Park board changes coming soon

This year’s election will bring new faces to the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB). Four of the current commissioners (Billy Menz, Becky Alper, Elizabeth Schaffer, and Becka Thompson) are not running again, and other incumbents face serious challengers.
Seven candidates are running for the three at-large city-wide seats, including two incumbents, Meg Forney and Tom Olsen. Olsen, Michael Wilson and Amber Frederick secured the Democratic Farmer Labor (DFL) endorsement in July and will be running along with Green Party endorsed Adam Schneider. Forney, Mary McKelvey, and Matthew Dowgwillo are running without party endorsement.
In the southside districts, new boundaries, an open seat and competitive races will bring one –and possibly two – new commissioners to the park board next year.
Two park districts, 3 and 5, cover most of the greater Longfellow Nokomis area and, with the new district boundaries approved after the 2021 election, most of the area is now in Park District 5 (D5).

ONE CANDIDATE RUNNING IN DISTRICT 3
For the last three years, District 3 (D3) has been represented by Becky Alper, who is not seeking reelection.
“It was a hard decision,” she said about “sitting it out for the next few years.” But she wants to spend more time with her two elementary school-aged children, and focus on a new full-time job. “It was hard to be in the minority,” she added, reflecting on some difficult votes, including the labor dispute with park workers that she felt tried unsuccessfully to get resolved sooner.
Kedar Deshpande is the only candidate actively campaigning to replace Alper and will be the only name appearing on the ballot for the D3 seat that includes Seward, Cedar Riverside, Phillips and Powderhorn residents within its boundaries.
He is the child of immigrants and said that gives him “a unique point of view and a natural connection with people from many cultural backgrounds.” He has served on the board of Whittier Alliance and volunteered with the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute.
Deshpande’s key campaign messages include the need to protect and expand green spaces for wildlife and ecological resilience; bringing diverse voices into the decision-making at parks; and getting youth active outdoors, be it through sports, gardening, nature explorations and other activities.
“The LIUNA worker strike in 2024 was the biggest mistake of the current board,” said Deshpande. “Our parks can only thrive and provide quality services with great workers, who deserve fair wages, benefits, and safety and operational protocols.” He is endorsed by LIUNA, the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation, AFSCME, and SEIU.

3 challenge incumbent Musich in District 5
Some of old D3, represented by Alper, is now in D5, which goes as far north as the Midtown Greenway between the river and Hiawatha Ave. and includes the neighborhoods of Cooper, Longfellow, Howe, Hiawatha, Minnehaha, Morris Park, Wenonah, Keewaydin, Ericsson, Northrop, Hale, Field, Regina, Page and Diamond Lake.
Stephanie Musich has been the D5 park board commissioner since her election in 2013, and resides in Wenonah. She was reelected twice and is now running for a fourth term against three new challengers: Justin Theodore Cermak, Colton Baldus, and Kay Carvajal Moran.
“I am running for re-election to the park board because I am fully committed to ensuring that the parks implement policies that enable the Minneapolis Park and Recreation board to continue to adapt to park users’ needs as those needs change and evolve,” Musich said.“ I pride myself on my familiarity with the system and my ability to procure answers to questions posed by other park users that I haven’t been asked before.”
Musich wants potential voters to know that she “leads with curiosity and engagement, partnering with park staff and residents to unpack complex issues and deliver safe, clean, beautiful public spaces.” She said, “I’m a mentor and coalition-builder – helping first-term commissioners strengthen board governance and solve problems together.”
Musich added, “In my third term, we advanced more initiatives than ever before, securing new funding, deepening partnerships with local governments, removing barriers to park access, and upgrading habitats and infrastructure.
“I don’t approach this role as a politician – I approach it as a resident with deep roots in finance, environmental stewardship, youth sports, project management, and customer service.”
While her challengers did not respond to interview requests for this article, social media, and campaign websites for Baldus and Moran provide information about their positions.
Baldus, announced his candidacy in early August and said that he is “running a progressive, unapologetic pro-labor campaign for Park Board District 5 Commissioner.”
Baldus is a tenant/community organizer at the Elliot Park Neighborhood. “Over the past year, my work has included securing direct aid for those affected by the fire at 1501 11th Ave. S, organizing tenants in local apartment buildings, and organizing sustainability initiatives such as neighborhood and park cleanups,” said Baldus on his website.
Baldus’ priorities include safer, thriving parks; climate justice; inclusive programming for all; working collaboratively alongside the community, unions, and other elected officials; park worker justice that includes fair wages, year-round jobs, and union rights; equity for BIPOC, disabled, immigrant and working-class families including lower fees, better outreach, and investment in underserved areas; and increasing neighbors’ voices in park decisions and land use.
Moran was born and raised on the southside, and said that she is a “proud daughter of immigrants, first-generation Mexican American, and a community advocate that is passionate about building a park system that works for everyone.” She graduated from Roosevelt High School and Augsburg University, and lives in the Bancroft neighborhood.
“My approach to leadership is to listen, work collaboratively, and center community voices in decision-making,” she said on her website. She has worked as a case manager assistant at Hennepin County and a community organizer with the Minnesota Immigrant Movement, where she worked on passing the sidewalk food cart street vendor ordinance. She is endorsed by Hennepin County Commissioner Angela Conley and Minneapolis City Council Members Aurin Chowdhury, Jason Chavez and Elliot Payne.
“I believe our parks can be a phenomenal resource for youth opportunities,” she said, “and one of my biggest focuses on the Park Board would be to develop more paid youth programming for the upcoming generation to develop skills and gain work experience improving our community.”
She calls herself pro-transit, pro-green spaces, and pro-pedestrian and prioritizes youth development, workers rights, community engagement and the need “to preserve and maintain our parks as safe and accessible third spaces that provide opportunities for everyone to enjoy being in nature, and help build the resiliency we need as we face the increasing effects of climate change.”
Moran and Baldus share concerns about the treatment of park workers during the recent labor negotiations.
“I am extremely disappointed by how our current park board treated our phenomenal parks workers last year,” Moran said. “All workers deserve a voice in their workplace, and I will always stand with workers as the next park commissioner from District 5.”
Cermak identifies himself as an MCAD graduate, community organizer, architecture student and “basically a lifelong Minneapolis resident.” He appears to be campaigning primarily through facebook and Instagram.
Cermak has expressed concern about the annual upkeep on the North Commons Project and said in a post that it “will bankrupt the MPLS Park System.” He opposes the redevelopment plans for the Hiawatha Golf course. “The Minneapolis Park Board wants to spend tens of millions destroying Hiawatha Golf Course,” he said. “How about instead, we leave the golf course alone and spend those dollars renovating our current properties.”
His priorities are clean water, park upkeep/upgrades, and youth jobs.

SHOULD PARK BOARD FIND NEW ATTORNEY?
Alper wants people to turn out and vote for park board. “It’s a 100 million dollar budget that the park board approve,” she said. “That has a direct impact on our quality of life.”
To voters she said, “People should examine their own values and compare them to the candidates.”
To the candidate who gets elected she said, “Stick to your values, don’t be swayed just because those are the rules. Change the rules. Remember you are the boss.” She also recommends that the park board find a new attorney. The current attorney, Brian Rice, is also the board lobbyist and has been there for roughly four decades. Alper believes that he exerts too much influence over board decisions, that the board may be overpaying for the services they receive and that a search is warranted.
Musich supports renewing the contract with Rice and his firm, Rice, Walther & Mosely. “Their decades of institutional knowledge help the park board protect public land for the enjoyment of current and future generations of Minneapolitans and reduce legal costs.”
So far this year, several park board candidates have accepted contributions from Brian Rice, including Musich for $250, Meg Forney for $250 and Cathy Abene for $250, all who have voted for his reappointment in the past.