Part 3: Talking with Minneapolis Mayoral Candidates About Pollution

 

A coalition of three organizations focused on the rights of immigrants, labor, and renters, hosted a mayoral forum with Minneapolis candidates on September 3. Seven questions directed to DeWayne Davis, Omar Fateh, and Jazz Hampton focused on public safety issues, housing concerns, and how to address immigrant and labor violations. Current mayor Jacob Frey declined to participate in the forum.

Centro de Trabajadores Unidos En la Lucha (aka CTUL) Action Fund, Unidos MN, and Renters for Political Transformation organized the event, which had an audience of roughly 200 people. Candidates fielded questions asked from seven residents about how the city should respond to federal immigration enforcement operations and how to better protect workers from exploitation in the construction industry. The discussion reflected concerns about public safety, labor rights, and the balance of power between city leadership and federal authorities.

This story focuses on a question regarding pollution and climate inequity.

 

“The zip code you live in is a better indicator of your health outcomes than your genetic code.”

One questioner referred to the 2023 goal set by current mayor Jacob Frey and the city council for reducing pollution from fossil fuels and natural gas by 85 percent by the year 2035. Meeting this goal would protect Minneapolis families from health issues like cancer and asthma, in addition to preventing further damage to the environment. This will not happen, the questioner stressed, without a concrete plan and strong leadership. The three candidates talked about how they will meet this goal and what their own plans are to support these environmental protections.

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  DeWayne Davis

  Davis cited his 20 years in Washington, D.C., which includes his work converting energy into renewables, working towards decarbonization, and ultimately trying to tax carbon out of existence. Davis is pleased with some accomplishments that have already been made, including increasing Minneapolis’s franchise fee, but he stressed a need to work with utilities to ensure incoming revenue is not only helping to meet goals, but that it is being done equitably. He said he was committed to helping people at the lowest end of the income spectrum afford moving to renewable energy in their homes. Despite the expected difficulty in getting cooperation from major utility companies, like Xcel and CenterPoint Energy, Davis reiterated that “they have made commitments to us, and we need to hold them to those commitments.” He encouraged the audience to testify to the Public Utility Commission directly. He also called for an Intergovernmental Relations Department working at every level, ensuring revenue hits pollution and climate targets.

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  Omar Fateh

  Fateh discussed how his time as a state senator representing south Minneapolis has informed him that BIPOC communities are at the highest risk for major health problems, and have been neglected by leaders for a long time. He cited his work on multiple initiatives, like leading the e-Bike rebate, and his aims for incentivizing people’s move towards more public transit use instead of cars, as a few ways he would work towards the climate goals. “We know that when you have a progressive legislative body working with an executive that wants to partner with you, we can get it done — but we just don’t have that at the city level,” Fateh said. He indicated he would be “proud and honored to support a block-by-block project with some of the organizations here, to make sure we’re advancing weatherization on our climate resilience goals, implementing the carbon fees that the city council has supported.” Fateh emphasized a need for supporting local projects and organizations who work towards reversing decades of environmental injustice. He said as mayor he would be committed to listening and standing with the most-affected communities. “We need a mayor that’s going to take initiative and invest in those goals,” he concluded.

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  Jazz Hampton

  Hampton indicated that climate initiatives are much more than a future issue; they are a high priority issue of today. Referencing a conversation with a colleague who helps lead health equity initiatives across Minnesota, Hampton cited something his colleague said: “The zip code you live in is a better indicator of your health outcomes than your genetic code.” Marginalized communities are hit harder than anyone else in this respect, Hampton continued. He advocates for better weatherization of homes, in addition to incentivizing local entrepreneurs. “We need to incentivize local entrepreneurs that are doing really important work in this space to help us develop solutions that will help us reach that 85 percent goal, because we’re already falling behind.” Hampton acknowledged the sheer amount of nonprofits in the Twin Cities, one of which, the Minneapolis Foundation, recently received over $50 million dollars from the EPA to address issues of environmental injustice. Hampton called for partnering with these local nonprofit organizations and listening to the Minneapolis community and its needs.

Minneapolis has ranked-choice voting, which means that voters rank candidates in order of preference. That way if one candidate is bumped early, a vote can still go toward the next-preferred candidate, and so on. Early voting in Minneapolis begins September 19. Find details on Minneapolis voting at vote.minneapolismn.gov

The last story in this series will focus on housing and renter issues raised.

 

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