Janne Flisrand

Janne Flisrand

Education

Bachelor's

Luther College

Graduate

University of Memphis

Personal

Profession

Consultant

Contact

Personal website

Janne Flisrand was a candidate for Ward 7 representative on the Minneapolis City Council in Minnesota. She was defeated in the general election on November 7, 2017.

Although municipal elections in Minneapolis are officially nonpartisan, candidates can choose a party affiliation to appear on the ballot. Flisrand ran as a DFL candidate.

Biography

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Flisrand earned a B.A. in anthropology and Scandinavian studies from Luther College and an M.A. in urban anthropology from the University of Memphis.

At the time of her 2017 run for city council, Flisrand owned her own consulting firm, Flisrand Consulting. Her professional experience also includes work as a program manager for the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation and a teacher at the English-Speaking School of Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Flisrand has served as a founder of the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition, a writer and board member for the transportation and land use policy site streets.mn, and a blogger for American Public Media's Marketplace.

Elections

2017

See also: Municipal elections in Minneapolis, Minnesota (2017) and Mayoral election in Minneapolis, Minnesota (2017)

Minneapolis, Minnesota, held a general election for mayor, all 13 seats on the city council, both elected members of the board of estimate and taxation, and all nine members of the park and recreation board on November 7, 2017. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was August 15, 2017.

Incumbents ran for re-election to all but two of the city council seats. Ward 3 Councilman Jacob Frey filed to run for mayor instead, and Ward 8 Councilwoman Elizabeth Glidden opted not to run for re-election. Incumbent Lisa Goodman defeated Janne Flisrand, Teqen Zea-Aida, and Joe Kovacs in the general election for the Ward 7 seat on the Minneapolis City Council.

Minneapolis City Council, Ward 7 General Election, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Lisa Goodman Incumbent	52.26%	4,742
Janne Flisrand	31.21%	2,832
Teqen Zea-Aida	9.79%	888
Joe Kovacs	6.60%	599
Write-in votes	0.14%	13
Total Votes		9,074
Source: Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services, "2017 Minneapolis Election Results," accessed November 22, 2017

Campaign themes

2017

Flisrand's campaign website highlighted the following issues:

“	Housing for All Minneapolis should be a city where everyone is able to find an affordable and decent place to live. The City’s current approach to housing, however, is leaving many people behind—through soaring rent prices, a dwindling supply of affordable housing, residential segregation, outdated zoning and more. With two decades of experience in housing advocacy, I have the knowledge to reshape Minneapolis’ housing policy into one that encourages building more places for people to live, invests more resources in affordable housing, supports inclusionary zoning and locks in affordable rents for existing housing units. Read more. Streets & Transit Our streets should welcome and protect everyone, regardless of how we travel. But for decades, Minneapolis has approached transit in a way that endangers some while frustrating and alienating others—congestion, a lack of protection for bikers, a Southwest LRT line that misses population centers. I have solutions that will build safe and vibrant streets for everyone: creating corridors of beauty to connect key institutions and destinations; building better walking and biking routes to serve every part of the city; reshaping zoning rules so that development adds interest and activity in our streets; and much more! Read more. Policing & Safety Living up to our city’s promise means fostering safe neighborhoods for everyone. Unfortunately, our city is not living up to its potential: violence continues to take too many lives, most of them young men of color, while relations between the police and communities are strained at best and fatal at worst. My plan for tackling policing and community safety will prioritize community-based 'safety beyond policing' approaches, push for a police force that hires from the community it polices, demand accountability for officers, design safe and vibrant public spaces, and invest in interim place-making for empty spaces. Read more. Respectful & Equitable Representation Living up to our city’s promise requires representing and listening to everyone. But today, many are treated as if they don’t matter. Insiders who know how the system works have special access, while the less powerful—renters, young people, poor people, people of color—have no access at all. I will draw on my years as a community organizer to make sure our government listens to everyone. This includes reforming campaign finance rules to reduce the influence of money in our politics, forging close relationships with underrepresented groups, passing a Fair Scheduling ordinance and demanding that the City prosecute people who perpetrate wage theft and more. Read more. Climate & Environment Our city has the duty to protect the environment for everyone. Our current approach to fighting climate change, however, often glosses over vulnerable communities. As an experienced environmental activist who helped write the Minnesota Green Communities standards and successfully advocated for their statewide adoption, I know how critical it is to leave a healthy planet for future generations. My environmental policy goals include supporting environmental justice initiatives such as Green Zones, fully funding the Clean Energy Partnership, pushing for investments in energy efficiency, and encouraging more City-owned lots and large private landowners to make their space available for growing food. Read more. Budgeting for a Resilient City We must ensure that our city is financially resilient for everyone. This means investing in the common good, planning for the long-term, and using our tax dollars responsibly. Investing in the parts of our city that need it most isn’t just the right thing to do; it also prevents Ward 7 neighborhoods and other areas throughout the city from carrying a larger share of the City’s costs during inevitable economic downturns. I will advocate for building high-quality public space in lower-income neighborhoods, carefully utilizing strategies like Tax Increment Financing to spur growth where it otherwise would not occur, and more. I will also support budgets with structural integrity and long-term thinking that plan 10 and 20 years ahead. Read more.	”
—Janne Flisrand's campaign website, (2017)

Endorsements

2017

Flisrand received endorsements from the following in 2017:

• DFL Environmental Caucus
• Minnesota Young DFL
• Our Revolution
• Our Revolution Twin Cities
• OutFront Minnesota Action
• Sierra Club
• TakeAction Minnesota
• Minneapolis Councilwoman Lisa Bender

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Janne Flisrand Minneapolis City Council. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Janne Flisrand - Google News

See also

Minneapolis, Minnesota	Minnesota	Municipal government	Other local coverage

External links

Suggest a link

• Minneapolis City Council
• Campaign website
• Social media
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