Adam Dullinger
1. What are your three biggest issues facing St. Paul in the coming years and what are your plans to address them?
Climate change, public safety, and affordability. All three of these can be addressed by creating a fully interconnected and safe bicycle network. By reducing our reliance on cars we provide healthier air for our neighbors, freedom for our kids to explore their city, and reduce our cost of transportation substantially. I commute to work year-round on my e-bike and save thousands of dollars a year by not driving. We can also address climate change through continued investment in geothermal and solar, public safety through automated traffic enforcement to free up police to investigate crimes, and affordability by pushing for more housing supply even if that means building it publicly.
2. St. Paul residents currently face the highest effective tax rate in the state, one that has the potential to increase again significantly in 2026 with proposed county and city property tax increases and a school district levy on this year’s ballot. What are your plans to address the growing financial pressures on St. Paul’s residents while still providing the services expected of city government?
We primarily just need to get more people to live here. Our city services are more efficient to distribute when we have more people living in the same space and that tax burden can get spread out to more people. While large developments are part of the solution, the most gentle way of increasing density is through ADUs in people’s backyards. This kind of development has been underutilized since it became legal and we need to make it easier for people to do this kind of small scale building wherever possible. I also think we should stop overusing tax increment financing (TIF) on new developments in the city. While I understand that they encourage more development, they also pull much needed property tax revenue off the table for decades.
3. While perceptions of crime in St. Paul may not match reality, with crime rates, especially rates of violent crimes, continuing to fall, our city still has rates close to double that of the rest of the state. How do you plan to address public safety concerns, both those perceived and what is happening in reality, in the city?
The most common crime in the city is speeding and red light running. If we can automatically enforce those we can free up the police to do more with the same resources they already have. I also strongly believe in deeply investigating every crime no matter how small and making everyone involved feel like action is being taken to make things right. I saw first hand while on jury duty for a murder trial in St. Paul that when the police do not properly investigate crimes, people feel the need to take things into their own hands. It took two years after that murder for the city to realize they should start investigating non-fatal shootings as deeply as murders, but it only took me one hour in that courtroom to make that determination.
4. Downtown St. Paul has long been struggling and, in the past few years, has faced multiple buildings being condemned and changing hands in foreclosure. What are your plans to stabilize downtown St. Paul in order to revitalize what is an important economic engine for St. Paul?
We absolutely need to pedestrianize as much of downtown as physically possible. Downtown is an unpleasant place to hang out because there are two interstates, three state highways, and a county road running directly through it which makes it a haven for loud, fast, and dangerous interactions with cars at literally every corner. We need downtown to be a place where people want to spend time, regardless if they intend to spend money as well. Treating downtown only as a destination for out-of-towners creates a boom and bust cycle that gets a lot of people in for a short period of time and leaves the place empty afterwards. I struggle to get friends to go downtown with me because the first thing they ask is “but is there an event going on?”.
5. On August 27, tragedy struck Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis where two children were killed and 17 others were injured by a mass shooter. How do you view the City’s role in reducing gun violence and what measures can the City take to curb future mass shootings?
Unfortunately, there is not a whole lot the city can do in terms of gun control until the state allows us to, and even then, it is up to the city council to enact legislation on the matter, not the mayor. I think reducing gun violence takes a lot of effort not just in the form of better policing like I mentioned before, but also in giving troubled people better outlets and much needed mental health help with no strings attached. Our communities can often be very isolating even when it might not seem like it, and even one moment of compassion can change someone’s life for the better. I have to be honest that I don’t know the best path forward here though. These issues are complex and require action at all levels and branches of government but I am fully willing to work together with everyone to do whatever we can to prevent the next tragedy from ever happening.
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