St. Paul City Council Policy Committee Meeting on Ending Slavery and Economic Development - June 10, 2026
St. Paul City Council Policy Committee Meeting - June 10, 2026
The St. Paul City Council Policy Committee met on June 10, 2026, for a two-part meeting. The first segment (30 minutes) focused on a presentation from the End Slavery Minnesota Coalition regarding a constitutional loophole that allows slavery as punishment for crime and efforts to end it. The second segment (one hour) featured a presentation from Urban 3 on land use economics and property tax revenue generation.
Consent Calendar
- No consent calendar items were discussed.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were taken from non-presenters.
Discussion Items
- Ending Slavery and Expanding Civil Protections Review – Chantel Allen (Executive Director, Indian Slavery Coalition), along with outreach coordinators Max and Josh, presented on the Minnesota Constitution's exception allowing involuntary servitude as punishment for crime. They noted that eight states have removed this exception. The presenters described the exploitation of incarcerated workers paid 25 cents per hour, with an annual income of approximately $580, and the financial strain on families (one in six children in Minnesota experience parental incarceration). They advocated for a constitutional amendment (to be on the 2028 ballot) and a bill reclassifying incarcerated workers as employees entitled to minimum wage, child support payments, and savings upon release (currently capped at $500). Councilmembers expressed strong support, noting personal connections and the need for restorative practices. Councilmember Bowie highlighted the link to mass incarceration and proposed making justice-impacted individuals a protected class. The presenters urged the city to review procurement contracts for prison labor and support the legislative agenda.
- Economic Development and Vitality – Ms. Worthington (COO/Principal, Urban 3) presented a land use efficiency analysis for Ramsey County, with emphasis on St. Paul. Key findings: only 43% of St. Paul's land area is taxable; downtown has 33% exempt property and 38% right-of-way, one of the highest rates seen nationally. Downtown taxable value per acre decreased from 13.2 times the county average (2020) to 8.3 times (2025) due to increases in exempt properties. Highly productive examples include the Patagonia-to-Fratellone block on Grand Avenue (highest revenue per acre in the county) and mixed-use infill like Golden Time. Recommendations: replicate successful compact developments, regulate by right (e.g., via zoning), reduce parking minimums, leverage public assets and transit investments (Green Line, Snelling BRT). Councilmember Naker asked how to replicate success when proposals are ad hoc; Ms. Worthington suggested regulating in advance and reducing entitlement timelines. Councilmember Bowie noted the role of community planning (Rondo COT) in enabling density on Selby and Grand.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken; the meeting was informational.
- Councilmembers expressed strong support for the constitutional amendment and legislative bills to end slavery exception and raise prison wages.
- Councilmember Bowie announced intention to bring forward a resolution supporting the campaign.
- Several councilmembers requested follow-up meetings with the presenters.
- For economic development, councilmembers committed to examining zoning, parking, and procurement policies to encourage productive land use and avoid prison labor contracts.
Meeting Transcript
Well, I think that's a good thing. All right. And we've got 30 minutes for the first and then an hour. Okay, great. Call the meeting of the St. Paul City Council Policy Committee to order. Roll call, please. Councilmember Bowie. Here. Council President Naker. Here. Councilmember Joost. Councilmember Coleman. Here. Councilmember Kim. Councilmember Yang. Councilmember Johnson. Who is arriving shortly, seeing six president and one on our way. Great. Good morning, everyone. Uh, thanks so much to those of our guests who are joining us today for our policy committee. Um, our first order of business is uh actually our second order of business. Uh, want to welcome up um Ms. Allen and associated guests who I'll let you introduce to um share with that's our first topic, which is ending slavery and expanding civil protections review. We have 30 minutes for this first conversation. We have a timer that helps us keep time, and we're so excited you're here. Welcome. Thirty whole minutes. You gotta learn how to work the system, right? Anyways, um, my name is Chantel Allen, I'm the executive director of the Indian Slavery Coalition. Um, happy first day of Juneteenth. We are black, so we start on the 10th and we go all the way to the 20th. I too am America just like Langs and you, so I'm in my red, white, and blue. Right. Unfortunately, I have a different experience along with a lot of other black and brown Americans when it comes to being American. Um, the Constitution was written in a way that really disenfranchised a lot of people originally, even in the start of America, right? So with slavery and all of that, but even during Reconstruction, there was a process that happened that continued to disenfranchise black and brown people. And so I want to welcome my guy, uh, my outreach coordinators, uh, Max and Josh up. These are my guys who have survived that system to the utmost. I've been exposed to it. I've been around it because I grew up in the hood, right? But these brothers have truly experienced this, and they are here to give you a beautiful presentation. Now, this clicker right here, we just click it and it goes or hit the space bar. We got it right there. We got it right there. I think it's just slide down with the mouse. Just slide down with the mouse. Yeah. Okay, okay. All right, yeah.
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