Trista MatasCastillo was elected in 2018, displacing long-time incumbent Janice Rettman.

On the ballot this year:

Trista MatasCastillo (incumbent)
David A. Singleton

I was really pleased to see Trista win in 2018, and in the last four years, every time she’s crossed my radar it’s been something good or at least neutral. She’s been quoted in several articles on homelessness and how Ramsey County changed things to shelter people during the pandemic; earlier this month she was quoted talking about adding snow making capabilities to Battle Creek Regional Park.

Regarding David Singleton, I just want to note that if you visit his website on a desktop computer it initially looks like it doesn’t work. There’s content but you have to scroll down a whole lot. (It looks better on a phone.) He has one endorsement, from a state legislator from Cloquet. He’s a reserve police officer and maybe also a paralegal?

Over on his Facebook page he says, among other things, “Some and most people that have served in Government for multiple terms, are drunk on power,” which is a weird thing to say when you’re running against someone who’s finishing up her first term, and “I promise if you elect me to be your Ramsey County Commissioner for District 3, I will make your priorities my priorities,” and like, here’s the thing about that sort of promise, I guarantee you that plenty of my neighbors have very different priorities from me? Ten minutes poking around my Facebook neighborhood group makes that extremely clear! So the idea that he’ll make “your priorities” his priorities is pretty meaningless without more information he does not provide. (In this video of both candidates speaking, he lists his three priorities as law enforcement reform, business development, and government transparency, but with zero details.)

Anyway, I would vote for Trista MatasCastillo without hesitation.

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In addition to writing political commentary, I write science fiction and fantasy. My book that came out in April 2021, Chaos on CatNet, takes place in a future Minneapolis. It’s a sequel to Catfishing on CatNet and signed copies of both books are usually available from Dreamhaven and the NOW REOPENED Uncle Hugo’s (it’s at 2716 E 31st St in Minneapolis, in the former Glass Endeavors.)

I do not have a Patreon or Ko-Fi, but you can make a donation to encourage my work! I get a lot of satisfaction watching fundraisers I highlight getting funded (or, in the case of the Movement Voter fundraiser, continuing to raise money past their goal). I explained back in May why I’m fundraising for the Movement Voter PAC and that fundraiser is still active.

I also went looking for a DonorsChoose fundraiser for a classroom in St. Paul and found an English teacher at Harding Senior High who would like snacks for her students. In her project intro, she notes, “With a new schedule this year, some students have to wait a very long time to eat lunch everyday. When students are hungry, they cannot focus and most students can’t afford to buy their own snacks.” This made me curious about their schedule. Some students at Harding don’t get to eat lunch until 1 p.m. School starts at 8:30. When I eat breakfast at 7:30 I’m ravenous by noon, never mind 1 p.m. Feeding kids is an absolute no-brainer, seriously.