“At this moment, the state of our city is hopeful,” St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said in his State of the City Address on May 27. He outlined a number of accomplishments from the past year and ongoing priorities, including economic recovery, racial justice, and public safety.
Early in the pandemic, the City launched the Saint Paul Bridge Fund to provide more than $4 million to families and small businesses most vulnerable to the economic impact of the crisis. Mayor Carter also launched a guaranteed income pilot program, which is providing 150 families with $500 monthly through early 2022 to make sure families with children can make ends meet.
Mayor Carter’s address came the week of the one-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd.
“The peace we seek, the safety we seek, the security and stability we seek is only accessible by realizing the justice of sustaining safe, secure, and prosperous neighborhoods for all of our residents,” he said. “This is why in our city, we’ve continued our fight towards securing this justice for all our neighbors.”
Reshaping the relationship between the community and law enforcement has been one of Mayor Carter’s core goals since his inauguration in 2018. The City has revised policies to better distinguish between passive and aggressive resistance and to replace an outdated use of force continuum.
Following a rise in crime during the pandemic, St. Paul has also made a concerted effort to address gun violence, successfully getting more than 245 illegal guns off the streets so far this year.
Read Mayor Melvin Carter’s full address here.
At a time when our rights, freedoms, and futures are under threat, Democratic Mayors are showing the nation what real leadership looks like.
