Patch Candidate Profile: Kurt M. Anderson 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.

Kurt Michael Anderson is running for Minneapolis City Council in Ward 11.

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

Invite a friend to subscribe to free Minnesota newsletters and real-time email alerts.

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): 68

Town of Residence: Minneapolis

Position sought: Minneapolis City Council Ward 11

Party Affiliation: independent

Family: Married with two grown children, three grandchildren.

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

Education: New York University School of Law, JD 1977; University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts, BA Psychology 1974

Occupation: Lawyer, 44 years

Why are you seeking elective office?

(1) promote public safety by expanding (not defunding) Mpls police

(2) oppose neighborhood disruption resulting from Mpls 2040 zoning overlays - but support triplexes and similar initiatives if tied to home ownership

(3) modify ranked choice voting to avoid long lists of general election candidates - by preceding it with a ranked choice primary

(4) begin to address city budget issues by cutting city council salaries by approx. 30%.

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

Public safety. I propose what may seem, to many, to be a counterintuitive solution to police reform – doubling the authorized strength of the Minneapolis police force. As many persons have pleaded, we need community cops more than 911 cops. We need police officers who include mental health specialists and mediators, and all of whom both represent and are attuned to the diverse culture of our city. Organizations such as Mad Dads are excellent resources both for recruiting and referral as well as evaluating the suitability of police candidates.

We need a police department adequately staffed to analyze rape kits as well as investigating homicides, burglaries, and muggings. The recent mass resignations and retirements of police officers present part of an opportunity to make the changes we need; but the officers in the community need to know that they are not funded to be Lone Rangers, and that they have a strong force behind them – as well as good community relationships – to ensure the safety and success of their efforts.

I refer you to Steve Berg’s Strib OpEd c.2006, if you can find it: “How New York Got Its Groove Back.” He pointed out that New York City had 2.5 times the number of police, per resident, than Minneapolis had at the time. Granted, this was before the Eric Garner killing and also included an overly aggressive stop and frisk policy by the NYC police. On the other hand, the homicide rate was much lower than in other major US cities including Minneapolis. One may surmise that there are a large number of middle-aged people walking around NYC today who might have been dead in the streets two decades earlier.

These historical lessons indicate a need to implement Broken Windows 2.0, an approach to policing that involves a large, community-supported law enforcement presence, while avoiding racial profiling and adhering to Warren court standards regarding stops and frisks.

I calculate that doubling the size of the Minneapolis police force, once we are able to actually fill the positions (and assuming no cuts elsewhere), would increase the total tax bill in Minneapolis by six to seven percent.

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

In a ranked choice election system, I see no need to criticize other candidates. But I will note my sharp issue differences with the incumbent over police defunding and two of the challengers over the standby rent control authority. I invite the reader to compare my rather unglamorous but text-intensive web material with the graphics heavy but text-light sites of the other candidates.

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

I decline to attack any of the other candidates running. But I will reiterate that I sharply differ with Mr. Schroeder on the subject of police defunding.

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

I think we are all on the same team on the pandemic response, and appreciate that it does not present the divisive issue in Minneapolis that it does elsewhere.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

I have listed four prominent issues, above. I also have responded to numerous voter and interest group questionnaires, all posted here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/20y...

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

(1) an "AV" professional record as a lawyer, particularly in farm debtor representation and mental health law - http://www.linkedin.com/pub/ku...
(2) political and community leadership including high levels of involvement in state and Minneapolis politics - https://www.dropbox.com/s/7odk...