 THe 2024 Summer Right Track interns on their last day after presenting their research projects to Councilmembers.
Greetings community,
As we head into the fall, I want to invite you to two upcoming community conversations where we’ll talk about the issues and opportunities facing our neighborhoods here in our part of Saint Paul.
First, I hope you’ll join me, our elected leaders at other levels of government, and the Hamline Midway Coalition at the Hamline-Midway Town Hall on Thursday, October 17 from 6-8pm. I am really looking forward to this gathering where we’ll discuss challenges and solutions in our Midway neighborhood, facilitated by our hardworking partners at the Hamline-Midway Coalition. You can find full details, register, and submit advance questions here.
Second, as we look at the 2025 budget with a citywide perspective, I and my office are hosting a special gathering for my constituents on what services, investments and other city funding you value the most in the proposed budget. You and all other Ward 4 constituents are invited to join us on October 22 from 5-7 PM at the Allianz Brew Hall for the Ward 4 Budget Community Meeting. Please register here and share with your neighbors.
This event will focus primarily on the proposed 2025 city budget, and will include an overview of what it entails, key trends and factors affecting the city budget this coming year, and then an interactive conversation with city staff and myself about what you want me and my peers on the Council to take into account regarding next year’s city budget.
Below, you’ll find more updates from our office on a range of issues. We are reachable as a full office anytime at ward4@ci.stpaul.mn.us.
Thank you for taking the time to read our latest newsletter edition.
All my best,
Mitra
Council President Mitra Jalali and the Ward 4 team (Kristin and Doua)
Kristin Koziol: Scheduler, Constituent Issues Support and Office Executive Assistant kristin.koziol@ci.stpaul.mn.us
651-266-8640
Doua Yang-Hernandez: Senior Legislative Aide
doua.yang@ci.stpaul.mn.us
651-266-8640
Mayoral Budget Address and 2025 Budgeting Process Underway
I was proud to represent our Council this year as Council President to formally kick off the 2025 budget process with Mayor Carter’s proposed 2025 budget address in mid-August. You can review the proposal(s) here, and watch the video with full text here. In summary, Mayor Carter’s budget includes investments in our Community-First Public Safety Framework, a downtown revitalization strategy, addressing the effects of climate change, adding affordable housing units and expanding rental and down payment assistance support, and investing in new approaches to snow operations. The draft proposed a 7.9% levy rate, in which the Council and I will work to balance and have a final vote on the 2025 Budget by the end of the year.
City Council Budget Listening Session and Public Hearing
In the last week of September, my colleagues and I hosted our annual Community Budget Listening Session with nearly 80 attendees and 30 testifiers at the El Rio Vista Recreation Center. Constituents from all wards met with Councilmembers and staff for small group discussions on core city topics including Economic Development and Housing, Public Safety, Sustainability and Climate Action, and more. We also held a public hearing and listening session where community members, frontline workers and people from all across Saint Paul shared their hopes and priorities for the 2025 budget.
The Council will finalize and adopt a city budget for 2025 in early December. For the remainder of the year, weekly budget meetings with department directors will continue. These budget meetings help us understand department goals so we can best match the city’s dollars with our community’s priorities. You can watch all presentations every Wednesday at 10:00 am here (click the video link in the Budget Committee section on a specific date). You can weigh in to our office anytime on your budget priorities big or small at ward4@ci.stpaul.mn.us and 651-266-8640.
You are also invited to attend our Ward 4 Constituents Budget Listening Session, a mini-version of the citywide event, on October 22 from 5-7 PM at the Allianz Brew Hall. We ask that you RSVP here, and feel free to share with your neighbors.
You are also invited to give final input at the annual Truth-in-Taxation Public Meeting on Monday, Dec 2 from 6pm-8pm at the City Hall Council Chambers.
Saint Paul City Council Formally Sets Limit for 2025 Tax Levy
Last week, I and my colleagues took our annual budgetary action to formally set the city’s 2025 levy limit at 7.9%.
This preliminary action recognizes the proposed amount by Mayor Carter for 2025 while committing to continued review, efforts to look for thoughtful savings without compromising critical services to residents, and adopting a final budget in December.
The City Council is required under state law to set a levy limit each year as part of its budget-setting process. The levy limit is the maximum by which the city can raise property taxes for the following year and determines how much money could be available for the following year’s budget. This important step in the process lays out parameters for the Council’s final budget adoption in early December.
Over the next three months, the City Council will continue to hold weekly Budget Committee meetings on Wednesdays at 10:00 am at City Hall to hear the details of each city department’s 2025 budget request. The final vote on the 2025 city budget will be held on December 4, 2024 at the 3:30 pm Council meeting.
As has been tradition in recent years, the City Council communicated their own budget priorities to Mayor Carter this summer prior to his budget address.
The City Council is committed to a 2025 city budget that includes:
• Support for renters;
• Support for fire emergency and safety services;
• Expanded investments in Library health and safety;
• A comprehensive commercial corridors strategy;
• Accelerated investments to address the opioid epidemic;
• Improved pedestrian safety;
• Social and economic justice;
• Supporting shared policy priorities; and
• A commitment to addressing the annual budget shortfall in collaboration with the Mayor.
While a significant amount of work remains ahead in the coming months, the Council was pleased to see many shared values and priorities in the 2025 city budget proposal that the Mayor announced last month. We will adopt a final budget by early December
 Clockwise from top left: CP Jalali introducing Mayor Carter at the 2025 Budget Address; presentation at the City Council's budget listening session; community work groups at the budget listening session.
Upholding Greater Equity in Saint Paul through Administrative Citations
In early June, the Administrative Citations policy proposal was presented to the Council. An administrative citation is a civil fine that is issued in response to a violation of local ordinance. Administrative citations can be used as an additional tool of enforcement for city ordinances.
The goal in implementing administrative citations is to develop a fair and effective tool to better enforce our policies against problem property owners, landlords, employers and other actors – from our biggest downtown property owners neglecting their buildings, to local employers who may be committing wage theft. I was surprised to learn that other major cities in Minnesota already have this authority, while our city does not. I am leading the effort with the Council to ensure our residents have the law on their side.
Administrative Citations require a charter change, and in the coming weeks my colleagues and I will work to formally request this of our Charter Commission with Council action. You can review our introductory discussion about it here (click the video link in the Organizational Committee section on June 5, 2024).
Council Boosts Grand Ave and Passes East Grand Overlay District Changes
In August, my colleagues and l voted to adopt major zoning amendments that will improve development flexibility, support small businesses, and enhance neighborhood walkability along the East Grand Ave corridor. Key changes include:
- Supporting neighborhood vitality through building facade consistency and allowing for setbacks to support more patios and outdoor gathering spaces
- Activating ground floor spaces and requiring pedestrian-friendly elements (like windows, awnings, and frontages) to support a lively street
- Allowing flexibility for taller building heights that are sensitive to the existing neighborhood, including stepbacks after 40’ to reduce building presence from the sidewalk and along rear alleys
I was excited to pass this long-overdue overhaul to bolster mixed-use development on Grand Avenue as a beloved Saint Paul commercial corridor enjoyed by people around the state. Eliminating these restrictions will allow us to continue welcoming residents and customers to Saint Paul for generations. You can learn more about the East Grand Avenue Overlay District Zoning Study here.
City Council Expands Saint Paul Downtown Improvement District
Our downtown sector is vital for citywide success and deserves continued investment and partnership. In early September, I voted with the rest of our Council to approve the new Saint Paul Downtown Improvement District (SPDID) expanding to more of downtown, including residential properties and commercial buildings in Lowertown. In the new year, the new district will continue to provide its flagship safe and clean services executed by SPDID staff and street team ambassadors, along with new and enhanced services focused on public safety, trash pickup, graffiti removal, and more. You can learn more about the Saint Paul Downtown Alliance and SPDID here.
City Council Approves Zoning Changes for Cannabis Retailers
In mid-September, the City Council approved the Cannabis Zoning Study, outlining where state-licensed retail production and cultivation businesses can locate and create the framework to launch the cannabis industry in Saint Paul. I was proud of the thoughtful zoning amendments passed by the City Council, which sets the table for an equitable and economically beneficial local cannabis industry in our capital city.
The adopted amendments include:
- Cannabis retail sales are allowed in areas zoned for commercial and mixed-use. Cannabis retail can locate anywhere in downtown and must be 300 feet from schools in all other parts of the city. Retail locations of over 15,000 square feet will require a conditional use permit (CUP), except in districts zoned as industrial. These retailers must have cameras and cannot share a common entrance with tobacco product shops.
- The majority of businesses already carrying hemp-derived edible products can continue to operate as usual in Saint Paul’s mixed-use and commercial zoned areas. These businesses can only sell lower potency hemp-derived products and cannot also carry cannabis.
- Limited cannabis production and cultivation (under 15,000 square feet) can happen in mixed-use, commercial, and industrial districts. Commercial outdoor cultivation, such as rooftop growing operations, will require a CUP.
- Industrial zoned districts are the only areas of Saint Paul where industrial scale and cultivation (over 15,000 square feet) business can locate.
You can learn more about the Zoning Study here and subscribe to the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management latest news and updates here.
 Clockwise from left: Council staff touring the Ramsey/Washington Recycling & Energy Center; Mayor Carter, Councilmembers, and interns after the 2025 Budget Address; St. Paul Downtown Alliance President Joe Spencer gave Council staff a walking tour of downtown and the work the Alliance is doing.
Our youth deserve investment at every stage of their lives, including career readiness opportunities. This year, our Council hosted more Right Track and Summer interns than ever, with every single office participating! Each ward office had at least one youth intern work alongside a Councilmember and their Legislative Aide, and focused on projects in their respective offices while also joining members for field trips from our recycling plant to touring downtown.
We loved hosting Saint Paul’s future leaders in our offices this summer, culminating in their final presentations on city topics of their choosing, which you can watch here (click the video link in Organizational Committee on August 14, 2024.)
A very special thank you to our summer interns: Sonja Gupta, Daisy Vang, Kenia Noemi Saravia Marques, Charlie St. Dennis, Abigail Woldemarian, Leah Schroeder, Mary Yang, Rashonna Harper, and Greta Delaune.
Supporting Improved Neighborhood Services and Relationships at Kimball Court
I have been working in close collaboration with our partners at Beacon Interfaith on the proposed expansion of Kimball Court, a vital supportive housing resource in our neighborhood. In order for Kimball Court to be successful in expanding, I have attended community meetings hosted by Hamline Midway Coalition, met one-on-one with Beacon leadership multiple times, and worked to create a plan that addresses community concerns.
The key concerns that I have heard are related to day-to-day property management, on-site security, and better community outreach/information sharing. In response to this and the work of Hamline-Midway Coalition and our office, Beacon Interfaith/Kimball Court has developed a community plan which includes these three objectives:
- Improve conditions of the Kimball Court property exterior (including trash, alleyways, signage, etc)
- Improve Kimball Court security presence with camera technology
- Be an active Hamline-Midway community member (working with CP Jalali’s office, Hamline Midway Coalition, and SPPD toward improvements and success for all)
You can read their community plan commitments here and reach Beacon/Kimball Court directly at the below contact information with needs or concerns:
24-7 security line: 651-323-4414
Day-to-day property manager: Peter Ellison, Area Manager, Office 651-646-5256
Neighborhood relationships more generally: Ben Clarke (bclarke@beaconinterfaith.org)
We ask that my office be included as desired (ward4@ci.stpaul.mn.us) to help track issues and provide follow-up when needed. We value Kimball Court as a supportive housing provider in our neighborhood, and more dialogue and communication can help ensure a successful experience for everyone, including our neighbors who call 545 Snelling home.
Later this month, Kimball Court will seek Council action for city funding to ensure a more secure and expanded facility that is better equipped to mitigate safety concerns for residents and neighbors as well as meet the dire need for supportive housing in our city. I am working closely with Kimball Court and Beacon as well as all city and community partners to ensure this asset in our neighborhood is a success. I will continue to strengthen these partnerships for a more stably housed neighborhood and community.
Supporting Safety at the State Fair: Neighborhood Safety Collaborative
The State Fair Neighborhood Safety Collaborative, a group of nearly 500 neighbors committed to a community-first public safety approach in violence prevention and de-escalation, had another successful summer at the Great Minnesota Get-Together. For twelve straight days with record breaking attendance, these dedicated volunteers embraced the heat and the crowds to ensure safety for neighbors and all State Fair attendees alike. I am greatly appreciative of their collaboration with the Community Ambassadors, SPPD, Public Works, DSI/LEAP, D10 District Council, and other State Fair coordinators. Thank you for the delicate care and effort that goes into the important and critical work of de-escalation, violence prevention, and safety in our neighborhoods.
Improve Accessibility through our ADA Transition Plan
Public Works is working on an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Transition Plan to enhance accessibility for everyone who lives, works, and does business within the City of Saint Paul. This plan will outline how the city will prioritize investments in infrastructure and accessibility upgrades to improve access to all. Please take the community survey and share your input and experiences with accessibility challenges in Saint Paul by November 30, 2024. You can take the survey here.
 Picture courtesy of State Fair Neighborhood Safety Collaborative, Summer 2023
Halloween with Parks and Rec: Cozy campfires, spooky movies, and tons of other Fall themed events can be found here.
Naloxone Training: Saint Paul – Ramsey County Public Health is offering free naloxone training for Ramsey County community organizations and partners. Public Health staff will come to your location for the training session. Each person that attends training will receive a naloxone kit. Register here.
Yard Waste and Hazardous Waste Sites Open: Locations, hours, and information about what items are accepted can be found here.
Housing Rental/Emergency Assistance: If you need help paying help for rent, mortgage, utilities or car repairs, contact Ramsey County Emergency Assistance at (651) 266-4884.
Small Business Owners: Make sure you’re signed up for the Small Business Newsletter to get the latest updates and available resources right to your inbox.
SPPD Western District hosts monthly community meetings on the third Thursdays of the month at 9 AM and 6 PM at 389 Hamline Ave N.
Reporting issues to Forestry and Code Enforcement: We regularly field questions as an office about everyday issues like tree problems, graffiti, trash and more. Common complaints such as downed tree limbs, graffiti, and trash in public spaces can be reported directly to the responsible department through this form. You are also welcome to contact our office at ward4@ci.stpaul.mn.us and our staff will support you in getting help.
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The 2024 Saint Paul Business Awards will take place this coming Wednesday, October 9th at 1pm at City Hall Council Chambers. Please join us in person as we recognize local businesses that provide critical services, contribute to the City's community, invest in their employees and are committed to Saint Paul's values of equity and diversity - with a small reception to follow.
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The Saint Paul Fall Art Crawl will take place Friday, October 4 through Sunday, October 6 all over the City. In Ward 4, there are Midway events happening that you can support here. Find information about the different venues and open hours here.
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Public Works Annual Snow Summit: Saturday, October 5 from 10 AM-2 PM at the Dale Street Municipal Garage (registration and information here)
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D10 Como Community Council Harvest Festival: Saturday, October 5 from 3-5 PM at Tilden Park (event information here)
- The Hamline Midway Coalition and the Hamline Undergraduate Student Congress are hosting the Hamline Midway Town Hall on Thursday, October 17 from 6-8 PM. Find full details, register, and submit advance questions here.
- Join Council President Jalali on Tuesday, October 22 from 5-7 PM at the Allianz Brew Hall for the Ward 4 Budget Community Meeting. You are invited to RSVP here and share with your neighbors.
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