Clara Ware
Name: Clara Ware
Public Office Sought: Ramsey County Commissioner-District 6
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Phone: (651) 528-3507
Campaign Website: Voteforclara.com
Twitter handle: @ClaraWa
Facebook Page: Clara Ware for County Commissioner
Candidate Bio
Clara Ware lives in District 6 Ward 7 on the East Side of Saint Paul and she is an Activist and Community Organizer. Clara is a graduate student at Hamline University majoring in the Master of Nonprofit Management. She has experience in education, political science, and lobbied for the Minnesota Homeless Coalition on the behalf of homeless people.
Clara worked as a Housing Justice Advocate with the Housing Equity Now Saint Paul Campaign (HENS). Clara worked on the Historical Rent Stabilization Policy where she helped collect 1,100 petitions for the policy where 30, 000 voters voted on the Policy which is now law. Clara also served on the Mayor Melvin Carter Task force where she worked with community members, landlords, and developers in an effort for the implementation process with the City Council Members .
Clara worked on the Photo I.D Amendment. Clara also worked on the 2010 Census and the 2020 Census with Ramsey County. Clara is a registration judge and assistant head judge with Ramsey County Election
Office and an outreach coordinator to increase voter turnout and voter participation in communities of color.
What would be your top three priorities if elected?
Open Access to Housing: Passing Renters Ordinances for protections to renters to access rental units, and creating policies making renters units affordable and safe.
Investment and Building Equity in Saint Paul: Investing in District 6 where residents can have access to funding to own their business, build a multicultural child care center on the east side, and a youth center to have a safe place for the youth.
Public Safety: Address the gun violence in our communities, address the gangs in an effort to create new prevention and intervention programming, and address the over policing in communities of color that is causing more harm than good.
How would you characterize the business climate in Ramsey County and what is the role of businesses supporting quality of life issues in the community?
The Business Climate in Ramsey County needs more investments and stability because certain urban communities are funded more than others. There is definitely a need for more Black Businesses and funding streams to support residents who want to be established and build wealth for generations to come.
The role of the business that is supposed to support the quality of life is not there again for certain communities. How can the quality of life be there when the funding streams and investment are just not there. I see economic hardships and lack of support in certain areas and that needs to be addressed.
What role do you think the county should have in attracting and retaining jobs, and what steps would you take to solicit new businesses to, and retain existing businesses in Ramsey County?
The role of the county should be to address their hiring practices to
hire residents to reflect the community whom they serve.
Ramsey County needs to implement a system that attracts people of color that have those skills, lived experience, internships and mentoring opportunities that will allow people to hire and retain their workers.
Having a workforce team who will reach out to community businesses and build upon relationships to create partnerships that supports the work of Ramsey County workforce.
Do you support any specific employment-related proposals in Ramsey County (such as minimum wage, sick time, or mandatory scheduling notice)? If so, what steps would you take to understand the impact of a policy on the many types of businesses in Ramsey County and how would you define any exceptions to those policies?
I would like to see a living wage that would allow residents to be able to afford to pay rent, buy a house, and open up a business.
The minimum wage does match the inflation of this state, but puts low wage workers at a disadvantage in this struggling economy.
There needs to be sick time that allows employees the time they will need to take care of themselves and their families and be able to come back to work without losing their job. Employers need to give their employees a notice of changes in their schedule within a 14 days time window and also a 24 hour notice in advance. Also allow employees the right to help set their own schedules with their supervisor.
I would ask the employees to help me work on a schedule that is reflective of their life, work, and school in advance. Make a scheduling tool that is reflective of the workplace, and create predictive scheduling laws that represent the workforce in the county. Eliminating barriers to employment and retaining workers in the workforce and teaching hiring best practices to HR.
What policies, if any, would you support to help employers address the labor shortage?
The policy that I would create is: Opportunity First that would include:
skills that are needed to fill positions, improve on the job training and education for the advancement for higher pay, removal of barriers for people entering the workforce, hiring bonuses, employee reward systems and best practices for hiring.
Public safety and rising crime rates are of serious concern to the business community and residents. What strategies or policies would you propose to address public safety issues facing your community?
The strategies that I would like to present are:
Culturally Relevant Interventions and Prevention Programming for the police and youth, investigate who is bringing guns into our neighborhoods by creating safety first programs, community events that would build upon relationships with politicians, police, community members and youth. Have resources available for people to access to keep them from committing crime. Better police training for officers on how to deal with people of color. Community First Policy where the community, officers, and youth and elders make recommendations on behalf of their community to reduce the crime in their communities.
What strategies or policies would you propose to address housing issues facing your community?
I propose the Rent Stabilization Policy which is law now stay effective
and have the rent stay capped at 3% for renters in the city of Saint
Paul. There needs to be Tenant Protections Laws that would
eliminate barriers for renters when it comes to renting units.
What strategies or policies would you propose to address transportation issues facing your community? Have your strategies or views changed on transportation since we’ve seen shifts in road use, public transportation use, work from home models, etc. due to the pandemic?
The strategies for transportation for my communities would include:
rapid transit that would create a faster reliable public transit system.
Better connections from the buses to the train to decrease
carbon emissions. Create more riderships programs in the urban
communities, so less people are driving the work. Only recommendation I would make is to practice safety measures when it comes to social distance
transit.
What are your priorities for the county’s budget?
I would like the budget to address housing, workforce development, child care, mental health and well- being, workforce development, and transportation. I would also like to see where the overspending is so I redirect that funds to more needed programming for the communities. Instead of funding prisons I would look at intervention and prevent programs to reduce the number of residents being incarcerated. Also reduce the number of children in foster care and child protection and invest those funds for services for families to stay out of systems.
What will you do to expand Ramsey County’s tax base?
There could be more taxes paid on services and goods that would create revenue that would help people in the community.
How will you work with K-12 and post-secondary educational institutions and businesses to ensure our region develops and retains an educated workforce?
I know that there is a lack of funding in education that needs to be addressed for children in the county. Create programming that would increase learning and participation from students that are being left behind and ensure that academics and scores are being raised every year so students can attend post- secondary education. There are barriers to education such as the Closing the Achievement Gap for students who are struggling to obtain a good education in Saint Paul Public Schools.
Are there any services currently provided by the county that you believe should be cut back or eliminated? Are there new opportunities to share services with other entities?
I would like to see some services cut in the Criminal Justice Systems for example: courts, police, sheriff, jails, juvenile and adult detentions and invest the money into community solutions with leaders that would bring the crime rates down and create rehabilitation programs that would lower the incarceration rates in Saint Paul.
What is the role of the County Board in fostering increased minority- and women-owned businesses in Ramsey County?
The role of the County Board should be to allocate more funding and investments in women and minority businesses so people would not only create wealth for themselves but wealth for their communities. I have been holding conversations with community members who want to own their own business but the funding is not there and investment is definitely not there. The County Board will have to reach out to leaders in our communities so this will be a priority for the board.
What further policies can Ramsey County adopt to help the business community recover from the COVID-19 pandemic?
Similar policies like the American Rescue Plan where employees can have a retention credit and paid leave credit for small business and paycheck protection programs, which will provide small businesses with resources they will need to maintain their payroll, and hire back employees. Also have emergency paid sick time, emergency benefits for workers which will include emergency paid family and medical leave, increasing flexibility where employees can flex hours at home and at their employment place, reasonable accommodations for high risk and pregnant workers. Creating a safe place where workers can practice social distancing, especially for front line workers, is necessary.
Is there anything else you would like to share with voters not
covered above?
I would like for the voters to know that I am willing to work with whom ever and do whatever it take to change our communities and create
policies that would transform our communities in the city of Saint Paul.
I want to end the homeless crisis in Ramsey County and the State of
Minnesota. I want to end and the solve the violence in our communities
by addressing gun violence and police in urban communities.
I would like to see ballots in different languages, materials in different
languages, and ballots and voter registrations applications sent to every home
to increase voter turnout. Ramsey County Election office needs their
own location because the community is growing and the Election office
will need more employees to meet the demand.
Public Office Sought: Ramsey County Commissioner-District 6
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Phone: (651) 528-3507
Campaign Website: Voteforclara.com
Twitter handle: @ClaraWa
Facebook Page: Clara Ware for County Commissioner
Candidate Bio
Clara Ware lives in District 6 Ward 7 on the East Side of Saint Paul and she is an Activist and Community Organizer. Clara is a graduate student at Hamline University majoring in the Master of Nonprofit Management. She has experience in education, political science, and lobbied for the Minnesota Homeless Coalition on the behalf of homeless people.
Clara worked as a Housing Justice Advocate with the Housing Equity Now Saint Paul Campaign (HENS). Clara worked on the Historical Rent Stabilization Policy where she helped collect 1,100 petitions for the policy where 30, 000 voters voted on the Policy which is now law. Clara also served on the Mayor Melvin Carter Task force where she worked with community members, landlords, and developers in an effort for the implementation process with the City Council Members .
Clara worked on the Photo I.D Amendment. Clara also worked on the 2010 Census and the 2020 Census with Ramsey County. Clara is a registration judge and assistant head judge with Ramsey County Election
Office and an outreach coordinator to increase voter turnout and voter participation in communities of color.
What would be your top three priorities if elected?
Open Access to Housing: Passing Renters Ordinances for protections to renters to access rental units, and creating policies making renters units affordable and safe.
Investment and Building Equity in Saint Paul: Investing in District 6 where residents can have access to funding to own their business, build a multicultural child care center on the east side, and a youth center to have a safe place for the youth.
Public Safety: Address the gun violence in our communities, address the gangs in an effort to create new prevention and intervention programming, and address the over policing in communities of color that is causing more harm than good.
How would you characterize the business climate in Ramsey County and what is the role of businesses supporting quality of life issues in the community?
The Business Climate in Ramsey County needs more investments and stability because certain urban communities are funded more than others. There is definitely a need for more Black Businesses and funding streams to support residents who want to be established and build wealth for generations to come.
The role of the business that is supposed to support the quality of life is not there again for certain communities. How can the quality of life be there when the funding streams and investment are just not there. I see economic hardships and lack of support in certain areas and that needs to be addressed.
What role do you think the county should have in attracting and retaining jobs, and what steps would you take to solicit new businesses to, and retain existing businesses in Ramsey County?
The role of the county should be to address their hiring practices to
hire residents to reflect the community whom they serve.
Ramsey County needs to implement a system that attracts people of color that have those skills, lived experience, internships and mentoring opportunities that will allow people to hire and retain their workers.
Having a workforce team who will reach out to community businesses and build upon relationships to create partnerships that supports the work of Ramsey County workforce.
Do you support any specific employment-related proposals in Ramsey County (such as minimum wage, sick time, or mandatory scheduling notice)? If so, what steps would you take to understand the impact of a policy on the many types of businesses in Ramsey County and how would you define any exceptions to those policies?
I would like to see a living wage that would allow residents to be able to afford to pay rent, buy a house, and open up a business.
The minimum wage does match the inflation of this state, but puts low wage workers at a disadvantage in this struggling economy.
There needs to be sick time that allows employees the time they will need to take care of themselves and their families and be able to come back to work without losing their job. Employers need to give their employees a notice of changes in their schedule within a 14 days time window and also a 24 hour notice in advance. Also allow employees the right to help set their own schedules with their supervisor.
I would ask the employees to help me work on a schedule that is reflective of their life, work, and school in advance. Make a scheduling tool that is reflective of the workplace, and create predictive scheduling laws that represent the workforce in the county. Eliminating barriers to employment and retaining workers in the workforce and teaching hiring best practices to HR.
What policies, if any, would you support to help employers address the labor shortage?
The policy that I would create is: Opportunity First that would include:
skills that are needed to fill positions, improve on the job training and education for the advancement for higher pay, removal of barriers for people entering the workforce, hiring bonuses, employee reward systems and best practices for hiring.
Public safety and rising crime rates are of serious concern to the business community and residents. What strategies or policies would you propose to address public safety issues facing your community?
The strategies that I would like to present are:
Culturally Relevant Interventions and Prevention Programming for the police and youth, investigate who is bringing guns into our neighborhoods by creating safety first programs, community events that would build upon relationships with politicians, police, community members and youth. Have resources available for people to access to keep them from committing crime. Better police training for officers on how to deal with people of color. Community First Policy where the community, officers, and youth and elders make recommendations on behalf of their community to reduce the crime in their communities.
What strategies or policies would you propose to address housing issues facing your community?
I propose the Rent Stabilization Policy which is law now stay effective
and have the rent stay capped at 3% for renters in the city of Saint
Paul. There needs to be Tenant Protections Laws that would
eliminate barriers for renters when it comes to renting units.
What strategies or policies would you propose to address transportation issues facing your community? Have your strategies or views changed on transportation since we’ve seen shifts in road use, public transportation use, work from home models, etc. due to the pandemic?
The strategies for transportation for my communities would include:
rapid transit that would create a faster reliable public transit system.
Better connections from the buses to the train to decrease
carbon emissions. Create more riderships programs in the urban
communities, so less people are driving the work. Only recommendation I would make is to practice safety measures when it comes to social distance
transit.
What are your priorities for the county’s budget?
I would like the budget to address housing, workforce development, child care, mental health and well- being, workforce development, and transportation. I would also like to see where the overspending is so I redirect that funds to more needed programming for the communities. Instead of funding prisons I would look at intervention and prevent programs to reduce the number of residents being incarcerated. Also reduce the number of children in foster care and child protection and invest those funds for services for families to stay out of systems.
What will you do to expand Ramsey County’s tax base?
There could be more taxes paid on services and goods that would create revenue that would help people in the community.
How will you work with K-12 and post-secondary educational institutions and businesses to ensure our region develops and retains an educated workforce?
I know that there is a lack of funding in education that needs to be addressed for children in the county. Create programming that would increase learning and participation from students that are being left behind and ensure that academics and scores are being raised every year so students can attend post- secondary education. There are barriers to education such as the Closing the Achievement Gap for students who are struggling to obtain a good education in Saint Paul Public Schools.
Are there any services currently provided by the county that you believe should be cut back or eliminated? Are there new opportunities to share services with other entities?
I would like to see some services cut in the Criminal Justice Systems for example: courts, police, sheriff, jails, juvenile and adult detentions and invest the money into community solutions with leaders that would bring the crime rates down and create rehabilitation programs that would lower the incarceration rates in Saint Paul.
What is the role of the County Board in fostering increased minority- and women-owned businesses in Ramsey County?
The role of the County Board should be to allocate more funding and investments in women and minority businesses so people would not only create wealth for themselves but wealth for their communities. I have been holding conversations with community members who want to own their own business but the funding is not there and investment is definitely not there. The County Board will have to reach out to leaders in our communities so this will be a priority for the board.
What further policies can Ramsey County adopt to help the business community recover from the COVID-19 pandemic?
Similar policies like the American Rescue Plan where employees can have a retention credit and paid leave credit for small business and paycheck protection programs, which will provide small businesses with resources they will need to maintain their payroll, and hire back employees. Also have emergency paid sick time, emergency benefits for workers which will include emergency paid family and medical leave, increasing flexibility where employees can flex hours at home and at their employment place, reasonable accommodations for high risk and pregnant workers. Creating a safe place where workers can practice social distancing, especially for front line workers, is necessary.
Is there anything else you would like to share with voters not
covered above?
I would like for the voters to know that I am willing to work with whom ever and do whatever it take to change our communities and create
policies that would transform our communities in the city of Saint Paul.
I want to end the homeless crisis in Ramsey County and the State of
Minnesota. I want to end and the solve the violence in our communities
by addressing gun violence and police in urban communities.
I would like to see ballots in different languages, materials in different
languages, and ballots and voter registrations applications sent to every home
to increase voter turnout. Ramsey County Election office needs their
own location because the community is growing and the Election office
will need more employees to meet the demand.