Elizabeth Dickinson

Elizabeth Dickinson

Education

Bachelor's

Cambridge University

Graduate

Lesley University

Personal

Profession

Life and career coach

Contact

Personal website

Elizabeth Dickinson was a candidate for mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota. Dickinson was defeated in the general election on November 7, 2017. She ran unsuccessfully for the mayor's office in 2005.

Biography

Dickinson earned her bachelor's degree from Cambridge University. She later received her M.A. in holistic counseling psychology from Lesley University. Dickinson is a life and career coach.

Elections

2017

See also: Municipal elections in St. Paul, Minnesota (2017)

The city of St. Paul, Minnesota, held an election for mayor on November 7, 2017. The filing deadline for this election was August 15, 2017. Mayor Chris Coleman (D) did not file for re-election because of his 2018 campaign for governor. The following candidates ran in the general election for mayor of St. Paul.

Mayor of St. Paul, General Election, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Melvin Carter III	50.86%	31,353
Pat Harris	24.79%	15,281
Dai Thao	12.31%	7,590
Elizabeth Dickinson	4.75%	2,927
Tom Goldstein	3.83%	2,360
Chris Holbrook	1.39%	854
Sharon Anderson	0.79%	487
Tim Holden	0.72%	446
Trahern Jeen Crews	0.26%	162
Barnabas Y'shua	0.15%	94
Write-in votes	0.15%	92
Total Votes		61,646
Source: Ramsey County, Minnesota, "Election Results," accessed November 28, 2017

2005

Mayor of St. Paul, Primary Election, 2005
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Chris Coleman	51.8%	13,041
Randy Kelly Incumbent	26.8%	6,740
Elizabeth Dickinson	19.5%	4,905
Nich Tschida	0.5%	135
Sharon Anderson	0.9%	216
Bill Dahn	0.2%	59
Jacon Perasso	0.1%	36
Glen Mansfield	0.2%	40
Total Votes		25,037
Source: Ramsey County Board of Elections - 2005 Primary Election Results

Campaign themes

2017

Dickinson's campaign website included the following themes for 2017:

“	Safe Communities Create Just and Safe Communities Let's work within the city and community to promote greater safety and trust in public institutions and law enforcement. I will address and eliminate implicit and explicit bias in hiring practices and in law enforcement through increased training, and community and relationship-based policing and programming. We should support effective civilian oversight structures; retain and enforce the INS/Police Separation ordinance (Sanctuary Cities); and fight legislative attempts to levy fines on protesters. We need better education of police on mental health issues, and we need to encourage the use of co-responders (mental health professionals) and the use of de-escalation techniques over force. There should be more independent investigations in cases of police misconduct; and we must support and expand restorative justice programs. Jobs & Economic Development Pass a $15/hour Living Wage Ordinance Let's implement a $15/hour minimum/living wage, phased in over 4-6 years. A Minneapolis study shows this policy will raise 71,000 families out of poverty. There is no social program anyone could devise that will help working families more. If we consider work to have dignity, we must ensure our workers can live with dignity and pay for the basics of a good life, including food and housing. Create Opportunities to Fill Jobs That Exist Now Concordia University economist Bruce Corrie has identified the top ten occupations in demand in the Twin Cities right now. We must work with schools and businesses to identify the skills needed for in-demand professions. We can inspire students by bringing in successful role models from those professions, inform them about the possibilities open to them, and provide educational opportunities so they are prepared to assume those positions. For example, since registered nurses are the top profession in demand (and other health care jobs fill 2 of the top 10 spots), I would work with the Minnesota Nurses' Association to support outreach, particularly by and to communities of color, to educate young women and men about jobs in the medical profession. Also, I would do an inventory and analysis of available city jobs to ensure that there is a match between required qualifications and qualifications actually needed to do the job. In Hennepin County, such an analysis is resulting in greater access and hiring of a more diverse employee body. Create and Implement an Energy Action Plan I'll create an energy action plan - with substantive public input - to transition to policies that emphasize energy efficiency and promote clean, affordable, reliable, local, and equitable energy. We should invest in community-owned solar, and investigate the possibility of using our city-owned public roofs and spaces (including our school roofs) to install solar gardens. In so doing, we'll provide living wage jobs to underserved communities, reduce dependence on fossil fuels, and promote social, economic, and environmental justice. Sustainable Development We've been in the thrall of the 'bright, shiny object' syndrome, with too many resources directed to stadiums, and larger building projects, including the Palace Theater, with major cost overruns. I support new construction and renovation projects, particularly as community anchors, but let's finance them responsibly and sustainably. TIF We should restrict the use of TIF (tax increment financing), which essentially waives the city's right to collect taxes on development deals for a prescribed period of time. When St. Paul over-uses TIF, we end up shortchanging the rest of the city and losing money that should be directed to projects and programming that directly benefits residents. TIF should not be automatically attached to development deals. We need to return to the original intent of TIF in the 1970s - the 'but for' use of TIF, meaning that TIF is not used unless it's something with a clear public benefit that would not take place 'but for' the use of TIF. Additionally, let's use some of the criteria banks use to determine credit-worthiness when developers ask for TIF. Let's analyze the borrower's balance sheet, cash flow statements, inventory turnover rates, debt structure, management performance, and overall market conditions. We should also limit St. Paul's responsibility for cost-over-runs to a percentage of the overall cost of the projects. How many fewer TIF requests might we have if we adopted that attitude and asked these questions? Zoning Finally, zoning should drive development, not the other way around. If we want sustainable success at projects like the redevelopment of the Ford site, and want them to include cutting edge building techniques with energy efficiency and renewable energy, preservation of green space, and affordable housing that addresses the needs of current and future residents, and fits into the neighborhood, then we need to be very firm in our zoning requirements. Use principles of Lean Urbanism to Reduce Barriers to Starting New Businesses and Growing Established Ones Big, top-down development often has easier access to large amounts of capital and the assistance that comes with it. But most of our jobs come from local businesses and local entrepreneurs who often lack the resources to navigate the system. Lean urbanism seeks to help small entrepreneurial businesses by reducing unnecessary regulation that frustrates and delays small businesses' ability to opening and/or expanding. Currently, there's a pilot project on the East Side working in a small area. Let's see what we can learn from that project that we can expand to other areas of the city. Let's also provide small business navigators at city hall. While individual departments are very helpful, there's not enough interaction between them. Small businesses need easy answers to: Who do I talk to first? What do I do first? What do I do next? What do I do when requirements of one department seem at odds with the requirements of another? Let's hire business navigators with multiple language skills - navigators who will help individuals go through the system in a more pain-free, less frustrating way. Promote a Multi-Modal Transportation System I support multi-modal transportation options, with increased emphasis and funding for transit. Let's extend bus routes to job sites, such as those that go from the East Side to the Maplewood Mall. I'll support programs that emphasize pedestrian safety, traffic calming and extend bikeways. Housing Policies With rental vacancy rates below 2%, and both rental and ownership costs growing at a faster pace than incomes, there is a great need for more affordable housing. Policies I support include: Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and inclusionary zoning: Allowing what are sometimes known as ‘granny flats’, SFH renovations into duplexes, or garage-over units can provide affordable rental housing options for young or elderly singles. We could provide design templates so ADUs are in line with neighborhood standards. These can provide rental income to help pay down an owner’s mortgage while allowing future flexibility to use the space later as a home office, lodging for teenagers, or elderly family members. Streamlined permitting. Any housing development project meeting true "affordability" could be automatically entitled to expedited review by the city, even to the point of delaying decisions on other development proposals technically ahead in the queue. Supplying smaller apartments and tiny houses suitable both for those starting out and older people wanting to downsize. This increases density, cuts costs for buyers, and puts more affordable housing within reach. If we eliminate minimum sizes for homes and rely on standard building codes to ensure safe housing, we can expand housing opportunities. Reduce parking minimums to lower costs. Enforce and expand the 20% requirement for affordable housing in all new development. Give density bonuses for added housing units. Sell un-used city land to non-profit affordable housing developers at low (or no cost). The city owns land around the city (parking lots, abandoned properties, etc.). We could give the land away to people willing to build low-income housing. Continue relationships and support through public housing grants with programs like ‘Pride in Living’. Partner with unions (who use investment/pension funds to develop housing above Lunds) in a TIF-free relationship. Pursue relationships with large foundations to develop/attract additional funding sources for affordable housing. Create a program matching willing seniors in single family homes with homeless youth to reduce the property tax burden on seniors so they can stay in their homes, and providing homeless youth with a safe, affordable play to stay, possibly reducing their rent in return for simple services. Both parties would need to be screened and no matches would occur without a contract, covering rent and possible services provided (shoveling, mowing, etc.)	”
—Elizabeth Dickinson (2017)

Recent news

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Elizabeth Dickinson - Google News

See also

St. Paul, Minnesota	Minnesota	Municipal government	Other local coverage

External links

Suggest a link

• Mayor of St. Paul
• Campaign website