Mitra Jalali first ran for St. Paul city council in a special election in 2018.
“This unexpected opportunity came up to take everything that I've learned as a teacher, an organizer, a policy aide, someone who's worked in governance, someone who does constituent services, right? And to bring that to a local level.”
Jalali says her family roots ground her in her work. Being the first Iranian-American woman to serve in the city’s council, she says her background helps her navigate her public leadership.
“I think being from a immigrant family and Asian American family and Middle Eastern family, it really affects your understanding of how we need public services to work well for people. We need everyone in this country to have the opportunity to build the life that they hope for, to be safe, to appreciate diversity, to value inclusion, to see that our many cultures and many backgrounds are actually a beautiful thing. And that everybody is different. And that is good,” said Jalali. “Just those basic values for me, and then my connection to the ward - I think that shows up in my leadership.”
Jalali represents Ward 4, which includes Hamline-Midway, Merriam Park, Saint Anthony Park, and parts of the Mac-Groveland and Como neighborhoods.
“So if you think of a council member, as just a champion for their ward, and helping make sure that people have what they need, I feel proud of the opportunity to get to do that over the last six years.”
Jalali says her previous work experience showed her how communities are impacted negatively by disinvestment and over-policing. She notes that, as an Asian American, she hasn’t experienced those disadvantages in the same way, but she understands them.
“The community doesn't expect you to represent their exact experience. They expect you to listen to it and understand it, so that you can help make their agenda come true,” she said. “So I think that's important in a moment where I'm leading a council now that's more diverse than ever. You have to understand - who's in the conversation, who's not? How do I help convene that space? How do I get the voices that need to be in the conversation there, I think about that stuff every day.”
But Jalali says it’s not enough to just understand community experiences - you also have to act on what you learn. That’s why she is working on a housing strategy that she refers to as “production, preservation, and protections.” She says new housing opportunities need to be created, existing housing needs to be maintained, and homeowners and renters need to be protected against displacement.
Jalali says she ran for office because she’s passionate about attainable and affordable housing and homeownership.
“It is such a critical thing to take seriously because that is an existential need that people have - housing is a basic human need, everyone needs it. So that is probably the most serious priority that I work on of anything,” she said.
In addition to housing, public safety is another priority for Jalali. She says historically, public safety has referred to traditional law enforcement. She says she’s focused instead on what she calls “community-first public safety.”
“We know that our community needs many things that aren't police like housing, employment opportunities, living wages, resilient and healthy climate, safe streets, like all these things, on and on. Education. So there's a broad social infrastructure that supports that, right? And then there's also specific programs that can help people in ways that historically, there was either no intervention response, or it was like ‘we're sending an officer to that.’”
Jalali says the city is younger and more diverse than ever. She says she and the rest of the city council are working to create programs and investments for the betterment of St. Paul, which isn’t always easy.
“I feel really proud to get to lead St. Paul right now, I love our city a lot,” said Jalali. “I don't think I could do this work if I didn't love our city a lot, love the people in it and believe in it.”
Jalali says her advice to young people of color looking to get into politics is to first be clear on what you stand for, and then, stay committed to representing the needs of the people you serve.
(This story was reported as part of the Center for Broadcast Journalism's Summer Journalism Intensive, a training program for young aspiring reporters from diverse communities.)
Reporting for CBJ News, I’m Gloria Ngwa.
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