Dear Editor,
Four years ago, I was not impressed with the crowd of people seeking the DFL endorsement for the 9th Ward City Council seat. A third party socialist candidate seemed more exciting. The former 9th Ward council member did get our support for mayor, in spite of his reputation for tantrums that some co-workers described as an abusive work style. Since then, I have come to admire my Council Member Alondra Cano.
The 9th Ward is the second poorest in the city. It has the largest percentage of Spanish speakers in the city, and a large percentage of Somalis and American Indians. It includes Powderhorn Park and Central neighborhood, with its large black and white activist traditions. She has risen to represent this challenge.
Risking and facing the derision of her colleagues, she has stood with her neighbors. She demonstrated with Black Lives Matter and, when threatened, went public about it. She led the successful effort to get Minneapolis to become a Sanctuary city. She led the effort to get the City Council to oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline, even to the point of questioning the business the city was doing with Wells Fargo, which had invested in the project.
Council Member Cano was out in front in the effort to pass the ordinance to require businesses to give sick pay, and she was part of the minority of council members to support referendums to allow us to vote on raising the minimum wage and making the police accountable. She has irritated the powers that be. The editorial board of the Star Tribune is going apoplectic, and the Republicans in the legislature are spending half the session trying to undue her work.
Bravo.
David Tilsen
