Seven finalists to fill an open St. Paul City Council seat will sit for public interviews today.
Driving the news: Longtime Council Member Dai Thao stepped down to take a new job in Florida, creating a vacancy in Ward 1.
Zoom in: Here are the candidates set to participate in the interviews, according to resumes provided by the city:
- Russel Balenger, founder of the The Circle of Peace Movement.
- Deborah Montgomery, a former city council member and St. Paul police commander.
- Nadira Mohamed, a pharmacist who recently served as a community health specialist for Ramsey County Public Health.
- Vic Rosenthal, a policy consultant who served as executive director of Jewish Community Action.
- Erica Valliant, a manager with the homeless shelter People Serving People.
- Touachongka Xiong, founder of Kathy’s Live Bait shop.
- Khou Yang, a recent law school graduate who clerked for the Hennepin County Attorneys Office and the Minneapolis City Attorney.
Of note: Candidates had to agree that they wouldn’t run for a full term, so the successor appointed by the council is expected to represent the ward, which includes the Frogtown and Summit-University neighborhoods, only until the 2023 election.
What’s next: The interviews are open to the public and begin at 9am at City Hall (Room 330).
- A vote on the appointment could come as soon as Aug. 10.
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