Dan Humes

“The consequences of our failure to make sure the wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share shouldn’t fall on the backs of my kids, our kids,” said Barbara.”

👏 That’s right. As Minnesotans, we believe in fighting for everyday people when our federal government won’t.

📣🩺 St. Paul ISAIAH leaders Barbara Bennett and Sarah Mullins are calling on the #mnleg to tax millionaires and offset federal attacks on Medicaid.

“Every legislator here has constituents who would face harm if they lose access to Medicaid programs,” said @smullins.bsky.social.

📣 We joined hundreds of Minnesotans at the State Capitol this week because we believe our future is worth fighting for. We’re calling on the #mnleg to stand with working families by taxing the wealthy few so we can #FundOurFuture.

Join us by contacting your legislator today at bit.ly/Yes2Revenue 📣

After the illegal sham session, the MN House has organized, allowing a temporary GOP control. What is the GOP’s first bill? Nothing to help Minnesotans, rather it’s an attack on AG Ellison providing little other than a lazy campaign speech from a failed attorney general candidate.

Spare me.

Stay the course - resist!

Powerful day of organizing with these @isaiahmn.org leaders and the @wemakemn.bsky.social coalition. Together we demanded that our #mnleg legislators reject the political games of the federal government, put people over profits and #FundOurFutures 💪🏾

🥶 It may have been cold outside, but the vibes were absolutely 🔥 at the @wemakemn.bsky.social rally today. Hundreds of Minnesotans across race, age, and geography came together to let our lawmakers know: it’s time to #TaxTheRich so we can #FundOurFuture! 📣

Council President Jalali and leaders pose for photo

🔊 Simply put: St. Paul is better because of her leadership.

Thank you Council President. We hold you in our hearts as you prioritize your health. We know your impact will be felt in this city for years to come. ⚡️ (3/3)

Council President Jalali and leaders pose for photo

Council President Jalali and leaders pose for photo

She boldly championed housing justice, workers’ rights, community-first public safety, climate action, and most recently, administrative citations to ensure St. Paul can enforce our ordinances more equitably and effectively. 🎉 (2/3)

Council President Jalali, Councilmember Johnson, and leaders At renter’s rights press conference

Council President Jalali and leaders pose for photo

🧵 In her six years on the St. Paul City Council, and her year as Council President, @mitrajunjalali.bsky.social created a bold blueprint for future leaders to follow. She showed up not to save us, but to work alongside us to utterly transform what’s politically possible in St. Paul. (1/3)

A leader who has worked tirelessly to show, not tell, that local government can change people’s lives. A leader who now needs to take another bold, human action: prioritizing her health and well-being.

Words fail me. Thank you Council Prez Jalali! 🩷⚡️

Leaders like Mitra don’t come along everyday. A leader with some of the sharpest instincts I’ve ever seen. A leader who can withstand tension and at the same time stick to her values. A leader who develops other leaders.

Enforcement of laws is essential. Administrative citations are tools to enforce.

its time for trainings on strategic non-compliance.

Hi, my name is Wes Burdine, I live in Ward 4 and own the Black Hart of Saint Paul, a queer soccer bar, St Paul’s oldest gay bar, that straddles Ward 1 and Ward 4. I am here today as a small business owner that supports passing administrative citations for multiple reasons. FIRST AND FOREMOST: As both a resident and business owner, I am deeply committed to being a good neighbor in the Midway. As a neighbor, I am also keenly aware that not all the businesses in our neighborhood view themselves as part of our community. In fact some of them are either ignorant they are a part of it or actively disdainful of it. We spent years dealing with the BP gas station fostering an environment that led to our patrons being assaulted on a number of occasions. We see that again with the CVS on Snelling and University. Without Administrative Citations, a tool that every other decently sized city in Minnesota has, I have seen our city helpless to act. SECONDLY: We believe in treating workers right, and are excited about our city’s minimum wage; earned sick and safe time; and wage theft ordinances. Everyone — including small business owners like us who follow the law — loses when our City is unable to protect working people from predatory employers. Third: The Black Hart is a home for our Twin Cities queer community, a place where people can show up as their full, authentic selves. That’s why we were excited when the City of St. Paul passed a ban on the harmful practice of conversion “therapy” back in 2020. In order for this law to be more than lip service, we need administrative citations to meaningfully address violations.

But let me finish by giving you a really specific example of the city powerless to address inequality in enforcement. A year and a half ago, we opened a brand new patio. It’s spectacular and gorgeous and I have seen many in this room enjoying a sunny afternoon there. But it opened 4 months later than it should have. We diligently and exhaustingly worked with the city to meet every bit of code no matter how arbitrary and frankly counterproductive that code seemed. We were conditionally approved in December, but that process dragged on until June and we didn’t open until September. After a year now, I can tell you we lost $40k in revenue and spent an additional $10k in legal and architectural fees. At the same time, we saw another patio in the city get installed without pulling a single permit. And a mile away Menards installed an 8 foot fence—four feet higher than code allows—that illegally blocks pedestrian access. It’s been up for two years without a single consequence. In fact, the inspector I spoke to said he wasn’t even able to get anyone from Menards on the phone about it. It’s insulting and infuriating. As a small business, we work hard to do right by our workers, our queer community, and our beloved Midway neighborhood. I know that many or all on this council share that feeling that we should be incentivizing good neighbors and penalizing bad actors. But unfortunately, I’ve learned over the years that not everyone in St. Paul is playing by those same principles. Administrative citations will give the City the tools it needs to effectively and equitably address these bad actors. I am proud of this City Council for your work to move this forward and am excited for us to get this done as a city.

I'm on my way over to the City Council Meeting to offer testimony in support of amending the city charter to allow Administrative Citations (I'll explain in the following posts). Here is my statement.

Read the sign he's posting. This man is just out there playing for the love of the game.

We all need to play by the same rules, regardless of race or income. That’s why I’m so glad the St Paul city council is actively considering expanding their authority to enforce ordinances via Administrative Citations. #StPaulForAll

My community organizing home just joined Bluesky! Give em a follow if you’re looking for good models of change-making.

A group photo of ISAIAH leaders across race, faith, and geography, holding signs that say "We make our future" and "When it comes to our future, we decide".

👋 Hi Bluesky! We’re ISAIAH — a multiracial group of Minnesotans building #PeoplePower to win a just future for everyone in our state. We come from faith communities, Black barbershops, childcare centers, college campuses, rural places, city neighborhoods, manufactured home parks, and more!

The reason I know that trick is because I’ve done it before. It’s a bush league maneuver. The reason people swap masks is that they spent their reputation poorly and want to start fresh at zero. ISAIAH doesn’t need to play that game because of the consistency and the kindness.

There’s nothing sinister about those goodie two shoes church moms and church dads. They just got the Lord in them and they frankly out work every other political body in Saint Paul municipal government. The Spirit moves them towards Good Works.

🤗 For reference, here’s (some) of our St. Paul ISAIAH crew last night.

We organize people across race, age, faith (and of no faith) to make St. Paul a place where everyone can thrive. If Tom’s thread piqued your interest, let’s chat! #StPaulForAll