My name’s Peter McLaughlin, and since the day I first moved to Minneapolis, I have been deeply involved in our community. As your County Commissioner, I have been fighting for every resident of our County, to make this a great place to start and raise a family, to have a well-paying job, and to live a life of dignity and respect.

 

The Hennepin County Board plays a major role in the daily life of hundreds of thousands of people, and throughout my years of service it has been my greatest priority to improve the living and working conditions of every one of our residents and neighbors.

 

Working with residents, community partners, and government at all levels, we are investing Hennepin County resources in ways that are building a strong, urban regional center. Our collaborative mix of vision, strategy, and leadership is building a stronger city, county, and region.

 

We’ve made a lot of progress in my time as a Commissioner, but there is more we must be doing. National economic and political trends have conspired for decades to impede equity and promote disparities.

 

Now more than ever, we need effective progressive leadership that can build a County that reverse these trends.

 

Together we can make this possible,

 

Peter McLaughlin

 

 

Issues

 

Living-Wage Jobs

The County plays a major role in supporting workers: as one of the largest employers in the region, we can lead the way on supporting working families that can have ripple effects on the larger market, increasing pay, benefits, and other opportunities for not only County employees but others in the job market. We have more work to do, and as co-chair of the Hennepin Workforce Leadership Council, I am working with other public and private partners to expand opportunities for our residents.

• A Countywide implementation of a $15 dollar minimum wage

• Paid Sick Leave and Family Time

• Expanding Pathways Program for more public and private sector jobs

• Expanding scope of union construction training programs for underrepresented groups

• Increasing higher-education partnerships with Dunwoody, St. Mary’s and other schools

• Expanding reach and effectiveness of the Opportunity Center at Cedar Riverside

• Aggressively implementing new County  race- and gender- specific hiring goals

 

Fair and Affordable Housing

One of the most pressing issues facing our community it the rising cost of housing – whether you’re a renter or looking to buy your first home. We’ve got to move aggressively to stabilize and reduce the costs of housing to give every resident of Hennepin County access to stable housing and dignity in living.

• Increasing the affordable supply through investments and incentives and by selling discounted tax forfeited units in targeted neighborhoods

• Expanding assistance for renters and tenants and by cracking down on slumlords

• Building better County support for people currently experiencing homelessness so they can find a stable living situation

• Expanding County work coupling housing with human services and healthcare

 

Reducing Disparities

One of the biggest challenges facing Hennepin County is the structural racism that is facing our black, latino, Asian, East African and Native communities. We cannot have a County that works for only some residents, but for everyone. Since 2014 County unemployment rates for African American and latinxpopulations has declined, but far too many disparities remain in unemployment, underemployment and labor force participation.

• Removing barriers to entry from employment requirements

• Providing tuition free pathways and scholarships for residents seeking higher education, accreditation, and job training

• Working with private employers to replicate this Pathways model across healthcare, finance, IT, construction and manufacturing sectors

• Community based-development grounded in under-resourced parts of our Community

 

Criminal Justice Reform

As a nation, we have been on a long, destructive journey focused around a failed war on drugs that increasingly criminalized our population, particularly people of color. This system needs to be dismantled if we are to move to a truly just and equitable community. We need to increase our efforts to divert people who don’t belong in the criminal justice system, intensify re-entry efforts, particularly on the jobs front, and keep law enforcement off the backs of immigrants.  And no one should be in the County jail simply because they are poor.

• Diverting those who are prostituted, youth, or adults with chemical dependency or mental health issues out away from jail

• Ending the cycle of victimization, with decriminalizing in-school mistakes and treatment

• Decriminalizing Marijuana

• Providing opportunity through Community Productive Day, construction and building operations jobs on County projects, youth employment hubs

• Making court supervision productive, using purchasing power to open job opportunities, and getting at-risk students on career pathways

• Expanding and standardizing support services

• Ending any County partnership with ICE

• Investing in the Immigrant Legal Defense Fund

 

Innovative Local Government

Building a County that works for everyone means improving the way we can deliver vital services to those who need it most. We are modernizing how County Government works to get tools in the hands of people, and leverage partnerships for progress at the City, State, and Federal level.

• Decentralizing County services through hubs (Midtown Exchange Center opened – 2005, Plymouth Ave Service Hub opened – 2014, Hi-Lake Service Hub opened – 2017)

• Streamlining Emergency Assistance to be faster and more accessible

• Prioritizing working families, renters and tenants

• On-call housing rehab crew to fix code violations allows tenants to remain in place, reduce busing for mobile families

• Bringing livable wage careers to MFIP households through tuition-free career pathways and career plans

 

Investing in our Infrastructure

Infrastructure is vital to the health of Hennepin County – and to the health of our economy and our residents. We cannot afford a 20th century network for 21st century needs, which is why I have been a fierce advocate for investing in a transportation network that works for everyone, whether you walk, bike, use transit or drive a car. We must look towards the future in how we invest in our transportation network.

 

• Building out a truly multi-modal regional transit system that includes safer streets for pedestrians and bikers, and expanding our bus lines and light rail

• Supporting Metro Transit operating budget with adequate funding for full operation of expanding system

• Using Metro Transit as a partner not just in service but in equity by making Metro Mobility a human service funded by that budget, expanding livable wage transit careers for operators and mechanics, and making transit free for students

 

Sustainability and Climate Change

I know the greatest challenge facing our present and future is the effects of climate change. I also know that it’s greatest effects won’t be felt by me, but instead by my 12 year old daughter’s generation, and the greatest costs will be felt by those who can least afford it. The County is taking every step possible to reduce our own impact on our climate, but also in prioritizing sustainability in all of our work.

• Phasing out the burning at Elk River by increasing waste reduction, recycling and composting (including a new mandate for residential and business composting)

• Continuing attainment of County GHGE reduction goals that I authored

• Building out the full transit system including Orange Line BRT, Green and Blue Line LRT extensions, a dozen arterial BRT lines, and a robust, affordable core bus system

• Extending biking alternatives for all riders in a smart, strategic way including closing gaps in the system, creation of additional protected bikeways and bike lanes

 

 

You can learn more about Peter McLaughlin here.