A STRONG
VOICE FOR
THE EASTSIDE
Ward 1 deserves strong, principled representation. With three years in office, extensive previous experience improving Minneapolis government, deep roots in Northeast, and a joyful commitment to social justice, I have the knowledge and experience to keep leading Ward 1 with integrity at City Hall.
My name is Elliott Payne, and this is how I got here.
Brought up in poverty and politics
My parents met in the activist politics of the 1970s. My father moved north with the Great Migration, becoming a Black Panther along the way. He met my mother when she moved from her Iowa farm to Milwaukee as part of a student organizing initiative. My parents split up after I was born, and I was brought up by a single white mom on the North Side of Milwaukee. I grew up with poverty, gang violence, and the low expectations our society forces onto Black boys. Both my parents taught me that there was power in organizing for a better world. But as a kid, all I could see was poverty and oppression, and I wanted out.
Coming home to Northeast
My ticket to a better life came from the University of Minnesota, where I got a degree in mechanical engineering. In 2005, just out of college, my girlfriend Lindsay and I moved into our first Northeast apartment together. We got married, I got my MBA from the U, and we changed jobs and industries. Through our whole life together, Northeast Minneapolis has kept us safe, made us welcome, and given us a place to belong. Everyone who chooses to make the Eastside home should feel just as safe, welcome, and cared for as we have.
Called to do more
By 2014, I had career success and economic security beyond anything I could have imagined as a teenager. I had left the poverty and struggle of my neighborhood in Milwaukee far behind. But that year, Michael Brown was murdered in Ferguson. That year, Eric Garner was murdered in New York, and a jury decided his murderer could get away with it. That year, I realized that my parents’ struggle for racial justice would always be with me, no matter what. I was an advertising executive, not a Black Panther like my dad. But I knew I had to be a part of the the struggle that brought my parents together.
Bringing innovation to City Hall
From then on, I tried whatever I could to make my skills useful. I joined the Minnesota Change Network and the Shannon Leadership Institute and several nonprofit boards. But the place where I felt the most momentum for social justice was advising the City of Minneapolis Office of Performance and Innovation. Working directly with the City Council to amend licensed on premises ordinance to protect renters from eviction, I learned what a strong and principled City Council member can do. I also learned just how deeply injustice is embedded in the way our city works — and that, without strong political leadership from every part of our city, nothing will ever change.
A moment for leadership
Like millions around the world, I saw Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murder George Floyd in cold blood. Like thousands of my neighbors, I witnessed first-hand how city, state and national authorities prioritized the welfare of property over the lives of black protestors. Like so many others, I looked to my own local representatives for bold and visionary leadership ready to meet the moment and transform Public Safety in our city. At that moment I decided that, if I couldn’t trust my own elected representative to take a clear position on whether black lives matter in our neighborhood, I would run for City Council myself.
Inside City Hall
In 2021, after defeating a 3 term incumbent, I unapologetically fought for upending the racist & discriminatory practices in our Police department and been a champion for expanding alternative responses to policing that keep us safe. I championed workers’ rights by authoring a budget amendment that increased funding for our co-enforcement program that helps stop wage theft. I’ve been an advocate for public transit by being an author on a directive to make the City a partner in the Transportation Assistance Program that allows residents to access $1 trips and by fighting for Bus Rapid Transit on Como, Lowry and Central Avenue in Ward 1. I’ve supported our environment by authoring an ordinance that reduces toxic air pollutants from autobody shops and by supporting the Climate Equity Plan. I’ve continue to fight for better infrastructure in Ward 1 with major improvements happening on Johnson Street, Monroe Street, Lowry Avenue, 37th Avenue, 29th Avenue, St Anthony Parkway, and Ridgeway Parkway. In 2023 I was re-elected with 89.7% of the vote and my council colleagues entrusted me with leading the council as Council President.
