Question: Describe a welcoming and thriving urban corridor. What are the ingredients for a healthy and vital streetscape?
Perry: A welcoming and thriving urban corridor will be inclusive of every single member that resides in that community so that when they look at it, they can see themselves and their children in it. I can not specifically prescribe what I believe it should look like, because what I believe is not important in comparison to the beliefs of the community which surrounds the corridor. I am committed to listening to the residents of the community to see what they believe it should be and what it should look like because they are the ones that will be residing there after everyone else leaves. A couple components that I would request they include is an increase in local home and business ownership, cultural art, and multimodal transit. The ingredients for a healthy and vital streetscape include many of the items listed above such as 24/7 dedicated space for transit, trees and flowers along the curbline, pedestrian improvements, and a sidewalk level protected bike path to ensure people not only feel welcome but they also feel safe at the same time.
Question: Climate change is an existential threat. What are the city’s primary tools for addressing climate change, and how would you use them as mayor?
Perry: The City’s primary tools to address the existential threat of climate change include the Minneapolis Climate Action Plan which specifically targets the reduction in greenhouse emissions. The main aspect of the plan that I would look to change as Mayor for the people of Minneapolis, is to establish a baseline and protocol to not only properly measure results, but to also use them as a form of accountability to residents, businesses, as well as Energy vendors and municipal operations. We all have a part to play in the process. Our lives and our livelihoods depend on it! The lives of our children depend on it! The very future of our City depends on it!
Question: Considering that transportation is a leading source of carbon emissions in Minneapolis, do you support reconstructing Hennepin Avenue South with a full-time bus lane and protected bike route (as is called for in adopted city policies, such as the Transportation Action Plan)?
Perry: If the residents of the corridor support reconstructing Hennepin Avenue South with a full-time bus lane and protected bike route, I will fully support their decision. Air pollution is both a public safety as well as a public health concern. Our city has recently been awarded over $270 million from the American Rescue Plan that can be used to address public health initiatives. To further eradicate carbon emissions produced by transportation , I will use a portion of our City’s award to partner with the Metropolitan Council to purchase and begin to build a fleet of Hydrogen powered buses as we work directly with the manufacturer to make arrangements to install Hydrogen fuel stations across our city creating jobs and a sustainable future for our city. These vehicles will not only produce no carbon emissions, they will also assist in cleaning the carbon emissions that are already present in our air produced by other sources. As a city, we will also partner with Toyota to bring the Toyota Marai to the City of Minneapolis. Toyota has agreed to include 3 years of free fuel for every vehicle purchased by residents of Minneapolis as incentive to move our city forward as we get closer and closer to reaching our goals to be established through the Minneapolis Climate Action Plan. When we get to where we are going, cars will help reduce the production of carbon emissions in our air instead of continuing to increase the production of carbon emissions in our air.
