Maria Isa Perez-Vega
Name: Maria Isa Perez-Vega
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Phone: 651-253-1252
Campaign Website: votemariaisa.org
Twitter handle:
Facebook Page: Maria Isa for Ramsey County
Candidate Bio
I am a small-business owner who grew up on the West Side of St. Paul. I’m a proud Latina, mom, award-winning musician and youth educator. As a progressive DFL state representative in the MN House, I have delivered more in my two terms than some have delivered in ten years in local government.
I authored, passed and funded $1.3 billion to address homelessness, $13 million for West 7th reconstruction, $40 million for the Roy Wilkins Auditorium, and $6.2 million for RiversEdge, often in a tied house when no one expected us to even get a bonding bill. I did it by building good relationships across the aisle, using my leadership in the Saint Paul Delegation and by not taking no for an answer.
I’ve built relationships with the current county board, a majority of whom have endorsed me, and I’m ready to hit the ground running redeveloping our downtown to produce more revenue for the county and relieve the tax burden on homeowners.
I am proud of my partnerships with organizations like the Science Museum, Saints, Lost Fox, Ruam Mit, and the Wellstone Center. I will continue to work with local businesses and nonprofits and help them thrive.
What style of leadership would you bring to this position?
I will be a decisive and collaborative leader. I will make it a priority to learn the different sides of issues and access all relevant information about county programs. I will be transparent and get to work with the right partners to achieve our goals. My strong leadership is part of the reason I came in first place in the primary and that I’ve won the enthusiastic support of U.S. Senator Tina Smith, Attorney General Ellison, labor unions and many other community leaders.
What are your top three priorities if elected, and how might they be affected by growing uncertainty around state and federal funding?
The most important job of the county is to take care of people who need support. These are the unglamorous but critical jobs of providing medical care, SNAP benefits, and housing assistance to people who wouldn’t make it otherwise. My number one priority will be to protect them from the cruelties and cuts by this federal government.
My second priority will be to revitalize downtown Saint Paul. As a state rep, I invested in the Roy Wilkins Auditorium, the Saints ballpark, and brought 310,000 visitors to downtown with the Latino Museum. I also invested in the RiversEdge project. I look forward to working with my colleagues at the county to help build projects like RiversEdge and Rice Creek Commons. These are really critical to expand the county tax base and relieve the tax burden on residents as well as making the city safer and more welcoming.
Finally, I will work to make community engagement more inclusive and more effective. Too often traditional community engagement is dominated by people who don’t even use the service under discussion. We will center the voices and needs of residents.
What is the biggest challenge facing the county right now, and where do you see the greatest opportunity?
The biggest challenge we face right now is balancing the need to protect services negatively impacted by cuts by other levels of government, against the need to limit our property taxes. The Building Stronger Together effort, which includes selling or repurposing underused county land and using the proceeds to complete the park and redevelopment of RiversEdge downtown and Rice Creek Commons in Arden Hills, is clearly a giant opportunity.
How would you characterize the business climate in Ramsey County, and what role should the county government play in partnering with the business community to attract jobs, develop the workforce, and address shared challenges?
In the last five years, the business climate has been battered by COVID, the perception of municipal governments that don't respond quickly enough to crime concerns and add unnecessary red tape, and most recently by ICE invading our community, terrifying workers and customers alike. In this dire situation, I appreciate that the county has created its own Economic Development department and is taking big swings. I also want to be able to work WITH the city and state leaders and business leaders to support otherwise successful businesses so we don’t have to create completely new projects but can support things that are already working.
What do you view as the most pressing public safety challenges in your community, and how would you address them?
Homelessness and drug addiction are huge challenges and you don’t have to go far downtown before you see people struggling. I will address this in a few ways: 1) Deploy more effectively the tools we already have. 2) Not make things worse by taking action without having supports in place. 3) Work with partners at the state, the city, medical professionals, and police, and metro transit to get the right resources to the county.
I am proud to have helped provide $1.4 M from the state to Ramsey County to help stop dangerous crime. This helped County Attorney Choi and Sheriff Fletcher reduce car jackings from more than a hundred in a year to twenty-eight last year. We need to build on this type of initiative.
What role should the county play in addressing housing shortages and affordability, and what would you prioritize?
First of all the county needs to continue to aggressively prioritize new housing in every price range. We also need to find sustainable ways to support organizations like Catholic Charities. When it comes to housing, we should have a "Yes to almost everything” approach. Tiny houses, YES. Shared Housing similar to rooming houses, YES, subsidizing fixing up old houses for a much lower price than building new? YES. Some of this would require rezoning, and I’d be willing to partner with the cities in Ramsey County on such efforts.
How would you improve transportation infrastructure and safety for drivers, transit riders, cyclists, and pedestrians in your community?
After many years of discussion and planning, I was able to work with the DFL chair and the GOP chair of the house capital investment committee to get $13M to help rebuild West 7th. This is a scary road for bikes and pedestrians. One of the challenges of getting this large multijurisdictional project done will be making sure we rebuild it in a much safer way and I will use my leverage as a county commissioner to do just that. This could include reducing underused parking, adding turn lanes, and getting rid of confusing, dangerous turns. The Rice Street Reconstruction, the Gold Line, and the Bronze Line are all examples of really exciting new ways to make safer, bike- and ped-friendly transitways. I also support the work the county is doing to make the section of Randolph between West 7th and the river safer by adding sidewalks and bike lanes. When it comes to entirely new infrastructure like bikeways similar to the midtown Greenway in Hennepin County, we need to consider the tax impacts, the potential economic development benefits, and get buy-in from partners like the city and the Met Council before committing, especially at these difficult budget times.
Residential property owners across the region are feeling significant strain from rising property tax bills. How would you approach balancing fiscal responsibility with the demand for services when setting the county levy?
I addressed this in Question 4 above. The county board sets budget goals and then asks the County Manager and department heads to build the detailed budget based on those goals. I’ve been very clear about my goal of keeping our most vulnerable residents from falling through the cracks. To keep our budget under control, we will need to make sacrifices. I will work with front line staff to find efficiencies and allocate funds in line with our top priorities.
What are the two or three issues where you believe county government is best positioned to lead — and why the county rather than the state or a municipality?
The Building Stronger Together effort is the county’s. We will be the lead. I support us carefully using our funds to build a great park connection to the river downtown - an approach many cities have successfully used to revive struggling downtowns - and making sure it leads to significant redevelopment including every level of housing, office and retail that expands our tax base and reduces residents’ tax burdens. We won't get in the way of either the Downtown Alliance or the city in energizing the city’s economy, but we can’t afford to wait. The county has done great work with transit and environmental efforts, but the other place we have to lead, whether we like it or not, is taking care of our unsheltered individuals. We are responsible. We have at least some of the resources and I am ready to work with partners at every level, including nonprofits, for-profits, the state and the city to get more resources and to use the resources we have wisely.
What does real taxpayer transparency look like to you, and what specific steps would you take to achieve it — both in terms of financial reporting and public engagement?
The county board is required to be transparent in a variety of ways regarding the budget and taxation, including the Truth In Taxation Hearing, detailed property tax statements and participation on the Joint Property Tax Advisory Committee (JPTAC). I support these requirements. One small improvement would be to include more information about special taxing districts on the property tax statement.
As I’ve been talking about reforming our public engagement, I envision us dramatically increasing direct communication with people who use our services, our roads, and our libraries about significant changes to those services and acting on their input. For example, as a state representative, I was looking at funding West 7th improvements. I met with the Oromo community in the Sibley manor area to learn what they valued there and how they use it. It was very useful.
Many candidates promise more meetings - I would need to know that those meetings are truly useful both for the taxpayer and the county.
Finally, I will be quickly responsive to my constituents when they have specific questions about anything, including tax or budget questions.
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Phone: 651-253-1252
Campaign Website: votemariaisa.org
Twitter handle:
Facebook Page: Maria Isa for Ramsey County
Candidate Bio
I am a small-business owner who grew up on the West Side of St. Paul. I’m a proud Latina, mom, award-winning musician and youth educator. As a progressive DFL state representative in the MN House, I have delivered more in my two terms than some have delivered in ten years in local government.
I authored, passed and funded $1.3 billion to address homelessness, $13 million for West 7th reconstruction, $40 million for the Roy Wilkins Auditorium, and $6.2 million for RiversEdge, often in a tied house when no one expected us to even get a bonding bill. I did it by building good relationships across the aisle, using my leadership in the Saint Paul Delegation and by not taking no for an answer.
I’ve built relationships with the current county board, a majority of whom have endorsed me, and I’m ready to hit the ground running redeveloping our downtown to produce more revenue for the county and relieve the tax burden on homeowners.
I am proud of my partnerships with organizations like the Science Museum, Saints, Lost Fox, Ruam Mit, and the Wellstone Center. I will continue to work with local businesses and nonprofits and help them thrive.
What style of leadership would you bring to this position?
I will be a decisive and collaborative leader. I will make it a priority to learn the different sides of issues and access all relevant information about county programs. I will be transparent and get to work with the right partners to achieve our goals. My strong leadership is part of the reason I came in first place in the primary and that I’ve won the enthusiastic support of U.S. Senator Tina Smith, Attorney General Ellison, labor unions and many other community leaders.
What are your top three priorities if elected, and how might they be affected by growing uncertainty around state and federal funding?
The most important job of the county is to take care of people who need support. These are the unglamorous but critical jobs of providing medical care, SNAP benefits, and housing assistance to people who wouldn’t make it otherwise. My number one priority will be to protect them from the cruelties and cuts by this federal government.
My second priority will be to revitalize downtown Saint Paul. As a state rep, I invested in the Roy Wilkins Auditorium, the Saints ballpark, and brought 310,000 visitors to downtown with the Latino Museum. I also invested in the RiversEdge project. I look forward to working with my colleagues at the county to help build projects like RiversEdge and Rice Creek Commons. These are really critical to expand the county tax base and relieve the tax burden on residents as well as making the city safer and more welcoming.
Finally, I will work to make community engagement more inclusive and more effective. Too often traditional community engagement is dominated by people who don’t even use the service under discussion. We will center the voices and needs of residents.
What is the biggest challenge facing the county right now, and where do you see the greatest opportunity?
The biggest challenge we face right now is balancing the need to protect services negatively impacted by cuts by other levels of government, against the need to limit our property taxes. The Building Stronger Together effort, which includes selling or repurposing underused county land and using the proceeds to complete the park and redevelopment of RiversEdge downtown and Rice Creek Commons in Arden Hills, is clearly a giant opportunity.
How would you characterize the business climate in Ramsey County, and what role should the county government play in partnering with the business community to attract jobs, develop the workforce, and address shared challenges?
In the last five years, the business climate has been battered by COVID, the perception of municipal governments that don't respond quickly enough to crime concerns and add unnecessary red tape, and most recently by ICE invading our community, terrifying workers and customers alike. In this dire situation, I appreciate that the county has created its own Economic Development department and is taking big swings. I also want to be able to work WITH the city and state leaders and business leaders to support otherwise successful businesses so we don’t have to create completely new projects but can support things that are already working.
What do you view as the most pressing public safety challenges in your community, and how would you address them?
Homelessness and drug addiction are huge challenges and you don’t have to go far downtown before you see people struggling. I will address this in a few ways: 1) Deploy more effectively the tools we already have. 2) Not make things worse by taking action without having supports in place. 3) Work with partners at the state, the city, medical professionals, and police, and metro transit to get the right resources to the county.
I am proud to have helped provide $1.4 M from the state to Ramsey County to help stop dangerous crime. This helped County Attorney Choi and Sheriff Fletcher reduce car jackings from more than a hundred in a year to twenty-eight last year. We need to build on this type of initiative.
What role should the county play in addressing housing shortages and affordability, and what would you prioritize?
First of all the county needs to continue to aggressively prioritize new housing in every price range. We also need to find sustainable ways to support organizations like Catholic Charities. When it comes to housing, we should have a "Yes to almost everything” approach. Tiny houses, YES. Shared Housing similar to rooming houses, YES, subsidizing fixing up old houses for a much lower price than building new? YES. Some of this would require rezoning, and I’d be willing to partner with the cities in Ramsey County on such efforts.
How would you improve transportation infrastructure and safety for drivers, transit riders, cyclists, and pedestrians in your community?
After many years of discussion and planning, I was able to work with the DFL chair and the GOP chair of the house capital investment committee to get $13M to help rebuild West 7th. This is a scary road for bikes and pedestrians. One of the challenges of getting this large multijurisdictional project done will be making sure we rebuild it in a much safer way and I will use my leverage as a county commissioner to do just that. This could include reducing underused parking, adding turn lanes, and getting rid of confusing, dangerous turns. The Rice Street Reconstruction, the Gold Line, and the Bronze Line are all examples of really exciting new ways to make safer, bike- and ped-friendly transitways. I also support the work the county is doing to make the section of Randolph between West 7th and the river safer by adding sidewalks and bike lanes. When it comes to entirely new infrastructure like bikeways similar to the midtown Greenway in Hennepin County, we need to consider the tax impacts, the potential economic development benefits, and get buy-in from partners like the city and the Met Council before committing, especially at these difficult budget times.
Residential property owners across the region are feeling significant strain from rising property tax bills. How would you approach balancing fiscal responsibility with the demand for services when setting the county levy?
I addressed this in Question 4 above. The county board sets budget goals and then asks the County Manager and department heads to build the detailed budget based on those goals. I’ve been very clear about my goal of keeping our most vulnerable residents from falling through the cracks. To keep our budget under control, we will need to make sacrifices. I will work with front line staff to find efficiencies and allocate funds in line with our top priorities.
What are the two or three issues where you believe county government is best positioned to lead — and why the county rather than the state or a municipality?
The Building Stronger Together effort is the county’s. We will be the lead. I support us carefully using our funds to build a great park connection to the river downtown - an approach many cities have successfully used to revive struggling downtowns - and making sure it leads to significant redevelopment including every level of housing, office and retail that expands our tax base and reduces residents’ tax burdens. We won't get in the way of either the Downtown Alliance or the city in energizing the city’s economy, but we can’t afford to wait. The county has done great work with transit and environmental efforts, but the other place we have to lead, whether we like it or not, is taking care of our unsheltered individuals. We are responsible. We have at least some of the resources and I am ready to work with partners at every level, including nonprofits, for-profits, the state and the city to get more resources and to use the resources we have wisely.
What does real taxpayer transparency look like to you, and what specific steps would you take to achieve it — both in terms of financial reporting and public engagement?
The county board is required to be transparent in a variety of ways regarding the budget and taxation, including the Truth In Taxation Hearing, detailed property tax statements and participation on the Joint Property Tax Advisory Committee (JPTAC). I support these requirements. One small improvement would be to include more information about special taxing districts on the property tax statement.
As I’ve been talking about reforming our public engagement, I envision us dramatically increasing direct communication with people who use our services, our roads, and our libraries about significant changes to those services and acting on their input. For example, as a state representative, I was looking at funding West 7th improvements. I met with the Oromo community in the Sibley manor area to learn what they valued there and how they use it. It was very useful.
Many candidates promise more meetings - I would need to know that those meetings are truly useful both for the taxpayer and the county.
Finally, I will be quickly responsive to my constituents when they have specific questions about anything, including tax or budget questions.