10/16/2023 -- School Board Elections, Twin Cities Office Vacancies, Vikings Win

Education

Minnesota School Board Integrity Project Aims to Increase Voter Engagement in Twin Cities

The Summary: The Minnesota School Board Integrity Project was recently established with the mission of funding and training candidates for school board elections to counteract what it cites as “extreme ideologies” that have entered school board races.  

Polarization of School Boards: The creation of the MN School Board Integrity Project comes at a time when school board elections are becoming increasingly polarized across the state and country. In 2022, the conservative non-profit Minnesota Parent’s Alliance was created with its founder Cristine Trooien telling MPR that they support school board focused on “academic achievement and safety through supporting parental involvement, parent-teacher partnership and accountability.” School boards across the state have become public squares for discussing topics like race, gender, and parental rights including a recent school board session in Bloomington where parents sought to ban 29 books it deemed as “sexually explicit.”

Election Urgency: In November, voters in 53 school districts across Minnesota, including four major suburban districts with over 99,000 students, will elect board members for four-year terms, representing more than 10% of the state's 870,000 public school students. The lead-up to the 2023 elections have seen significant increases in spending and competition across the school board races.

Business

Twin Cities Office Vacancy Reaches All Time High

The Summary: Office vacancy rates in the Twin Cities area have reached a record high of nearly 14%, as companies downsize and seek high-quality, amenity-rich spaces to attract employees back to the office.

National Trend: Despite the 9% annual increase from last year, the Twin Cities area has a lower office vacancy rate compared to many other metro areas with the national average vacancy rate at nearly 17%.

Repurposing Vacant Offices: Both Minneapolis and St. Paul have supported projects aimed at converting office space to residential units. This past spring, Minneapolis provided $6.9M in tax increment financing to help convert the Northstar Center East office tower into 216 residential units.  On the other side of the river, St. Paul has provided tax credits to convert the Landmark Towers into 186 apartments.

Politics

Minnesota Supreme Court Rejects Trump 2024 Campaign's Intervention in Ballot Lawsuit

The Summary: The Minnesota Supreme Court rejected a request from former President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign to intervene in a lawsuit that seeks to prevent him from being on the 2024 ballot in MN due to his involvement in the January 6, 2021 insurrection.

The Context: A petition by the national nonprofit Free Speech for People and former Minnesota Secretary of State Joan Growe is seeking to disqualify Trump from the 2024 ballot under the insurrection clause of the U.S. Constitution for his involvement in attempting to overturn the 2020 election.

What’s Next: The Minnesota Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on November 2^nd.

Sports

Gophers Hockey is Back, Buxton Surgery, and Vikings Win Ugly

🏈 The Minnesota Vikings won a defensive battle against the Chicago Bears 19-13. The Vikings were led by a defense that produced five sacks and three takeaways (SB Nation).

🏒 The Minnesota Gopher Hockey team opened up their season with two wins against St. Thomas in what was the two teams’ first matchup in the modern collegiate sports era. The Gophers are the defending national runner-ups and enter the season ranked #2 in the nation. (Star Tribune)

⚾ Byron Buxton underwent an arthroscopic knee procedure on his right knee over the weekend. Buxton, who has been plagued by injuries, appeared in 85 games for the Twins in 2023. The Twins plan to have Buxton ready to play center field in 2023 after a year where he only assumed the DH position. (Sports Illustrated).

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Quick hits ✔

Headlines From Around The Twin Cities

❯ New data shows that Minnesota ranks 25^th in adult obesity with a rate of 33.6%. Minnesota’s obesity rate has doubled since 2000 when it ranked as the 8^th lowest state in terms of obesity rate (Star Tribune)

❯ Over 500 doctors and healthcare professionals from Allina Health voted to establish a union potentially making it the nation's largest private-sector doctors' union (Fox 9)

❯ New federal data showed that inflation in the Twin Cities is still lower than the US average. CPI in the Twin Cities rose 2.2% year-over-year in September compared to 3.7% nationally (Star Tribune)

❯ Gavin Kaysen alums Adam Ritter and his wife Jeanie Janas Ritter will be opening a French-American restaurant in the former home of Revival on 42^nd and Nicollet (Mpls St.Paul Mag)

❯ Saint Paul Public Works held its inaugural "Snow Summit" to enhance communication with residents and educate them about snow operations (Kare 11)

❯ A Shakopee man was sentenced to more than four years in prison for his role in a $3.1M Ponzi scheme (WCCO)

❯ Candidates in this fall’s election for Minneapolis and St. Paul city councils have raised a total of $1.1 million and $916k, respectively. (Minnpost)

Beyond the Twin Cities ✔

Headlines From Outside the Land of 10,000 Lakes

❯ Joe Biden is considering a trip to Israel in the coming days as an Israeli ground invasion looms (AP News)

❯ Jim Jordan has been chosen as the House Speaker nominee (BBC)

❯ Kaiser Permanente employees win 21% raise after largest US healthcare strike in history (NPR)

❯ Netflix plans to open brick and mortar locations in 2025 (NPR)

❯ Trump’s legal issues have led to surges in fundraising for his presidential campaign (Reuters)

The Final Word: Feedback wanted!

It has been two weeks since we started the Twin Cities Insider and I’m excited to say that this newsletter is being sent to over 500 people. I would love your feedback on today’s issue by answering this two-question survey. Thanks!

-Patrick