Mayor Melvin Carter's
2025 State of Our City Address
Tuesday, March 11, 2024
North End Community Center
Full text of the address
Good morning, and welcome to the 2025 State of Our City Address.
It means so much to be here today—at the North End Community Center—with all of you.
This building stands as a promise kept: a beautiful, vibrant, deeply-loved hub of community, learning, and joy.
It represents not only what we’ve built together, but how we’ve chosen to build—with care, with courage, and with a love for one another.
To our City Council, thank you for the honor of serving alongside you. And a special welcome to Council Member Matt Privratsky, who has jumped right in to serve the people of Ward 4 with insight and energy.
To Deputy Mayor Tincher, our Leadership Team, and incredible city staff, thank you for showing up every day with purpose and passion.
To my parents, Met Council Member Toni Carter and retired Saint Paul Police Sergeant Melvin Carter Jr., thank you for the path you paved.
And to my adure First Lady, Sakeena Futrell-Carter—thank you for being the strength that steadies me every step of the way. Thank you for your partnership, your guidance, and for bringing me Cara-Cara oranges right when I need them. I love you like crazy, and intend to spend the rest of my life proving it.
When we cut the ribbon on this beautiful community center two weeks ago, Council Vice President Kim and I were honored to welcome the children in attendance to their new rec center.
To challenge them to look out the window at their park, and their library.
And to live everyday as responsible stewards of their city.
Of our city.
Because this city is so much more than our place to live and work. It’s our place to share. Our place to grow.
Our place to lead by showing up for one another.
And every step forward we take together begins with that simple act.
A safe, hopeful city is the foundation for everything else we build.
That’s why public safety has been our uncontested top priority since day one. Our Community-First Public Safety framework drives a coordinated emergency response—and just as importantly, focuses on stopping crime before it starts.
This approach isn’t new. It’s the same way we all protect someone we love. When we care about someone’s safety, we don’t just wait to respond—we work to prevent harm from happening at all.
We use seat belts, car seats, stair gates, outlet covers—things that help build safety into everyday life. That’s how we protect our children and the people we love. And now, that’s what we’re doing together at city scale.
And we’re just getting started.
Under the leadership of Police Chief Axel Henry, Fire Chief Butch Inks, City Attorney Lyndsey Olson, Neighborhood Safety Director Brooke Blakey, and literally every single member of our team, we’re bringing the full strength of our city to the work of public safety.
Our public safety teams don’t just show up in crisis. They build trust every day as neighbors and partners.
And the results speak for themselves.
As of April 11, we’ve seen a 73% drop in non-fatal shootings and zero—yes, zero—gun-related homicides this year.
Our officers have seized 119 illegal firearms. Auto thefts dropped from 859 in early 2022 to 236 by this March. Carjackings dropped from 23 to 5.
We created a non-fatal shooting unit to stop cycles of retaliation and improve solve rates. In just one year, clearance rates jumped from 38% to 71%.
Those results aren’t just a police department success. They reflect the strength of a full public safety partnership: our officers, our neighborhood safety team, our city attorneys, and every department working together.
Our Office of Neighborhood Safety builds relationships and delivers support where it’s needed most. Programs like Familiar Faces and Project PEACE surround those most at risk with care and coaching. Our ASPIRE initiative and Goals Not Guns campaign give young people the tools to make safe, healthy choices.
We’re opening doors to new careers through our EMS Academy, where high school seniors are gaining life-saving training, earning college credit, and becoming certified EMTs. From there, they can join our Basic Life Services program, receive paramedic training, and enter the fire department.
Fifteen firefighters completed paramedic school last year. Fifteen more are on track this year. We’ll also welcome 21 new recruits this May.
To meet growing demand, we’re opening a new Fire Station 7 this week on the East Side—responding to a long-standing disparity in fire fatalities there. It’s a clear example of how prevention drives our strategy: not just responding faster, but planning our neighborhoods to be safe by design in the first place.
In November, we launched Minnesota’s first electric fire engine—the first new rig in our fleet since 1958. And a second electric engine is on the way, thanks to a grant from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
These new rigs aren’t just cleaner, they’re better. They fit into tighter spaces, run quieter so firefighters can communicate better during an emergency, and they can start pumping water before the vehicle even parks on the scene; preserving critical, lifesaving seconds.
Even as we make progress in so many other areas, a new emergency is testing the limits of our Community-First framework: the largest drug epidemic of our lifetimes.
The fentanyl crisis won’t be solved with reaction alone—and it won’t be solved with a playbook from history or from another city. Just like we did with gun violence, we have to build new strategies together.
In 2024, 840 Minnesotans died from opioid overdoses. That statistic is already rising, and its impact is devastating. Just four months ago, on Christmas Day, we lost an 18-month-old child in our city to fentanyl exposure.
Our first responders have already expanded the use of suboxone and narcan to help people begin recovery the moment they’re ready.
In the coming weeks, we’ll announce plans for a citywide fentanyl summit, bringing policy makers face-to-face with doctors, neighbors, people with lived experience, and anyone else who can help. This crisis demands all of us facing this common adversary and saving lives, together.
Our progress isn’t an accident. It’s the result of teamwork—first responders, outreach workers, city staff, and neighbors all rowing in the same direction.
The challenge before us now is simple, but powerful: to love our whole city the same way we already love the people we love. That’s how we’ll build lasting safety—for all of us.
Our top job will always be public safety. But our most urgent job right now is meeting the moment downtown.
What happens downtown affects every neighborhood, every business, and every family in our city.
We’re facing a real challenge. The shift to hybrid work has emptied out offices. Commercial values are down. Key buildings sit dark. And downtowns across the country are still figuring out what comes next.
But we’re not waiting to see what happens. We’re acting—with urgency, vision, and a plan.
We’re working to bring 20,000 more residents to downtown. And we’re unlocking the space to make that happen.
The former Ecolab University building—now called the Stella—will add 174 new homes. Sherman Associates is also transforming Landmark Tower, with leasing set to begin soon. And our city team is leading the conversion of the Annex Building into new housing and public space.
A major proposal is moving forward on the Central Station block—adding 300 homes and 10,000 square feet of street-level retail next to the Green Line and Gold Line.
This is what it looks like to design a city for people.
Just a third of our downtown office space is in use—but our housing is over 90% full.
That gap shows us exactly where the opportunity is.
By converting vacant offices into homes, we can meet demand, grow our population, and bring new life to downtown.
We’ve put $1 million behind new office-to-housing conversions; cutting costs and red tape to make projects happen faster.
We know ground-floor retail matters. It brings life to the sidewalks, supports small businesses, and helps people feel safe.
That’s why we’re investing $1.4 million through our Commercial Corridors Fund to support business growth downtown and across our neighborhoods.
We’ve also committed:
$275,000 for extra downtown patrol shifts
$200,000 for downtown camera infrastructure
$285,000 in ongoing support for the Downtown Improvement District
$265,000 for public art and space activation
Plus added investments in signage, trash cans, lighting, and tree trimming.
Driven by the strong coalition of private businesses, public sector entities, nonprofit organizations, and our philanthropic foundations, we have launched a Downtown Investment Strategy, expanded the Improvement District, and created a Downtown Development Corporation—all focused on building forward together.
And it’s making a difference.
The Minnesota Frost and Wild, and other events have already drawn 1 million people to the Xcel Energy Center this year. We wish the Frost luck on their final stretch of the season and are rooting for the Wild, who began their push toward the Stanley Cup last night.
As the X marks its 25th anniversary this year, we’re working with our partners at the Wild and the State of Minnesota on a generational renovation that will keep our arena a premier destination for sports and cultural events for decades to come.
The Minnesota Yacht Club Festival brought over 70,000 visitors and contributed more than $100 million to our local economy.
The Breakaway Festival is also returning and expanding. So is Lowertown Sounds. So are Food Truck Wednesdays.
Downtown’s food scene is heating up—new spots are opening, from ramen to plant-based fine dining, and the energy is real.
Our city employees are embracing an office-first posture to help bring energy back to our core. And as state workers prepare to do the same, we see another powerful opportunity to build momentum.
We’re grateful for all the public employees whose presence brings energy and vitality to our city.
At the same time, we face a perfect storm of financial pressures on the horizon. From volatile tariffs and economic uncertainty, to declining downtown property values and unconstitutional threats to our federal funding from the current presidential administration—these headwinds put real pressure on every city service. We’ll need to meet them head-on, together.
We’re making big moves to meet this moment. And we’re building something better than what came before.
We’ve got a long way to go. But we’ve also got a lot to work with. An impressive cross-sector partnership. Strong demand. And more momentum than it sometimes may seem.
Our downtown belongs to all of us—and it will take all of us to build it forward.
We believe in the power of home.
It’s where children take their first steps, where families gather, and where futures begin.
Home is a foundation—for stability, for safety, and for opportunity.
This housing crisis is personal.
We feel it when neighbors have to choose between rent and groceries.
We see it when families are stuck in homes that don’t fit their needs.
We hear it when young people ask whether they’ll ever be able to buy a home in the city we love.
We can’t meet this crisis with shelter beds or short-term help alone.
We need smart policies and more housing—at every price point, in every neighborhood.
That’s what our all-in housing approach is all about: the belief that we all deserve a safe, stable, affordable place to live—and that housing justice demands housing inventory.
Because the truth is simple: if we want more affordability, more access, and more fairness, we need more homes.
And we have to do everything we can to help get them built.
We’re getting results.
Last year, we opened 731 new affordable homes—255 of them deeply affordable for families earning just 30% of the area median income.
Another 293 units are underway, including at Mary Hall downtown, where nonprofit developer Aeon is building 88 permanent homes for people exiting homelessness, veterans, and young adults.
While we’re adding new homes, we’re also protecting the ones we already have.
Our 4d program has kept more than 1,000 homes affordable, helping families stay in place.
Through Inspiring Communities, we helped neighborhood developers bring new homes online and gave six families up to $90,000 to buy their first home.
And our historic Inheritance Fund has invested $1.6 million to help low-income descendants of Old Rondo buy a home or fix the one they already own—rebuilding some of the wealth that was destroyed when the freeway tore our community apart.
That’s not just housing policy. That’s justice.
At The Heights on the East Side, where Councilmember Yang has been a persistent voice, we’re turning vision into reality:
With the Port Authority, Habitat for Humanity, Sherman Associates, and J+O Companies, we’re turning a former golf course into 1,000 homes, 1,000 jobs, and inclusive parks and green spaces, and using clean, geothermal energy to grow this neighborhood into the future.
At the West Side Flats, Highland Bridge, and United Village, we’re moving dirt, raising walls, and building the future—right now.
With support from the Local Affordable Housing Aid program and strong partnerships with Governor Tim Walz, Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, and our Saint Paul legislative delegation, our city is investing more deeply in housing today than ever before.
And we’re doing more to help people stay housed.
This year’s budget includes emergency rent help, eviction prevention, and expanded support for Healthy Homes and Power of Home—because where you live should never put your health or stability at risk.
Now, we face a major opportunity.
The City Council will soon vote on two ordinances I proposed in last year’s budget address—alongside the new investments I’ve already mentioned—as part of our all-in housing portfolio.
The first will update our rent stabilization policy to help get new homes built.
The second includes a set of common-sense tenant protections that strengthen stability and accountability in the rental market.
These proposals reflect the urgency of the moment. They protect renters, give builders clarity, and help us keep growing the homes we need—without losing the protections many of our neighbors count on.
I appreciate the leadership of Councilmembers Jost, Noecker, and Bowie on rent stabilization, and Councilmember Johnson on tenant protections—as they help move forward the proposals I laid out last year.
Just like with public safety, there’s no one fix.
The answer isn’t one policy—it’s the full set of tools we’re using to support unsheltered neighbors, protect renters, grow ownership, build new homes, and preserve existing ones.
We’re all in.
As we work to ensure every family has a place to call home, we also must be careful stewards of the physical foundations that connect our homes and lives to one another, and our public infrastructure.
Infrastructure connects our homes to neighbors and relatives, schools and employers, power and clean water, and—most importantly—to each other.
That’s why reliable, sustainable, and safe infrastructure isn’t just a municipal asset, it’s a key contributor to how we all feel connected in our community.
We’ve seen what happens when infrastructure divides us. I-94 didn’t just cut through Saint Paul, it destroyed the homes, wealth, and connections of our Rondo community.
Today, we’re building infrastructure that paves the ground beneath our feet.
While others plan walls to keep us separate, we’re building bridges to keep us connected.
That’s why we passed Common Cent—our one-cent sales tax dedicated to improving the quality of our streets and parks.
It’s helping us fill potholes, resurface roads, repair sidewalks, and invest in the public spaces that bring us together.
We’ve completed more than 70 long-deferred park and recreation improvements, resurfaced courts and fields, new playgrounds, fresh concrete, and activated spaces across the city. That’s $11.5 million already delivered and another $11.8 million on the way.
We’ve committed nearly $24 million to improve 50 miles of roads—resurfacing streets, repairing sidewalks, updating signs, and making it safer to walk, bike, and drive.
And we’re pairing those investments with new ways to help people access them.
We’re piloting The Loop, a free after-school transportation route that helps young people get to libraries, rec centers, and other safe, enriching spaces. Because infrastructure isn’t just about what we build, it’s about who it connects, and what it makes possible.
We’re advancing our 10-year plan to create a Lead Free Saint Paul replacing every lead water service line in our system at no cost to property owners.
We replaced 1,000 lead lines last year, and we’ll double that number next year. Because our wealth should never determine whether our children can drink clean water.
We’re also building new infrastructure to support a clean, safe, and reliable solid waste program.
We took on one of the largest operational challenges a city can face—transitioning garbage service for every household in our city.
We worked through challenges to deliver that change on time, without disruption, and with a remarkable rate of success: more than 60,000 weekly pickups, with missed collections below 1%.
Still, trash is a core service, and we know that 1% represents real challenge and frustration.
So, our teams meet daily to respond to issues, improve communications, and coordinate with our hauler, ensuring we meet resident expectations.
We’re also laying the foundation for something bigger.
For the first time, city employees are collecting garbage on designated routes, using their time savings to proactively clean up illegal dumping hotspots.
That’s what it looks like to lead with pride and deliver real value for our residents.
And later this summer, we’ll launch a new furniture recycling pilot with Emerge and Second Chance—helping us responsibly dispose of some of the most commonly dumped items in our city.
We’re advancing improvements that make everyday life better, safer, and more equitable for everyone who calls our city home.
We’re modernizing the way residents interact with their local government, starting with PAULIE, our new Permitting and Licensing Utility Inspection Engine.
With PAULIE, residents and business owners can apply for licenses and permits, schedule inspections, and make payments all in one place, online.
Through our virtual inspections project, our Department of Safety and Inspections has built the capacity to conduct certain building inspections remotely. Using video and mobile platforms, we’re expanding capacity, reducing delays, and improving safety.
Because interacting with city government should be simple, accessible, and user friendly—just like everything else in the 21st century.
We’re upholding our values as we modernize our systems.
Our Department of Human Rights and Equal Economic Opportunity continues to lead—recovering more than 6,000 hours of Earned Sick and Safe Time for workers and ordering nearly $150,000 in back wages for those denied fair pay.
Strong, modern government must be efficient and equitable at the same time.
I’m always moved by our ability to translate community care into policy and action.
That’s why we’re erasing medical debt.
It’s why we’re replacing lead water pipes at no cost to homeowners.
It’s why we’re offering free after-school rides through The Loop.
It’s why we’re investing in housing and public safety and infrastructure and jobs.
Because the state of our city—the spirit of our family—can neither be measured nor preserved through institutions.
The State of Our City is yours. It’s ours. It’s revealed not through official proceedings, but in how we care for one another, how we carry each other, and how we choose to fight for our children’s future.
Especially today, when vile and hateful rhetoric seems to permeate our public sphere.
If we want to be the resistance, then let’s act like it.
Let’s resist the urge to yell back, and instead be first to listen.
Resist the urge to hate back by choosing love.
Resist cruelty by showing up with kindness.
To be clear, we remain steadfast in our foundational values:
Our police officers will not become federal immigration agents, no matter how loud the clamor rises.
We will fight threats to our city’s federal funding in court and in Congress and everywhere in between.
We will keep using every tool we have to build a world that is safer, more promising, and fairer for our children.
And we will keep fueling our movement with love for one another, not hatred for someone else.
It’s easy to fight fire with fire. That’s a natural desire, but right now we don’t need more fire.
Right now we need people willing to interrupt the noise with grace.
Interrupt the harm with healing.
Interrupt the cycle by breaking it.
That’s how our teams have reduced violence in our city.
That’s how we build the city we deserve, and it’s how we shape what will come next.
Saint Paul has always been defined by all of us.
As long as we keep showing up, and searching for our own better angels, the future ahead will always be bright.
Thank you.
For more information, contact Press Secretary Jennifer "JLor" Lor at jlor@ci.stpaul.mn.us.