Four candidates for the city council's Third Ward seat knocked heads over economic development, public safety and a shape-shifting issue they called "the Wow factor" in a debate sponsored by the downtown Minneapolis neighborhood association on Tuesday. About 100 people showed up, many of them enjoying wine and beer with their politics in the tasteful upper room of Open Book, a location on Washington Av., in a new part of the redistricted ward, that is in many ways symbolic of the arts and entertainment energy growing in the riverfront ward.
The forum featured DFL-endorsed Jacob Frey, who countered criticism that he's only been a Minneapolis resident for five years with a record of community organizing; two-term incumbent Diane Hofstede, who said she's been instrumental in transforming the ward from a down-on-its-luck corner of town to a showpiece; Green Party nominee Kristina Gronquist, who emphasized the need for social justice and environmental sensitivity in city policies; and Libertarian Michael Katch, who advocated strongly for benefits for senior residents in the ward.
Those in the audience experienced democracy in action in two different ways, as a 45-minute membership meeting of the Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association, including speeches by a half-dozen board candidates, preceded the council candidates' forum.
Frey served up the first reference to "the Wow factor," arguing that's what streetcars would bring to Minneapolis and its transportation system.
Hofstede said the term might also describe the nature of tough issues the city council has to deal with, adding that if taxes can be reined in "we can deliver a 'Wow' factor."
Katch said streetcars, like a Vikings stadium, are "another thing we cannot and will not afford." "Seniors can't afford to live here because -- Wow! -- taxes are too high," Katch added.
Gronquist pitched in on the Wow discussion by saying that unlike Hofstede she "would have supported different thing" than a Vikings stadium, and wants public safety improved.
Here's how the candidates answered two questions: