Ward 4 voters will see familiar names on the ballot
Challenger Marvina Haynes, left, incumbent LaTrisha Vetaw, and challenger Leslie Davis.
Ward 4 covers the Northwest corner of the city. The Mississippi River serves as its eastern border. Neighborhoods in this ward are: Camden Industrial Area, Cleveland, Folwell, Humboldt Industrial Area, Jordan, Lind-Bohanon, McKinley, Shingle Creek, Victory, Webber-Camden and Willard-Hay.
By David Pierini and Azhae’la Hanson, North News
LaTrisha Vetaw is seeking a third term to represent Ward 4 on the Minneapolis City Council, where she has established herself as a moderate voice willing to take calls from constituents well into the night.
Her experience on the council stood in contrast with her two challengers, Marvina Haynes and Leslie Davis, during a candidate forum that can be viewed on the Minneapolis League of Women Voters website.
Haynes is a well-known Northside figure, greatly admired for her tireless work to get her wrongly convicted brother, Marvin, released from prison.
Davis is a perennial candidate, using the campaign to advance beliefs about COVID-19, vaccines, and “cabals” that operate at all levels of government.
Vetaw focuses on her council work, both completed and unfinished, and touts partnerships she has helped the city forge to solve pressing issues, from public safety to economic growth in the ward.
Here is a snapshot of each candidate:
Incumbent LatTrisha Vetaw has shaped her platform around livability, focusing on improving public safety, supporting local businesses, and advancing public health initiatives that address the opioid epidemic in North Minneapolis.
Vetaw worked for NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center for nearly two decades and spearheaded initiatives that kept youth from purchasing tobacco products and a ban on smoking in public indoor places. Before getting elected to the City Council, Vetaw served as an at-large member of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.
Vetaw continues to work on improving public safety, saying that during her time in office, there has been a decline in shots fired and gun victims on the Northside. She also said the city has made strides in enforcing police accountability. She has worked to bolster dwindling police ranks and is encouraged by a 133% increase in police officer applications and a 22% raise for officers, which boosts morale and staffing, she said, directly impacting safety.
She established a Traffic Light Safety Camera Pilot to combat dangerous driving and safeguard neighborhoods and is an advocate for affordable housing and attracting companies to consider vacant land and buildings in the Ward. She is an enthusiastic supporter of the Upper Harbor Terminal development and the benefits baked into financial agreements for Northside programming and employment.
“It has truly been the joy of my life to serve you all down at City Hall,” Vetaw told the crowd at a recent candidate forum. “I am going to continue doing the work you’ve asked me to do.”
Marvina Haynes is running against Vetaw for the second time. She developed a desire to run for office while waging a public campaign to free her brother, Marvin Haynes, whose murder conviction was vacated in 2023. She is the founder of the Minnesota Wrongfully Convicted Judicial Reform, an organization dedicated to advocating for those impacted by systemic injustice.
Her vision for North Minneapolis is to build safe and thriving communities by ensuring transparency and accountability in law enforcement, thereby rebuilding trust.
She is advocating for community-led safety programs to address the root causes of violence, including poverty, housing instability, and limited access to mental health services. She also wants the city to fund literacy and environmental justice programs.
Leslie Davis espouses dark views of elected officials at all levels of government. His campaign is built on his ideas of safety and health, which are grounded by beliefs not backed by the broader scientific community.
He believes the COVID-19 virus is a hoax, and calls the vaccines poison. His platform and vision for North Minneapolis are unclear, aside from a focus on reducing the consumption of wheat and high fructose corn syrup. He is against the development plans for Upper Harbor Terminal, worried that the music venue and sale of alcohol will fuel drunkenness and prostitution.
“I’m the candidate everyone loves to ignore,” Davis said. “I’m trying to rescue the people. They don’t want to be rescued.”
Other races on the ballot
While selecting a mayor or city council candidate on Nov. 4, Minneapolis voters will be asked to select park board members and two at-large members of the Board of Estimate and Taxation.
Steve Brandt is seeking a second term on the board, which sets limits on annual property tax increases, monitors city finances, and authorizes borrowing. The city charter created the at-large seats to hold the full-time elected officials who serve on this board. Brandt is a retired reporter and is the only one of three non-partisan candidates with a campaign website, https:// www.brandtforbet.com/
Bob Fine formerly served on the Board of Estimate and Taxation and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. Fine also has sat on boards for the Children’s Theatre and Institute of Arts, Minneapolis Commission on Civil Rights and the Linden Hills Neighborhood Council. Voters can find information on Fine at https://ballotpedia.org/Bob_Fine
Eric Harris Berstein is a policy analyst focused on state tax and budget policy. He is the policy director for We Make Minnesota. He has also worked on policy issues, including taxes, labor, antitrust and financial sector regulation. More on Bersnstein can be found on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/ in/eric-harris-bernstein-5926441a/
For the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, Charles Rucker, a current at-large member of the board, is unopposed in running for District 2, which represents North Minneapolis. He seeks the seat after Becka Thompson chose not to run, who is, instead, seeking a city council seat in another part of the city.
Voters will be asked to select three at-large members from a list of nine. Two incumbents, Meg Forney and Tom Olsen, will compete with Matthew Dowgwillo, Amber Frederick, Mary McKelvey, Tim Petetrson, Adam Schneider, Averi Turner and Michael Wilson.