St. Paul makes history as 1st major U.S. city to elect all-female city council

Amna Nawaz:

In the last election, the city of St. Paul, Minnesota, did something it had never done before, elect an all-female City Council.

The state's capital became one of the largest, if not the largest American city to hold that distinction.

Special correspondent Fred De Sam Lazaro reports.

Fred De Sam Lazaro:

For two days last month, the St. Paul City Council retreated from its chambers. It was a chance for counselors and their staff to go over policy priorities for the coming year.

But with four new members on the seven-person council, some get-to-know-you's were in order place.

Anita Bowie, Councilmember, St. Paul, Minnesota:

My happy place in St. Paul is here at island.

Fred De Sam Lazaro:

The magnitude of this moment, the first time St. Paul has had an all-female City Council, is far from lost on this group.

Mitra Jalali, City Council President, St. Paul, Minnesota:

What budget impacts would we anticipate?

Fred De Sam Lazaro:

Mitra Jalali was first elected to the council in 2018. Now she's the president.

Mitra Jalali:

I think the significance is that we still live in a time where there are so many barriers to women, and women of color especially, being in power.

And, suddenly, this moment is showing people this is the normal actually that we're fighting for. It shouldn't be notable. It should just be what people have been used to, because what we need to be doing is getting work done for our communities.

Fred De Sam Lazaro:

On the new council's to-do list, tackling a lack of affordable housing in the city, a task that may include changes to the city's rent control ordinance.

And the council is responsible for passing a city budget to pay for things like public safety and improvement to aging roads and other infrastructure.

Mitra Jalali:

That's real to us. That's not just like, oh, that happened to someone over there. That's like, I need this for my cousin. I need this for my parent. I need this for the person, my neighbor that I care about, right? All that's connected.

Fred De Sam Lazaro:

Not only is this the first time that St. Paul elected an all-female City Council, but six of its seven members are persons of color in a white-majority city. And the oldest member is just 39.

(Cheering and applause)

Fred De Sam Lazaro:

All the firsts were on display during a swearing-in ceremony last month in front of a packed crowd at a local concert hall.

Hwajeong Kim, who won Ward 5 in the northern part of the city, said she's had conversations with female constituents of all ages.

Hwajeong Kim, Councilmember, St. Paul, Minnesota:

I get to, I think, be a part of this moment in history that's really impactful for younger generations to be able to not just see themselves, but notice that it is possible. And their perception of the world, I think, is shaped by being able to witness this moment, as is for some of our older generations, where they have never seen something like this happen.

And to be able to see in their own lifetime the progress that we have made feels really special.

Fred De Sam Lazaro:

For Melvin Carter, who became St. Paul's first Black mayor in 2018, the occasion represented an important step for the city's politics.

Melvin Carter, Mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota: As public servants, we bear a profound responsibility to expand the set of decision-makers, to ensure the city we build is one we build together, each voice a vital thread, woven into the vibrant fabric of our community.

Fred De Sam Lazaro:

St. Paul was incorporated in 1854, but it took more than 100 years for the first woman to be elected to the City Council. And it wasn't until 2018 that the council had more than three women.

But last fall, members of this group endorsed each other, campaigned together as an informal bloc, and swept every seat. Their professional experiences range from teacher to nonprofit director to civil engineer.

Members say the council's diversity will help it address St. Paul's challenges, including the Twin Cities area's persistent racial inequities, some of the sharpest in the nation.

Mitra Jalali:

We have more firsthand experience on this council with systemic racism, with disparities, with barriers that were created by public policy and can be remedied by public policy. It won't happen overnight, but it is possible to change it, to remediate that. That's what I think this council is here to do.

Hwajeong Kim:

Women have been left out of not just the rooms, but the policymaking systems that are really intentionally meant to keep us out, spaces of power that, of course, are constructed to keep us out.

So, to me, knowing that there are so many women on the council that know exactly what that feels like means that we will be much more inclusive in our policymaking.

Anika Bowie:

To the best of my judgment and my ability.

Fred De Sam Lazaro:

Anika Bowie, an entrepreneur and community organizer, is one of the new councillors. She represents Ward 1 in the heart of the city, and her family has lived in St. Paul for almost a century.

Anika Bowie:

Not only we are making history, but we're in the driver's seat of history. And we get to continue telling this longer story, right, to where it's just, like, not just we have all women council, period, but it's comma, and we did so many amazing things.

Fred De Sam Lazaro:

Among them, building a climate-resilient city with adequate housing for everyone, but, more immediately, tending to voters' everyday concerns, like filling potholes.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Fred De Sam Lazaro in St. Paul.

Amna Nawaz:

And Fred's reporting is a partnership with the Under-Told Stories Project at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.