Kaohly Her: I can make sure St. Paul is prepared for what comes next

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St. Paul is the city that helped my family break the cycle of poverty in one generation. As your mayor, I want to ensure everyone has that same opportunity.

Some of my most profound memories of childhood are of my dad working multiple jobs to keep our family afloat and of my mom balancing a multigenerational household and low-wage work. We relied on food shelves and government assistance, and there were still times when our family would eat only one meal a day.

In a fortunate stroke of luck, my family received $1 blighted houses through a St. Paul city lottery. This enabled us to put down roots and build wealth.

My career has taken me to many corners of the world. I earned my master’s degree in business administration and am a doctoral candidate in education leadership at the University of St. Thomas. I started my career in finance and investments, led nonprofits, took care of my kids as a stay-at-home mom, worked as the first board administrator of St. Paul Public Schools, oversaw policy for Mayor Melvin Carter’s office and now have the honor to serve St. Paul at the Capitol as a state representative.

Many people have asked me why I entered this race against my former boss.

As her majority whip, I was at the Capitol with her during the COVID-19 pandemic when almost every other legislator was at home, staying safe. I later became her speaker pro tempore and would run the House floor in her absence. She had a core group of people who spent countless hours strategizing around her backyard fire pit or decompressing at a weekly happy hour.

I campaigned with her all across the state to hold the DFL majority, and one thing she always said to us when we were feeling burnt out was this: “These seats don’t belong to us. We need to campaign everywhere because people need to earn the right to represent these districts.”

St. Paul is no different.

After her assassination, I was trying to find my place and my purpose. Those words continued to echo through my mind.

The fact of the matter is this — our city is at a standstill. We have very real and serious problems that need to be addressed. For months, I asked our leaders to develop a plan to address our most pressing issues. Those calls went unanswered.

At our core, we need to get to the nuts and bolts of running our city right. St. Paul is widely regarded as one of the most challenging places to conduct business. You see the effects of that as our downtown is struggling to get back on its feet, new housing is barely moving forward and crucial retailers, like grocery stores, are closing. It’s also noticeable in our property taxes bills — or, if you don’t pay property taxes, your rent.

St. Paul is made up of nearly 50% people of color. I will fiercely defend our neighbors from the federal government’s cruel immigration crackdown. ICE isn’t just coming after criminals; they’re coming after our friends, neighbors and family members. They have permission from the Supreme Court to target anyone they think looks or sounds like an immigrant. It’s wrong, and I will put the full force of the city behind protecting our residents.

What worries me the most is that our city is not prepared for what else President Donald Trump may send our way. How can we stand up to authoritarianism when we can’t even get people’s permits or licenses out on time or respond to their emails?

I have a plan to get us back on track and moving forward. I won’t pretend to have the answer to every question, but I do have the determination, relationships in every level of government, and grit to get the job done well and deliver for you.