Election 2021: Saint Paul School Board

Posted on October 23, 2021 by naomikritzer

Saint Paul is having a school board election this year. There are four seats: three in the regular election for four-year terms, and one in a special election for a two-year term (this time because someone moved away). They’re being voted on separately. (They’re all on this year’s ballot, just to be clear, but there will be separate sections for the four-year seats and the two-year seat.)

On the ballot for the four-year seat:

Uriah Ward (DFL-endorsed)
Jennifer McPherson
Ryan Williams
Jim Vue
Halla Henderson (DFL-endorsed)
James Farnsworth

On the ballot for the special election (the two-year seat):

Jeannie Foster
Clayton Howatt (DFL-endorsed)

I am planning to vote for Jim Vue, Halla Henderson, and James Farnsworth in the regular election, Jeannie Foster in the special election.

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Election 2021: Minneapolis and Saint Paul City Elections

Posted on September 9, 2021 by naomikritzer

GOD DAMMIT I NEED TO GET STARTED ON THIS.

In 2021, both Minneapolis and Saint Paul will hold municipal races.

In Saint Paul, the ballot includes the mayoral race; a school board race (3 full-term seats, 1 partial-term seat vacated by someone moving); and a charter amendment to impose rent control.

In Minneapolis, the ballot includes the mayoral race; the city council seats (all of which will be only 2 years — there will be another city council race in 2023 due to redistricting); Park Board district seats; Park Board At Large seats (3); the Board of Estimate and Taxation; and three charter amendments (one to allow rent control, one to replace the police department with a public safety department, and one to give the mayor more power).

There are 17 candidates for mayor in Minneapolis; there are 8 candidates for mayor in Saint Paul.

AN IMPORTANT NOTE IF YOU WISH TO VOTE BY MAIL: Last year, you were able to request your ballot by filling out an online form. This year you will have to submit a downloadable form — which can still be done online, but you’ll have to download a PDF, fill it in, and e-mail it back, it’s a different and somewhat more complicated process. More here. This isn’t the Secretary of State being difficult: the actual state statute allows for absentee ballot applications to be submitted electronically “for a federal, state, or county election.” If you want “municipal” added to this, talk to your legislator.

In the meantime, I’m going to remind everyone that I had a book released this April, Chaos on CatNet. Signed copies are usually available from Dreamhaven and from the current mail-order-only incarnation of Uncle Hugo’s. Books make great holiday gifts, but should be ordered early this year — supply chain issues are happening all over.

I do not have a Patreon or Ko-Fi, so if you’d like make a donation to encourage my work, I’m going to start by pointing my readers at the school nurse from Olson Middle School, who urgently needs a refrigerator for things like student medications.

Election 2019: Ballot Roundup

Posted on November 2, 2019 by naomikritzer

First things first — if you’re here from Minneapolis, as far as I know, you have NO ELECTIONS THIS YEAR. If you want to be sure, check the Secretary of State site — it’s not absolutely impossible that there’s a special election somewhere that I missed. But you had city races in 2017, and will have another set in 2021, and so far as I know you get this year off. Before you go, though, I HAVE A BOOK COMING OUT and I’m doing a fundraiser for a group of Minneapolis fifth graders to go to Wolf Ridge nature center.

On to Saint Paul! Here’s my sample ballot.

City Question 1: Referendum on whether Ordinance ORD 18-39 should remain in effect.

YES

Analysis on the trash hauling referendum here.

Council Member Ward 1

Liz De La Torre
Anika Bowie
Dai Thao

Analysis here.

Council Member Ward 2

Rebecca Noecker
Bill Hosko

Analysis here.

Council Member Ward 3

Chris Tolbert

Analysis here.

Council Member Ward 4

Mitra Jalali Nelson
Tarrence Robertson-Bayless

Analysis here.

Council Member Ward 5

Amy Brendmoen
Suyapa Miranda
Bob Blake

Analysis here.

Council Member Ward 6

Terri Thao
Nelsie Yang
Danielle Swift

Analysis here.

Council Member Ward 7

Jane Prince
Mary Anne Quiroz

Analysis here.

Saint Paul School Board

(You don’t get to rank these, you just pick four.)

Zuki Ellis
Steve Marchese
Chauntyll Allen
Jessica Kopp

Analysis here.

816WkzoELEL Did I mention that I have a book coming out on November 19th? If you would like to pre-order it, you can do that on the usual big behemoth sites OR you can preorder from Uncle Hugo’s Science Fiction Bookstore — which will allow you to get a signed copy even if you’re not local. I will be signing at Uncle Hugo’s on November 23rd if you’d like to come get your copy signed in person, and I will also be doing an event with fellow authors Sue Burke and Marissa Lingen at Magers & Quinn on November 21st, and I will be doing an “authors in conversation” event at the Loft on November 22nd with Newbery Medalist and South Minneapolis author Kelly Barnhill.

Also, it has warmed my heart immensely to see people donating to the fundraiser to send this year’s class of 5th graders at Richard Green Central Park school in Minneapolis to Wolf Ridge environmental center. Last year, partly in response to some of the issues that came up in the Minneapolis school board race, I suggested that my readers donate to teacher projects at some of the schools in Minneapolis that lacked the inherent PTA fundraising prowess of the schools in Southwest Minneapolis. Many of my readers donated, and they raised enough money that they were able to make the trip. I would be delighted if my readers could help this year’s class to go as well.

Election 2019: St. Paul City Council, Ward 7

Posted on October 28, 2019 by naomikritzer

We’ve made it to the last ward! I think (unless there’s a special election somewhere I’ve overlooked) that this is a wrap, the last of the elections in Minneapolis (which has 0 elections) and St. Paul (which has the City Council, the school board, and the trash referendum.) If you’re reading from the suburbs wondering when I’m going to do your town — I confine my analysis to the city limits of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. (I talked a little bit about why in my 2014 post about my complete lack of qualifications to be an authority on political races.)

Here’s who’s running in Ward 7:

Kartumu King
Jane Prince
Mary Anne Quiroz
David Thom

CONTENT NOTE: Kartumu King’s writeup includes discussion of child abuse.

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