Patch Candidate Profile: Joanna Diaz For Minneapolis Council

MINNEAPOLIS — Next week, on Nov. 2, Minneapolis residents will vote in several important local elections. Among the offices on the ballot are the mayor and city council seats, as well as the Minneapolis Park Board.

Joanna Diaz is running for Minneapolis City Council in Ward 7.

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): 37

Town of Residence: Minneapolis

Position sought: Minneapolis City Council Ward 7

Party Affiliation: DFL

Family: I have a fur baby named Teddy. He is a 1.5 year old goldendoodle mix.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government? No.

Education: Bachelors of Science in Secondary Education (Spanish emphasis).

Occupation: I currently work in transportation and logistics. I have worked in the transportation industry going on 3 years. Prior to working in transportation, I worked for an education company for almost 7 years.

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office: I held several student office positions during college including secretary and treasurer.

Why are you seeking elective office?

I have always been interested in how the government works. In High School, I participated in a program that sent teens to Washington D. C. I was able to see in person how the our government functions. During that trip, I had the opportunity to meet my state representatives and senators. One senator really took the time to speak to me about what was going on was Senator Paul Wellstone. It was an awe-inspiring experience. I still have and treasure the photo with Senator Wellstone that was taken the day we met. Wellstone was truly a man of the people. If I am elected as your city council person, I will be a leader for the people of Ward 7. We need new leadership, this is the reason I am running for Minneapolis City Council.

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

Crime. Without getting current crime under control, Minneapolis will not prosper. Businesses cannot support themselves or their employees if they are being robbed, and broken into, resulting in reduced foot traffic because of the violence. Per a Star Tribune article (https://www.startribune.com/downtown-s-dual-council-members-take-polar-positions-on-public-safety/600094536/), nearly 40% of city property tax, as well as local sales tax revenue is generated by businesses in the downtown area. I have spoken to many small business owners in the Loring Park and Downtown areas. Many are struggling financially and have difficulty finding staff. Some are waiting to see what happens in the elections this November before they make the decision to stay or leave. It would be very detrimental to this city to have a lot a empty real estate downtown.

Solution: The number of licensed officers in Minneapolis is incredibly low, some reports have it below 600 total personnel. The city of Minneapolis is currently working to hire more officers; however, due to a national shortage of law enforcement personnel, it will take months to hire/train more people. So my plan of action is to request help from the Federal Violent Gang Task Forces to assist Minneapolis in curbing the gun violence and drugs deals that have been going on.

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

First, I am not a politician nor am I an activist. I am a hardworking Minnesotan business woman that wants to help Minneapolis get back on their feet. I will bring a fresh, common sense perspective if elected.

One of my priorities, if elected, is to help curb some of the crime occurring by teenagers. In college, I worked with at-risk youth through the Boys and Girl Club. It was one of the most fulfilling volunteer activities. We need to get at-risk teens involved in their communities again so they have vested interest in what happens. Kids need to know that someone cares about their lives and their future.

I love being in this community and it would an incredible privilege to serve the people of Ward 7.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)?

For the last year and half, Lisa Goodman has been deaf to the issues that have been plaguing Ward 7 and the entire city of Minneapolis. Multiple people in my neighborhood of Loring Park have contacted her to express their concerns. Their concerns were met with half-hearted responses. I have lived in Loring Park for almost 10 years and have never seen this volume of violence: gunshots, drug deals, violent assaults, muggings, etc.

During press interviews, Lisa still does not want to address her plans for public safety, crime, etc. After 24 years of being elected to the city council, she should be able to answer these questions and have an opinion formed. Lisa is a career politician and the only time she ever takes action is if it solely benefits her.

Lisa is not paying attention and doing her job. If she doesn't have the energy to do her job anymore, she should have retired.

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

The COVID-19 pandemic was unprecedented for everyone. Officials both state and local did do their best to handle the situation based on the information that they were provided.

As a former teacher, I was dismayed that officials didn't have alternative in person schooling option for the kids of lower income families. Some of these families didn't have access to the internet and some kids lacked the support structure to do school from home. I definitely think that things could have been done differently for lower income families, single parents, and students will disabilities so they didn't fall behind academically.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

Bring back small businesses- Small business are the backbone to a community. They provide jobs and products/services for people. We need incentives to bring businesses back to Minneapolis.

Police Reform- We cannot have a safe, thriving community without a police presence. I know some of my challengers have talked about using a more community "holistic" based approach to policing. Per the Minnesota state law, Sec. 626.84 (https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/626.84#stat.626.84.1), only a licensed peace officer may make an arrest and charge someone with a crime. So it is not legal for social workers, community activists nor parking safety personnel to ticket, arrest or charge someone for breaking the law or committing a crime.

Homelessness- Is a major issue in Minneapolis. It is a very complex issue but needs to be addressed. I am committed to working with departments and agencies within Minneapolis to get to the root of the problem.

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

A great leader's courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.- John C. Maxwell

My passion has always been helping people and being a leader in any position that I have held. It is not any of my accomplishments that have made me into the person that I am today but my failures. I have failed more times than I could count but I have never given up. I have persevered through illness, injury, discouragement from peers, etc. Let me give you a brief list of my failures that lead to my accomplishments.

School Failure: Failed most of my classes in 6th grade; GPA tanked- bottom of my class.

School Accomplishments:
Got involved in Future Business Leaders of American; won multiple awards in business law, volunteered at our local hospital, published poems, 4th in my graduating class and received a scholarship to go to college. Excelled in college; graduated cum laude.

Career Failure: Teaching contract not renewed by school; couldn't find work due to bad economy.

Career Accomplishments: Switched to an educational company; excelled at being a program coordinator in the disability department and gained knowledge of the ADA law. I was also a trainer within the company regarding disability accommodations and accessibility. Promoted to assist the director of Sales and became a contract reviewer and implemented policies for our department. For my current job, I implement Federal Safety regulations and I learned most of my Federal regulations in a year.

If elected, I am more than capable of handling this city council job. Bring it on!

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Choose your career path based on your passion; not on how much money you can make in a profession- My Dad.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

You may not agree 100% with me on all my positions but my desire for change in Minneapolis does come from my love for this community. Thank you very much!