Among the biggest races on the ballot in November is the mayor’s race in St Paul, and incumbent Melvin Carter is running for a third term.
St. Paul, like most major urban areas, faces difficulties revitalizing its downtown and other neighborhoods in the post-pandemic era.
Carter played a key role in pushing Gov. Tim Walz to call back state workers to in-person work at least half of their work week. That has brought thousands of workers back to downtown St Paul.
The mayor continues to battle the impact of a rent stabilization limit passed in 2021. Housing permits dropped 80% after passage. That limit has been amended twice, including a recent exemption for buildings built after 2004.
“We worked with our city council a couple of months ago to pass an amendment that excludes new construction. We have to be able to build new housing,” Carter said.
The mayor is running amidst an increasing property-tax landscape. Carter is proposing a 5.3% property tax hike, Ramsey County is proposing a 9.75 % hike and St. Paul Public Schools is asking taxpayers to support a $37.2 million referendum. If the school levy is approved by voters, that could mean property tax increases of a total of 14.2%. St Paul has the highest sales tax in the state at 9.88%, compared to 9.03% for Minneapolis.
Carter, who has three school-age children, said despite the impact on property taxes, he plans to vote “yes” on the school referendum.
In Carter’s latest term, the city has seen a drop in violent crime: 70% of gun crimes are now being solved, which is an increase from 21% in 1971. So far this year, there have been nine homicides, down from 18 last year. There have been 1,725 assaults compared to 1,915 the year before.
“We made a decision a couple of years ago that if someone is shot in the arm or the leg or the pinky toe in our city, we are going to investigate that as a homicide as a strategy,” Carter said.
Voter turnout in St. Paul’s mayoral races is historically low: just 34% of voters cast ballots in 2021. Carter has won his past two ranked-choice mayoral elections easily, winning both on the first ballot.
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