The Twin Towns each celebrated the inaugurations of 30-something mayors on Tuesday, with both promising new eras of energetic, inclusive styles of governing. Mayors Jacob Frey in Minneapolis and Melvin Carter in St. Paul say that hearing from constituents is paramount, and both have held recent community meetings as they develop their first-term agendas.
Now residents must hold them accountable for putting that community input to good use.
In addition to the pre-inauguration meetings, Carter, 38, held at least two outreach sessions every day this week. And he asked a panel of residents to help him select his cabinet of department heads.
Frey, 36, began his tenure with similarly notable gestures, signaling a more open, accessible administration. One of his first acts as mayor was to give all City Council members key-card access to the mayor's suite of offices, a change from the previous administration. "If the mayor's office has access to council chambers, council members should have access to the mayor's office," he said.
Frey and his transition team are rightly concentrating on building an administration that can make good decisions quickly. The new mayor says his priorities are affordable housing, unity at City Hall, public safety and police accountability, and "economic inclusion."
Carter told his inaugural audience that he has similar priorities upon which his first term will be built: public safety, education and job creation. That means working with the Police Department to revise use-of-force policies and approving a citywide $15 minimum wage — a policy on which we differ with the mayor.
It also includes working closely with the public schools as well as a proposed partnership among business, philanthropy and nonprofit leaders to start every child born in St. Paul with $50 in a college savings account.
Carter will hold listening sessions Thursday and Friday before the Inaugural Ball Friday night at Union Depot in downtown St. Paul. That event is free and open to the public — as is Frey's inaugural celebration, which is set for Jan. 13 at First Avenue.
Congratulations to the freshman mayors. Now the hard work begins.
