better Minneapolis, rank me — Robin Wonsley — as your first choice for Ward 2, my progressive colleagues in other wards, and Omar Fateh, DeWayne Davis and Jazz Hampton for mayor on Nov. 4. The Minnesota Star Tribune is running online commentaries in advance of the Nov. 4 election from candidates for the Minneapolis City Council who wish to submit them. The length guideline is roughly 700 words or fewer. Articles should be emailed to opinion@startribune.com. The deadline for submitting is the close of the business day on Tuesday, Oct. 28.
