Emily Koski

Political platform statement

Why I am running for this office: My name is Emily Koski and I am running to represent you on the Minneapolis City Council. I’m here to listen, to learn, and to work together to build a better future for all of us. I am running for Minneapolis City Council because I believe in this community and I have decided to put my values into action. I am a connector, I am a strategic problem solver, and I bring a balanced approach. Now is the time for us to unite - to work together to build a Minneapolis we are all proud of. It’s time for us to work together to make our communities safe, fight for justice and equity, support our businesses, create affordable housing, and sustain our environment. Our community doesn’t just want a representative on the Minneapolis City Council, we want a voice on the Minneapolis City Council. Our leadership should not be operating in a vacuum. No one person, no one City Council Member, can single handedly solve every challenge, and address every issue that faces our city. Our best chance, our best path forward - is one that brings all of us together. It is my personal goal, as a candidate, and as a City Council Member - to have each member of this community seen and heard. I will continue to immerse myself in our community, engage in open conversations, earn your trust, and bring your voices to the table. My name is Emily Koski and I am running to represent you on the Minneapolis City Council, and I’m asking for your support.

Position statement 1: Public Safety: I believe in a both/and approach to reforming our public safety system. I believe we must take a comprehensive approach to reforming our public safety system; and, I believe this comprehensive approach must be a product of deep engagement with our community, inclusive conversations, strategic problem solving, and long-term planning. I believe we must reform our public safety system, by addressing structural and systemic racism, implementing deep structural change, and creating public safety alternatives beyond traditional policing; and, we must continue to perform the core components of our public safety system, which requires adequately staffing and funding the Minneapolis Police Department. I am a strong advocate for developing alternatives to traditional police response, including non-police response for situations in which police officers are not best able or not trained to handle. I support the implementation of Crisis Intervention Team Programs, or Co-Responder Programs, to respond to mental health crisis calls. I also support the expansion of and investment in the Office of Violence Prevention. Further, I am also supportive of the revitalization of Block Leader Programs and Community Crime Prevention Programs.

Position statement 2: Supporting Businesses: I believe the City of Minneapolis should designate a full-time Small Business Liaison within the City Coordinators Office to support locally owned small businesses, educate the small business community on available resources, and work with the small business community to address issues. I also believe the City of Minneapolis should make targeted financial investments into resources for locally owned small businesses, and ease the burden of property taxes, mandates, and other barriers to participate for locally owned small businesses, to create pathways for them to prosper. It’s worth mentioning that the COVID-19 pandemic has had disproportionately negative effects on the BIPOC community, as well as BIPOC, Latinx, Immigrant, and Women owned businesses; and, as we work to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to ensure that all efforts to rebuild our business community prioritize creating diversity and equity at large. In order to increase business ownership and success for historically marginalized communities, such as BIPOC, Latinx, Immigrant, and Women business owners, the City of Minneapolis needs to create additional resources, remove barriers to entry, and make targeted investments into these communities. The economic viability and economic development of the City of Minneapolis affects the livability of the entire metropolitan region. Supporting the recovery and growth of our business community and workforce will kick start the economic recovery of the City of Minneapolis, thus kick starting the recovery of the City of Minneapolis overall. I owned and operated a Minneapolis based small business for 13 years - so not only do I have an in-depth understanding of what our small business owners are experiencing, I have the knowledge and expertise to help them if elected as City Council Member.

Position statement 3: Creating Affordable Housing: The City of Minneapolis is responsible for ensuring that the residents of Minneapolis have access to safe, adequate, affordable housing. I support the significant investments that the Mayor has included in his budgets, especially directing it towards deeply affordable housing, with 30% AMI or below, and towards collaborative work with the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority. Further, I am supportive of the diversification of our housing sector to meet the needs of Minneapolis residents - this must include variation in size, type, affordability, and location of housing. In order to create these opportunities, we will need to find ways to incentivize production for neighborhood organizations, nonprofits, developers, etcetera. However, we cannot simply build our way out of the affordable housing crisis. Yes, Minneapolis does have a growing population, and in order to accommodate for the growing population we will need to expand our housing sector. But, increased housing supply does not inherently guarantee affordability, especially for our most vulnerable residents. For this reason, we need to ensure that the people we are serving remain the focus of our policy decisions and priorities surrounding increasing affordable housing. Lastly, we cannot discuss the City of Minneapolis’s affordable housing crisis without also acknowledging homelessness. The City of Minneapolis must acknowledge, and approach, homelessness as a public health crisis. This can be done by continuing the City’s partnership with NAMI and other mental health services providers in a way that leverages creative problem solving; addressing the social determinants of health that lead to homelessness by making services of food support, workforce training, and medical services available in city and park-owned facilities; and, providing financial support for up-stream medical services that identify crisis moments early.

Endorsements: Minneapolis Area DFL Senior Caucus Minneapolis Firefighters Local 82 Women Winning SMART SMW Local 10 Minnesota Municipal Retirement Association Minneapolis Building and Construction Trades Council IBEW Local 292