A coalition of local organizations sponsored a questionnaire to help voters understand where each candidate stands on issues that shape whether every person can find and afford a home in Minneapolis.
We collectively submitted, refined, and selected these questions and invited campaigns of all candidates to respond. We will continue to accept responses and thank those who have participated. Their responses are published verbatim.
The full questionnaires can be found at the bottom of this article.
We will be publishing candidate responses over the next two weeks:
- Monday March 15: Ward 1, Ward 2, and Ward 3
- Wednesday March 17: Ward 4, Ward 5, and Ward 6
- Friday March 19: Ward 7, Ward 8, and Ward 9
- Monday March 22: Ward 10, Ward 11, Ward 12, and Ward 13
- Wednesday March 24: Park Board and Mayor
The only party holding caucuses for Minneapolis races is the DFL. For more information about participating in the Minneapolis DFL Caucuses in April, see minneapolisdfl.org/. For information on the 2021 November elections, see https://vote.minneapolismn.gov/voters/calendar/.
Sponsors: Envision Community; IX (Inquilinxs Unidxs por Justicia); Neighbors for More Neighbors; NRRC; Wedge LIVE!; Zacah
City Council / Mayoral Candidate Housing Questionnaire
Q1: In a city where more than half of people rent, what housing policies would you focus on to ensure that every Minneapolis resident has a safe, stable, affordable home?
Q2: Do you support rent stabilization, just cause protection, pay or quit, city-funded legal services for those facing eviction, and other tenant protections? How will you work to pass these policies?
Q3: Encampments of unhoused people have become common on public land in Minneapolis in recent years. What will you do to protect the people who see encampments as their best housing option, to connect them to a safe and stable permanent home?
Q4: SROs and rooming houses have historically been the most affordable homes available, and an important option for people transitioning out of homelessness. They were largely outlawed during zoning reforms decades ago, and nonprofits like Alliance Housing that manage some of the few remaining rooming houses say they do not have enough space. Would you vote to relegalize this housing option in all parts of Minneapolis?
Q5: Minneapolis has enacted a number of reforms recently to expand access to more housing types in all neighborhoods — including legalizing ADUs, triplexes, and apartments in some places they’d previously been banned. Do you support this work? If so, what are some ways you’d build on it as a member of the city council?
Q6: Affordable housing funding is precious, and public subsidy often builds homes that are still too expensive for the people struggling the most, with studio apartment rents over $1,000, and 4 bedroom rents up to $1800. How would you use zoning, TIF, or other city-controlled tools to legalize less expensive homes so that affordable housing funding can support the lowest income residents of Minneapolis?
Q7: Our city has grown by 53,000 people in the last 9 years. Do you believe that Minneapolis should make space for more people as our city grows? If so, what is the best way to do that and also ensure that BIPOC communities and people who made Minneapolis their home before the current growth can stay in their communities if they want?
Q8: The city has the ability to pass a public housing levy. Would you vote to use that levy to the maximum extent?
Q9: Given our history of redlining, exclusionary zoning, freeways, slum clearance, and urban renewal, what is your vision for an equitable and restorative way of building a better Minneapolis for all?
Q10: If there are any other thoughts you’d like to add, please use this space to do so.
Park Board Housing Questionnaire
Q1: Do you believe the Park Board has a responsibility to promote the stability of and support the services provided at encampments?
Q2: Do you support having the same or similar park resources in every neighborhood park? For example, the splash pools.
Q3: Encampments of unhoused people have become common on public land in Minneapolis in recent years. What will you do to protect the people who see encampments as their best housing option, to connect them to a safe and stable permanent home?
Q4: How can the park board improve connections to pocket parks?
Q5: What information can potentially be given on a monthly basis to help community members to stay connected to the green space and have equitable access to park board resources?
Q6: If there are any other thoughts you’d like to add, please use this space to do so.
