re (PB) >>9503452 Little dig on Mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey's Wife

Still digging, but gotta workfag. Found this on Jacob Frey. Looks like he one of the platforms he ran his mayoral campaign in 2017 was police brutality and killing of black men;

Crossing the river, Mayor Betsy Hodges, who was elected in 2013, is facing a pack of DFL challengers, including Jacob Frey, a native of suburban Washington, D.C., who ran in the Twin Cities Marathon and became enamored with Minneapolis. After graduating from law school at Villanova University, Frey, who pursued a career as a professional long-distance runner, took a job with the Faegre and Benson law firm (now Faegre Baker Daniels), and later at Halunen Law.

Representing the Third Ward on the City Council, Frey also is on the board of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas. He said that he has attended both Temple Israel and Shir Tikvah, Reform shuls in Minneapolis.

“The Jewish community was so welcoming here in Minneapolis,” he commented. “When I moved out here, it was heartwarming to be welcomed by a loving and warm community of Jews. And those relations have just grown deeper.”

And Frey mentioned that the Jewish community also welcomed his wife, Sarah Clarke, who is planning on converting to Judaism.

Asked why he wants to be mayor of Minneapolis, Frey responded, “Minneapolis has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately and we need a fresh start. I want to make sure every bit of potential in this city is realized. We’ve had a significant uptick in violent crime, and some of the worst police-community relations in a while, and we can change that.”

Frey also mentioned “a dearth” of affordable housing in Minneapolis, and the need for job creation.

Regarding the incumbent mayor, Frey said that he and Hodges differ on “a few” issues. “We’re all Democrats, and the mayor is not an ideological position — it’s one of leadership. While I respect the mayor, no, I don’t feel she’s led when things have been tough and controversial.”

A recent Star Tribune profile of Frey quoted former state legislator Phyllis Kahn: “If you want one word that most fits [Frey], I think ‘ambitious’ is the word. That’s not really negative, and no, it’s not really positive either. But my guess is people who are ambitious get more done over time.”

“I think Minneapolis could use some ambition,” Frey responded, when asked about Kahn’s assessment. “I’m ambitious to get things done, and I always thought that was a positive thing.”

On his campaign website, Frey has posted his “five-point vision for Minneapolis,” which includes the previously mentioned issues of affordable housing, jobs and dealing with “both crime and police misconduct.” There’s also a point about putting Minneapolis on track “to be one of the greenest cities in America.”

Asked how his vision statement relates to the marked racial disparities in Minneapolis — the large gaps between whites and people of color in unemployment, income and homeownership, etc. — Frey said, “Every facet in my platform incorporates a lens of racial equity. Affordable housing — we know that communities of color are disproportionately deprived housing… we’ve lost 10,000 units of affordable housing in just the last 15 years, and it’s not like things were rosy in 2002.”

Frey emphasized that it’s not just a matter of rhetoric or philosophy, but rather “putting our money where our mouth is. Everybody deserves to live in a great city, and that is very quickly not becoming the case.”

Minneapolis, and the greater Twin Cities, have been roiled over recent years by the police killings of unarmed black men —notably, the cases of Jamar Clark, in north Minneapolis, and Philando Castile, in Falcon Heights.

“I believe in police accountability, and we know that communities of color, specifically, black men, are not always treated fairly by our police,” said Frey, who advocates for “more extensive implicit bias training.” He also mentioned that police need better training in how to exhaust all alternatives before resorting to deadly force.

“I believe there should be a rebuttable presumption of misconduct, if the officer fails to turn on the body camera and something bad happens,” he added. “A lot of times, race comes into play in all these issues.”

The Minneapolis DFL failed to endorse a candidate for mayor this year. Frey came in second; Ray Dehn, a state legislator from north Minneapolis, came in first, and Hodges was third in the voting.

It’s an educated guess who will win the Minneapolis mayor’s race. It’s not outlandish to think that Minneapolis could end up with its second Jewish mayor.

(American Jewish World, 10.20.17)

https://ajwnews.biz/mayoral/#more-27752

>>9503839

Also was sidetracked looking into this dude Dai Thao, who Jacob Frey's wife accused of bribery during the mayoral race in 2017. He was also indicted on 3 charges of election violations.;

City Council Member Dai Thao pleads ‘not guilty’ to three charges

Facing allegations he entered a voting booth to help an elderly Hmong resident vote for him, St. Paul City Council Member Dai Thao formally entered a plea of not guilty Monday to the three charges against him.

Thao, who ran for mayor in November, was represented by attorney Joe Dixon at the Ramsey County Law Enforcement Center in downtown St. Paul.

“We’d like to enter a plea of not guilty on all three counts,” said Dixon, addressing Ramsey County District Court Judge Robert Awsumb.

Thao will appear before Ramsey County District Court Judge Timothy Mulrooney for a pre-trial hearing on May 1. A jury trial is tentatively scheduled on or after May 29.

Dixon said he was almost finished negotiating accepted details of the case with the Dakota County Attorney’s office.

Prosecutors charged Thao in February with unlawfully marking a ballot, misconduct in or near polling places, and unlawful assistance of a voter. The first charge is a gross misdemeanor. The other two are petty misdemeanors.

Dixon said he would write a letter to the judge regarding “some significant legal issues” in the case. He did not elaborate except to note they include “constitutional” matters.

The charges stem from allegations against Thao by an election judge working an early-voting location on Nov. 6 at the Martin Luther King Recreation Center on Mackubin Street.

The election judge said he witnessed Thao enter a voting booth with an elderly voter and appeared to help her fill out her ballot, according to a criminal complaint.

State election law allows voters needing assistance due to an inability to read English or physical inability to mark a ballot to bring a friend, family member, neighbor or another person of their choosing to assist them.

They may not, however, get help from their employer, their union or a candidate for office.

“It’s premature (to discuss the legal issues), but what is clear is that all Mr. Thao has done is to help one voter who asked for help at the voting location,” Dixon said. “He didn’t know he was doing anything wrong, and the election officials didn’t tell him he was doing anything wrong until after he had already helped the voter. We contend that Dai Thao’s conduct was absolutely lawful. He did it with everybody watching, and nobody said a thing until after he was done helping.”

The case was investigated by the Hennepin County sheriff’s office to avoid potential conflict of interest. The Dakota County attorney’s office handled the charging decision.

Hennepin County investigators tracked down the voter, who told authorities she was outside her home when she and others were approached by a person she knew as “Mr. Xiong,” according to charges.

Authorities later determined Mr. Xiong was in fact Thao, according to the complaint. Thao asked the group if they were planning to vote and offered to help.

The voter — who said she did not speak English, had poor vision and had never voted before — accepted his offer and accompanied him to the rec center.

At the site, Thao allegedly helped her register to vote and went with her into the booth.

He then read her each candidate’s name and helped her mark the ballot because “she had difficulty seeing the circles,” the complaint said. The voter told investigators that despite his assistance, Thao never told her whom to vote for, and she said she didn’t realize at the time that Thao was a mayoral candidate.

“When (the woman) told me she wanted to vote but had no one to take her, I drove her to the polls,” said Thao, in a statement released at the time of the charging decision. “When we got there and she asked for my help because no one else spoke Hmong and she couldn’t see well or hold a pen, I couldn’t say no. I am fully cooperating with investigators. I do not deny helping my disabled neighbor, and I believe the charges are really unfair under the circumstances.”

The voting incident was the second criminal investigation involving Thao of the 2017 election season.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension explored allegations that Thao had solicited a bribe from a food container company and lobbyist Sarah Clarke, wife of then-Minneapolis mayoral candidate Jacob Frey.

Noting no money had changed hands, the Scott County attorney’s office declined to press charges.

Thao lost the mayoral election to Melvin Carter.

https://www.twincities.com/2018/04/02/city-council-member-dai-thao-pleads-not-guilty-to-three-charges/

>>9503972

Sorry forgot the date for the article: City Council Member Dai Thao pleads 'not guilty' to 3 charges;

By FREDERICK MELO | fmelo@pioneerpress.com | Pioneer Press

PUBLISHED: April 2, 2018 at 4:19 p.m. | UPDATED: April 3, 2018 at 2:22 p.m.