Phillips

Aisha Gomez – 62A

from website:

I ran for office to serve my neighbors and my South Side community. In Minneapolis, we have seen the devastating effects of a corporate-sponsored opioid crisis, racialized police brutality, and an economic system that places the profits of the rich over the health of our people, our communities, and our planet. But we also know the value of coming together to support one another and to build the just and joyful world we desire. I ran for office because I believe that we must work together to create the Minnesota we all deserve. Here are some of my priorities as a legislator:

1. LGBTQ+ rights- resources to support 
2. Immigrant rights with the North Star Act, Work Opportunity Act, and other legislation aimed at welcoming and supporting our valued immigrant communities.
3. Protect reproductive freedom and all those who come to Minnesota seeking reproductive care.

Alexandra (ZaZa) Hoffman Novick – 62A

does not have a website and does not answer this question publicly. 

Anquam Mahamoud – 62B

from website: 

Building a Safe and Thriving Community: 

Fund restorative justice approaches to violence in our communities, and work towards breaking the cycle of youth entering the criminal/legal justice system through upstream, collaborative, restorative and rehabilitative approaches to the fore. This work is successful through engaging counties, local school districts, police agencies, and families, and is being championed by leaders like Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty.

• Set aside more flexible public safety dollars at the state level for municipalities to stand up alternative and public health response methods to mental health crisis calls, substance use, and other situations where police are not trained or best suited.
  1. Support the establishment of Cultural Ambassadors on Franklin Ave East, East Lake Street, and 38th Street which is an alternative to policing, keeps the community safe, and helps clean our cultural corridors. 
  2. Support the Let Everyone Advance with Dignity Program that provides harm reduction-based, intensive case management to individuals who commit law violations due to unmet behavioral health needs, homelessness, and/or extreme poverty. 
  3. Support efforts to increase mental health crisis responder programs and victim services.
  4. Support efforts that allow communities to develop their own public safety proposals to keep them safe. 
• Support common-sense and needed gun reform laws like universal background checks, red flag laws (“extreme risk protection orders”) and straw purchase reforms as large, system level approaches are the best way to limit the easy availability of firearms.
• Support youth afterschool programs to provide an alternative to riskier activities.
• End the criminalization of poverty also known as the cash bail system. 

Police Accountability and Reform:

• Ban the use of no-knock warrants.
• Ban tear gas, a chemical weapon which is banned by the Geneva Protocol.
• End qualified immunity, which is a form of legal protection that prevents bad officers from being fired for misconduct.

Bob Sullentrop – 62B

from website:

Sullentrop didn’t answer the questionnaire and doesn’t share any of his own policy priorities or values on his website.

Samantha Sencer-Mura – 63A

from website:

Communities, neighborhoods, and individuals feel safe when our needs are met. Decades of policy-making centered on ‘tough on crime’ approaches have left us with the highest incarceration rates in the world, disproportionately affecting Black, Brown, and Indigenous people. We can have a future where public safety is centered on preventing crime before it happens while having an effective and efficient emergency response, and we are seeing this vision take shape in our district and city through programs such as the BCR. We must continue to build a system of public safety in our state that is just, transparent, and accountable for BIPOC Minnesotans. I support the following policies: fund alternatives to armed officers for traffic enforcement, domestic violence response, unhoused community outreach, and mental health crises, fund engaging out-of-school time programs that connect youth to the community and prevent them from entering the criminal justice system, pass strong gun safety reform legislation such as safe and secure storage, and continue to invest in light rail safety programs  to ensure transportation is accessible and safe for all users. 

Aisha Gomez – 62A

from website:

Over the past four years, I have been fighting for you at the Capitol. As the chair of the Preventing Homelessness committee, I have managed to win over $120,000,000 to get families out of homelessness and an additional $10,000,000 per year for permanent assistance for our houseless neighbors. I also fought for over $100 million in Housing Infrastructure Bonds to create affordable housing statewide. We also provided the largest increase in funding for public schools in years. And secured investments to improve public health and reduce racial disparities in health care. The people in this district have real needs. Affordable housing, safe streets, quality education for our children. Life or death issues, that most people at the capitol don’t really understand, but impact so many people in our state. Those people are my people. A dignified life starts with a safe place to call home. As the founding Chair of the Preventing Homelessness Committee, I fight for housing that serves all Minnesotans. In particular, I support:

• Investments in Public Housing, both to strengthen existing public housing stock and to expand availability through public ownership and finance models.
• Zoning reform to increase the supply of dense, walkable, sustainable housing.
• Funding for land trust, co-ops, and other alternative ownership models.
• Building and subsidizing deeply affordable and supportive housing.
• Establishing and strengthening renters rights and tenant protections.
• Humane, evidence-based responses to homelessness, including safe camping sites, transitional housing, and more.
• Harm reduction, including overdose prevention sites and needle exchange. 

Alexandra (ZaZa) Hoffman Novick – 62A

does not have a website and does not answer this question publicly. 

Anquam Mahamoud – 62B

from website: 

Housing is a human right. Everyone should have the right to safe, secure, and affordable housing. Camp Nenookaasi has highlighted the desperate need for solutions from all levels of government. I believe in a housing first approach that is a recovery oriented and evidence based solution to this crisis which will prioritize people’s basic needs. MN has a deficit of over 100,000 housing units. We need to continue to invest heavily in our state’s income-based public housing and affordable housing system to increase supply, access and affordability. At the same time, we must improve the living conditions of renters and increase opportunities for homeownership. We can achieve this through:

1. Being bold with sustained, deep investment in funding for income-based public housing, affordable and workforce housing across the state.
2. A compassionate, coordinated unsheltered response that is Housing First modeled.
3. Fund culturally specific providers, deeply affordable, low-barrier housing and intentional shelter space like a South Minneapolis Tiny Indoor Village (AVIVO Village). Work with the City of Minneapolis and Hennepin County to bring this to fruition. 
4. Support a strong Renters’ Bill of Rights that protects tenants from unsafe living conditions, unreasonable rent increases, harassment, manipulation, and displacement.
5. Increase funding for public housing in Minneapolis to address the $229 Million Capital Backlog, if left unaddressed this number will surpass $380 Million over the next 20 years. 
6. Passing inclusionary zoning at the state level to increase diverse housing options to bring rental prices down 
7. Expanding tools, education and down-payment support for first time homebuyers in our BIPOC communities to help build intergenerational wealth and right the wrong of redlining in our communities.
8. Secure funding for the Stable Homes Stable Schools program which is a pioneering partnership between MPHA, City of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, and Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) that works to improve families’ housing stability, students’ school attendance, and students’ educational outcomes through rental assistance and wrap-around supportive services. 
9. Work with municipal governments with the necessary tools and resources to take action to reduce homelessness at the local level. And support funding for more proactive housing inspections. 
10. Work with our unhoused communities to provide safe and sanitary living conditions in addition to guidance and support for transitional and long term housing solutions. 
11. Support legislation that will require Cities and counties to create humane and public health centered policies regarding homeless encampments.  And efforts to take a public health approach to homelessness in our District and our State.

Bob Sullentrop – 62B

from website:

Sullentrop didn’t answer the questionnaire and doesn’t share any of his own policy priorities or values on his website.

Samantha Sencer-Mura – 63A

Yes

Aisha Gomez – 62A

from website:

I never thought I would run for office. Growing up on the Southside, as a mixed-heritage woman attending South High School, my elected officials were never people who reflected the struggles of my family or friends. I am running not just to bring my voice to the capitol, but to welcome all of the people in our district to join me at the table there. I’m running because I imagine a world where all people have an equal chance at success. I ask for your support so we can create that world, together.

Alexandra (ZaZa) Hoffman Novick – 62A

does not have a website and does not answer this question publicly. 

Anquam Mahamoud – 62B

from website: 

I moved to Minnesota at the age of 8, and grew up in the East Phillips Neighborhood. My family experienced poverty like many of our neighbors, struggling to make ends meet with little healthcare access. My single mom fought hard to provide for me and my siblings. These sacrifices inform my work and advocacy daily.

Bob Sullentrop – 62B

from website:

Sullentrop didn’t answer the questionnaire and doesn’t share any of his own policy priorities or values on his website.

Samantha Sencer-Mura – 63A

The district I represent has some of the highest voter participation in the state, and in the country. Nonetheless, we know that participation is not equal across the district, and that renters, young people, low-income communities, and people of color have more barriers to vote and participate in the legislative process. Because of this, my campaign and my legislative office priorities reaching out to those communities that are typically left out through a focus on apartment building doorknocking and organization, with a particular focus on engaging new renters or neighbors in the district.