James Lo
Name: James Lo
Public Office Sought: St. Paul City Council Ward 1
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Phone: 651-317-4880
Campaign Website: www.jameslo.org
Twitter handle: N/A
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/jameslocitycouncil
Candidate Bio
I was born in a refugee camp in Thailand. When I was 9 years old, my family applied for political asylum. We fledcommunism and political persecution in the Secret War in Laos. Ever since then, Frogtown has been our cherished home for nearly three decades. As an older child in my family, I took on the responsibilities to help provide for the family. Our family's biggest financial success was purchasing a home just after 2 years of coming to the United States.
I grew up in St. Paul, attending St. Paul Public Schools. I graduated from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls with a Masters Degree in Education and School Counseling. I see myself as an educator, an entrepreneur, and a community leader. The joy of life is my wife Clara, and our seven children.
I am a proud union member of the Saint Paul Federation of Educators Local 28. I am a full-time Licensed School Counselor at Harding Senior High School. I believe in helping students and families achieve their educational goals. Having experienced the great value of a good education, I am committed to ensuring everyone is given the same opportunities.
What style of leadership would you bring to this position?
I believe a leader is a servant of the community. I represent the voice of the community, including and listening to everyone, so we don't alienate parts of the community, especially when we have to make tough decisions. I believe that respect, courtesy, trust, responsiveness, and communication are essential to creating a collaborative atmosphere. I will listen to all sides and put in the extra work to understand the complex problems that we face. Leadership is about coming to an agreement that can be upheld by all sides. Leadership is taking that agreement and making it work. In my style of leadership, we can create win-win situations.
Voicing our concerns is good, but we need to focus on fixing problems. I want to dive deeper, address the root of the problems, and focus on solutions. As a community, we can work together to solve them, because when we work together, we rise together.
What would be your top three priorities if elected?
St. Paul is already a good city, but I truly believe it can be better.
We can plan ahead and use new technologies to ensure our roads are plowed efficiently and our potholes are filled quickly. This is where I want our city to prioritize funding first.
We can build relationships in which the community and police respect each other. By investing in proactive community-based initiatives, we can create a collaborative approach that works alongside our existing police force. It's about finding a balance and ensuring the well-being and security of residents and police officers alike.
Friends, family, and neighbors are moving out of our great city because of high property taxes. I will explore people-centered housing policies that will allow people to stay in St. Paul.
What do you consider the biggest challenge and conversely, the biggest opportunity in St. Paul?
The biggest opportunity in St. Paul is the strength of our diversity. Our neighbors come from all ethnicities and walks of life. We activate each other. We support one another. We welcome everyone. When we come together, we can make sure that we get our fair share of support for all our neighbors and businesses. We still have room for growth in celebrating cultures and leveraging our diversity to build stronger neighborhoods.
Our biggest challenge in St. Paul is that we have a smaller tax base due to a significant portion of our city not having to pay taxes, such as government buildings, colleges, schools, and nonprofits. This puts the burden of property taxes mostly on homeowners. A sales tax will also pose a challenge as it stands to bring revenue through non-property tax dollars but hurt businesses and residents. The big development projects in our city need to be funded by the State, especially with the surplus tax we recently collected. These are tricky economic challenges, and we must navigate these decisions with the community in mind.
How would you characterize the business climate in St. Paul and what role do you think the city should have in attracting and retaining jobs and new businesses in St. Paul?
Business is recovering in St. Paul. There is much to do to recover from the effects of COVID, and I think businesses should see the city as a partner. I understand the looming sales tax is on top of everyone’s mind, but there is also so much opportunity for growth. We need to do whatever we can to incentivize small business growth in vacant retail spaces.
St. Paul should support the growth of small businesses. Small businesses are the foundation of our city and employ the most people. We should focus our resources on developing, attracting, and retaining our small businesses. We also need to be more creative in how we can reuse commercial spaces.
There are a lot of new creative business ideas that have taken hold in other neighborhoods and have created a sense of community around them. We need more coffee shops, restaurants, boutique clothing stores, and other small businesses to spur more development and share their excitement.
What are your strategies to address public safety challenges in your community?
I believe our community and police can work out how policing works best for us. By investing in community-based initiatives, mental health services, conflict resolution programs, and other proactive measures, we can create a collaborative approach that works alongside our existing police force. It's about finding a balance and ensuring the well-being and security of residents and police officers alike.
In many ways, St. Paul has undergone many unrecognized positive changes over the years. For example, St. Paul has the “Duty to Intervene” policy, where other officers have a duty to step in when a bad situation is developing. This duty is taken so seriously that officers have been fired for not intervening. This is an example of all of us working together in a better way.
One of the ways that our police can do better is by taking the time to show respect and allow peaceful resolution. During a recent incident on Sherburne Avenue, the police spent all night talking until the entire family was safe. This was a case of immediate danger, so the police had to be involved. This is the type of policing we all want, but taking time means needing more police resources.
Another area of improvement has been pretrial policing. Multiple groups have been working together so that the state-required bail process does not cause financial hardship. No one should be stuck in jail for being suspected of a non-dangerous crime to the public.
What ideas do you have to address housing shortages and affordability?
Housing shortages and affordability present a significant challenge in St. Paul, especially in Ward 1. We need to construct more housing while ensuring long-term affordability. This initiative can begin by augmenting the funding for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
Given St. Paul's constrained development space, we must adopt more innovative approaches to land utilization. We should permit greater flexibility for tiny homes and accessory dwelling units. Additionally, vertical expansion is a viable solution, involving the construction of more apartments and condos or repurposing commercial properties into housing units.
A city like St. Paul, with a limited tax base, cannot undertake costly issues that fall within the purview of larger government entities. Addressing the housing shortage crisis should also involve action at the state level.
St. Paul candidates only: Do you support the rent stabilization ordinance in its current form? If not, what would you like to change?
St. Paul has implemented a rent stabilization policy that had a shaky start. Ensuring that rents and housing remain stable will require careful review and revision by the city council. The existing rules have incorporated mechanisms that allow rents to increase to attract more rental housing development, while also imposing limits to prevent financial hardship for renters.
The city must also ensure responsible housing maintenance. Outsiders who prioritize high rents without adequately repairing and maintaining the property negatively impact the entire community. The optimal solution would involve focusing on addressing problematic behavior while rewarding landlords who genuinely value their renters and the community. Local landlords who have consistently maintained their properties while keeping rents affordable should be able to transition to market rates. Establishing a "Renter's Advisory Council" to review complaints, protect renters, and incentivize responsible landlords with enforcement power would be beneficial. My focus is on a balanced approach that promotes policies to increase housing supply while safeguarding vulnerable residents. I believe there are win-win solutions.
How would you work to improve transportation options in your community, including improved safety for transit riders, pedestrians/bike, and drivers alike?
Every neighborhood has reported an increase in danger from speeding cars since COVID. To enhance safety for pedestrians and drivers alike, we need more pedestrian lights, similar to those around the Green Line, to alert drivers when someone is waiting to cross. We must also continue promoting our “20 is Plenty” campaign through lawn signs and "kids at play" signage. Radar speed signs have proven effective in curbing speeding and should be installed at problematic intersections and road sections. Our community norm should shift toward slower driving.
The Metro Transit system should feel safe, clean, and appealing to everyone. By collaborating with Metro Transit Safety and multiple municipalities, we can alter current usage patterns to make more people feel secure while using Metro transit. We need to expand the network of buses and light rails. When mass transit is interconnected and easily accessible by walking or biking, it will be more convenient for everyone to use.
What will you do to expand St. Paul’s tax base?
St. Paul is a mature city with limited space for further development. Our growth potential lies in building upward, redeveloping underused properties, and transforming vacant spaces into housing units. We can facilitate greater flexibility for tiny homes and accessory dwelling units, incentivize denser housing development, and encourage such initiatives. However, as a city, we must learn to operate within our budget constraints. Larger and more expensive projects will need to be financed by the county or state. We must plan ahead to avoid unexpected costly financial demands. With the assistance of the state and county, we need to maintain stable property taxes, even as property values rise.
Are there any services currently provided by the city that you believe should be cut back or eliminated? Are there new opportunities to share services with other entities?
Municipal trash collection services had great intentions but led to unforeseen consequences. The prices residents now pay are much higher than before, and the service lacks an opt-out option or shared collections for apartment units and other special cases. We need to do better for our neighbors and ensure that our next contract with the trash collectors is equitable for all neighborhoods.
The city and county must collaborate to guarantee that even in temperatures 20 degrees below zero, we have places to keep unsheltered people warm. In the event of temperatures reaching 110 degrees, we also need places to keep people cool. Other challenges such as flooding are also possible. All entities should work together to ensure readiness for any potential crisis.
All government entities must collaborate to provide opportunities for everyone to access quality education, effective job training, and well-paying jobs. A strong education serves as the foundation for successful individuals and community members. We can further support this by partnering with trade unions to offer training during school breaks. By ensuring everyone's success, we can build stronger communities.
We all thrive when we work together. Together, we rise!
Public Office Sought: St. Paul City Council Ward 1
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Phone: 651-317-4880
Campaign Website: www.jameslo.org
Twitter handle: N/A
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/jameslocitycouncil
Candidate Bio
I was born in a refugee camp in Thailand. When I was 9 years old, my family applied for political asylum. We fledcommunism and political persecution in the Secret War in Laos. Ever since then, Frogtown has been our cherished home for nearly three decades. As an older child in my family, I took on the responsibilities to help provide for the family. Our family's biggest financial success was purchasing a home just after 2 years of coming to the United States.
I grew up in St. Paul, attending St. Paul Public Schools. I graduated from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls with a Masters Degree in Education and School Counseling. I see myself as an educator, an entrepreneur, and a community leader. The joy of life is my wife Clara, and our seven children.
I am a proud union member of the Saint Paul Federation of Educators Local 28. I am a full-time Licensed School Counselor at Harding Senior High School. I believe in helping students and families achieve their educational goals. Having experienced the great value of a good education, I am committed to ensuring everyone is given the same opportunities.
What style of leadership would you bring to this position?
I believe a leader is a servant of the community. I represent the voice of the community, including and listening to everyone, so we don't alienate parts of the community, especially when we have to make tough decisions. I believe that respect, courtesy, trust, responsiveness, and communication are essential to creating a collaborative atmosphere. I will listen to all sides and put in the extra work to understand the complex problems that we face. Leadership is about coming to an agreement that can be upheld by all sides. Leadership is taking that agreement and making it work. In my style of leadership, we can create win-win situations.
Voicing our concerns is good, but we need to focus on fixing problems. I want to dive deeper, address the root of the problems, and focus on solutions. As a community, we can work together to solve them, because when we work together, we rise together.
What would be your top three priorities if elected?
St. Paul is already a good city, but I truly believe it can be better.
We can plan ahead and use new technologies to ensure our roads are plowed efficiently and our potholes are filled quickly. This is where I want our city to prioritize funding first.
We can build relationships in which the community and police respect each other. By investing in proactive community-based initiatives, we can create a collaborative approach that works alongside our existing police force. It's about finding a balance and ensuring the well-being and security of residents and police officers alike.
Friends, family, and neighbors are moving out of our great city because of high property taxes. I will explore people-centered housing policies that will allow people to stay in St. Paul.
What do you consider the biggest challenge and conversely, the biggest opportunity in St. Paul?
The biggest opportunity in St. Paul is the strength of our diversity. Our neighbors come from all ethnicities and walks of life. We activate each other. We support one another. We welcome everyone. When we come together, we can make sure that we get our fair share of support for all our neighbors and businesses. We still have room for growth in celebrating cultures and leveraging our diversity to build stronger neighborhoods.
Our biggest challenge in St. Paul is that we have a smaller tax base due to a significant portion of our city not having to pay taxes, such as government buildings, colleges, schools, and nonprofits. This puts the burden of property taxes mostly on homeowners. A sales tax will also pose a challenge as it stands to bring revenue through non-property tax dollars but hurt businesses and residents. The big development projects in our city need to be funded by the State, especially with the surplus tax we recently collected. These are tricky economic challenges, and we must navigate these decisions with the community in mind.
How would you characterize the business climate in St. Paul and what role do you think the city should have in attracting and retaining jobs and new businesses in St. Paul?
Business is recovering in St. Paul. There is much to do to recover from the effects of COVID, and I think businesses should see the city as a partner. I understand the looming sales tax is on top of everyone’s mind, but there is also so much opportunity for growth. We need to do whatever we can to incentivize small business growth in vacant retail spaces.
St. Paul should support the growth of small businesses. Small businesses are the foundation of our city and employ the most people. We should focus our resources on developing, attracting, and retaining our small businesses. We also need to be more creative in how we can reuse commercial spaces.
There are a lot of new creative business ideas that have taken hold in other neighborhoods and have created a sense of community around them. We need more coffee shops, restaurants, boutique clothing stores, and other small businesses to spur more development and share their excitement.
What are your strategies to address public safety challenges in your community?
I believe our community and police can work out how policing works best for us. By investing in community-based initiatives, mental health services, conflict resolution programs, and other proactive measures, we can create a collaborative approach that works alongside our existing police force. It's about finding a balance and ensuring the well-being and security of residents and police officers alike.
In many ways, St. Paul has undergone many unrecognized positive changes over the years. For example, St. Paul has the “Duty to Intervene” policy, where other officers have a duty to step in when a bad situation is developing. This duty is taken so seriously that officers have been fired for not intervening. This is an example of all of us working together in a better way.
One of the ways that our police can do better is by taking the time to show respect and allow peaceful resolution. During a recent incident on Sherburne Avenue, the police spent all night talking until the entire family was safe. This was a case of immediate danger, so the police had to be involved. This is the type of policing we all want, but taking time means needing more police resources.
Another area of improvement has been pretrial policing. Multiple groups have been working together so that the state-required bail process does not cause financial hardship. No one should be stuck in jail for being suspected of a non-dangerous crime to the public.
What ideas do you have to address housing shortages and affordability?
Housing shortages and affordability present a significant challenge in St. Paul, especially in Ward 1. We need to construct more housing while ensuring long-term affordability. This initiative can begin by augmenting the funding for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
Given St. Paul's constrained development space, we must adopt more innovative approaches to land utilization. We should permit greater flexibility for tiny homes and accessory dwelling units. Additionally, vertical expansion is a viable solution, involving the construction of more apartments and condos or repurposing commercial properties into housing units.
A city like St. Paul, with a limited tax base, cannot undertake costly issues that fall within the purview of larger government entities. Addressing the housing shortage crisis should also involve action at the state level.
St. Paul candidates only: Do you support the rent stabilization ordinance in its current form? If not, what would you like to change?
St. Paul has implemented a rent stabilization policy that had a shaky start. Ensuring that rents and housing remain stable will require careful review and revision by the city council. The existing rules have incorporated mechanisms that allow rents to increase to attract more rental housing development, while also imposing limits to prevent financial hardship for renters.
The city must also ensure responsible housing maintenance. Outsiders who prioritize high rents without adequately repairing and maintaining the property negatively impact the entire community. The optimal solution would involve focusing on addressing problematic behavior while rewarding landlords who genuinely value their renters and the community. Local landlords who have consistently maintained their properties while keeping rents affordable should be able to transition to market rates. Establishing a "Renter's Advisory Council" to review complaints, protect renters, and incentivize responsible landlords with enforcement power would be beneficial. My focus is on a balanced approach that promotes policies to increase housing supply while safeguarding vulnerable residents. I believe there are win-win solutions.
How would you work to improve transportation options in your community, including improved safety for transit riders, pedestrians/bike, and drivers alike?
Every neighborhood has reported an increase in danger from speeding cars since COVID. To enhance safety for pedestrians and drivers alike, we need more pedestrian lights, similar to those around the Green Line, to alert drivers when someone is waiting to cross. We must also continue promoting our “20 is Plenty” campaign through lawn signs and "kids at play" signage. Radar speed signs have proven effective in curbing speeding and should be installed at problematic intersections and road sections. Our community norm should shift toward slower driving.
The Metro Transit system should feel safe, clean, and appealing to everyone. By collaborating with Metro Transit Safety and multiple municipalities, we can alter current usage patterns to make more people feel secure while using Metro transit. We need to expand the network of buses and light rails. When mass transit is interconnected and easily accessible by walking or biking, it will be more convenient for everyone to use.
What will you do to expand St. Paul’s tax base?
St. Paul is a mature city with limited space for further development. Our growth potential lies in building upward, redeveloping underused properties, and transforming vacant spaces into housing units. We can facilitate greater flexibility for tiny homes and accessory dwelling units, incentivize denser housing development, and encourage such initiatives. However, as a city, we must learn to operate within our budget constraints. Larger and more expensive projects will need to be financed by the county or state. We must plan ahead to avoid unexpected costly financial demands. With the assistance of the state and county, we need to maintain stable property taxes, even as property values rise.
Are there any services currently provided by the city that you believe should be cut back or eliminated? Are there new opportunities to share services with other entities?
Municipal trash collection services had great intentions but led to unforeseen consequences. The prices residents now pay are much higher than before, and the service lacks an opt-out option or shared collections for apartment units and other special cases. We need to do better for our neighbors and ensure that our next contract with the trash collectors is equitable for all neighborhoods.
The city and county must collaborate to guarantee that even in temperatures 20 degrees below zero, we have places to keep unsheltered people warm. In the event of temperatures reaching 110 degrees, we also need places to keep people cool. Other challenges such as flooding are also possible. All entities should work together to ensure readiness for any potential crisis.
All government entities must collaborate to provide opportunities for everyone to access quality education, effective job training, and well-paying jobs. A strong education serves as the foundation for successful individuals and community members. We can further support this by partnering with trade unions to offer training during school breaks. By ensuring everyone's success, we can build stronger communities.
We all thrive when we work together. Together, we rise!