New St. Paul City Council President Mitra Jalali shares goals for historic council

[MUSIC PLAYING] INTERVIEWER: So many firsts are being celebrated in Saint Paul today as the all-women City Council meets this afternoon for the first time. Much attention has been given to the all-female Council, but its members are also young. All seven members are under the age of 40. Six are women of color. Leading the council in her first meeting as that body's president is Mitra Jalali.

MITRA JALALI (ON RECORDING): I'm Mitra Jalali. I need to say this out loud. I'm the incoming Council President of the Saint Paul City Council.

[CHEERING]

INTERVIEWER: That was at yesterday's inauguration ceremonies. Newly elected Council President Jalali, who represents Ward 4, joins us from a busy day at City Hall. Welcome.

MITRA JALALI: Hi. How's it going?

INTERVIEWER: Good. So far, so good. Well, the-- well, I should ask you that. How's it going? The energy at yesterday's ceremony was palpable. What were some of the things that were going through your mind as you experienced the proceedings?

MITRA JALALI: Well, I really vividly remember when we walked out there. So we were all huddled in the Ordway backstage, and we were just nervous and excited. And then we walked on that stage and our whole community was there, and they stood up and just were applauding for what felt like several minutes. And I'd been doing great all day. I was totally emotionally solid, and that is when I started choking up.

So I didn't cry through the whole thing, but that was my near bawling moment. Just amazing, just truly amazing.

INTERVIEWER: Even though there's been much celebration, there's also been a fair amount of pushback that you alluded to in your speech yesterday. What's the gist of some of the comments?

MITRA JALALI: I honestly-- I don't want to repeat a lot of the comments because they're just hateful and ugly and misogynistic. But I think that's kind of the point a lot of ways, is that we've had these systems of power be very exclusionary to women, to young people, to trans and queer people, to people of color for a really long time.

And we are in this moment where more and more young women, women of color, people of all diverse backgrounds are running for office, because this is our government too. This is our community too. We want to shape how we Steward and govern our communities, our cities, our counties, our state. And we have to change the political culture that we live in alongside just changing the systems and the outcomes we're getting for people.

So I don't think that-- I just don't think that the public arena gets any better for diverse leaders if we're not willing to take up that space and just say, we're here to do our work and our communities have elected us to do that. So I definitely felt the need to call it out because it has gotten-- it's both reactions really.

It's both ugliness as there's more national visibility, but there's also just joy, the number of people who cried yesterday, who told me that they cried, women who told me that they'd just never seen anything like this in their lifetime, moms who brought their young girls, dads who brought their young girls, just so many young women in the audience, just so many people of all backgrounds feeling overjoyed.

So as there is an action, there's a reaction. And what I've overwhelmingly felt is the support of our community. Also, though, not afraid to point out that it's bringing out some of the worst, too, in people. And we're here to really change that and show what's possible.

INTERVIEWER: So you mentioned political culture. Now, as president of the council, you get to set the policy agenda. But how do you see yourself as setting the tone or the culture of the council politically?

MITRA JALALI: So I think over five years that I have been a council member, people know me for always finding the way through in a difficult time, for really looking for what's the way that we can solve this problem within our purview as a local government, for projecting just a combination of tenacity and humor and optimism, not one that glosses over what's really painful or hard. I've served our community through the toughest times in recent city history. I represent the Midway, served through the pandemic, through everything in 2020 we lived through.

But also it's really about how are we going to help people today. And I just think that energy is what is felt across the whole council. It's not just me. And that is how it feels at City Hall right now, just this sense of hope that we're really here to do good work for the residents of Saint Paul. And with the world watching, I do hope that we show some folks the way it can be.

INTERVIEWER: Let's talk about the work. What are the top three issues we can expect the council to take up this year?

MITRA JALALI: I would say front burner issues are, one, just everything housing, from renter protections to major redevelopment opportunities in, I think, almost all seven wards, to rent stabilization, really evaluating the policy, looking at how we can improve enforcement, looking at how we can champion and take advantage of new construction and development opportunities in the city.

All of that's within our shared priorities, so sustainability, climate action, all of the work that we do with land use in the city. We regulate the built environment of our community, so everything from the streets we travel on and how people use transportation to contribute to emissions, to building policy and energy efficiency, all of that is connected to climate action.

The third, I would say, is community safety. So we are all united in a vision for a proactive public safety approach that actually really cares for people and stabilizes them where they are, instead of just reacting to the breakdowns over and over. And so that is not just accountable and professional, responsive police and emergency responders and an expanded array of options for folks in crisis.

It's also violence interruption programs, our approach to homelessness that has been largely very effective in partnership with Ramsey County, really making sure that there's plenty of programming and investment in opportunity for youth from workforce and right track job training, to our parks and libraries having extended hours and athletic and arts opportunities. So all of that is community safety and I think that is a huge ethos of this council is bringing in.

INTERVIEWER: That's a big agenda. In your speech yesterday, you also talked about the situation in Gaza and you thanked Minnesota Congresswoman McCollum for her support of a cease fire in Gaza. Your colleagues over in Minneapolis will debate a resolution on the war. Do you plan to bring up a similar measure in the Saint Paul City Council?

MITRA JALALI: I would like to center our Palestinian community and folks who have connections to the region and think about what they want to do to actually point federal advocacy in the right direction. If that means looking at a resolution, we can certainly do that. If that means-- actually, I'm signed on to a letter that many local elected officials have signed asking as local elected across the country that the White House bring a cease fire. So I think that whatever we do I want to make sure we're working with the people most impacted and making sure that we're thoughtful about it.

But I said what I said on that stage because I appreciate that our congresswoman is lifting that up in a clear way that's very unambiguous because what we're seeing happen, it's really devastating to people of all backgrounds. And I had a person come up after the speech who said, my family is Palestinian, and I just can't even put into words what it meant to me that you would say that.

So I do think that there is a role that does need to be played in breaking the silence around this issue and asking our federal reps, our federal delegation to use their power in whatever way they can in international policy to act. So that's how I'm thinking about it, if that makes sense.

INTERVIEWER: But why would it be the role-- if you decided to go in the direction of a resolution, why would it be the role of a city council to weigh in on an international conflict? Because some would say, look, isn't that a distraction from matters that are in your lane?

MITRA JALALI: Well, what I would say is, I think there are certain extraordinary moments where it feels hard to do business as usual. I think that we have to be very judicious about what those are because there can be a parallel challenge you create, like, if you weigh in on one issue, won't you weigh in on another and all of that.

And we're also local government. We're not staffed to handle a lot of these complex issues and subject matter, so I do think that's an important consideration. And in general, the Saint Paul City Council has a policy that matters of international active significance, if you want to weigh in on that, find another route to do it besides a resolution.

So I'm holding that policy in mind as well. You can use your platform. You can use your voice, your name, like I did, signing on to a public letter. But all of these things are aimed, in my view, at getting our federal delegation to combine and use their power and their voice and their channel of communication to the Biden administration.

And so we're their constituents and that's why I centered our congresswoman, who has been vocal, We have our two US Senators, so I'm looking at all the tools on the table because I do think that as representatives of our city, we can help our own federal electeds understand what our constituents are telling us. That is the role I think we can play.

INTERVIEWER: I know you're busy, so final question. As you know, we don't come into leadership roles fully formed. I mean, we learn in the role. And I'm wondering, as you go forward as Council President, do you have specific goals for your own personal leadership?

MITRA JALALI: My goal is that I take every single thing I have learned, all of the mentorship, the investment, the support, the love of this community that they have poured into me, and use it to help make this council in its first year be extremely effective, that the leaders around me are representing their wards, getting things done, showing what's possible, and uplifting our city.

So I think that so much of the time in politics, leadership is a one-person show. And what I'm trying to do here is actually really bring our community strength to that council table and help the new leaders that we've elected and the returning ones who have experience and perspective to offer work really well together. That's what I hope for out of this next chapter in my leadership entering into the council presidency.

INTERVIEWER: All right. We wish you well. Thanks for the time.

MITRA JALALI: Thank you.

INTERVIEWER: We've been talking to Mitra Jalali. She is the brand-new Saint Paul City Council President.