I’ve been dragging my feet on this one because it’s a legitimately hard choice: both Rebecca Noecker and María Isa Pérez-Vega are terrific people, have endorsements from people I respect, and would bring different strengths and weaknesses to the role of County Commissioner.

On the ballot:

Maria Isa Pérez-Vega
Rebecca Noecker

Here’s the post I wrote before the primary. I posted that in mid-July; around this time or shortly after, Mayor Her announced that the city would be forcibly closing the homeless encampment at Pig’s Eye, and I got some questions because Rebecca had supported the mayor on this while María Isa had vocally opposed the closure. The closure happened on August 5th.

I had a long phone conversation with Rebecca in early September. She said that she had supported the closure on the condition that there be enough shelter beds to fully house the residents, but that people then didn’t go to the shelters, they went to the other encampments, and she was now regularly talking to encampment residents to learn what it is they need, and had shifted her focus to permanent supportive housing.

It really shouldn’t have surprised anyone that people living in encampments don’t want to go to shelters. I think a lot of people don’t realize just how profoundly dehumanizing it is to live in a shelter: you’re typically separated from your partner, you can’t bring your pet, there’s often no secure storage for your stuff, you get kicked out at some very early hour of the morning and you have an early curfew in the evening, which makes this fully untenable to many people with jobs. A tent is vulnerable to the elements and doesn’t come with plumbing but you can keep your dog and it’s your space in a meaningful way. You also don’t have to get sober to live in a tent; options for people who are actively using alcohol or drugs are extremely few and far between.

I was unhappy that Rebecca supported the mayor’s plan, and find it surprising that she didn’t already know the long list of reasons that people avoid shelters, but I am happy with how vigorously she’s gotten on board to the idea that the residents of the Shepard Road encampment are her constituents and she needed to learn more about them, about their needs, and about what would get them out of a tent and into permanent housing. At the LWV forum (which I’ll talk more about in a minute) she talked about wanting to get the state legislature to pass a per-person funding formula (like we do with schools). I think the count is likely to be a little more difficult to do with unhoused people than with school children, but I like this idea in principle.

María Isa didn’t have time to chat on the phone but sent me a long e-mail message that included the following: “When Mayor Her announced the sweep of the Fishery Hatch encampment, I brought the Saint Paul Delegation together to speak to the County and City leadership about it. My understanding from those sessions was that neither the county nor the nonprofits that serve the unsheltered recommended this plan, and they did not feel that they had the proper resources to take care of the people from the camp. I agreed with advocates that asked for a pause in the sweeps until supportive services and resources could be assembled. […] All levels of government share responsibility for addressing homelessness – the city, the county, and the state – and if we’re going to make headway and alleviate it, we need to do it together. If we fail, we fail together. For Ramsey County and the City of Saint Paul to succeed and reduce encampments, we need more money from the state to take care of unsheltered people, many of whom are not from Ramsey County. If there was a special session, I guarantee I would bring forward legislation to address this crisis.”

I thought the Pioneer Press article on the race was worth reading, and the West Saint Paul Reader’s voter’s guide did a great job of putting responses to questions side-by-side. You can also read responses to the Pioneer Press’s questionnaire here, and the Community Reporter has María Isa’s responses here and Rebecca’s here.

I found watching the League of Women Voters forum to be one of the most useful things I did in terms of helping me make up my mind.

A couple of major take-aways from the forum:

1. Rebecca’s ideas for funding are less focused on getting more money from the state. That’s definitely a component of her plans, but she also talks about PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes payments from large non-profits), and getting large and desirable pieces of land back on the tax rolls. When affordable housing came up, she talked about using tax-increment financing to increase housing, and making permitting easier; María Isa focused on fighting for more state funding. I want Ramsey County to get more money from the state, but María Isa would be in a better position to get that money if she’d stayed in the legislature. Saying “hey legislature, you need to give us more money” is frequently unsuccessful; just ask the schools.

2. Rebecca has more specific plans and is better at communicating them. The first question was about the cost of living: “Many families identify the increasing cost of food and gasoline prices as a major hardship. What role can a county commissioner play in addressing cost of living issues?” Rebecca said that the #1 thing the county could do was keep property taxes in check, and then talked about PILOT and about looking for efficiencies, where there was duplication between the city and the county. She also talked about advocating reversing the federal cuts. When I’m taking notes on a debate I try to write down the main points, and I found it easy to do that with her response, which starts here.

María Isa’s response, I wound up fully transcribing in the hopes that I could figure out what she was actually saying. She talks fast, and I was trying to figure out if the problem was me? If I was just not listening hard enough? Here’s my transcript of her answer.

The Ramsey County Commissioner is the lead resource of creating these policies and partnership with federal and state government and I have been a partner to see that, to be delivering millions of dollars to supporting food and SNAP and being vocal about it even before this second Trump administration. We need to make sure that everyone has the essential services and human rights and dignity to live. I know what it’s like from lived experience as a Type 1 diabetic who had to decide whether I could pay for my college tuition, transportation, or housing. We don’t need any more of those stories. What we need is to bring those stories into collective policy agendas. We have state partnerships that have been very great. And I’d like to say we have a city that has been as well, with those. I haven’t seen a lot of that city representation in my office at the state, but I have seen a great board that I am acknowledging their efforts to continue to fight these inflation projects. I’ve done great humanitarian efforts in Puerto Rico to make sure American citizens have their taken care of and we need to make sure that our local blocks have that same bold action.

I think what she’s saying is that the role of the County Commissioner in making sure people can afford their lives is to make sure they are getting the county services they need and are entitled to. I think that’s what she was saying but I’m honestly not sure. And a lot of her answers were like this.

3. When surveillance came up, Rebecca brought up multiple times the fact that the County had refused to take down their Flock cameras, and in particular I think she’s ready to fight it out with Sheriff Bob Fletcher. (Who is awful, and sadly, unopposed.) (I did also like María Isa’s response to that; she said that we needed to get rid of all surveillance, that getting rid of Flock without getting rid of the rest was like getting rid of Coke but still having Pepsi.)

4. Late in the evening they got asked about what they thought was the biggest difference between them and their opponent. Rebecca talked about how working on the City Council was structurally much more similar to the County Board than the State Legislature is: it’s a small, non-partisan body that meets year round. María Isa started out with this: “I’ll name a very big difference and not just being a lifelong St. Paul and Ramsey Countyan,” and went on to talk about how she had been a recipient of county services and had had to fight for them. (“I know what county services can do because I’ve been through them.”)

I was really deeply put off but her bringing up the fact that she is a lifelong St. Paulite and Rebecca is not. Rebecca has lived in St. Paul since 2011. She’s deeply committed to the city. I actually gasped, and then completely failed to hear the valid part of her response (I had to go back and listen again).

5. Rebecca originally got into the race to run against Rafael Ortega, who’s been on the County Board since 1995, and she’s pretty emphatic about the idea that the board is not doing a great job and could be doing a lot better; María Isa was recruited by Rafael Ortega and has his endorsement. At some point María Isa pointed out that she’s endorsed by multiple current County Board commissioners and Rebecca said that’s because they don’t want her (Rebecca) on the board because she’s actually going to demand changes. There were multiple moments in the forum where María Isa got defensive towards the current board, despite not being on it. I prefer a candidate who’s going to push for change, at least if it’s the sort of change I would expect to like, and while there are things Rebecca has done on the City Council that I’ve disliked, in general she’s been an energetic leader who’s worked on really good stuff.

All that said, a Bluesky local who is represented by both says that María Isa is super responsive: “Just from my perspective I’ve found Maria more accessible (picks up the phone, answers emails promptly etc)” and that she was very visible during Metro Surge: “And also Maria was extremely visible during Metro Surge. Rebecca isn’t pro-ICE but Maria was out in the streets, she was leading the LO trainings, she was at the supply drives, etc. Very much a feeling of she had our backs.” Another Bluesky local shared a story about contacting both offices in an emergency: “When there was that triple homicide by Sibley Plaza, I messaged them both. Rebecca reached out to police and sent me an update from them. Maria Isa called me back, went on site to help translate, coordinated with Neighborhood House to get additional translators, and called me back again afterwards.” That sort of immediate in-person response is amazing to see.

There are really great reasons to support both of them. However, I stand by my conclusion from the primary season, that of the two of them, Rebecca is the one most likely to accomplish the stuff I want to see accomplished in the office, and I’m going to vote for Rebecca.

This seems like a good year to fundraise for a trans nonprofit, so I’m fundraising this year for TIGERRS. I don’t have a Patreon, and a fundraiser lets me see in a tangible way that people value my work, which is really helpful as a motivator. (This project is a lot of work.) I raised $7,230 during primary season so I’ve raised the goal.

I also have a new book out! Obstetrix is about an obstetrician who gets kidnapped by a cult because they want someone on hand to deliver their babies; it’s a story about enduring, surviving, and not giving up. You can buy it anywhere fine books are sold, and I’ve been doing my best to keep Uncle Hugo’s, Moon Palace, and Dreamhaven Books in signed copies.