Letters - Oct 2025

VOTE YES ON ADMINISTRATIVE CITATIONS
I’m a recent retiree and newer resident of the Hamline-Midway neighborhood, and I believe a thriving community is essential – for strong local businesses, stable property values, and for people to feel welcome visiting our neighborhood. I chose to move here because I was drawn to the strong sense of community, the vibrant local businesses, and the neighborhood’s walkability.
That’s why I’m deeply concerned about the public safety hazard and eyesore left behind at the former CVS property at University and Snelling. No neighborhood – regardless of income or background – should have to live with the effects of a blighted building for as long as we have. Many of my neighbors, like me, now avoid that intersection altogether. The lack of responsibility from CVS and their landlord isn’t just frustrating – it impacts all of us: local businesses, residents, and visitors alike. This situation is chipping away at our mental health, personal wealth, and sense of community.
We deserve better. And this election, St. Paul residents have the opportunity to make sure we can avoid another Midway CVS in the future. Administrative Citations give our city the tools to hold bad actor corporations and landlords accountable before problems like this spiral. With these tools, St. Paul can enforce ordinances that protect neighborhoods and put people – not just corporate profits ‑ first.
Join me in voting YES on Question 1 for Administrative Citations by Nov. 4. Together, we can build a fairer St. Paul that works for all of us, not just the wealthy and well-connected.
Dean Peters
Midway

RESTORE PROTECTIONS FOR DIALYSIS PATIENTS
As a caregiver for my late father-in-law on dialysis – the only treatment for kidney failure outside of a transplant – I saw firsthand how taxing kidney disease can be.
My wife, a nurse, handled his home dialysis treatments day after day. I helped wherever I could – driving him to appointments, shaving him when he could no longer manage, and offering the emotional support both he and my wife needed. Dialysis didn’t just affect him. It shaped our entire family’s life. We gave everything to help him stay home, stay comfortable, and maintain his dignity. Thankfully, he had sufficient coverage as a veteran. But I also know patients like him struggled with affordability.
That’s why I’m standing up as an advocate and urging Congress to pass the Restore Protections for Dialysis Patients Act. It would allow new dialysis patients to keep their private insurance, if they have it, for the first 30 months of care. It would give them better access to doctors, medications, and transplant opportunities. It’s essential, especially since new dialysis patients are threatened following a recent Supreme Court decision allowing private insurers to push patients off of their plans prematurely.
Rep. Betty McCollum has shown deep care for families like mine. We’re grateful she helped nominate our son to West Point. I hope she’ll now help families dealing with kidney disease by supporting this critical bill! Thank you!
Jeff Banks
Payne-Phalen

FORMER MAYOR SUPPORTS GEORGIANA MAY
While Falcon Heights residents are again fortunate to have several qualified and concerned candidates on the ballot for city council this fall, I believe Georgiana May has, in her 35 years of residence, most clearly demonstrated a passion for committing her considerable skills to improving the lives of our residents..
Serving on our Community Engagement Commission, Climate Action Team, Environment Commission and participating on our Corridor Planning and Community Conversations on Policing groups, Georgiana has been a valuable, tireless presence where and whenever people meet to envision and work toward a better, brighter future for citizens of Falcon Heights.
As Georgiana’s colleague on the city’s State Fair Task Force, I’ve been unfailingly impressed by her ability to identify, gather and analyze critical information, and direct her findings toward solving complex public concerns; skills I’m certain she honed during her years as a professor in Evolution and Ecology at the University of Minnesota. Georgiana has proven to be a data-drive problem solver, but one who also understands and is truly concerned with the human side of the numbers.
As I said, I believe we’re fortunate in having a fine slate of candidates willing to step forward and serve us on the Falcon Heights City Council, but I also strongly believe Georgiana May has distinguished herself among this year’s field. I hope you’ll join me in voting for Georgiana on Nov. 4.
Tom Baldwin
Former Mayor of Falcon Heights