Policy Priorities
Housing is a Human Right
The average monthly rent in Ward 3 is $2,000. New housing projects are unaffordable for residents and newcomers. Houselessness is a public health crisis, representing a failure in governance that hurts Black, Indigenous, and Trans folks. We must ensure housing for all.
Reproductive & Gender-Affirming Healthcare
Reproductive rights are under attack, and our regression into the 20th century is alarmingly ominous. Trans people have become the target and scapegoat of a cruel and artificially produced culture war that places people’s lives at risk. Elected officials are taking away people’s right to their own care and autonomy, and Minneapolis must boldly fight against this tyranny so that all women and LGBTQ+ people can live joyfully.
Community Safety
By meeting basic needs, we take on our city’s root problems that push and lock people into endless cycles of carceral violence; a preventative, rather than punitive, approach ensures community safety for all. Sanctuary policy, transparency, and accountability build mutual trust between the community and those protecting it. When people feel safe asking for help for themselves or their neighbors, the community is safer.
Environmental Justice
The history of redlining, racial covenants, and highway/plant construction in Minneapolis directly contributes to the inaccessibility of green spaces for communities of color, who consequently experience high rates of chronic diseases. Apart from vastly expanding and bolstering green transit and housing, we must restore our city’s environment and urgently adopt a vision for a sustainable future to avoid irrevocable harm to our planet and marginalized groups.
Supporting Local Businesses
While many politicians say that local businesses are the backbone of the American economy, few have the backbone to stand for them. Ward 3 is the beating heart of Minneapolis, keeping our city and its residents alive and thriving. I will ensure our businesses continue to flourish.
Education
Education is a human right; the existence of a school-to-prison pipeline in this country is a disgusting shame. The crisis of unhoused students in Minneapolis is heartbreaking. Our children and students are the future, and we must guarantee them the tools to learn and to dream so that they may accomplish wonders.
Senior Living
As an organizer, I am often reminded of the sheer dedication of organizers before me for civil rights, divestment from apartheid, or cessation of the Vietnam War. I look up to my grandparents, whose biomedical research has saved lives. Our seniors gave me the ground I stand on to fight for my community and my future. Minneapolis must honor their legacies and become a city where people can grow, live, and retire comfortably and with dignity.
Healthcare and Disabilities
Millions of households, especially seniors with fixed incomes, struggle to afford healthcare. Mental health is tied to economic well-being, and combined, these issues disproportionately impact young, queer, and BIPOC folks. We must recognize the mental health crisis as a public health crisis and address it by providing decent working and living conditions with basic access to care. Lastly, as someone on the spectrum who has struggled with mental health, I will fight political underrepresentation and discrimination towards neurodivergence and those with disabilities.
Immigration Justice
Our country’s immigration system is a cruel relic of an imperialist past that continues to this day. Immigrants are renters, students, queer, working-class, seniors, and small business owners; by understanding the intersectionality and history of every issue, we know that by uplifting immigrants, we uplift all our city’s residents. We must rectify our city’s shortcomings, preparing us to receive newcomers with open arms and just living conditions. We will restore human dignity to those whose dignity has been robbed by immigration law.
Uplifting the Working Class
In light of the presidential elections, it is clear that our elected officials have abandoned the working class, falling out of touch with our needs and livelihoods. Students and immigrants especially can’t buy their way into the political process, unlike corporations, developers, and millionaires who live out of state and have little stake in the communities they affect. We must move from oligarchy to democracy.
Transportation
Reshaping our city’s transportation is fundamentally necessary to fight climate change and economic inequality. We must transition away from our unsustainable and pollutive auto-oriented infrastructure and way of life by recognizing that, without any other option, people have no option but to drive to provide for their families, go to work or school, and sustain themselves. Transportation should be a public service, so let’s provide reliable, safe, and accessible bus, light rail, and biking alternatives!