Patch Candidate Profile: Katie Jones 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.

Katie Jones is running for Minneapolis City Council in Ward 10.

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): 34

Town of Residence: Minneapolis

Position sought: Minneapolis City Council Ward 10

Party Affiliation: DFL

Family: Peter Schmitt (partner)

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

Education: B.S. in Engineering and German from Purdue University

Occupation: Community Program and Policy Manager at the Center for Energy and Environment (CEE). I have worked at CEE for nearly 7 years.

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office: None.

Why are you seeking elective office? To continue my work of creating communities where everyone knows they belong. From addressing the homeowner-renter divide on the neighborhood board to righting a historical racial injustice in Muller Park, I have pulled together a wide array of stakeholders to fix broken systems. In Minneapolis we face big challenges and we need leaders who are committed to engaging our community and finding pathways forward for progressive policy.

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

The future of our public safety system. To provide a complete public safety system, we need to expand our toolbox. That includes investments in our Office of Violence Prevention, job creation, and affordable housing to provide stability to all Minneapolis residents. It creates unarmed patrols, which are trained first responders to walk neighborhoods, to be a friendly face to residents, provides resources to those experiencing homelessness, and calls in additional responders when needed. Neighbors often report that they have to wait too long for Minneapolis Police Officers to arrive after calling 911. I will work to take responsibility which can be better handled by other responders away from MPD so that when we need armed officers, they are available to help immediately.

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

I am the only candidate running who has the of experience of working in Minneapolis’ City Hall and actually drafting ordinance language to create progressive policy. This election will only seat a two year term instead of the normal four years. That means new city council members will have less time to understand the dynamics of the various departments the Council oversees, or learn what it takes to develop and adopt policy. I am ready to hit the ground running and tackle our city’s challenges the same way I have co-created community change for years.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

- Effectively addressing the climate crisis. While working in the Sustainability Office in City Hall, I calculated the City’s greenhouse gas inventory and know that our focus must be on decarbonizing the 100,000 buildings in our city and our transportation system. Leveraging the utility franchise fees, we can incentivize beneficial electrification of buildings, reduce natural gas use, and direct funds to the Green Cost Share, which provides energy efficiency grants to businesses with enhanced incentives for those in Green Zones. None of this can happen without increasing skilled clean energy workers. We must join local educational partners to attract and train new electricians, HVAC technicians, insulators, and solar installers, especially focusing job pipelines and fostering entrepreneurship in BIPOC communities.The City may not have direct control over all climate solutions, but we hold important influence. For example, we must continue to push with partner cities for stronger State energy codes, and we must withhold municipal consent for any new MNDOT and County projects that do not fit our climate goals.

- Creating a 15-minute city, a vision where residents can access their everyday destinations within a 15 minute walk, bike, roll, or transit ride. The City can pull two levers to make this a reality: zoning authority and public right of way jurisdiction. With the first, the City can encourage complete neighborhoods - ones with grocery stores, pharmacies, and daycare centers among other necessities. And with the second, the City can build complete streets by improving pedestrian access, expanding bike infrastructure, partnering with MetroTransit to build out our bus rapid transit system, and using our lever of municipal consent to encourage MNDOT to add dedicated transit as part of the Re-Thinking I-94 project.

- Ensuring every person in Minneapolis has access to a safe and stable home. Our focus must be on providing stable housing for our unhoused neighbors and securing our neighbors who are at risk of losing their home. I’m inspired by the Indoor Villages and Envision projects as models for providing shelter and I support the city’s recent inclusionary zoning ordinance, which requires new developments set below-market rents on a percentage of new homes. This policy is new and we should monitor how many new affordable units this policy creates, and make adjustments as necessary. While expanding the number of homes, we must also expand the types of housing being built, from apartments, houses, and condos to boarding house rooms, senior living, ADUs, cooperatives, and triplexes. Continuing to expand housing not only creates physical space for new residents, it also raises additional tax revenue, which is a vital step to ensure affordable housing options for all.

I’ve served as president of my neighborhood association and on city infrastructure and state transportation advisory committees, where I’ve expanded composting for renters, pushed to fill sidewalk gaps, and added green space to our parks. I’ve also worked in Minneapolis City Hall and with cities around the metro developing and implementing clean energy policies. With extensive local government experience, I’m ready to open the doors of City Hall to all of Ward 10 and continue to push our city towards a more equitable and sustainable future.

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

You can go to KatieForWard10.org/issues to read my in-depth platform and KatieForWard10.org/vote to make a plan to vote on or before November 2nd.