Mary McKelvey
Mary McKelvey ran for election to the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board At-large in Minnesota. She lost in the general election on November 4, 2025.
McKelvey completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Mary McKelvey was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. McKelvey earned a bachelor's degree from Middlebury College in 1990 and a graduate degree from the University of Minnesota in 1995. Her career experience includes working as an ESL teacher and certified coach.[1][2][3]
Elections
2025
See also: City elections in Minneapolis, Minnesota (2025)
General election
General election for Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board At-large
The ranked-choice voting election was won by Meg Forney in round 4 , Amber Frederick in round 5 , and Tom Olsen in round 5 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.
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Total votes: 113,348 |
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 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for McKelvey in this election.
2021
See also: City elections in Minneapolis, Minnesota (2021)
General election
General election for Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board At-large
The ranked-choice voting election was won by Meg Forney in round 2 , Tom Olsen in round 6 , and Alicia Smith in round 7 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.
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Total votes: 106,650 |
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Note: The official tabulation of voting rounds includes decimal points. Ballotpedia rounded transferred votes.[4]
Campaign themes
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Mary McKelvey completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by McKelvey's responses.
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I bring the most comprehensive and multi-faceted park experience of any at-large candidate. I know our parks as a coach and teacher, as a park user, as a parent navigating youth programs, as a program coordinator securing park spaces, as a volunteer, as a committee member, as a board member, as a long-time observer of park board meetings, as a former union member, as a former trail crew leader, and as a dog companion.
Minneapolis parks are award-winning because they have an independent board. I'm running to be your Park Board Commissioner—period. This is not a stepping stone to higher office. I will build productive relationships with city and state officials while maintaining our board's independence and focus on our core mission: serving Minneapolis parks and listening directly to the communities they serve. That's the work that matters, and that's where my focus will be.- My vision is to expand access to youth programming opportunities throughout the system. I will always ask, “Who is not accessing programs in our parks, and why?” I will seek feedback from Recreation Center leaders on which programs are successful and why. Areas where I would look to improve Parks’ transformational programming include more frequent communication with Minneapolis Public Schools, multigenerational programs with seniors, child care in Recreation Centers where possible, access to swim lessons for all Minneapolis kids by 3rd grade, and clear pathways to youth employment. I will support the “pay as you can” model, and work on simplifying registration. My guiding principle is: when our kids thrive, our city thrives.
- Minneapolis Parks offer us all safe "third spaces" where people can enjoy the outdoors and community centers on their own terms, as well as to join an official park program. Too many places to gather are private and segregated by age, class, ability, and race. I want to ensure that our parks and recreation centers are places for all of us in our communities. Parks provide a place to practice the civic responsibility of sharing a common resource and learning how to care for it, together with our park workers. Parks are our common ground, so I'll support community events, indigenous stewardship, community safety, and other initiatives that strengthen these shared spaces.
- The Park Board must remain elected and independent to keep our park system healthy. Knowing the maximum tax levy percentage early in the budget process provides financial stability, but that's not enough. As Commissioner, I will ensure the Park Board actively pursues and maintains intergovernmental partnerships and secures contracts with foundations and private vendors that are equitable and that can work long-term.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2021
Video for Ballotpedia
| Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released September 28, 2021 |
Mary McKelvey completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by McKelvey's responses.
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I believe that what benefits kids sustains our whole city, and am passionate about bringing parks programming that brings all of our our vibrant communities together.
- We need relevant, well-communicated programming to connect us to Minneapolis parks and to nature. Right now, for too many youth aged 11-17, outdoor options are to join expensive sports clubs, other city leagues, or older high school students. Our neighborhood park recreation centers can collaborate with schools and community groups to offer attractive programs, including environmental activities, for all ages, especially for those at the critical age of middle school.
- Minneapolis identifies itself as the City of Lakes, so let's take care of them better. Our regional parks and trails (the Chain of Lakes, Wirth Lake, Nokomis, Mississippi River, Bassetts, Shingle, and Minnehaha Creeks) get more visitors than any State park. Yet much of the trails and amenities are in disrepair, and the water quality is substandard. This is unacceptable, and I will work to change that.
- A current plan has been made for all 180 parks in our system. A Comprehensive Plan is about to be approved as to the Mission and Vision of the Parks. Let's take the next step; transparent , equitable plans about the schedule, staff, and funding to make Plans happen. The parks have successfully made a transparent, equitable schedule for neighborhood recreation centers; it can be done throughout the system, and I will push for that as Commissioner.
Year-round safety and generations-long environmental sustainability will be top considerations in my evaluations of public infrastructure projects.
The current city council's proposal is for the next city council and mayor to change the chain of command structure of the Police Department , Police Chief and Mayor to add a commissioner of Public Safety.
I would like residents to trust that when they call 911, the appropriate level of response from a trained officer, (one who is familiar to residents in a non-crisis occasions already) will come to help in a timely manner. I will encourage Park Police agents and officers to get involved with the community before crises occur as much as possible.
The following are my vision, too, but Park Commissioners have less direct affect on them:
I would like BIPOC residents of Minneapolis to experience an abundance of concrete cases that start to instill confidence that their safety, property, and lives are valued, and are as important as that of white residents.
I would like to see our judicial systems work on behalf of residents in cases when public safety is not safe.
I also believe it is important that we believe that our government listens to and works for its constituents. If elected, I will hold myself to that standard to be that kind of official.
I will always admire Vice President Walter Mondale and his wife, the artist Joan Mondale. They met hundreds of thousands of people in their political lives, yet they still wrote hand written notes, and made sure that they remembered your name and the connection you had. I experienced it personally, so I felt like I was their friend, and I'm sure thousands of others felt the same. It was an astonishing trait. It showed me that politics is about the personal. I hope to develop even a tiny version of the memory they had for the stories of the people they met.
I'd like to leave a thriving park system that is sustainable ecologically and financially.
I remember thinking that was a very strange thing to say on TV. I was 6 years old.
Before becoming a teacher and coach, I was also a YMCA camp counselor, a waitress, and a SCA (Student Conservation Association) trail crew leader.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Note: Community Questions were submitted by the public and chosen for inclusion by a volunteer advisory board. The chosen questions were modified by staff to adhere to Ballotpedia’s neutrality standards. To learn more about Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection Expansion Project, click here.
See also
2025 Elections
External links
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Candidate Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board At-large |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 4, 2021
- ↑ Mary for Parks, "About Mary," accessed October 7, 2021
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 23, 2025
- ↑ Minneapolis: Elections and Voting Services, "2021 Park & Recreation Commissioner At Large RCV Tabulation Summary," accessed April 24, 2023
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