Minneapolis Mayoral Candidates Grilled about Homelessness

“I walked in to the drop in center, but couldn’t find a place to sit, let alone hardly stand, it was so packed in there,” said Hannah, a forum attendee.

Over 200 people experiencing homelessness and 50 service providers participated in the successful August 19th Mayoral Candidates Forum that homeless service providers, the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless, and members of Homeless against Homelessness (HaH) organized.

Six of the ten candidates running for Minneapolis Mayor attended the event, including current Mayor R. T. Rybak, Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin, Green Party endorsee Farheen Hakeem, and independents Mark Koscielski, Marcus Harcus, and Tim Nolan.

People experiencing homelessness grilled the candidates for over 90 minutes. They asked the candidates for their views about a variety of issues–housing, healthcare, education, transportation, siting new shelters, building more affordable housing, and jobs.

Many who attended the event spent time afterwards talking about what they had just heard.

“People felt engaged and were processing through the issues they cared about and how the candidate’s responses would influence who they were planning to vote for,” said Hannah.

Editor’s Note: After the September 13, 2005, primary election, R.T. Rybak and Peter McLauglin emerged as the final mayoral candidates. Rybak won the November 8, 2005, election.