The Wedge Times-Picayune

Public safety looms large when I think about the choice in Ward 4. Phillipe Cunningham is the chair of the City Council’s Public Health and Safety Committee. There’s been no stronger voice on the Council for expanding the city’s array of public safety services — for a more effective, holistic, and integrated system — than Phillipe Cunningham. He is knowledgeable and eager to do this work. He is pragmatic without sacrificing the ambition to transform the way our city approaches public safety. Since taking office he has approached his job with joy and an open heart. It’s been a welcome change, considering the previous chair of the Public Safety Committee said she would quit her job if the Council gained policy control over police.

Ward 7 stretches from downtown and Loring Park to Lowry Hill and Kenwood, all the way to Uptown. It’s more diverse than you might think, but has just enough votes in the swanky lakes area for it to feel like an insurmountable Lisa Goodman advantage.

I have strong feelings about Lisa Goodman. Please vote for Nick Kor. He’s smart and prepared. He shares my values on key issues of public safety, transportation, and housing. He’s the son of immigrants and an organizer who is running a strong campaign. But he’s still the scrappy underdog. Lisa Goodman might be immortal. She’s the longest serving member of the Minneapolis City Council — first elected in 1997.

Rather than write a love letter to Nick Kor, I will just urge you to read my frustrations with Lisa Goodman in the paragraphs below. I’m pretty confident Nick Kor won’t do those things.

Ward 13 incumbent Linea Palmisano could have easily cruised through 2021 without a serious opponent. Is Mike Norton that serious opponent? He’s a longshot, but with a campaign you can feel good supporting. Norton is straightforward about his positions. He makes pragmatic arguments for progressive policies — in a way that suits southwest Minneapolis.

Ward 3 is one where I would urge undecided voters to watch this candidate forum. Incumbent Steve Fletcher is the clear first choice. Michael Rainville is supposed to be the candidate of common sense, the law and order candidate with the famous family name. I spent an hour watching this and decided that Merv Moorhead, who I’d assumed was the kooky one, seemed reassuringly normal.

Katie Jones in Ward 10 is the strongest endorsement I will make this year. Here’s my assessment of Katie from earlier this year: “intellectually relentless, methodical, focused, and exactly the person I trust to attack a complicated problem.”

Our city has no shortage of problems. We need leaders like Katie Jones to take them on. Over the years I’ve watched Katie devote her considerable energy to our city in various roles — on sustainability, infrastructure, parks, and neighborhood leadership. I have worked alongside her and others on an effort to make Hennepin Avenue a neighborhood street that works better for everyone (something she’s put great effort into while running a campaign and working full time). She isn’t running to occupy a seat. She’s running to do the job. It’s a job she couldn’t be better suited for.