Ward 1 — Abu Nayeem

Candidate Questionnaire — Ward 1 — Abu Nayeem

Ward 1 contains the neighborhoods of Frogtown, Lexington-Hamline North End, Snelling-Hamline, and Summit-University. It is currently represented by Councilmember Dai Thao. There are four candidates running: Abu Nayeem, Anika Bowie, Liz De La Torre, and Dai Thao. We have received responses from Liz De La Torre and Abu Nayeem.

1. How do you plan to increase housing affordability in St. Paul?

1. Reduce displacement by decreasing property taxes. There are many citizens that live on fixed income, how do we either reduce the overall budget, that includes the county or how can we get funding from other means. For example, organized trash increase tax burden to renters
2. Reduce the length of time for vacant buildings or unattended properties via penalties and/or increased taxes. These can support homes now
3. Adjust the affordable housing threshold i.e. area median income to be more sensible.

2. What do you see as the main cause for the shortage of affordable housing in St. Paul?

1. Our neighboring city Minneapolis is getting more expensive, and choosing to cater big developers and financial institutions increasing demand for market-price housing and tax base, while displacing residents to Saint Paul
2. Lack of Economic opportunities within the area makes housing unaffordable. Wage are increasing less than property price increases

3. How can the city eliminate homelessness?

The city cannot “eliminate” homelessness as some may prefer that lifestyle/ community. We can enrich the quality of life for those folks (i.e. sanitation/activities). For others, we can do the following:

1. Provide long term mental health support for those that need it, such as drug rehabilitation
2. Build relationships with homeless people to know what is happening. his includes a social worker and law enforcement
3. Greater use of shelters, and emergency shelters. Churches can potentially provide such spaces

4. Do you support changing the city’s zoning to allow quadplexes everywhere in the city? If not, please explain why.

No, I do not. The three primary decisions:

1. People want to own their own home and yard.
2. If the zoning laws are changed too soon, irresponsible owners will buy up lots of party and provide sub-quality housing to maximize profits; i.e. slumlords
3. It can dramatically impact the quality of community; ambient sound, crime, parking, and/or aesthetic

The variance process is a good means for community members to come together to discuss about land-use and deal with changes in community. However, this process can be very time-consuming.

5. Do you support eliminating minimum parking requirements? If not, please explain why.

No, I do not eliminate the minimum parking requirements, people need to park somewhere to enjoy the amenities of the city/venue. If there is improper planning, most of the parking will be at residential homes. High density parking will be needed. The Alliance park stadium have led to many drivers combing neighborhoods to find places to park.

On the other hand, all the density parking can be located in one area to reduce the burden for businesses, and increase the revenue of the city.

6. Do you support funding the city’s 4(d) affordable housing program? If not, how will you preserve at-risk Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH)?

1. I don’t know if I can support the program I would need to do analysis on the program. If the landlords are slumlords intentional or not; their goal is to maximize profit. Is the tax incentives high enough to participate? Will they “cut corners” in other ways? Since this a 10 year investment, landlords are considering the value if property is going to increase in value due gentrification and further shortage in housing.
2. To preserve (NOAH), we need to acknowledge two factors: 1) the cost of property taxes/land are increasing faster than residents income; 2) the burden/costs of repair should be given to the landlords and not the tenants. With this said, it needs to make sense that landlords can’t be overly penalized that they cannot stay afloat. So possibly a minimum profit margin and also there are incentives for long-term improvement that saves money in the future.