Melvin Carter: Together, we can keep building the future of St. Paul

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Eight years ago, as we set out together to build a city that works for all of us, no one imagined the storms we’d face along the way: a global pandemic, the murder of George Floyd, the civil unrest that followed, record inflation that drove up the cost of groceries, gas, property taxes and everything else, the sudden death of our largest downtown property owner, a cyberattack, the largest drug crisis in our history and now, a constant fight to protect our residents from the Trump administration’s attacks on our values, our immigrants and our democracy itself.

No mayor could have made our city immune from these global forces. What matters is how we responded — meeting every challenge head-on and emerging stronger for it.

Through it all, we have held to one core principle: Use every tool we can to solve real problems for real people.

With that approach, we’ve driven down gun violence by 70%. Homicides are on pace for a nearly 20-year low. Every category of violent crime is down double digits. Our work on public safety has been so effective that gun violence has become a virtual nonissue in this election. Imagine that.

Two years ago, the conversation centered on potholes. Today, thanks to our Common Cent plan, we’ve doubled our pace to rebuild our major roads, and St. Paul debates more fervently about building bike trails than filling potholes. That fact speaks volumes about how far we’ve come.

Amid historic challenges, we’ve forged new ways to care for each other. We piloted guaranteed income. We eliminated late fines in our libraries and made youth sports free. We start every child born in our city with $50 in a college savings account. We’re erasing $100 million in medical debt owed by our residents. We’re helping low-income families weatherize homes and replace lead water pipes. And we’re fighting so hard for our immigrant and refugee neighbors that the White House filed a federal lawsuit this month, absurdly accusing St. Paul of “discriminating” against ICE agents.

My opponents accurately point out that our care-in-action approach far exceeds the typical City Hall playbook. That observation holds both the point and the promise: Our new future cannot be forged with old tools.

The same approach we used to reduce gun violence — helping people in crisis while holding rule-breakers accountable — can help us tackle the quality-of-life challenges that surround the fentanyl epidemic. The same spirit that helped us rebuild our roads is already helping us make City Hall work better for the people we serve — clearing the path for more homes, more jobs and more investment.

And we can boost our momentum downtown by converting old offices into new housing and renovating the Grand Casino Arena to give our capital city a modern centerpiece venue that reflects our pride and potential.

Each of these goals is enormous. But we’ve proven together that big goals don’t scare us. They motivate us.

After too many long winters, it’s springtime in St. Paul.

This moment belongs to all of us: workers who kept city services running through shutdowns, entrepreneurs who believe in their neighborhoods, parents and young people who never stop dreaming, striving and growing.

Our progress isn’t the product of one person — it’s the harvest of a community that refuses to quit. Together, we’ve proven that even through the toughest times, St. Paul doesn’t just survive — we blossom.

That’s why I’m running for re-election and why I ask for your support: to keep growing the future we’ve planted, together.

St. Paul’s best is yet to come.