Sustainable St. Paul

from the Macalester Public Knowledge Base

Sustainable St. Paul is a coalition of Green Party members, DFLers and independent citizens working to achieve a cleaner, more just and prosperous St. Paul. We were inspired in part by Elizabeth Dickinson's campaign with the Green Party for mayor in 2005 which came within striking distance of beating the incumbent mayor for a spot in the general election.

Website: http://www.sustainablestpaul.org

Contents 1 Sustainable St. Paul Activities 2 Original Sustainable St. Paul Platform 2.1 A Strong and Socially-Just Local Economy 2.2 Energy Smart 2.3 A Revitalized Democracy

[edit] Sustainable St. Paul Activities

• Sustainable St. Paul prepared a questionnaire based on our platform and successfully asked the two 2005 St. Paul mayoral candidates remaining after the primary election - Randy Kelly and Chris Coleman - to fill it out. We posted the reponses to our website, held a press conference to announce them, and earned media coverage.
• We are currently in the planning phase of thinking about what a long-term Sustainable St. Paul organization would look like.
• Online project, Category:What Does Sustainable St. Paul Look Like?, that aims to collect ideas and proposals for creating a sustainable city.

[edit] Original Sustainable St. Paul Platform

[edit] A Strong and Socially-Just Local Economy

Wal-Mart, Target, and other national chain stores make headlines when they move into St Paul neighborhoods. But do they make good business sense? Do they make good neighbors? Good business means more than artificially low prices and expansive square-footage. Good business recycles dollars locally, shapes and promotes community goals, and pays workers a living wage. St. Paul can be business-friendly and socially just.

• Large companies (not your Mom & Pop shop) that receive substantial city subsidies must pay workers a living wage.
• Conduct a rigorous and independent investigation into whether or not racial and gender discrimination has wrongly influenced how the city has granted contracts
• Since small businesses generate 75% of new jobs, nurture the local economy by supporting the Metro Independent Business Alliance, particularly in its efforts to promote new local business ventures.
• Create a city-wide size cap on big box stores. Big box development is proven in headline after headline to hurt cities more than it helps.
• Nurture local business by checking chain stores on Grand Avenue: support the temporary development moratorium and the district council’s plan to limit formula stores and tighten building standards.

[edit] Energy Smart

St Paul should join Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake City and a growing legion of other cities in creating visionary energy practices — and in reaping the many rewards of energy conservation, saving money and creating good jobs! As conventional energy costs continue to rise and drain money out of St Paul’s economy — and our pocketbooks — we must turn to clean energy as the fiscally smart strategy. Relying less on dirty, imported energy sources and incorporating clean, homegrown resources into our city’s infrastructure is the right thing to do for public health, as well. We simply can’t afford the cost of over-reliance on fuel that must be imported to Minnesota. We can’t afford to put our pocketbooks, our health – and our children—at risk.

• Renegotiate the Xcel Energy Franchise to include a free energy conservation audit to each resident who requests one and a fairer franchise fee that can then be reinvested in smart sustainability projects and core city services.
• Use clean, renewable sources to meet 24% of St Paul’s energy by 2015.
• Unite city government, St. Paul businesses and citizens groups to meet city-wide energy conservation goals that promote green spaces, public transit, car-sharing, and ecological education.
• Require commercial building projects (renovations and new construction) to submit blueprints to Xcel Energy’s Mapping program to increase energy-efficient buildings in St Paul.

[edit] A Revitalized Democracy

Power to the people isn’t just a slogan. It’s actually the best way to run a city. We need the district councils — who know their neighborhood needs better than someone sitting in city hall — to be a guiding force in city administration. We must make the political process more welcoming to residents, opening up the doors to participatory democracy for more and more of our people. Let’s not limit the voices we hear at City Hall anymore. St Paul neighborhoods are St Paul. As our political candidates are looking across the country for campaign dollars, we must look for systems to insure that our voices matter, too — not just the sound of money.

• Grant greater decision-making authority to the District Council, giving primacy to their policy recommendations.
• Create and expand programs that mentor women and people of color through the political process, creating future civic and government leaders.
• Gather a group of community leaders and city officials to explore Instant Runoff Voting – which allows voters to rank candidates from best to worst –as a viable possibility for local electoral reform. Instant Runoff Voting at the city level eliminates poorly attended primary elections, empowering more people to choose from more candidates in November.
• Pass a Truth in Campaign Finance ordinance requiring that crucial information about how candidates for city office are funded – such as amount spent by the campaign, percentage of donations raised from St. Paul residents, or average donation size – be clearly presented to all voters, either through campaign materials, at the polls, or another highly visible venue.