Welcome! My name is Julie Strahan and I am running to be your next mayor.
I am a 20-year Roseville resident, currently serving my first term as Roseville City Councilmember. I believe strongly in listening and in bringing bold ideas forward.
Since election, I have served on the Ramsey County League of Local Governments board. I was appointed to be the council liaison to the Roseville elected officials. In July, I will begin my tenure as a Board member of Metro Cities, a consortium of elected that advises the work of the Metropolitan Council. I am on the Wage and Tax Fraud taskforce with the Carpenter’s union, and have participated in Local Progress, a national grassroots organization to forward a racial and economic justice agenda.
Since I was elected in 2020, the Roseville City Council has passed a flavored tobacco ban, a ban on conversion therapy within the city, changed our orientation of commissioners to be more inclusive, joined the Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity Land Trust, added two social workers and a Housing Navigator to the Roseville Policy Community Action Team, and advanced the training of the Roseville Fire Department to better serve the people of Roseville in medical care.
As your mayor, I will:
Declare a climate emergency. I plan to take action on all steps possible to hold buildings in Roseville to a higher standard. What if Roseville was a leader in the northern suburbs on EV charging stations, car shares, and could encourage developers and businesses to join in the innovation? We currently have no public EV charging stations in town and very few ways for renters to consider an electric car purchase. The EV HourCar network is seeking it’s next partner city – why not Roseville? We need to provide a strong commitment to show we are ready to work in partnership to build the necessary infrastructure. With so many excellent restaurants in town, what about requiring reusable or ecological takeout containers? With one of the highest ratios of impermeable surfaces from blacktop parking lots, we need to be creative and offer incentives for new developments to curb this practice. Coordinated hauling would provide opportunities for a consortium of haulers to remove trash with less waste, noise, staff, and pollutants. Being at step 5 in the Green Steps process does not allow us to “wait and see” what more we can do, but inspires us to continue to “do better”. I currently serve on the Climate Caucus, a bipartisan caucus of elected officials from around the state of MN and seek to learn best practices ordinances that move us toward our city climate goals.
Increase accessibility to parks, trails, and public buildings. We need incentives for businesses (or disincentives for those not following the ADA) to make their businesses accessible to others. Roseville needs to include Accessibility in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work so that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is the term and lens through which decisions are made. We are fortunate to have made great strides, including the opening or an accessible park structure in Central Park. Recently, however, a citizen noted that our accessibility resolution was exactly the same in 2022 as it was in 2018. The city of Roseville can lead in accessible equity by implementing upgrades to the city website that make it accessible to those with low vision
Strengthen and create greater purpose for citizen commissions. Roseville needs to truly allow those appointed to commission to use their expertise to guide the work of the city council, while personally working to interest citizen appointees to fully represent the array of people who call Roseville home and use our many services.
Impose term limits. I believe in term limits and would step aside after no more than 2 terms as mayor to allow the next generation of leaders a space to thrive. In the meantime, I will continue my work to develop and inspire young and new leaders to be actively involved in the running of their city. I have worked with students from RAHS to develop their political goals and to fine tune their requests of the leaders of Roseville and worked to connect them with city staff and resources to achieve their goals.
Increase participation of Roseville businesses in community events. I will aim to strengthen connections between the important work done by the Roseville Business Council, Visit Roseville, the Economic Development Agency, civic organizations, and nonprofits. A small, but mighty group, regularly meets for Roseville business Council meetings, often those from surrounding cities. While still important, how do we better engage the businesses within Roseville and have them learn about the assistance we can offer as a city when they are not fully engaged – we have much to offer our city businesses, but they need to know how to connect to the programs and to one another – and to our residents!
Address needs specific to Roseville residents of color. At the most recent Roseville Business Council meeting, a state of MN demographer explained data from the 2020 census. In this material, it became clear that the key to continued prosperity in Roseville is the building up of people of color. With the BIPOC community now comprising 25-35% of the Roseville population, it is vital that the business community and the city address needs specific to BIPOC. The success of Roseville depends on the success of our communities of color.
Establish channels of communication with city leaders. Citizens regularly express frustration that we no longer have a city paper. I believe this has even more to do with the ability to interact and engage with city staff and elected leaders. As mayor, I would like to implement a Coffee with Council or similar, once a month or more, spread throughout the city – going to the residents in park buildings, the library, coffee shops, etc. – and learning what issues they are facing in their life in Roseville. We need to make ourselves more accessible and receptive to the needs and requests of the residents. While many citizens will never step in front of a mic, on camera, in the council chambers, their needs may be even more pressing, and solvable than elected leaders may know. Council and the Mayor need to be prepared to represent all constituents, no matter their status.
Reform labor policies in Roseville. In adjacent Minneapolis and St. Paul, both cities have implemented city minimum wages, and more importantly, mandatory safe and sick time (SST), allows even part time people without benefits, the opportunity to earn 1 hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked. SST allows all staff, even those working in retail or fast food, the chance to earn paid time to care for themselves or their families if they are ill. It is past time for the leaders of Roseville to protect the most vulnerable workers in our city. In addition, the city and leaders need to be cognizant of wage theft and safety of workers in large developments. In the past few years, the city has approved projects by developers with known wage theft issues. We need to raise awareness and implement policies that do not allow these “bad actors” to endanger the safety of their workers while doing business in our city.
