City/Town: Arden Hills

Legislative District: House District 40A

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?

My work as a civil rights attorney included representing people facing housing discrimination, so I know these inequities have deep impacts. Minnesota needs strong fair housing enforcement, more accessible and affordable homes, and real pathways to homeownership for people who face barriers to those opportunities.

We also need to acknowledge how past housing policies continue to affect opportunity today. As one example, cities in our district have taken steps to confront the history of discriminatory housing covenants and help remove that language from property records.

I support down payment and first-generation homebuyer assistance, preservation and expansion of affordable homes, and policies that expand housing choices. My career has been about bringing people together to solve difficult problems, involving the people most affected, and focusing on solutions that work. I would bring that same approach to housing policy.

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?

My career as a civil rights attorney and public servant, including as a housing attorney at Legal Aid, has involved helping people navigate complicated systems to get the support they need. That includes work involving housing, disability, health care, and long-term care. I have also worked with Minnesota Housing, and my broader work has included helping veterans access the support they need. My work with older adults and people with disabilities has shown me how important housing is to whether someone can age in place or live independently in the community. The state needs to support more affordable and accessible housing choices that make that possible.

I support rental assistance, support for legal aid, supportive housing, and community-based mental health, substance use, and disability services. I also support reasonable renter protections that promote housing stability and help prevent unnecessary displacement. Whenever possible, we should help someone keep their home or obtain housing before they reach a crisis.

We also need more deeply affordable, supportive, and accessible housing. Building more housing matters, and for people with the lowest incomes, public investment is also necessary to make homes affordable and accessible. We should work directly with people affected by these policies to shape programs and identify where our systems create unnecessary barriers.

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?

I’ve knocked thousands of doors in our community, and affordability is the biggest concern shared with me. People are worried about making ends meet today and whether their kids will be able to build a life here. In District 40A, more than half of renter households are housing cost burdened, with an especially high burden for older renters.

I support down payment assistance, first-generation homebuyer programs, homebuyer counseling, and affordable financing. Shoreview’s first-time homebuyer, home improvement, and manufactured home programs are examples of local efforts the state can help strengthen. Manufactured housing is also an important source of affordable homeownership, and we should protect residents from displacement and unfair practices.

But assistance only goes so far if we do not build homes people can actually buy. We need more starter homes, townhomes, condos, cooperative ownership, and smaller homes at different price points. And affordability does not end at closing. Insurance, property taxes, energy costs, and repairs can determine whether someone can afford to remain in their home.

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?

Minnesota can make the most progress on housing when the state, cities, counties, and residents work together. We have a statewide housing shortage, so the state needs to help solve it. But communities need some flexibility because every city is different. This isn’t an either-or solution.

I support a reasonable statewide baseline that removes unnecessary barriers to building more housing. I also support making approval processes more predictable when projects meet established requirements.

Many parts of our district are largely built out, so adding housing will often mean redeveloping underused properties or making room for a broader mix of housing types. The state can help communities build more homes and the infrastructure needed to support them, while local leaders retain flexibility to address local conditions. Reforms should also encourage affordable and accessible housing, because adding supply alone will not produce homes affordable at every income level or accessible to older adults and people with disabilities.

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?

Minnesota needs to make housing a consistent priority and make smart investments that expand and preserve affordable housing over time.

I support continued investment in affordable housing, Housing Infrastructure Bonds, public housing, homeownership programs, homelessness prevention, and supportive housing. We need both sustained investment and policies that help those dollars go further by reducing unnecessary barriers and costs. When we invest public dollars in housing, we should also work to have those investments support good-paying union jobs, strong labor standards, and responsible contractors.

For ongoing revenue, I would look first at progressive options and tax breaks that no longer provide a meaningful public benefit. Affordability is already the biggest concern shared with me at the doors, so we need to protect important investments without putting additional pressure on low- and middle-income families who have the least room in their budgets.

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

District 40A has different housing needs and opportunities in each of our communities. In Arden Hills, Rice Creek Commons is a major opportunity to add housing, businesses, jobs, transportation connections, and amenities from the ground up. It is also a chance to create a mix of housing choices, including affordable housing and options for families, older adults, and people with disabilities, with strong connections to jobs and transportation. New Brighton and Mounds View have redevelopment opportunities, such as along the Mounds View Boulevard corridor, where housing, transportation, local businesses, and a stronger local tax base can reinforce each other. In Shoreview, redevelopment and preserving existing homes are important, for example, the city is turning a long underused brownfield near I-694 and Rice Street into new housing, including more affordable homes, alongside commercial space. I want the state to help communities make projects like that possible.

Across the district, I hear from young people trying to build a life here and older residents who want to stay as they age. We need starter homes, affordable rentals, accessible housing, options to downsize, and homes workers can afford near their jobs. My work with older adults and people with disabilities has reinforced that housing choices should help people remain in their communities as their needs and preferences change. My goal is for all people to have a real opportunity to build a good life here.