Patch Candidate Profile: Jacob Frey For Minneapolis Mayor

MINNEAPOLIS — This fall, Minneapolis residents will vote in several important local elections. Among the offices on the ballot are the mayor and city council seats. Early voting in Minneapolis has already started.

Mayor Jacob Frey is running for reelection this fall. He is one of 17 candidates vying for the job.

Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles over the coming weeks.

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Are you running for office in Minneapolis? Contact William Bornhoft at william.bornhoft@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate profile and submitting campaign announcements to Patch.

Age (as of Election Day): 40

Town of Residence: Minneapolis

Party Affiliation: Democratic-Farmer-Labor

Family: Wife Sarah and 1-year-old daughter, Frida

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

My wife is an attorney and works in government relations at the state level.

Education:

• BA William and Mary '04
• JD Villanova '09

Occupation: Long distance runner, 4.5 years as an attorney, 4 years as a city council member, 4 years as Mayor

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office:

City Council Member Ward 3

Why are you seeking elective office?

We had two years of unprecedented progress, and now a period of unprecedented challenges. And through our toughest times, we told the truth. We led with principle, and we charted an honest and progressive path forward for Minneapolis. All of the most difficult issues in society get passed to mayors, oftentimes without the resources or authority to handle them. Consequently, good mayors across the country are deciding to quit or not to run again. And while the decision to run was a much longer conversation with Sarah, we feel a deep seated responsibility to the city. Minneapolis needs steady, honest, and experienced leadership.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

The most pressing issue facing our city is how to keep our citizens safe - through fostering both community safety and police accountability. These goals are not mutually exclusive, they're intrinsically linked. I believe in a both/and approach to public safety: we must continue advancing deep structural reforms that strengthen accountability and we need a fair, just, properly staffed police department.

Minneapolis has the lowest number of police officers per capita of any major city in the country that I’m aware of. We have fewer than half the number of officers of many comparably sized urban centers like Cleveland, Atlanta, and Milwaukee. Simultaneously, we are seeing a spike in certain types of violent crime. This crime spike has multiple causes: deep-seated inequities, a global pandemic, civil unrest, and more. I believe, and the data show, that further defunding or abolishing our police department will not redress these inequalities. Rather, it will accelerate them. And so I support adequate staffing in our police department.

I also support safety beyond policing. Not all 9-1-1 calls require a response from an officer with a gun. We can match a unique skill set like mental health responders or social workers to the unique experiences happening on the ground. Every one of my budgets has increased funding for the Office of Violence Prevention. This year, we have invested time, energy, and resources into going further. I plan on continuing this transformative work in my second term.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I tell the truth. Moreover, I take a consistent and honest position on our most important issues and stick to it. I value honest, genuine, principled, and sometimes unpopular stances over political expediency and social media popularity. This contrast was laid bare by the events last June, when thousands gathered at my front door to ask if I supported abolishing or “getting rid of” the Minneapolis Police Department. I said no: I told them we need deep accountability, and a full culture shift within our department. And, I told them we need police. In response the crowd booed. And the next day, a supermajority of the City Council stood on a stage at Powderhorn Park saying that they will in fact dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department while the crowd cheered.
Telling that crowd that I did not favor abolishing or defunding MPD was not an easy stance to take at the time, but it was the right thing to do. On that topic, all of my major opponents have vocally supported abolishing or defunding the police at some point in the past year, which is another point of difference.

How do you think local officials are performing in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

There’s a wide variety of approaches to COVID-19 from local governments throughout the country. Here in Minneapolis we acted quickly. We were the first city in the state to require masks, the first city to close down bars and restaurants, and we’ve consistently acted early and swiftly. I’m proud of what we’ve done in Minneapolis with regard to Coronavirus. I’ve listened to the science: taking the latest epidemiological data and applying it to the practical realities of our city, with a foremost goal of saving lives and keeping people safe. One challenge is that both the virus and science are constantly evolving. I’m sure in the coming years we all will have things that we would’ve done differently in 2020. But today, my trust in our experts and science has led us down a good path.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

My reason for getting into politics was affordable housing. I believe that housing is a right, and we have invested over three times the previous record amount in affordable housing during my tenure as Mayor. The level of deeply affordable (30% AMI) housing built under our administration this past year was nearly seven times the median output from 2011-2018.

My administration started the program Stable Homes Stable Schools, which has provided housing for over 3000 Minneapolis Public School students and 900 families facing homelessness or severe housing instability. The program was such a success it has received awards and is now an ongoing mainstay in the Minneapolis budget.

This past year, we responded quickly to the economic downturn and the COVID-19 pandemic by providing emergency rental assistance to struggling neighbors, opening three new homeless shelters, including culturally-sensitive and specific shelters for our Native American community, and working with Hennepin County to provide harm reduction in the most severe circumstances. We launched More Representation Minneapolis, which provides legal assistance to countless residents facing eviction, and during the COVID-19 pandemic has assisted in expunging eviction records.

When I took office as Mayor we took clear action around housing. Those actions have, in many cases, led the country, and have given thousands of Minneapolis residents perhaps the most important foundation of all: home.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

Having been mayor of Minneapolis over the past four years, I would argue that I have more experience handling crises than almost any mayor in the entire country. These span a global pandemic to an economic downturn to a city budget crisis requiring nearly five budgets to be produced in the time we normally only present two to the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent unrest. I’ve learned so much over these past 18 months. Those lessons will make me a better mayor, hopefully a better person, and I will use those lessons going forward. I’ve been tried and tested - the city doesn’t quit and neither do I.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

"Never give up" - my mother Jamie Frey.