City/Town: Fridley

Legislative District: House District 39A

Party: Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party

Candidate responses in italics.

Q1: Housing plays a critical role in economic stability, health, and quality of life for individuals and families. However, disparities in housing continue to affect communities of color, people with disabilities, rural communities, and other historically underserved populations. What meaningful actions should be taken to acknowledge, address, and eliminate housing inequities and advance housing opportunities for all Minnesotans

On the most basic level, we must enforce housing discrimination laws, educate people about these laws, and strengthen them. Predatory landlords, shady contract-for-deed arrangements, and difficulty in accessing housing assistance disproportionately impact underserved people, and the legislature needs to address these issues head on. In 2024, the contract for deed statutory changes took a big step forward for transparency and fairness. I support legislation that would cap or prohibit private equity purchases of single-family homes (HF 2687 author Rep. Agbaje) because private equity cash purchases are one reason people are struggling to compete for scarce inventory. But the bottom line for me is an “all homes” approach that strives to offer a wide array of housing options through policy reforms (like the Yes to Homes legislative package) and encouraging diverse housing stock (including manufactured homes, accessory dwelling units, and social housing).

Q2: Supportive housing combines affordable housing with support services that help people who face the most complex challenges to live with stability, autonomy, and dignity. Supportive housing provides better outcomes and is fiscally responsible. What 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?

The recent action by the City of St. Paul to evict unhoused people from encampments has once again illustrated the need for public investments in supportive housing. The failure to find more stable housing for our neighbors costs us all. I’m particularly interested in models like the Avivo Village tiny homes, which offer wraparound services to residents alongside a secure and safe place to sleep. Models like this can be a bridge to permanent housing, provide access to help for addiction and mental health, and a point of contact for other needed services. I know that Avivo Village uses a combination of public and private funds, and I support expanding that state funding.

Q3: Homeownership is a way to build generational wealth, provide family and household stability, and support community vibrancy. More and more Minnesotans are priced out of owning a home because of rising housing costs, including purchase price, homeowners’ insurance, and property taxes. What steps will you take to increase opportunities for renters and first-time homebuyers to purchase homes, condos, or cooperative ownership models?

Some of the biggest barriers to home ownership are driven by market forces and national policy decisions, so it’s challenging for state and local governments to respond. Most fundamentally, the rapid inflation of housing costs, coupled with high interest rates for borrowers, has dramatically increased the upfront and monthly costs to purchase a home. Where I live in Fridley is one of the more affordable places to buy a single-family home, but it is rare to find homes listed for under $300,000. I support continued and expanded funding of Minnesota Housing programs for first-time homebuyer assistance, such as downpayment and closing cost assistance loans. The state legislature extended the implementation date of the Cooperative Housing Act to 2027, and I want to ensure that this statute protects cooperative buyers and provides access and competitive options for financing.

Q4: In the last several years, bipartisan action to streamline building of new homes and apartments has passed in several states, including: allowing for multifamily buildings in select commercial areas, limiting parking requirements, allowing smaller homes on smaller lots, and more homes per lot in residential areas like duplexes, fourplexes, and accessory dwelling units. What reforms do you support to modernize zoning to both enable homes to be more affordable statewide and improve city tax bases?

In general, I support the Yes to Homes package of legislation because I believe that the balance between local control of zoning and statewide housing needs is out of whack. That said, I want to give clear guidance to municipalities and a menu of choices they can choose from that fit their city, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. This is informed by my experience on the Fridley Planning Commission, where I saw up close how policy changes get implemented by city staff, and then appointed and elected officials. For example, minimum parking requirements are a much more relevant issue in more densely populated cities. In Fridley, the question of small multi-unit in-fill development (e.g. duplexes/triplexes in single-family zoned areas) is more important. Fridley has also seen little interest in ADU development since passing an ordinance authorizing it, and we’ve also seen attempts to use the ADU ordinance inappropriately (e.g. converting a large single-family home into 8 units of “ADU.”) So, I see the importance of clear policy and the ability for cities to deny applications when they violate that policy. Conversely, I was disturbed by the City of Blaine’s reversal of their detached ADU ordinance in response to one family’s plan to build a detached ADU and use it as a bridge out of homelessness. So I see a need for state legislation, but want to be thoughtful about preserving local ability to prevent misuse.

Q5: Despite housing being the largest cost in the average household budget, housing receives only a small fraction of the total state budget at just 0.3%. A lack of ongoing reliable funding for housing in Minnesota’s state budget has resulted in an undersupply of stable homes affordable to our workforce, our elders, and our families. In recent years, a constitutional amendment for housing, which would dedicate revenues from a sales tax increase to housing, has gained momentum at the legislature. What revenue options will you champion to more adequately meet our need for reliable funding for homes we can afford?

I support an increase in funding for housing, but want to learn more about different options before committing to a sales tax increase. My reasons for caution on this have to do with my experience with other dedicated funding sources, specifically, the Legacy Amendment. While there’s no denying that great things have been accomplished with that dedicated sales tax revenue, I have also seen how that’s traded off with other funding sources. I’d also like to look at dedicating fees from title transfers and other real estate transactions, similar to the way in which the Health Care Access Fund directs a portion of gross health care revenue to MinnesotaCare. But as a first-term legislator, I want to learn more about the options.

Q6: If you have other housing policy priorities, especially specific to your district’s housing needs, please share them here.

My district has a number of manufactured home communities, and I support the Manufactured Home Residents Bill of Rights that caps lot rent increases, and gives residents a chance to purchase their community and convert it to a coop. Manufactured housing is one part of an affordable housing mix, and in Fridley, Hilltop and Spring Lake Park, we have nearly 900 manufactured homes. That includes Park Plaza Cooperative, a resident-owned community. Seeing the success of the cooperative model, I support legislation to make that option available to residents of all of the communities in my district and across the state.