Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
The Saint Paul Public Safety Committee, chaired by Anika Bowie, convened on October 28, 2026, at 12:30 PM in Council Chambers. The meeting focused on exploring innovative housing models to address unsheltered homelessness and expand affordable housing options. Presentations were delivered by the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) from Seattle, the City of New Ulm, and Avivo of Minneapolis. Six council members were present (Vice Chair Coleman, Johnson, Jost, Kim, Noecker, Bowie); Councilmember Yang was excused. No public comments were heard, and no formal votes were taken.
Hi, Marta. Do you want to talk about the services? So we only want to have ten minutes to run for the slide in the five minutes. Wellness committee roll call, please. Vice Chair Coleman. Johnson. Here. Joels. Here. Kim. Naker. Here. Chair Bowie. Here. There are six members present. And one excuse. Councilmember Yang is excused. Thank you, Pierre. So before we even get started, I just want to say good afternoon, everyone. The topics that we have covered here in public safety committee today, or we're going to cover today, is going to be a continuous overview of the city's response, particularly to our unsheltered homelessness community and encampments. And in this committee, we have heard from our assistant mayor, our county managers, our partners with Catholic charities, and also have took several actions, particularly around not only implementing a 60-day required comprehensive coordinated response, but also looking at some solutions and some long-term investments. So before I even get started here, I want to just pass it over to Chair Johnson, HRA chair and budget chair Johnson to talk about, you know, some of the speakers that we have today. What does models look like? And I just want to say thank you, Chair Johnson, for your leadership. Um, but I want to just pass it to you for some remarks before we go into our speakers. Sure. Uh thank you, Chair Bowie. Uh appreciate that introduction and kind of laying the groundwork for it. I'm excited about this presentation. Um there's three presenters that'll be coming in today from a variety of different places throughout the state and across the country. So really excited to hear from um the low-income housing institute. Uh, we'll be hearing from the executive director and members on the team as well who are joining us virtually all the way from Seattle, Washington to talk a little bit about their um work that they've been doing around Seattle's tiny homes. I know we've talked a little bit in depth on this body as well about some alternatives to housing, so I think you'll have a few questions for them. We thank you so much for being here and thank you for being responsive to the request from the St. Paul City Council to present with us today. Um, in addition from New Wall, Minnesota, we have the city manager who has joined us, uh, Chris Dalton to talk about their work that they are doing around their barn dominions. Um, which I feel like has been a really um innovative uh response to the growing need for affordable housing throughout the state. Um, especially as a southwest Minnesota native. For me, it's been really interesting to see how our rural partners have been addressing their housing needs and their growing interests in a community that truly basically has more people than they did to housing, and they found ways to um be creative with the land that we have. Uh nothing like a good rural Minnesota joke around bar barns and condos, but hey, they're making it work. Um, and then lastly, I know several of our council colleagues have toured, including myself, Aviva Village and Minneapolis. Um, and I know we'll be able to hear about the interior model that Avivo has been making work in in Minneapolis, but also recently in St. Cloud, Minnesota. So looking forward to hearing from all three of those presenters. Thank you again for just uh being so responsive and being willing to share that with the St. Paul City Council today. Absolutely. Thank you, Chair Johnson.