Alondra Cano (Photo/minneapolismn.gov)
Resolution of the Minneapolis City Council:
By: Reich, Gordon, Fletcher, Cunningham, Ellison, Osman, Goodman, Jenkins, Bender, Schroeder, Johnson, and Palmisano
Honoring Council Member Alondra Cano for her years of service to the city of Minneapolis
Whereas: Alondra Cano was elected in November 2013 to represent the Ninth Ward, and was reelected in 2017, serving the City of Minneapolis and its people for eight years as a City Council Member; and
Whereas: Council Member Cano was born in Litchfield, Minnesota, to Mexican immigrants and spent her early years in Chihuahua, Mexico, before returning to Minnesota; and
Whereas: Council Member Cano was the first person of Latino heritage to be elected to the Minneapolis City Council in the City’s history; and
Whereas: Council Member Cano is an alumna of the University of Minnesota and the Department of Chicano and Latino Studies; and
Whereas: Council Member Cano is an organizer who co-led the statewide campaign to pass MN Dream Act, served as Associate Director of the Minnesota Immigrant Freedom Network, and managed the Multilingual Communications Division at the Minneapolis Public Schools; and
Whereas: Council Member Cano led on the Minneapolis City Council as a strong advocate for racial, economic, and environmental justice and worked on a wide range of equity issues facing Latinos, undocumented residents, New American families, and low-wage workers; and
Whereas: The Ninth Ward is the most racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse community in Minneapolis and it faces the most economic marginalization of any political jurisdiction in the state, yet is a welcoming home to the largest Latino and American Indian populations in our city; and
Whereas: Council Member Cano authored the resolution establishing the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples Day to illuminate the ongoing struggle, resiliency, and thriving contributions of the American Indian community in the City of Minneapolis; and
Whereas: Council Member Cano was the leading proponent of a $15 per hour minimum wage ordinance in the City of Minneapolis—the first in the State of Minnesota—and
Whereas: Council Member Cano fought to improve the future of low-income residents on environmental justice issues by designating Green Zones, and
Whereas: Council Member Cano proposed a municipal identification program for Minneapolitans so that undocumented residents and families with mixed immigration status who call Minneapolis home could gain access to basic services and more confidently participate in the civic and economic life of our community; and
Whereas: Council Member Cano was a champion for economic development in the City’s most diverse neighborhoods, establishing Cultural Districts, both in ordinance and as related policy directive, and
Whereas: Council Member Cano tirelessly supported local artists and the arts and worked to expand the City’s cultural infrastructure and creative economy, culminating during her tenure in the establishment of the first Arts and Cultural Affairs Department in the City of Minneapolis; and
Whereas: Council Member Cano has stood in solidarity with the Phillips neighborhoods in their demand for environmental justice and an end to the expansion of the City’s Hiawatha Maintenance Facility on the arsenic-filled, seven-acre site formerly owned by Roof Depot, a site located within the Ninth Ward, and has advocated for the community led vision to create a green jobs infrastructure project for this low-income neighborhood that promotes urban agriculture and food security;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED—
That the Mayor and City Council do hereby present this Honorary Resolution in recognition of its sincere gratitude and appreciation for the many contributions made by Council Member Cano to the Ninth Ward and to the City of Minneapolis, together with their best wishes for her future endeavors. Passed this the Tenth Day of December, 2021.
