Wedge LIVE!

John is joined by co-host Jason Garcia for a conversation with Aisha Chughtai, who's running for Minneapolis City Council. We start with an inappropriate degree of fawning from an uninvited special guest. Aisha wants to know how long this show will go (we have no good answers). Aisha talks about balancing work and running for office as she enters the heart of the campaign. And what it's like to be a running as a woman of color during an intense, sometimes angry, time in our city. What's her vision for public safety? How to campaign in an ideologically and racially diverse place like Ward 10? What's she hearing from voters? What are some campaign metrics, money, volunteers, etc? As with most episodes, we talk about the self-induced disintegration of MPD. John gets heated over the strong mayor charter amendment (or "mayoral power grab") and misinformation in the local news ecosystem. Do voters know the mayor has full control over MPD? Aisha says largely no. We talk about housing, the 2040 plan, rent control. What do we do about terrible streets like Lyndale and Hennepin Avenues? Aisha talks about her labor priorities if elected. John forces Aisha to say one nice thing about each of her Ward 10 competitors (special bonus round featuring Park Board President Jono Cowgill's hair). Jason wants to know about favorite Ward 10 restaurants and bars. John reminisces about bike lane protests of yesteryear. We close out the episode talking about the joys of turtlenecks and Aisha's other recommendations.

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John has a conversation with Minneapolis City Council candidate Katie Jones. We talk about the incredibly high stakes for this election while Katie sits on the floor of her attic. In a time like this, why disrupt your life to become a candidate? John chides Katie the engineer for not laughing at his jokes and expresses frustration with election year distraction politics. What is Katie's response to the empty catchphrase "support our chief"? Katie says the framing is all wrong. It's about sending the appropriate response to every situation. How do we counter the lie that the public safety charter amendment eliminates the police? John asks about doorknocking and is surprised to learn "how many lonely people there are out there opening their doors for strangers." What is this campaign experience teaching Katie about humanity? We talk about the Wedge's unique position in the transportation universe (bikes/buses/grocery stores). John says these 2021 charter amendments are all about who has the power. Katie talks about rent control, other housing priorities, climate and transportation. John gets real for a moment and reveals the reason for his long-ago skepticism of Katie. We close the show out with Katie's recommendations for things that are making her happy.

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On the thrilling conclusion of BET Candidates Week: Steve Brandt. John begins by asking Steve to give his assessment of where Minneapolis stands after the events of the past year or so. How would Steve explain the BET to a normal human being? What would Steve do if the Council needed his help raising the tax levy to fund alternative public safety priorities beyond what's contained in the mayor's budget? How is Steve different from the tax hawks who currently occupy the two directly elected seats on the BET (and who endorsed his candidacy)? We talk about Steve's prior career as a reporter with the Star Tribune and why he's give up the retired life to become a candidate for elected office. Steve reveals that Carol Becker planted the seed for him to run for BET all the way back in 2009. John asks Steve which local candidates he's knocked doors for in recent years. Steve says he's against the public safety charter amendment, saying it gives too much authority to the City Council (the proverbial "14 bosses"). Steve and John go back and forth in disagreement over the wisdom of the strong mayor ballot measure. John gives Steve one last opportunity to renounce his Carol Becker endorsement. Steve declines. But we are able close the show on a note of agreement.

[If you are concerned about why only two BET candidates appeared this week: a third candidate was scheduled and rescheduled. On two separate occasions this candidate just did not show up. I tried.]

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Pine Salica is our first guest for BET Candidates Week! We start off with the basics. What is the BET? Why do you want this job? Are you a fiscal conservative or are you willing to provide budget flexibility to fund essential city priorities? We talk about the public safety charter amendment and the recent ballot language controversy. Pine tells us about their desire to have Minneapolis raise money for public housing maintenance using a public housing levy. A Lisa Goodman soundbite prompts a conversation about appropriate workplace conduct at City Hall. John urges Minneapolis not to turn back the clock to the days of the Rainville dynasty. Pine talks about what it was like doorknocking Ward 7 voters during the 2017 election. John punctuates an emotional BET story with the words, "Shame on you Tom Lyden, and shame on you Carol Becker." What issue has Pine evolved on over the years? Finally, Pine gives recommendations for things that bring happiness.

Bonus content: John reveals deep, personal feelings of anxiety that come with his high-stakes, pressure-filled role as the host of the Wedge neighborhood's highest rated podcast.

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John is joined by Jeremiah Ellison who represents Ward 5 in North Minneapolis. Jeremiah says he's a progressive outlier in a historically low-turnout ward that tends to elects more conservative council members ("we made people feel like it was worth voting" in 2017). We talk about a housing crisis Jeremiah faced early in his first term; the rent control charter amendment (and mayoral veto); public safety ("Long before the past two years Ward 5, and Ward 4, we've had to carry the burden of gun violence in this city"); and the backlash to even having the conversation about creating a department of public safety. We talk about the high stakes in this year's election (and the wards where the stakes are a little lower). John asks about the surprisingly competitive campaign of his Trumpy opponent. Jeremiah says the challenge has lit a fire under his campaign, and admits he may have taken too many nights off campaigning during the last year. What has a grizzled Council Member Ellison learned in his first term -- what's some wisdom that would have benefited his younger, activist self? How has he evolved in his thinking during his time as an elected official? Does Jeremiah Ellison the artist find the elected life satisfying? Jeremiah tells the story of the time he got arrested for a girl (at a minimum wage protest). We close out the show with advice for raising a giant dog and music recommendations. 

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John is joined by Erica Mauter for a wide-ranging conversation about the state of the 2021 election. Erica reacts to John's narration of what he calls "the Kneecapping of Erica Mauter" by the Star Tribune Editorial Board. Erica talks about her experience campaigning for City Council as a Queer Black woman in an especially white part of Minneapolis (Ward 11), and how that influenced her decision to find a new neighborhood. We ponder the current state of the race in Ward 11 and elsewhere. How do we, as residents of this city, get to a shared theory of the last 15 months -- and how we arrived at this moment when it comes to police and public safety? How do we deal with that gnawing fear of the Rainville (Ward 3) and Hofstede (Ward 11) families returning to power at city hall? We relive the horror of LaTrisha Vetaw (Ward 4) turning herself into the worst caricature of a politician. Listen until the end to hear John do one of the most embarrassing things a person can do: reciting a protest chant on a podcast. And Erica turns the podcast into an ice cream advertisement.

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It's a wide ranging election year conversation with longtime local journalist ("40 years of sedimentary layers in Minneapolis"), and Twitter Dad to all, David Brauer. David talks John through the various scenarios, ranking them on a scale of how likely they are to make you poop your pants. After covering the Board of Estimate and Taxation, and the various City Council races, we discuss two charter amendments — "strong mayor" and public safety — that could shift the balance of power and reshape how local government works. With law-and-order authoritarians emboldened, how do we talk about public safety in a way that brings people over to the good side? John asks David about how his thinking has changed on housing policy over the years. And David tells us one question he'd like this year's candidates to answer.

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John is joined by Jason Garcia and investigator Taylor Dahlin. Taylor has untangled the web of mystery and deceit that surround the Mickey Moore campaign for Minneapolis City Council in Ward 9. Questions beget more questions in the quest to understand the real Mickey Moore. Does Mickey Moore really live in Ward 9 where he is currently running for City Council? Did he ever live in the 5th District when he ran against Ilhan Omar last year? Or has he always lived with his family in Oak Grove, as photographic and other evidence uncovered by Taylor seem to indicate. Oak Grove is not in Ward 9. It's not in Minneapolis. It's not even in the 5th Congressional District. Why is Mickey Moore, someone with a glaring residency issue, attacking his opponent for guilt-by-association with a residency scandal? What is the League of Minneapolis Homeowners and why does it exist nowhere besides Mickey Moore's endorsement page on his website? Was this fake group invented to make it look like Mickey Moore has supporters? How has this buffoonish candidate attracted the support of prominent local figures like Tom Hoch and Don Samuels. Do they have no shame? And what's the deal with Moore's small business? Why is there a white man in a Halloween style dreadlock wig on the website for Moore's "hair saloon"? And why does Mickey spell it "hair saloon" and not salon? Why is John so deeply embarrassed about having done an entire episode devoted to Mickey Moore? We ponder these questions and more on a special Mickey Episode.

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John and co-host Elissa Schufman start off the show with an extended period of delightful co-host banter, demonstrating mutual respect and admiration — making a convincing case to listeners that they enjoy being in each other's presence. John asks, does Elissa consider herself to be the Wedge LIVE equivalent to the late Andy Rooney, of 60 Minutes fame? Does she who know that is? What's the deal with people who drive on the Midtown Greenway? Elissa provides an Aldi update: she still hasn't been to one. 

We're joined later in the show by guest Jason Chavez, who is running for Minneapolis City Council in Ward 9. Jason, the son of Mexican immigrants, talks about his family's experience in Minneapolis and how that informs his desire to make city government more accessible. Other topics: Environmental justice at the Roof Depot site. Has Jason shifted on issues, or the way he talks about issues, in response to community feedback? How do we rebuild community trust in systems of public safety? How should we be addressing immediate safety concerns? What to do with the MPD Third Precinct site? What does it mean for something to be community-led? What does it mean to be "strategic" about the police union contract? Elissa speaks to how decisions about streets and transportation are determined by preferences of individual council members, then asks Jason to talk about his transportation priorities. Municipal sidewalk shoveling. What does "taxing the rich" look like as city-level policy? SROs (rooming houses). John asks Jason to describe his housing philosophy?

Stay tuned after the interview for special bonus banter regarding the Mickey Moore campaign in Ward 9.

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John and co-host PeggySue have a conversation with Jeremy Schroeder, who represents Ward 11 on the Minneapolis City Council. First we ask about chickens. Then we talk about his first term, the leadership role he's taken on housing and public safety, and how city hall has been more political and less collaborative than he expected. PeggySue's cat derails the episode by obliterating John's script. Then we talk some more about public safety and what's wrong with the mayor. John asks why Jeremy's rooming house legalization proposal (in process now) would be limited only to housing run by governments and non-profits. We also ask a series of rapid fire questions solicited from twitter. John reminds everyone of the time in 2017 when Jeremy Schroeder was labeled by big business as a child dentist, before asking Jeremy which character he'd like to portray in a 2021 attack ad. 

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Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee