Mickey Moore

Political platform statement

Why I am running for this office: I am born and raised in So. Minneapolis. I have lived here my whole life and like many people from here, I am passionate about my hometown. As the single son of a single mom, my family was supported by govt. services like housing assistance and food stamps, as well as city programs like latchkey and park and rec. sports, not to mention nonprofits and organizations such as The Boys Club, YMCA, and Pillsbury House. I came from extremely humble beginnings, but my mother instilled in me the core democratic values of tolerance, equality, and justice as well as a strong work ethic and the value of a good education. I opened The Braid Factory in 1996, and for years I had to battle the State of Minnesota's racist policies to legitimize our natural hair care industry. Today, this industry is thriving, with hundreds of people, especially black and African Immigrant women, gainfully employed in this field, many owning their own companies. In 2020, I was motivated by the tragic murder of George Floyd to run for Congress and received more votes than any other independent candidate in the country. When I saw the choices that Ward 9 was facing for City Council, I felt compelled to offer my leadership, my experience and my history of professional success to the people and the area that means so much to me and has done so much for me. I know this community, I love this community, and I will work harder for this community than anyone else. I know what we need, and how to achieve our shared goals. Unlike any other candidate, I will be donating much of my salary directly to the neighborhood, because more than anything, I believe we all deserve our chance at the American dream.

Education/Profession: Unsatisfied with the level of attention and effort from the public schools I went to, my mother continually looked for better options. This is why I went to Montesorri, Bryn Mawr, Harrison, Jefferson, and Anwatin all before the 6th grade when I was finally accepted to The Blake Schools with a full scholarship. I spent my last year at De La Salle High School hoping for a division 1 athletic scholarship, which I received, to the University of Minnesota, where I studied business and finance. A career-ending injury forced me to re-think my options, and I got involved with a multi-level marketing company and opened a branch office in Kansas City. Over the next 2 1/2 years, I learned everything about business from the ground up, while running my own operation. Opening The Braid Factory was the direct result of working with a nonprofit group that was looking for economic development opportunities for East African Immigrant women. Since discovering that, in 1995, professional Hair Braiding did not exist in Minnesota as a legitimate industry, and that East African women were experts in this craft, we have never looked back. Over 25 years, we have opened 4 locations, surpassed 300,000 clients served, moved countless stylists into business for themselves, and provided meaningful and rewarding employment for hundreds of women from Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Eritrea, Liberia and elsewhere. Many people don't realize that despite being the "owner", I never profited or drew any salary from The Braid Factory, so I have always owned and run other successful businesses, including Movie Revolution, the Prepay Value Center, and a wholesale international phone card company.

Position statement 1: Public Safety- Violent crime in Minneapolis has been on the rise since the heinous murder of George Floyd on Memorial Day 2020. Since that time, city leaders and radical activist groups have advocated to abolish and defund the Minneapolis Police Department. As an unbiased candidate to represent Ward 9 on the Minneapolis City Council, I have worked hard to get a better sense of how the police and the community can work together to bring an end to our city’s public safety crisis. I spent the evening of July 3rd on a “ride along” with the Minneapolis Police watch commander, traversing the entire city. As most of you might imagine, it was a tragic, concerning, and revealing experience. Although people know that our police force is stretched thin, many probably still believed as I did, that we would have at least 50 or 60 patrol cars spread out over the city. Well, we don’t. Not 50, not 40, not 30, not even 20. On this night, we had 12. Aside from being ridiculously unsafe, this situation is quite obviously, untenable. I could see by the on-board computer readouts that the active 911 calls for assistance outnumbered the active-duty officers about 4 to 1. Assistance calls marked as robbery and domestic assault were quickly shuffled to the bottom of the pile, as only active, violent, crimes in progress would be handled. The good news is that we have the structure in place to do much better. We have an incredibly efficient surveillance and overwatch system where cameras could be directing resources to active trouble spots all over the city. We have a highly trained dispatch staff, who know how to ask questions and gather information critical to the decision-making process. We also have a core group of dedicated men and women who care desperately about our city and about the people living here, who are committed to sticking it out, despite offers of safer work and better pay elsewhere. What we need is more of all of that. Much more. More staff, more resources, more training, more cameras, more oversight, and perhaps, most importantly, more upgrades to our methodology and procedures that are too often, unsafe, unsound and unjustly applied. If we add all this to our foundation and include a targeted effort of recruiting, training and hiring people from within the Minneapolis community. People who speak all the languages and accurately reflect our diverse population. If we flood our ranks with the very people who resemble our own community, and live and in our neighborhoods. When we update and improve our accountability and transparency to ensure that every officer knows and follows every rule, policy and guideline. When officers accept that they will be held to these commitments 100% of the time, then we will have finally arrived in the 21st century of our new police department. Where we can expect both expert effectiveness and true community partnership. When we actively reengage our department with all our residents through outreach, mentorship, apprentice and youth programs and make living and playing together an equally important aspect of the partnership as protecting and serving. We must actively reengage our department with all our residents through outreach, mentorship, apprentice and youth programs and make living and playing together an equally important aspect of the partnership as protecting and serving.

Position statement 2: Business Revitalization- In the 9th Ward, our commercial corridors have been devastated. First, by the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns, than the civil unrest of last Summer. We've also had to endure the occupation of one of our premier business districts and significant road construction. Not to mention, the issue with public safety that has kept both customers and staff from feeling at ease with patronizing our establishments. Despite our small businesses dealing with robbery, theft, broken windows, boarded storefronts, and graffiti on a daily basis, they have shown a persistent commitment to continue their struggle. We have to acknowledge and reward this. Fortunately, I have nearly 3 decades of successful small business experience operating in this city. I know how to access govt. programs and resources and how to advocate for our businesses in a manner that will be effective and convincing. We need programs and resources that target our area specifically. Minority-owned and immigrant-owned, small and medium-sized businesses. We need to give our people the opportunity to restore themselves to a position of strength so that they can accommodate the new prosperity and success that will come our way. One thing I learned from working closely with businesses in the 38th and Chicago Ave. area on the city-sponsored "George Floyd Square Forgiveable Loan Package", was that having the program is simply not enough. We also need the agents and human resources to ensure that every eligible business can access and take fullest advantage of every govt. resource we have available. city, county, state and federal. That takes time, and expertise. We also need to shift the priorities of our city and realign them to be in cooperation with our businesses. Too often, burdensome regulations, licensing and other guidelines make entrepreneurship prohibitive. It isn't just hair braiding, it's been food trucks, local farmer's markets, off-site ticket sales, on-line businesses, etc., etc., etc. Our city has a history of bad business partnership efforts, and we need to change that. I know all about working with (and against) govt. agencies and I can use that experience to help develop more collaborative processes and tactics that will have our city working for our small businesses, not against them. Another important thing to remember is that we have a chance a one shot chance at the federal stimulus money, disaster relief and restorative funds that come from the various aid packages at that level. However, this is ONE TIME money. Not something we're going to be able to access year after year, or even, ever again. So we can not take any chances with some inexperienced, undisciplined, untrained and nervous public speaker, who needs on the job training. We need someone with the skills and history to properly articulate exactly why the 9th Ward deserves the lion's share of the money that is coming into our city, right now. We can't allow the gentrification of the most diverse Ward in the city, or allow the Ward that has the most immigrant and minority-owned businesses to fail. We must do everything we can to make sure that the 9th Ward continues to be a beacon of prosperity and inspiration for our city today, and for the future generations of new Minnesotans who want to believe that they too can be successful innovators and entrepreneurs.

Position statement 3: Responsive Leadership- It wasn't until I began speaking directly with the residents and business owners of the 9th Ward that I truly understood what a significant problem the lack of connectivity between city hall and the neighborhoods it serves had become. People are universally disengaged with elected officials because there is no feeling of cooperation or partnership. Especially in the 9th Ward, we have a leader who has essentially abdicated their role as a public official. It has created not only a physical disconnect, but also a feeling of separation that everyone agrees is both unfair, and dangerous. I will change that immediately. I plan to open a local office, right in the heart of our Ward. Open everyday, fully staffed and run by a collection of volunteer community members and my own staff. People who look like us, who speak our languages and undersdtand our needs will be on hand to work with all of our residents business owners and others who need help. People will be able to access all the city, county, state and federal resources and programs directly, with assistance and guidance from people they know and trust. It will be a gathering point for feedback, ideas, suggestions, concerns and real-time data collection. We will hold regular town hall-style meetings, listening sessions and advocacy group meetings. I will attend all the neighborhood and business meetings, and be personally available to people to discuss all of their issues anytime. This is why I advertise and answer my own personal phone number. I will not only change the manner in which people feel connected to their elected officials, but by leading by example, I will pressure other wards to follow our example, and only elect people who commit to this same level of accesisbility, transparency and accountability. We will also be instituting a new on-line system of interaction where information can flow in both directions. On-line polling, surveys, virtual meetings, and interactive, multi-lingual components will let every person feel like they are directly involved in the decision-making process. I will also be donating a significant portion of my salary to neighborhood efforts and organizations that are actually having an effect at the public , or ground-level. Through donations and media publicity I plan to highlight a different group every month and use my elevated public awareness efforts to bring attention to our local organizations and foundations. I plan to create coalitions of community leaders to work in partnership with me on issues that affect our lives, no matter how big or small. And use these connections to make sure we are reaching everyone, in every community. Lastly, I want to point out that I don't care about who someone voted for, or even, whether of not they are a voter. They may be underage, or undocumented. they are still valuable and important to me and I will be working directly with people like that to make sure they feel heard, listened to and that they have a seat the table when decisions that affect their lives are being made. That is a very serious and meaningful guarantee that I am making to everyone. Whether they support me personally or not, as long as they are a part of our community, everyone will always have equal value to me as a 9th Ward resident.

Position statement 4: Affordable Housing- For years our city has continued to fail us in dealing with the problem of affordable housing. Thins have continued to get worse because we continue to focus solely on renting and rental developments, to the tragic exclusion of other options. So now, our city leads the country in racial homeownership disparity. THIS HAS TO END. Magic tricks and cleverly crafted govt. policies that have failed all over the country, aren't going to solve our decades old problem. We need a 180 shift in our priorities. Rents are too high, and to counter that, we need more supply of affordable housing, and less demand. We can achieve that by attacking that basic premise form all sides. 1.) Increase the development of affordable housing. That means, rental units and homes. (right now, it's about 3% homes and 97% rental units. We need something closer to 50/50. 2.) We also need to examine the repurposing of existing, older, unused and abandoned and neglected properties that litter our city. (and serve as drug dens, and criminal havens...) 3.) Re-zoning guidelines that allow for existing large, single family homes to be converted into multi-family opportunities for people. 4.) We must also investigate the use of new innovations and techniques like "tiny" homes, modular and mobile homes. Develop incentives that require new rental developments to have equal number of offsetting affordable homesand we must require a 1:1 ratio. (not 4:1 for a limited time, that is the current, FAILED, model...) 5.) Lastly, we must employ our govt. agencies and depts to work as hard towards helping our underserved communities obtain homeownership status as they worked for so many generations to deny them. We want organizations, foundations, and members of our new public/private partnership to show an equal enthusiasm in assisting new homeowners as they have shown in rejecting them. Programs such as closing cost deferrals, no and low down payment options, land trust compacts and rent-to-own options should all be utilized to help us change the dynamic of our situation. Homeownership is the fastest and most secured method of creating generational wealth and breaking the cycle of poverty, so whatever we have to do to achieve that, we must focus on, as a top city priority. Regarding rental assistance, as someone who lived for the first 13 years in govt. assistance housing, I understand the need and importance of these types of social sfatey net programs. I would be in favor of increasing all of the current programs that provide subsidies for housing assistance to our low and middle income residents. I believe we need more and better public housing models that allow people to truly save up for a down payment and that necessary funding that people ned to make the move from renting into homeownership. No one should ever believe that owning a home is something that they cannot do, or are unqualified to achieve. Lastly, we must never forget that it is our small, "mom and pop" style property owners (people who own just a few units) who provide the vast majority of our affordable housing. Large developers and big out-of-state rental management corporations provide very little affordbale housing. So any rent control legislation needs to be heavily targeted, nuanced and appropriate for our specific situation.

Position statement 5: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion- As a bi-racial man, growing up in Minnesota hasn't been easy or perfect. I have certainly seen and experienced more than my share of discrimination, racism and unfair treatment. So it is with this in mind that I approach all of the critical issues facing our Ward and our city today. These are strained and difficult times we're facing, but for many of us, hardly unexpected. There are issues surfacing today, that we have been putting off and supressing for generations. There are some common themes running through our problems related to Public Safety, Affordable Housing, Homelessness, Education, Business Development, the Economy, Politics, Social Justice, the Environment, and many others. One of the common denominators is that when we have disparity, we have conflict. When there is inequality, there is a frustrated dissatisfaction. Where there is continued injustice, there will always be a physical and tangible struggle for peace. We have to recognize and acknowledge the truths of these conditions, as a people, as a city, and work harder to move towards the shard goals that we all desire...Peace, Tolerance, Equality, Justice, Prosperity. When we all begin to see the same opportunities for ourselves and for our children, we will have reached that promised land we have hoped to reach for so long. However, until that moment, we need elected leaders who understand what is missing, and how to appropriately accommodate all sides of every issues in a manner that folds people into our conversation and process and makes them feel wanted and comfortable. This is why I will always have every community represented in my office, in much the same way that they are currently represented in my campaign team. Asian, Middle Eastern, Latino, and East African immigrants, indigenous Americans, LGBTQIA+ community members, high school and college interns, people representing our elderly community. People of all faiths, all creeds and ethnicities. While, Black, Brown, and everything in between. No one will be left out of my circle of representation because I recognize that I need them. If we are ever going to reach that blessed place we talk about, we need everyone on board, whether they grief is real, perceived, current or generations old, it matters. It matters to me, and too, to our city. I want to touch on that with a personal story about my life. My mother is a returned Peace Corps volunteer. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Detroit, and promptly wen off to spend 3 years in Africa. From 1962-1965 she taught English in A tiny village in central Ethiopia called Emdeber. When she came back to the U.S., she came to Minneapolis, because it was a bastion of progressive ideals. I was born in 1969 and extremely fortunate to become a living product of her progressive ideology and her expansive international circle of friends. So, sponsoring and working closely with immigrants has not just been my life's work, but also my honor. So, it should come as no surprise that I married a woman from halfway around the world and that my daughter is even more multi-racial than I am. To me, concepts like equality, tolerance, inclusion and diversity are not simply words I say out loud for political effect, but truly ideals by which I have always lived my life.

Endorsements: Groups/Organizations- Minneapolis Firefighters Local 82 Operation Safety Now Teamsters Joint Council 32 Legal Marijuana Now Individuals/Community Leaders- Tom Hoch Don Samuels Dr. Agitu Wodajo and Family Melanie Majors Dr. Bruck Eshete Local Businesses- Circulo De Amigos Just Turkey La Lotteria Gideon's Barbershop Cup Foods La Mexicana Millennium Auto