Accomplishments

Housing

• Deeply Affordable Housing: As Chair of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority, I am proud that Hennepin adopted a new housing strategy in 2019, which prioritized housing for those at or below 30% area median income (approximately $30,000 for a 4-person household). In 2020, the HRA launched a 10-year strategy to invest $91 million to build 1,000 affordable units with integrated services for people and families.
• Emergency Assistance for Housing: Advocated for Emergency Assistance representatives to be regularly available at Housing Court. Also supported a person-centered, comprehensive study and redesign to improve processing time and quality of service for people seeking emergency housing funds.
• Housing and Rental Assistance: Maintained housing for residents through the affordable housing stabilization fund, emergency assistance, and tenant-based rental assistance programs. Invested in culturally-specific low-barrier housing and related services for communities uniquely or disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
• Renter Funding and Supports: Expanded efforts that help residents maintain housing, such as an affordable housing stabilization fund, tenant-based rental assistance, and opportunities for counsel and representation in housing court.
• Supportive Housing for Veterans: Partnered with Commissioner Kevin Anderson (District 7) and the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans to implement a disposition strategy for vacant tax-forfeited land, in order to expand supportive housing with integrated services for veterans.
• Tenant Resource Center Pilot: Supported opening a center in North Minneapolis, which will offer assistance to Hennepin tenants. The pilot benefits communities by connecting people with important resources, while also uncovering ways Hennepin can streamline processes and systems.
• Disavowed Discriminatory Racial Covenants: Advocated for Hennepin to disavow discriminatory property covenants intent on deepening racial disparities, including a County-wide acknowledgement from the Recorder’s Office and the waiving of associated fees.

Transportation and Transit

• New Direction for Blue Line Extension Light Rail Transit (BLRT) Project: In 2020, it became clear the proposed Blue Line Extension route could no longer proceed on the railway. Continuing to advance our regional transit vision through this light rail project will ensure transit access and economic investment in northern Hennepin and North Minneapolis.
• Anti-Displacement Workgroup within the Blue Line Extension Project: Worked with Commissioner Jeff Lunde (District 1) to establish a first of its kind anti-displacement initiative that will center community voices in developing actionable strategies and policies, in order to maximize benefits of the BLRT to current corridor residents, and to prevent residential, economic, and cultural displacement in our communities. This effort is in partnership with the Met Council and is embedded within the Blue Line LRT Project. It seeks to prevent the harms that occur due to large-scale infrastructure projects, with specific goals to reduce racial disparities, help communities build wealth in place, and to create more equitable economic strategies and outcomes.
• Study for Highway 55 Bus Rapid Transit (BRT): Advocated for $250K from the State of Minnesota to study service needs and safety improvements, including BRT, in the Highway 55 corridor between Medina and downtown Minneapolis. And worked with Commissioner Kevin Anderson (District 7) to secure $150K from Hennepin to expand this study. This study will define a combined scope to identify opportunities to increase safety, connectivity, and multi-modal options. Findings will position the corridor for success in the future for BRT, and support our broader goals including disparity reduction and climate action.
• Public Works Paint Pilot: Initiated a new practice to test traffic flow and safety innovations and reach the best recommendation when there are multiple viewpoints among engineers and traffic models. This approach creates space for community input, while being both data-informed and more holistic. The pilot is how we achieved the 4-to-3 lane conversion on parts of Broadway Ave NE, and is expanding to Lyndale Ave S.
• Wheelage Tax: Advocated to increase wheelage tax from $10 to $20 per vehicle, to generate approximately $10 million more annually for our aging infrastructure. This is paid for once per year within vehicle registration, and is one of the more equitable taxation options available. Hennepin is responsible for 2,200 lane miles and these funds will help ensure our communities are safe, connected, well-maintained, and accessible.

Workers and Labor Relations

• $20 minimum wage: Supported Commissioner Marion Greene’s (District 3) initiative for a $20/hr minimum wage for Hennepin employees.
• Expanded Benefits for Non-Unionized Hennepin Employees: Increased the amount of Paid Parental Leave for Hennepin employees from 3 weeks to 6 weeks and improved Bereavement Leave, effective January 2, 2022.
• Juneteenth as a County Holiday: Worked with Commissioner Angela Conley (District 4) to make Juneteenth (commemerating the end of chattel slavery in the US) a permanent paid county holiday for Hennepin employees.
• All-Gender Restrooms: Articulated a need to incorporate all-gender and single-occupancy restrooms in all future Hennepin County facility projects, and supported this as the revised standard when planning remodels or new designs.
• Non-discriminatory Gender Identity Policy: Supported the expansion of the Non-discrimination and Respectful Workplace Policy to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or gender expression.
• Workgroup to Connect Youth Education to Future Ready Hennepin: Led the creation of a workgroup that will evaluate Hennepin’s current and future job needs, as well as evaluate the types of recruitment, skills, and training needed for various positions. The work group will identify the educational attainment needs for these vital roles, and the barriers to hiring, with the intent to initiate efforts and establish programs that both improve outcomes for Hennepin residents and youth, and to create pathways to Hennepin County jobs.
• Commitment to Understanding and Addressing the Benefits Cliff: Highlighted the need to understand and address the Benefits Cliff, which is a harmful experience that occurs when a minor increase in wages results in a loss of benefits eligibility. People and families rely on assistance to access food, housing, healthcare, transit, and more. We must be thoughtful about how income interacts with these vital services, to ensure residents can strengthen their self-sufficiency.

Criminal Justice Reform

• Gun Violence Prevention Efforts: Secured $5M to improve the health and safety of residents and to use a holistic approach to reduce gun violence, by identifying the root causes and adopting evidence based policies and programs that improve outcomes for communities impacted by gun violence. This action funded several immediate responses to prevent, reduce, and mitigate gun violence in our community.
• 911/Mental Health Task Force: Established a 911/Mental Health Task Force to research and report best public safety practices. This Task Force will provide recommendations to provide residents with meaningful intervention, prevent recidivism, and reduce the disproportionate number of people of color and persons struggling with mental illness in our criminal justice system.
• Embedded Social Worker in 911 Dispatch Centers: Initiated a program that embeds a social worker into 911 dispatch centers for the purpose of collecting data, including pilots related to data-sharing, and making recommendations on the types of responders best equipped to respond to calls from residents. This is an important step to understanding the data, so that government emergency responses can better align with community needs. The program was piloted at the Hennepin Sheriff’s dispatch in the city of Plymouth, in partnership between Health and Human Services and Public Safety lines of business. In 2021 this program was expanded to the cities of Golden Valley, Eden Prairie, Edina, Richfield, Hopkins, Deephaven, Orono, South Lake Minnetonka, Wayzata, Corcoran, Minnetrista and Medina.
• Transition-Age Probation Unit: Supported the launch efforts of a Transition-Age Probation Unit within the Department of Community Corrections and Rehabilitation. Brain research shows that young adults require distinct intervention practices, so designing data-informed supervision models for young people aged 18 to 24 will produce better outcomes.

Census and Redistricting

• 2020 Census: Hennepin County allocated $320,000 to the task of counting every County resident. This allowed Hennepin to continue community engagement throughout the county in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hennepin County’s census self-response rate reached 79.6%. This is roughly 3.2% higher than our 2010 response rate and represents a crucial step in securing federal funds over the next 10 years.
• Equitable Redistricting: Advocated for better representation for historically marginalized communities in redistricting at federal, state, and local levels.

Homelessness

• End Pay-to-Stay in Hennepin shelters: Supported the elimination of the pay-to-stay model in Hennepin shelters, in an effort to keep homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurring. This new model allows residents experiencing homelessness agency to keep their monetary resources and build assets.
• Unsheltered Residents and Shelter: Purchased and operated alternative living accommodations and other support services for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in groups at higher risk to COVID-19. Invested in measures to protect residents and prevent the spread of COVID-19 in emergency shelters. Invested in the Avivo Indoor Villages Project aimed at building 100 units of service-connected shelter capacity.
• Shelter Bill of Rights: Supported the Shelter Bill of Rights, work organized through Street Voices of Change for the purposes of improving conditions within emergency shelters in Hennepin and advocating for the human rights of people experiencing homelessness.
• Suburban Evictions Study: Supported the work of researching the lasting impacts of housing insecurity and eviction, by contributing to a study in suburban Hennepin. This study complements a North Minneapolis study, so we can view this issue more holistically.

Human Services

• Human Services Contract Restoration: Advocated to restore previous contract funding levels, countering the proposed cuts for services in food support, senior case management, and housing mediation.
• Immigration Legal Defense Fund: Supported providing universal legal representation to immigration defendants regardless of the merits of their case, and support this fund being added to our annual budget moving forward.
• Refugee Resettlement: Advocated for the continuation of refugee resettlement in Hennepin County after a federal order required local governments to provide consent to resettle refugees in their jurisdictions.
• Youth Services and Organizations: Invested in youth educational supports, including tutoring and broadband access to assist distance learning for students across Hennepin. Supplied youth programs with masks and other resources necessary to operate safely.
• Nonprofits and Public Services: Invested in organizations, nonprofits, and government programs providing crucial public services during the COVID-19 pandemic, including food supports, economic resources, and family-support services.

Economic Development

• Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs: My leadership supported small businesses, entrepreneurs, and our local economy through the Small Business Relief fund, Elevate Business resource, and Certified Access Academy training. These programs funded small businesses across Hennepin during the pandemic, offered business assistance to entrepreneurs, and advanced certification for women of color business owners to contract with government and corporate entities. We also supported job search organizations, and built a business recovery resource-matching network for impacted residents.
• Expanded Community Asset Transition Fund into North Minneapolis: Awarded $3M in the Community Asset Transition Fund to Pillsbury United Communities, specifically their innovative community development organization called Justice Built Communities, in order to build equitable wealth for Black, brown, Indigenous, immigrant, poor, and working class families.

Racial Justice

• Racial Equity Advisory Council: Supported Commissioner Angela Conley’s (District 4) initiative to create a new council that brings community members directly impacted by race inequities into the decision-making process.
• Anti-Hate Initiative: Supported Commissioner Jeff Lunde’s (District 1) initiative to secure over $1M to fund anti-hate initiatives.

Public Health

• Racism as a Public Health Crisis: Partnered with Commissioner Angela Conley (District 4) to declare racism a public health crisis in Hennepin County. Our co-authored resolution advances the County’s efforts to combat racial disparities by restructuring intervention to address systemic oppression rather than individual outcomes in sectors including housing, criminal justice, public safety, emergency response, education, and sexual violence.
• Health Equity: Building off the above declaration, I advocated as one of two commissioners appointed to the Hennepin Healthcare (formerly HCMC) board, which resulted in formally adding Health Equity as a value for the organization. This addition works to focus board decision-making processes toward health equity, and reaffirms our commitment to providing responsible healthcare that is responsive to community needs, equitable in its distribution, and invested in fighting racial disparities.
• Black Maternal Health: Supported Commissioner Angela Conley’s (District 4) initiative to secure $10M for Black maternal health.
• Public Health Outreach Campaign: Allocated $2M for localized and culturally-specific public messaging to educate residents on how to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Environmental Justice

• Created Climate Action Plan: Supported the creation of Hennepin’s first-ever Climate Action Plan. This ambitious plan addresses the inequitable impacts of climate change along the lines of race and income.
• Tree Canopy Grants: Supported adding $500,000 annually toward grants that invest in Hennepin’s tree canopy. Trees impact people by improving air quality, contributing to stormwater management, and creating spaces in nature.
• Workgroup to Research Watershed Impacts on Developable Land and Hennepin Priorities: Led the creation of a workgroup that researches our watersheds, floodplains, and the future of land use in Hennepin County, with a particular focus on the impact watersheds will have on developable land over the next 50-100 years. This group will produce data that will inform Hennepin and our partners where it is safe and cost-effective to develop, in alignment with Hennepin’s growing population, demands, and needs.

Voter Access

• Absentee and In-Person Voting: Invested millions toward the 2020 election for COVID-19 related investments, including increased absentee voting resources, paid seasonal staff, and safety measures at polling places.
• Voter Access: Secured $1.3M to support a countywide voter registration effort, an absentee voting education campaign, and the purchase of an additional high speed absentee ballot scanner. This effort prioritizes populations with higher barriers to voter registration, such as those who have never been registered, renters, people experiencing homelessness, students, people of color, and veterans.