Council Member Jacob Frey announces bid to be Minneapolis' next mayor
Another Democrat has thrown his hat into the ring to be the next mayor of Minneapolis.
Jacob Frey, a first-term Minneapolis City Council member, announced he'll be running to unseat current Mayor Betsy Hodges in 2018.
Hundreds of people attended a rally at Dangerous Man Brewing Tuesday night, where Frey said Minneapolis can be "a compassionate city" where anyone – regardless of their background – "can thrive."
We Can Rise Together! Join our grassroots campaign ➞ http://jlf.io/1LBu3
Posted by Jacob Frey for City Council on Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Frey stressed that Minneapolis can be a "world class city." He didn't go into too much detail about how he'll do that as mayor, except for saying the only way to get things done is by building coalitions, citing the city's "weak mayor system."
"You build a coalition of support and you have a visible, present leader with a clear and bright vision for our city to get the job done," he said, noting he's shown that with his work in furthering development in Minneapolis' third ward, which includes the North Loop, part of downtown and the northeastern arts district.
Frey has been an advocate for growing small businesses, raising the minimum wage, ending homelessness, engaging voters, and making Minneapolis a greener city. You can read more about his platform here.
"We're going to be out in front of issues," Frey said, according to MPR News. "We're going to have bi-weekly press briefings where you can ask me any question you want and I'll stand there and I'll answer it. We'll have a whole lot of opportunities to explain to the city where we're going, to pitch the big vision and then to advocate to ultimately get it done."
Frey is the latest Democrat to announce their bid for mayor. The others are: community activist Nekima Levy-Pounds, state lawmaker Raymond Dehn, and filmmaker Aswar Rahman. You can read more about these candidates here.
