While we’re disappointed with some of the results of the Minneapolis elections, we’re excited to celebrate the win across the river in St. Paul.
We’re proud to have been part of the Yes4Minneapolis campaign – talking about and reaching out to our Asian community members about public safety through text and at the doors. While we’ve had discussions about public safety before, never have we done so as part of a larger conversation with a coalition of over 60 local organizations.
This campaign brought our community together. Since the uprising after George Floyd’s murder, we knew that there had to be change. Black and brown working class people led this campaign, gathering over 22,000 signatures to put this question on the ballot and fought to keep this question on the ballot.
44% of our community voted to expand public safety – 44% of our Minneapolis folks knew we needed change. And that’s where we’re starting with for the next time we focus on building a better tomorrow for us all, as we move forward and work towards expanding public safety for us all – no exceptions.
And we know we can, because we see wins too. We’re proud to have been part of the Keep St. Paul Home efforts, a campaign to place a 3% rent increase cap annually for renters, a way to make sure renters can begin to build a home in St. Paul. We’re excited for this and we can’t wait to see how Minneapolis will follow, now that the path to rent control is open thanks to the passing of Question #3.