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Last week Donald Trump urged Minnesotans to “fight back” against our Somali friends and neighbors. He’s continued to ramp up his attacks in days since, including an outrageous raid on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s house in a blatant attempt to target his political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement for political intimidation. While it’s unsurprising that Trump continues to make harmful attempts at dividing us, his rhetoric is dangerous.
I’ll keep it short. To our Somali friends and neighbors: You are loved. Saint Paul will have your back. You belong here in our city and in Minnesota. The stoking of violence by Trump has no place in our country.
-Council Member HwaJeong Kim
The rise of mass surveillance goes far beyond Flock cameras and drones. Come hear from local experts about the ever-increasing use of surveillance technologies, the impacts on our communities, and how we can organize to push back to protect our rights and our neighbors.
The panel will be facilitated by Council Member Kim, and the panelists include Minneapolis City Council Member Robin Wonsley, Professor Jessica West from Mitchell Hamline School of Law, Matthew Guariglia from Electronic Frontier Foundation, State Representative Athena Hollins, John Boehler from ACLU Minnesota, and Anna Madison from Women Against Military Madness. RSVP to the event here.
Technofascism: community panel on the rise of mass surveillance and AI in the Twin Cities
Monday October 19th from 6:00 - 7:30
North End Community Center (145 Lawson Ave W, Saint Paul, 55117)
Bring your best costume for a costume contest and Halloween bonfire! Cozy up around the fire, make crafts, music, and more next week at the Northwest Como Rec Center. Details linked here.
NW Como Rec Center Halloween Bonfire
Friday October 23 from 6:00 – 8:00pm
NW Como Recreation Center (1550 Hamline Ave N, Saint Paul, MN 55108)
Break in your Halloween costume a few days early and join Saint Paul Park and Rec for a Halloween Party at McDonough Rec Center! Games, crafts, McDonough’s famous haunted house and so much more. Details linked here.
McDonough Rec Center Halloween Party
Wednesday October 28 from 6:00 – 8:00 pm
McDonough Recreation Center (1544 Timberlake Road, Saint Paul, MN 55117)
Thank you to everyone who joined us last week for our Ward 5 budget event! After Mayor Kaohly Her proposed her 2027 City Budget last month, City Council has been hard at work hearing from our city staff and meeting with residents about their priorities. Ward 5 residents shared the need for more funding for streetlight repairs, better wages and improved staffing for the workers who keep Como Zoo, our libraries and our rec centers running, and the importance of organizations like the Rice and Larpenteur Alliance to support strong neighborhoods. City Council will now begin discussing budget amendments before two final steps to approve the 2027 City Budget:
Monday November 30 at 6:00 pm – Final budget hearing
Wednesday December 2 at 3:30 pm – Budget adoption vote. City Council adopts the final budget and sends it to the Mayor for signing
Last week I joined Payne-Phalen Community Council at their launch for the Climate Resiliency Playbook Project alongside Climate Communities Initiative, WSB, the City of Saint Paul, Ramsey County, and the Environmental Initiative. Help shape climate resilience projects for Payne-Phalen! Join your neighbors, community organizations and local partners to share your ideas, identify community priorities, and help guide future resilience projects in the neighborhood at the next meeting of the Payne-Phalen Climate Resiliency Playbook Project:
Payne-Phalen Climate Resiliency Playbook Project
Wednesday October 28 from 6:00 – 7:30 pm
East Side Freedom Library (1105 Greenbrier Street, Saint Paul, MN 55106)
Pictured left to right: Vivian Tran, Representative Liz Lee, Council Member Kim
Last week I attended the fifth-annual Saint Paul Cup to cheer on Ward 5’s Washington Technology High School and Johnson High School! Minnesota United and Bell Bank, in partnership with Saint Paul Public Schools, host an annual match for Saint Paul high schools to play in front of friends, family and classmates at the home of the Loons. Go Governors and Eagles!
Pictured left to right: School Board Member Erica Valliant, Council Member Kim
For over 8 years, COPAL has stood with Latino and immigrant communities to build power, expand opportunity, and create lasting change across Minnesota. Like so many of us, COPAL was on the frontlines this winter defending our communities. I was honored to join COPAL at their annual gala and celebrate COPAL receiving the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for their work this winter.
Pictured left to right: Senator Omar Fateh, Council Member Kim
In the last 6 months, Minnesotans have been faced with 3 major hospital consolidation proposals: Sanford Health / North Memorial Health, Sutter Health / Allina Health, and HealthPartners / Essentia Health. Mergers and acquisitions often result in hospital leadership driving up healthcare costs for patients at a time when healthcare costs are already skyrocketing for so many of us because of Trump’s cuts to give tax breaks to his billionaire friends.
I joined Minnesota healthcare workers, patients and elected leaders in calling for a legally binding community benefits agreement in the proposed Allina-Sutter merger that prioritizes patients and healthcare workers. Just a few weeks ago North Memorial and Sanford agreed to a 10-year oversight agreement, showing that these agreements are possible. United Hospital in Saint Paul is a key source of care for our residents and a major employer. Any merger will have major impact on our city and our resident’s ability to afford the healthcare they need. I want to be clear: the real solution is universal healthcare.
Pictured left to right: Rep. Dave Pinto, Rep. Athena Hollins, Sen. Liz Bolden, Sen. Lindsey Port, Rep. Zack Stephenson, SEIU Doctors Council Midwest Regional Director Robyn Gulley, Council Member Kim, Council President Rebecca Noecker, Sen. John Marty, and Sen. Alice Mann
Earlier this week I joined TruArtSpeaks to celebrate their 20th anniversary at East Side gem Tongue in Cheek. Founded in 2006, TruArtSpeaks is an arts and cultural organization based here in Saint Paul that champions and empowers young artists. Providing opportunities for young people to explore themselves and their identities through poetry and spoken word is deeply important. Thank you to Tish Jones and everyone at TruArtSpeaks for your incredible work. To another twenty years! You can learn more about TruArtSpeaks at the link here.
Pictured left to right: Council Member Kim, TruArt Speaks Executive Director Tish Jones
Encampment evictions have failed all of us, whether you live in a house or in a tent. Instead of a plan to connect people with housing, we’ve been told to fear our neighbors who have turned to living in tents and cars because they can't afford their homes. Decades of research is clear that wraparound social services for addiction and mental health succeed when people are in stable housing—not by spending $440,00 on a single encampment eviction.
In August, I led City Council to ensure we heard firsthand from encampment residents, service providers and neighbors from across our city. What they told us is exactly what happened at the Fish Hatchery eviction—when people have nowhere to go, evictions just move encampments from one block to the next. I was on the ground at Fish Hatchery eviction distributing hot coffee and meals because all our neighbors deserve to be treated like human beings as they made their plans for where to sleep that night.
What is clear is that Saint Paul needs a plan. Our City Council has brought together the Mayor’s administration, Ramsey County and service providers to outline a three-phase plan on how our city should respond to encampments with winter fast approaching:
- An intentional 60-day strategic investment period with a navigation tent before any encampment closure.
- Creation of a temporary low-barrier shelter to operate for six months over the winter to expand shelter capacity.
- The development of a permanent low-barrier shelter that operates on the indoor village model like Avivo Village in Minneapolis.
While City Council lacks the authority to force the Mayor’s administration to implement this three-phase plan, City Council’s goal is to show what a better path forward for everyone who calls Saint Paul home can look like. Our residents expect solutions from City Hall and delivering on that requires the Mayor’s administration to be a partner with our City Council. You can read the resolution at the link here.
Key Upcoming Votes: City Council will vote on the resolution outlining a three-phase plan to support our neighbors living in tents in encampments next Wednesday, October 21 at 3:30 pm at City Hall.
As autonomous vehicle companies expand across the country, Saint Paul is no exception. Waymo has been out across Saint Paul mapping our streets in recent months and may soon be offering rides in our city. For me, this is a question of who we value as a city – do we ensure thousands of rideshare drivers can afford to put food on the table and support their families or are we siding with billionaire tech CEO who think they can ignore our regulations and undercut workers to pad their pockets?
Waymo suddenly appearing in Saint Paul echoes Uber and Lyft’s entry into our city a decade ago—when the lack of political will by city leaders led to years of playing catch-up to establish regulations and essential protections for workers. Saint Paul must avoid repeating those mistakes.
The destruction of thousands of rideshare jobs across the metro will have massive economic consequences for all of us. Rideshare driver wages sustain an estimated $561 million in total economic output in Minnesota each year and $43 million in local and state taxes. If driverless cars replace drivers, millions of dollars that today support families across Saint Paul would instead flow to the Silicon Valley CEOs.
Many of us spent our winter organizing to defend our immigrant neighbors, delivering food and standing watch for ICE with whistles. Just this last week we saw President Trump again escalate his dangerous attacks on our Somali neighbors. We can’t say we support our immigrant and Somali neighbors if we turn around and let the same tech CEOs that bankroll Trump and his Super PACs destroy the jobs of thousands of our immigrant and Somali neighbors depend on. You can watch the announcement here.
Key Upcoming Votes: Council President Noecker authored a resolution directing the Planning Commission to develop recommendations for Saint Paul autonomous vehicles regulations. The resolution passed unanimously at City Council on Wednesday, October 14 on the consent agenda.
Pictured: Council Member Kim speaks alongside Council President Noecker, rideshare drivers with SEIU Local 26 and leaders from Our Streets
Ensuring everyone in Saint Paul can afford their lives must be a key focus for City Hall. On Wednesday my office organized presentations for City Council from Aaron Rosenthal, Research Director at North Star Policy Action, Juan Luis Rivera-Reyes, Housing Coalition Organizer at The Alliance for Metropolitan Stability, and Maria Snider, Director at Rainbow Child Development Center and a Childcare for All community organizer. Rising grocery and gas prices, higher rents and mortgages rates, and the costs of childcare are making it harder and harder for Saint Paul families to put food on the table and make rent.
I’m looking forward to this presentation kicking off legislative action by our City Council to ensure everyone in Saint Paul can afford their lives. You can watch the full presentation at the link here.
Pictured left to right: Maria Snider and Childcare for All leaders, Council Member Kim, Aaron Rosenthal from North Star Policy Action, and Juan Luis Rivera-Reyes from The Alliance for Metropolitan Stability
In March 2026 I led City Council to pass a temporary 60-day pre-eviction notice. Last winter ICE created an eviction crisis across Minnesota. No family should have to choose between keeping a roof over their head and risking being kidnapped by ICE. The 60-day pre-eviction notice bought us time to connect our neighbors with emergency rent assistance and local fundraising to keep families in their homes. It remains the strongest and longest-standing eviction prevention ordinance enacted in the Minnesota.
Newly released data from HomeLine shows evictions in Saint Paul are down 15% compared to 2025. Minneapolis, where the 60-day pre-eviction notice was vetoed, saw evictions up 5% compared to 2025 and is on pace for a record number of evictions. Thank you to everyone who showed up at City Hall and contacted your Council Member this winter to demand Saint Paul be a leader in the face of ICE’s occupation. Hundreds of Saint Paul families were able to stay in their homes because of you.
In Minnesota, we believe that every eligible voter should have the freedom to vote, know their vote will be counted, and have a voice in shaping our community. I’m proud Minnesota consistently leads the nation in voter turnout. That means no one—regardless of where they come from or what they look like—should face fear, harassment or violence when casting their vote.
Ramsey County Elections hosts weekly Q&A sessions via Zoom to answer any questions you might have. You can learn more about these Elections Q&A sessions and register for an upcoming one at the link here.
The Immigrant Defense hotline will be available on Election Day to report any issues while voting. Call 612-255-3112 or 866-OUR-Vote (866-687-8683) to report ICE or federal agents at a voting location.
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