Fact or fiction

During our last candidate forum on Thursday, Council Member Cashman stated “we were able to save dozens of trees” along Hennepin Ave during a question about the ongoing reconstruction project (Kenwood Forum, 10/16/2025, 28:00  ). The problem? The real work to save 70 trees along Hennepin Avenue happened before CM Cashman was even elected. This success in protecting our urban tree canopy was a group effort and was successful due to the combined efforts of local residents, Director of Public Works Margaret Anderson Kelliher, MPRB forestry preservation staff member Craig Pinkalla, and myself as MPRB District 4 Park Commissioner.

This effort underscores one of the main reasons I’m running: I understand what’s possible when elected officials and staff actually listen to constituent input and then work together to find solutions. In this case, the initial push to save the trees came in 2022 from local residents and our local paper, Hill & Lake Press, who reviewed the original tree removal plans and started a focused campaign to save as many trees as possible. Elected officials and career staff took the time to listen to those concerns, evaluate whether those concerns were actionable, and – finding that they were – to turn that input into policy. By the beginning of 2023, nearly a year before CM Cashman was elected, plans were in place and the design updated. This is what we can accomplish when we work together. 

At the forum, CM Cashman also accused me of not supporting park board union employees, seeking to blame the current park board for last year’s strike (Kenwood Forum, 10/16/2025, 43:49). This is false. All the commissioners were concerned when our employees went on strike, and all were hopeful for a quick resolution. However, park commissioners are, for good and longstanding reasons, never a part of contract discussions between labor and park board management. Furthermore, city council members making public statements about a process outside their elected jurisdiction is not helpful – the park board has never attempted to intervene in any of the city’s labor disputes. City council members should show us the same respect that we give them.

I am proud to have supported the historic union contract wage increases in the final agreement, and which the park board unanimously approved. On average, employees received an $11,000 increase -- or $6/hr raise -- over 2 years. The increase in the MPRB property tax levy last year was primarily to cover those employee wage boosts and the same is true for the levy this year.