On My Decision to Vote Against Granting Municipal Consent to Southwest LRT
I voted against granting municipal consent to the Southwest LRT project when it came before committee, and I plan to vote against it again at the full Council this Friday. This was a tough decision to come to, because I strongly support transit. I strongly support light rail. In fact, I strongly support the Southwest LRT project in concept, and many of the details of the project as proposed. Our region needs to build out a network of high-quality transit options that will help us address climate change, increase commuter choice, fuel economic development, and more. This line will benefit my constituents, Minneapolis and the region. We are decades behind our peer cities in this work. But there are three problems with the project that have led me to withhold my support: the process, the lack of commitment to equity, and the lack of commitment to making real connections to the dense urban neighborhoods that this line can and should ser...