With no incumbent on the ballot, eight candidates vie for the city council seat
As Election Day nears, eight candidates are doing last-minute door-knocking and phone banking as they campaign for a chance to represent residents in St. Paul’s Ward 1. Voters will decide on Tuesday, November 7, who among them will fill this open seat.
Among those candidates competing in the Ward 1 race are Anika Bowie, Omar Syed, Yan Chen, Travis P. Helkamp, Suz Woehrle, James Lo, Jeffrey J. Zeitler, and Lucky Tiger Jack Rosenbloom.
Only four city council candidates in the race responded to the MSR’s request for information about their candidacy and why they believe their background and platform make them the suitable choice for voters in Ward 1.
Among those who responded was Anika Bowie, a third-generation St. Paul resident who grew up in the Rondo neighborhood. She has a background in juvenile justice and a 10-year history in public policy.
Candidate James Lo, a 15-year educator and business owner who came to the United States as a refugee from Thailand, also responded.
Another candidate, Omar Syed, the owner of Chilly Time Coffee, who holds several positions on St. Paul committees surrounding zoning and transportation, explained his agenda.
And candidate Suz Woehrle, who has roughly 20 years of experience working with the state’s DFL party and is on the Party Affairs Committee State and the State Central Committee for Senate District 64, outlined her pursuit of the Ward 1 city council seat.
All four of the candidates shared that they are interested in allocating resources for better infrastructure, supporting businesses, and bringing more transparency to City Hall.
MSR: What inspired you to run for this seat?
Bowie: I ran in 2019, and during that time, it was more so having a voice at the city council that really reflected not only young people, but like, our diverse communities.
People aren’t seeing the investments in our infrastructure in terms of our roads, our parks, and how we are having a holistic approach to safety.
Lo: I think the thing that frustrates me the most is our city—as great as it is—there’s a lot of issues that our voices are not being heard. Issues like property taxes, issues like the sales tax and things that are hurting our businesses here, are hurting the residents here. We are spread really thin.
Certain interest groups are getting their voice heard. But not the people here. That’s why I decided to run, so that our voices here can be heard.
Woehrle: Sometimes when you think about things, it makes you think, ‘Oh, and while we’re at it, here’s the other things that I would do if I were in the city council.’ I started thinking about how I would like to be as a city council member, if I were to run.
It’s been great to get out in the community and talk to people, and I’ve met a lot of other elected officials, and I’ve met a lot of people who work in environmental organizations.
Syed: When I spoke to residents, most of them renters, most have an issue with our safety, with health and mental health in Ward 1. So, I said I can be a voice in City Hall.
MSR: What issues do you have with the way things are currently operating?
Bowie: A lot of city council members aren’t really well versed in development, particularly for housing or even commercial development. In serving on the city council, what I hope to create is affordable housing as social equity, more than profit. The cost for us to invest to build, that is going to require us to have a stronger table of stakeholders who are invested in that work.
Lo: I really believe that our current administration right now is not prioritizing our core services—things that connect our lives every single day. For example, our road condition with our potholes, updating it and making sure it’s safe for everybody.
Woehrle: I want to make it clear that most of the time I’ve been pretty excited about the decisions that the city council has made. But unfortunately, the city has been really limited by our huge budget shortfall for city services. Nonprofits who own land were paying the city money. A church actually sued the city and said, ‘You can’t force us to pay taxes.’ They got rid of the land assessment. They said, ‘This is illegal.’ And all of the money that the city had been collecting from like churches, hospitals, schools, all the money went away.
Syed: Ward 1 is a low-income community. [Residents] depend on affordable housing. And when we build affordable housing, our people stay there. We want to make sure that they can buy homes and become homeowners.
Question 3: What makes you stand out from the other candidates?
Bowie: I’m the most endorsed candidate and these endorsements were well-earned, because people are invested in having someone who knows how to leverage areas of government to best serve people. We need leadership that is not coming in and meeting their neighbors as a candidate, but visiting their neighbors as the one who’s already been in the community and also has a proven track record of advocating for people.
Lo: I get the piece about education. I get the piece about investing in our kids. I see that life is not equal here in St. Paul. We have resources. Some people in some groups have more resources and more funding and more allocations. The other piece is I’m also an entrepreneur. As a small business owner, I am a part-time licensed realtor, I know about zoning. I know about negotiation. I know about business.
Woehrle: I am far and away the candidate that is the strongest on climate change and other environmental issues. I’m the only candidate talking about pollinators. I’m the only candidate talking about rapid and radical change of how we have biking in the city. Not only do I support separate protected bike lanes on Summit, I support way more of them throughout the city.
Syed: I’m the only candidate that has city government experience. I am a city planning commissioner. I’m the vice chair of zoning for the City of St. Paul. I’m also on the transportation committee. That experience gives me the most qualifications.
MSR: How do you plan to cultivate input and community engagement on the issues?
Bowie: I really am excited to not only use social media, but leverage newsletters and have community dinners. I want to invite people and engage them in their community through food, through art, and through culture. I like using this as an opportunity to get to know residents, not just to open up in public spaces to speak to our neighbors. I also want to uplift community leadership and have them invested and facilitate these conversations.
Lo: I want to be the council member that I see who is involved in community engagement. I’m going to cultivate an open-door policy. But the other piece is, I’m going to go to them. What makes me different is going to the community. Going to their grocery store. Going to their church. Going to the mosque. Going to where they live and play and interact.
Woehrle: I already kind of do that. I would have open hours at a coffee shop, so that people could ask me questions if they want. I would distribute my phone number—my personal cell phone number—around so that people who want to can text me or call me.
I can’t always promise I’ll do everything every individual person wants me to do. And I can’t promise that no one will dislike what I’m doing. But people will know why I’m doing it, and I will be available to explain what I’m doing.
Syed: We’ll have a meeting each month to make sure that we are connecting with the community and we are representing the community. This is a diverse community and we have people of all ethnicities in Ward 1. I will be a bridge-builder. And I will be the city councilor who speaks to all of us.
Responses to questions have been edited for brevity and clarity.
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