A new city council appointee will soon serve the interests of the people who live in Frogtown, Summit-University, and Union Park.
The city council will name a temporary successor to fill the balance of St. Paul City Council Member Dai Thao’s unfulfilled term next month as a result of his resignation from his Ward 1 position. The executive director position at SURE, an ecumenical group in Sarasota, Florida, was offered to Thao last week.
Accordingly, the appointment will hold office from August 10 through December 2023, which is a lengthy tenure compared to that of prior council appointees from the preceding ten years. Those interested in running for office in Ward 1 in the 2023 election are urged to apply if they are familiar with municipal administration and its procedures. Council appointees are aggressively discouraged by the council from utilizing their temporary post to promote an active political campaign.
According to a statement released by Brynn Hausz, director of operations for the city council, staff will assess submissions and suggest a select group of candidates for council interviews.
Although the position is listed as part-time, the written announcement states that “applicants must be able to spend the substantial time and energy necessary to properly represent the inhabitants of Ward 1.”
Send a résumé and cover letter to Council-Vacancy@ci.stpaul.mn.us by July 22 at 4:30 p.m., or deliver them to Hausz at City Hall Suite 310, 15 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, 55102. Finalists will be interviewed in person at City Hall on August 3.
Anika Bowie, who stood for office for the first time in 2019 and garnered 2,921 votes via ranked-choice ballots, narrowly lost to Thao, who received 3,311 votes total from first-, second-, and third-choice ballots, by 390 votes. Candidates Liz De La Torre and Abu Nayeem were also on the ballot in the ranked-choice election for that year.
Omar Syed, owner of a coffee shop on McKnight Road and member of the city’s Planning Commission and zoning committee, declared, “I’m running.”
