City/Town: Moorhead

Legislative District: 04B

Party: DFL

Candidate responses in italics.

Q1: A super majority of Minnesotans strongly agree that “Every person deserves a safe, quality, and affordable place to live no matter what we look like or where we come from.” Two-thirds of Minnesotans also believe there is a housing crisis in the state and a solid majority believes there is a housing crisis in their community. How will you use your position, if elected, to address the housing needs of Minnesotans? What would be your top three priorities?

First I’d like to restructure our property tax lesson each year rather than increase due to the inflated costs of homes while ensuring tax collection from those who purchase homes for the sole purpose of doing repairs and increasing the cost to sell.

Second I would advertise the benefits of civil and structural engineering as a valid career option to increase the amount to meet the demand of the project proposals we have to address this issue.Third, I’d work to restructure and limit on rental rates as the payment should not be greater than the cost of the monthly upkeep without a ‘rent to own’ contract in place.

Q2: Providing support to people moving into their own homes or experiencing homelessness increases their ability to remain stably housed. What, specifically, will you do to ensure community members who are unhoused or unstably housed receive the support they need to obtain or keep their own homes?

Work with experienced lenders, service providers, and experienced community members to create a support network for first-time homeowners where information in home ownership can be provided such as education in common home repairs and how to find a proper service technician to avoid the questionable providers. We can provide access to ‘how to’ videos that can also assist in annual upkeep and maintenance of homes while providing references for appliance repair as well. This education can also include budgeting practices and suggest limitations to ones lifestyle to help gain a more sustainable debt to income ratio while saving for retirement.

Q3: Minnesota families of color, especially Black and Indigenous households, are disproportionately harmed by housing instability and exclusionary practices. Minnesota is one of the worst states in the nation for racial disparities in homeownership. And, 57% of Black renters are housing cost burdened, paying more than they can afford on housing costs. What meaningful steps can be taken to eliminate racial disparities in housing?

To provide true equity one must first recognize the existence of systemic racism that our lending system among others, holds. We then can remove the stereotypes many people are labeled with that have been gate keeping them from the opportunities others with even lower financial access, receive. Secondly we need to restructure how we address those unable to make a payment. Currently we financially punish those who are unable to afford a payment in the first place which only causes additional fines and fees the person has commit to on top of the payment they were unable to, or risk additional financial punishment or eviction. We need to restructure our lending service to provide assistance over penalizing those who can not meet a deadline.

Q4: For Minnesota’s 173,000 households with extremely low incomes, there are few homes to rent; two-thirds are unable to find a home that is affordable to them. As well, the most common reason for eviction is non-payment of rent, while only 1 in 4 who qualify for a rent subsidy actually receive it. What will you do to support the housing needs of those at the lowest income level in Minnesota?

An occupant who qualifies for subsidy assistance at a location who also accepts the subsidies, should be protected by the state from eviction and additional financial burden. I feel we can address this gap by creating an law where state can provide an account for for rental costs that a qualified occupant can also contribute to, to help cover monthly housing fees. As the occupant would be considered a co-signer, and inability to afford payments would not effect their overall credit score based on the time it takes the state to garnish the subsidy, but also help them regain a higher credit score depending on how much they contribute to the account.

Q5: Taking care of each other and our environment, like shoveling our neighbor’s snow or participating in a park clean up, are Minnesota values. Many Minnesotans live in homes of poor quality, in need of significant repairs and upgrades. Poor housing quality can impact residents’ health, home repair expenses, cost of utilities and rents, and quality of life. What strategies do you support to improve housing conditions and support energy efficient and resilient housing?

To help counter the current high cost of repair, educating and building the confidence of homeowners to attempt the repair themselves, could help greatly. By creating opportunities within communities to help better understand plumbing, electrical, and building techniques, will greatly reduce the demand of services and will also lower their costs. As others prefer the convenience of not maintaining a structure, they should be provided with prompt repair within a timely manner. When elected, I would be in interested in creating legislation to provide additional renter protection that if a repair isn’t provided with-in 3 weeks or before the next rent payment is due. If no services has been ordered by then, the renter can choose to withhold a percentage of their rate based on the inconveniences of the repair or hire a service technician to repair it and have the amount deducted from the next rent payment.

Q6: Homeownership is a way to build wealth, provide family and household stability, and support community vibrancy. More and more Minnesotans are priced out of owning a home because of high housing costs, high interest rates, corporate ownership, and competitive markets with cash and investor buyers. What steps will you take to increase opportunities for renters and first time homebuyers to purchase homes, condos, or cooperative ownership models?

The rent of a home should not equate the cost of a escrow mortgage payment for the same amount of square footage based on the its location. This is especially true for apartments complexes as they should not charge for amenities close by that they do not own themselves.As shelter is a necessity, housing should be viewed as a Right, more than a privilege or a career based of renting to others. As a renter, the investment should be in the long term equity of the property and not a monthly income reliance.

Q7: When developing policies and programs, a best practice is to include community-based recommendations to achieve effective and lasting solutions. How will you include and center those most impacted by housing instability, poor housing quality, and barriers to homeownership in developing and implementing housing solutions?

One can not create a zoning plan or laws of requirements to umbrella the entire state when each community was built at different times with different materials and zoned for different amenities. Often times, what is in the ground is often neglected when it comes to planning and new growth. This holds true in the importance of 411 as a person with a shovel can hinder the access to gas, water, and/or power with the stroke of a shovel in unchecked soil. From personal experience at the the age of 18 and striking a gas line, the preventative work would have saved a lot of cost in the use of the fire department and the city natural gas providers to rush out repair my mistake. That said, we do need to create laws and proper ways to curve the current demand housing with creating a over abundant demand on local engineers as it is vital for inspections of existing infrastructure and how the land absorbs a vast amount of water provided by recent storms.

Q8: A lack of ongoing dedicated funding for housing in Minnesota has resulted in an undersupply of stable homes affordable to our workforce, our elders, and our families. In 2023, a constitutional amendment for housing, which would dedicate revenues from a sales tax increase to housing, was first introduced at the state legislature. How will you support future funding needs for homes?

I personally feel if we restructure our property tax for a set amount based off physical structure and an annual upkeep cost for infrastructure, that it can be calculated into an escrow account that we can then help homeowners by providing a predictable annual housing cost where long term homeowners will see a decrease each year rather than an increase. With this set tax amount, we can also require that all purchasers are required to pay the physical tax amount prior to selling, similar to an automobile. As we address those in risk of foreclosure, the tax portion of the escrow payment could be paused upon approval. Individuals who are do experience foreclosure would also not be financially responsible for the taxes in the result of their forfeit of ownership. The purpose of this restructure will be to help homes become more affordable, while also receiving revenue from the businesses who have been taking advantage of not paying taxes as they practice questionable work to resell the home at an inflated rate prior to the first tax payment.