Jan Callison is not to seeking re-election to the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners this year, and six candidates are now vying to take her place representing the board’s District 6, which covers many of the county’s largest and most affluent suburbs, including the northern part of Eden Prairie as well as Edina, Minnetonka, Hopkins, Wayzata, Orono, Mound, Excelsior, Shorewood, Greenwood, Spring Park, Deephaven, Minnetonka Bay and Long Lake.
The seven-member board oversees the county’s $2.5 billion budget, and helps manage regional growth by deciding when and how to fund certain services, including those that target some of the metro’s biggest social issues: affordable housing, the mental-health system and rising rates of opioid abuse.
The Aug. 11 primary for the District 6 seat will narrow the field down to the two top candidates, who will then face off in the general election this fall.
Here, a look at who’s running — and the issues that the candidates are focused on.
Who’s running?
Candidate Brad Aho is familiar to voters in Eden Prairie, where he’s been a council member since 2004 and where he’s served as acting mayor. Though the county commission race is technically nonpartisan, Aho, an electrical engineer and business owner, has the endorsement of the Hennepin County District 6 Republicans.
Carmella Doby decided to run after losing her job due to the coronavirus pandemic, and if elected, the 25-year-old Hopkins resident says she would focus on programs that help people become homeowners and specialty services like infant-specific childcare.
Cheri Sudit, 62, says she’s running because she believes her years of experience working as an assistant Hennepin County attorney makes her uniquely qualified for the job. And though she sees criminal justice, workforce and infrastructure as important issues for the board, she said that, “If I had my choice to work on any particular issues, it’d be climate.”
Office administrator and racial justice advocate Kimberly Wilburn said she’s running to better serve everyone in the district, including groups that have traditionally been underserved by the county. Wilburn said the district is more diverse and less conservative than people think, and that most people in general want the same things. She said her top priority on the board would be addressing the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
Housing and homelessness
Concerns about both homelessness and affordable housing, especially the lack of it, has become a major issue in the campaign.
Several of the candidates, including LaTondress, Doby, Wilburn and Sudit have advocated putting more money into shelters for the homeless.
Likewise, Wilburn says the county needs to address the housing crisis for every stage of life. “We need to provide more housing that’s available for low-income people, new students, young families and the elderly,” she said.
Anselmo said he prefers long term solutions like permanent housing over spending more money on using hotels as shelters in order to expand Hennepin County’s shelter system. “The best social program is a job,” he said, and added that the county should look to private and nonprofit groups for extra money for shelters.
Criminal justice, law enforcement
After the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, criminal justice and policing is also on the minds of District 6 candidates, even if the county’s law enforcement agency, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, has avoided the same level of scrutiny as the Minneapolis Police Department.
Citing racial disparities in arrests and instances of law enforcement violence, LaTondresse also says “bold action” is necessary to improve the sheriff’s department. If the law enforcement side of the county and the human services side communicated more, he said, people can get the proper services they need and would limit the number of calls answered by people with a “badge and a gun.”
Even as the debate about policing in Minneapolis continues, Hennepin County is getting acclimated to its new law enforcement leader, Sheriff David Hutchinson, who defeated longtime Sheriff Rich Stanek two years ago. Hutchinson, “Hutch,” as he’s known, campaigned on creating a department that treats both civilians and deputies better, vowing to be more accessible and open with staff and the public.
“I think his heart is in the right place. I think he has good intentions,” said Wilburn. “The thing we don’t really know is information about arrests,” she added. “We don’t have the data.”
Though the county has little to do with Minneapolis policing, Sudit has been vocal about not supporting the idea of defunding the Minneapolis department. She has also expressed support for Hutchinson. As an assistant Hennepin County attorney, she said, she often works with the sheriff’s office, and says Hutchinson “embraces new training” and race disparity reduction and awareness, “and even supporting women in the sheriff’s department.”
Anselmo says that police brutality and bias are real and need to be addressed, but that he also doesn’t want the county to “overreact the other way,” and says that he is a “public safety supporter.” A longtime mental health advocate, he also said the county should beef up its response team to mental health and other calls. “Maybe George Floyd could have had a different response team,” he said. “But that’s a tough call. Your theoretical spouse calls. What is it going to be? Bring a gun or don’t?”