2025 Minneapolis Housing Questionnaire — Ward 7

Neighbors for More Neighbors has partnered with Inquilinxs Unidxs Por Justicia, Wedge LIVE!, The Housing Justice League, Housing in Action and BikeMN to sponsor a housing questionnaire for the 2025 Minneapolis Elections. You can see all responses (mayoral and city council candidates) here.

We sent this questionnaire to all candidates who filed campaign finance reports as of April 16, 2025. We received responses from Katie Cashman (Incumbent) and Elizabeth Shaffer.

The candidates are ordered alphabetically by last name, except for the incumbent, who is placed first. You may view the candidate responses to each question by clicking on the “+” icon to the left of the question.

Question 1: One way to create complete, walkable neighborhoods is to legalize local commercial use within those neighborhoods. The existing zoning code prohibits commercial use on approximately 89% of Minneapolis lots.

Will you vote for zoning changes to allow local, low-impact small businesses (e.g. coffee shops, restaurants, corner stores, etc.) to be built in residential neighborhoods throughout our entire city?

  • Katie Cashman (Incumbent)
    Yes
    Allowing small businesses in residential neighborhoods is good for everybody. Good for the tax base, good for the environment, and great for quality of life!

    Elizabeth Shaffer
    Yes
    I support changes to zoning laws that will allow small businesses to flourish while protecting and improving existing communities.

Question 2: Some cities like South Bend, Indiana, have developed a set of pre-approved, residential project plans to help (1) lower the cost of construction by reducing design fees and (2) speed up approval times. These initiatives involve working with architects and engineers to develop a set of plans for one to six-unit homes that are permitted throughout the city.

Will you vote to create an accessible catalog of free or low-cost, pre-approved home plans for the City of Minneapolis?

  • Katie Cashman (Incumbent)
    Yes
    Anything we can do to lower the barriers to building more housing is a great idea in my book.

    Elizabeth Shaffer
    Abstain
    I look forward to learning more about this issue.

Question 3: Given Minneapolis’s history of redlining, exclusionary zoning, freeway construction through historically Black & minority neighborhoods, slum clearance, and urban renewal, what are your goals to address historic & ongoing harms–in an equitable and restorative way–to build a better and more livable Minneapolis for all residents?

  • Katie Cashman (Incumbent)
    One of the ways we as a city council can help historically disadvantaged neighborhoods thrive is by ensuring locally owned businesses, especially BIPOC-owned businesses, have all the resources they need to be successful. Expanding funding for programs like the Cultural Districts, the Facade Improvement Matching Grant Program, Great Streets Business District Support Grants and the Ownership and Opportunity Fund (OOF) can produce a rich local economy, with more money remaining in the neighborhood, rather than going to big corporations elsewhere. Secondly, we have a developers technical assistance program (DTAP) to bring resources to emerging developers of colors building housing and other new constructions in our City. Both DTAP and OOF were threatened to be cut in last year’s budget and thanks to Council amendments they were maintained as ongoing programs to address existing inequities. Additionally, through my work Chairing the Climate and Infrastructure Committee and serving as the alternate member on the regional Transportation Advisory Board, I have advocated for restorative solutions to the harms caused by highway i-94 in the State’s Rethinking i-94 project.

    Elizabeth Shaffer
    I’ll prioritize fighting for programs that increase homeownership in marginalized communities and improve affordability for all residents, especially those most affected by historic and ongoing harms. As MPRB park commissioner, I supported tree removal assistance for residents of north Minneapolis who had infected ash trees, using private funds, nonprofit grants and COVID funds. I also would support a state initiative to provide financial assistance for homeowners (under a certain income level) who are unexpectedly assessed for sidewalks, diseased trees or other city infrastructure costs.

Question 4: Minneapolis currently allows property owners to build triplexes on any residential lot. In practice, on an average 5,000 square foot lot in Minneapolis, each triplex unit is constrained to ~800 square feet due to other size and height limitations in the code (these are built-form restrictions & floor-to-area ratios). Most of the triplexes that currently exist were built decades ago and would not be allowed today under current rules.

Will you vote to change city built-form restrictions so that new triplexes could be built if they stayed consistent with existing forms?

  • Katie Cashman (Incumbent)
    Yes

    Elizabeth Shaffer
    Abstain
    Maybe.

Question 5: The Minneapolis 2040 Plan has been highly successful in allowing more studios and 1 to 2 bedroom homes to be built in the City, primarily in buildings with 20 or more units. However, 3 or more bedroom homes in these same buildings are rare; meaning families with children are competing for a limited supply of single-family homes.

Will you vote to change zoning restrictions to encourage the development of 3-bedroom units–in multi-unit buildings–for growing Minneapolis families?

  • Katie Cashman (Incumbent)
    Yes
    It pains me every time I hear from someone who wants to move to the suburbs to grow their family. The city should be a place that everyone can afford to call home, especially families with young children!

    Elizabeth Shaffer
    Yes

Question 6: Across the country, many cities and states are updating their zoning codes to allow more homes near high-quality transit. For example, Washington State legalized six-plexes within a half-mile of major transit stops.

Will you vote for zoning reforms in Minneapolis to support more homes on all land within a half-mile of major transit stops, including LRT, BRT, and ABRT lines?

  • Katie Cashman (Incumbent)
    Yes
    When we are spending so much money on new transit lines (which is awesome!), we should make sure that we are getting the most value out of it, and create a virtuous cycle between our land use and transportation network. One area that could handle this upzoning is the new Southwest Light Rail corridor heading out of downtown, for example the Bryn Mawr station.

    Elizabeth Shaffer
    Yes

Question 7: What specific anti-displacement measures will you support to ensure these zoning changes benefit existing residents and prevent displacement of low-income communities for current and future projects?

  • Katie Cashman (Incumbent)
    In addition to providing pathways to increase the supply of housing, I am also committed to expand 4d Affordable Housing Incentive (to the extent feasible), Inclusionary Zoning and the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. These programs incentivize developers to build and, more importantly, maintain a minimum number of affordable units. It’s also important that all our communities maintain a healthy stock of affordable units, not just a handful of neighborhoods. I have also approved land use permits for new shelters around the City to ensure our residents experiencing homelessness can access shelter and a pathway to stable housing. Finally, the City Council increased the Stable-Homes-Stable-Schools budget this year to help MPS families access housing stability in their neighborhoods.

    Elizabeth Shaffer
    I’ll support measures that give rental priority to existing residents and potentially some degree of funding to ensure new housing is affordable for them.

Question 8: Minneapolis residents, City Council, and the current Mayor are all concerned with rising homelessness rates, which increase the prevalence of local encampments.

Do you support the current mayoral administration’s policy of encampment clearing?

  • Katie Cashman (Incumbent)
    Abstain
    It’s important to acknowledge the dangers associated with encampments, particularly the fire risks, and we should be addressing and serving the people in encampments continuously, not just once they get beyond a certain level. That doesn’t mean shoving people from place to place is a viable, humane nor effective solution. Bulldozing encampments without providing a place to go also makes it harder for service providers to find the people in need. Our homeless response team and service providers need resources to humanely address encampments and other City Departments need to be able to address 311 and 911 calls as well. Clearing encampments and not clearing encampments should not be a binary.

    Elizabeth Shaffer
    Yes
    As park commissioner, I believe MPRB does a great job of keeping encampments from even forming. Street Reach, our non-uniformed outreach workers, are offering services, forging relationships and giving deadlines for ordinance enforcement.

Question 9: What will you do to protect people who see encampments as their only option, while increasing and expanding access to stable, permanent and deeply affordable housing for all people in Minneapolis?

  • Katie Cashman (Incumbent)
    We need more shelter space available across the city, but simply counting the number of beds isn’t enough. Many people avoid shelters because they don’t feel safe, or they are turned away due to their pets, family, or safe-use needs. I will push for housing first policies and work to ensure our shelter spaces are sited, funded and resourced to be secure, viable alternatives to encampments.

    Elizabeth Shaffer
    I’ll advocate for sufficient shelter and supportive housing funding to accommodate people who see encampments as their only option. Encampments aren’t safe for either their residents or their neighbors and it’s critical that we don’t rely on them as an acceptable solution.

Question 10: Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) gives current tenants the first right to purchase the property that they live in should their landlord want to sell. A policy such as TOPA advances opportunities for community ownership as well as a transfer of wealth back to renters. If you are elected, will you vote to advance TOPA?


  • Katie Cashman (Incumbent)
    Abstain
    I need to learn more about it.

    Elizabeth Shaffer
    No
    Minneapolis could implement policies that incentivize landlords to sell to current tenants, but a legal requirement is an unnecessary regulatory burden that will drive more developers and investors away from our city.

Question 11: Will you support using city resources to establish locally-owned housing–sometimes referred to as social housing–that is permanently affordable, protected from private market forces, publicly owned, and under democratic governance by the tenants?

  • Katie Cashman (Incumbent)
    Yes

    Elizabeth Shaffer
    No
    Locally-owned housing isn’t the solution to this crisis. We need to rapidly build more housing throughout the city to lower rents and increase affordability.

Question 12: Today, city property taxes are set primarily on the “improvements” or value of the buildings on land. As a result, “low value” land with parking lots or vacant lots pay very little in taxes while making surrounding neighborhoods less livable. This incentivizes low-value land owners to engage in land speculation for years or even decades until they get a big payout. A Land Value Tax (LVT) doesn’t change their taxes to the city; it shifts how taxes are set to be primarily based on the value of the land to discourage land speculation.

If the state passes legislation to allow it–pending special session outcomes–will you vote to pilot a LVT to encourage development of under-used land in Minneapolis?

  • Katie Cashman (Incumbent)
    Yes
    So many of our most valuable spaces, especially downtown, are currently being wasted as surface parking. I would love to be granted authority by the state to implement tax structures that encourage development on those lots.

    Elizabeth Shaffer
    No

Question 13: Rent stabilization continues to be considered in Minneapolis. Supporters hope to discourage unfair rent gouging and displacement. Opponents worry it could stifle the development of new homes.

How would you evaluate rent stabilization policy? What components could you vote for and which would you not be able to vote for?

Examples of policy components include, but are not limited to: a specific percentage cap on rent increases, a new construction exemption, vacancy decontrol, just cause eviction, etc.

  • Katie Cashman (Incumbent)
    I have been opposed to rent control as proposed in Minneapolis. However I do worry about the cost of rent increasing exorbitantly in the years to come with the housing finance market in dire straits. My main priority has been removing barriers to housing construction through zoning and finding ways to finance and support adaptive reuse of vacant office buildings downtown to convert them to housing of all types. Through these efforts we added 2,000 new residents to downtown just last year. This will continue to be my focus as we remake downtown as a neighborhood, not just a commercial business district.

    Elizabeth Shaffer
    Rent stabilization policies are the wrong approach to affordability in Minneapolis and I can’t think of any components I would vote for today. St Paul’s struggles have demonstrated this. I think outside investment lumps Minneapolis in with St. Paul and stays away because we have local control and could at any time do the same thing. Instead, we need to work with Labor partners and local investors to rapidly build in more multi-unit and single family housing. This will bring rent down, make our city more affordable, and protect critical jobs for working people.

Question 14: Evictions in Minneapolis have skyrocketed since the eviction moratorium was lifted and far too many renters are one paycheck away from losing their home.

What ideas do you have to reduce evictions in our communities?

  • Katie Cashman (Incumbent)
    One important way we can protect renters is ensuring that their legal rights are respected. I will work to fully fund the right to legal council for renters as well as pass new city ordinance to guarantee renters are made aware of their rights before signing a lease. Last year we expanded the pre-eviction notice period and passed a “right to know” ordinance to ensure landlords disclose information about the quality of the housing provided. Tenants need legal resources to fight back when landlords break the law.

    Elizabeth Shaffer
    The best way to reduce evictions in Minneapolis is to lower rent by partnering with developers and Labor to rapidly build more affordable multi-unit and single-family housing.
    We can make housing more sustainable by encouraging landlords to offer discounts for long-term renters and not just new tenants with “one month free rent”. We need to carefully watch the loss of revenue in the commercial sector and make sure the differential is not increasingly put on the residential market. Increased property taxes on multi-unit buildings means rents will go up and put more financial pressure on residents.