What will Minneapolis' energy future look like in the next few years?

Community Power grew a city-wide discussion on local energy issues during the 2021 city council & mayoral elections, building on our 2013 Minneapolis Energy Options campaign, the 2017 candidate forums, and all the work in between. We invited every single candidate to meet with us, holding face to face gatherings with a wide majority of candidates, and held forums in multiple Wards in order to elevate and share knowledge on these issues. 

Candidates have now turned into electeds - read on to see the returned questionnaires, and video footage from the forums in which current elected officials participated. These provided an important opportunity for Minneapolis residents to hear their city council and mayoral candidates’ plans on energy choice, affordability, and access. (You can see an questionnaire archive and video archive from responses and forums from ALL candidates (not just those who were elected). 

Sitting Minneapolis City Council Members & Mayor

on Energy & Equity

 

WARD 1: Elliot Payne

  • Watch CM Payne in our 2021 Candidate forum 
  • Read CM Payne's submitted questionnaire 

WARD 2: Robin Wonsley

  • Watch CM Wonsley in our 2021 Candidate forum 
  • Read CM Wonsley's submitted questionnaire

WARD 3: Michael Rainville

  • Watch CM Rainville in our 2021 Candidate forum
  • CM Rainville did not submit a questionnaire

WARD 4: Latrisha Vetaw

  • Watch CM Vetaw in our 2021 Candidate forum 
  • CM Vetaw did not submit a questionnaire

 

WARD 5: Jeremiah Ellison

  • Watch CM Ellison in our 2021 Candidate forum
  • CM Ellison did not submit a questionnaire

WARD 6: Jamal Osman

  • CM Osman answered some questions on climate in a Star Tribune Voter Guide in 2021 here
  • CM Osman did not submit a questionnaire.
  • Due to the back-to-back special election, and full election in 2020 & 2021, no CP Ward Forum was held in Ward 6. 

WARD 7: Lisa Goodman

  • Watch CM Goodman's pre-submitted video at our 2021 Candidate forum
  • Read CM Goodman's submitted questionnaire 

WARD 8: Andrea Jenkins

  • No 2021 Community Power forum was held in Ward 8, due to a lack of candidates running by late in the election cycle 
  • Read CM Jenkins submitted questionnaire 

 

WARD 9: Jason Chavez

  • Watch CM Chavez in our 2021 Candidate forum 
  • Read CM Chavez's submitted questionnaire 

 WARD 10: Aisha Chughtai

  • Watch CM Chughtai in our 2021 Candidate forum 
  • Read CM Chughtai's submitted questionnaire 

WARD 11: Emily Koski

  • Watch CM Koski in our 2021 Candidate forum 
  • Read CM Koski's submitted questionnaire 

  WARD 12: Andrew Johnson

  • No 2021 Community Power forum was held in Ward 12, due to multiple changes in # of candidates and conflicts in scheduling late in the election cycle
  • Read CM Johnson's submitted questionnaire 

WARD 13: Linea Palmisano

  • No 2021 Community Power forum was held in Ward 13, due to staff capacity and changes in candidates running during available time periods for forum 
  • CM Palmisano did not submit a questionnaire in 2021, but she submitted one in the previous election cycle (2017), which can be read here

 

MAYOR: Jacob Frey

  • Mayor Frey did not participate in our 2021 Mayoral Candidate Forum, though he did participate in a forum hosted by the MN DFL, in which he answered a question submitted by Community Power. You can see his response starting at the 51 min 53 second mark here
  • Mayor Frey did not submit a questionnaire in 2021
  • Watch Jacob Frey in our 2017 Mayoral Candidate forum, when he was running as a challenger to the Mayor seat
  • Read Jacob Frey's submitted questionnaire from 2017, when he was running as a challenger to the Mayor seat 

 

 

HOW OUR 2021 FORUMS WORKED  

2021 Forums in Chronological order with recordings linked below:

  • May 5, 6:30-8pm, Ward 10 
  • May 19, 6:30-8pm,  Ward 9   
  • May 20, 6:30-8pm, Ward 11 
  • June 16, 6:30-8pm, Ward 2   
  • June 21st, 6:30-8pm, Ward 4   
  • July 21st, 6:30-8pm, Ward 1
  • July 26th, 6:30-8pm, Ward 3
  • September 14th, 6:30-8:00pm, Mayor 
  • September 18th, 11:30-1:00pm, Ward 5 
  • September 21st, 6:30-8:00pm, Ward 7 

All of our 2021 forums took place online. Prior to each of the forums, Community Power held meetings all participating candidates so that all had the same basic lay of the land and history of local energy democracy issues. 

Through a set of prepared and audience questions (submitted before or during), candidates for City Council and Mayor were asked to share their visions and perspectives how to meet Minneapolis’ local clean energy and climate goals in ways that also benefit key priorities of the city such as housing affordability, renter’s rights, economic, racial & environmental justice, and workforce development for clean energy jobs.

Following the formal Q & A, we would switch over to a different Zoom meeting for informal post-forum conversations with candidates and audience members in virtual breakout rooms. The beginning of each of each forum had a guest appearance from FairVote Minnesota, which is a national leader in the movement for Ranked Choice Voting. Rank choice voting is a simple, but powerful change to the way we vote that gives voters more choice and more power.

 

For the Ward Forums, we had help from: 

  • Twin Cities Youth for Climate Justice, a collective who are carrying on the momentum of the 2019 Climate Strikes,
  • Minneapolis Climate Action,
  • MNIPL,
  • and Friends of the Mississippi River.

For the Mayoral Candidate forum we had a set of wonderful co-hosts: 

  • the MN BIPOC Environmental Justice Table,
  • Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate
  • Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy.

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Interested in reading the previous sitting council + mayor's answers from 2018-2021? Check them out here

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