Noecker named St. Paul City Council president

Gears up for ambitious year

By Jake Spitzack | Staff Writer | March 2025

“I’ve had the good fortune to have several really great mentors in the role beforehand, and I’m excited to be stepping in at this time because it feels like a moment of real opportunity for our city,” said Noecker in a recent interview. “Serious challenges are ahead of us, especially with all the uncertainty at the federal and state levels of government…. I want to model good government and really listen to people and make sure they know that there are productive ways they can engage in the process.”

One of the biggest responsibilities as council president is helping set the city’s annual budget. Noecker said she’s heard a great deal of concern from residents about rising costs across the board, including housing, childcare and taxes. Last year, she and the other councilmembers worked to bring down the levy increase from 7.9% to 5.9% – in part by rejecting some of the mayor’s proposed increases – but “bigger structural budget changes” need to happen to mitigate future increases, she said. This year, Noecker has tasked the budget committee to work year-round, rather than waiting until the year is half over as has been the practice in the past.

Under her direction, the council is also launching a new public safety committee to oversee the St. Paul Office of Neighborhood Safety and the St. Paul Police Department’s overtime spending. The police department has surpassed its overtime budget by $8 million over the past four years, according to city documents.

Economic growth
For the first time ever, the city council is poised to hire a consultant to create a robust economic development plan to help guide the city’s growth.

“Economic growth is a top priority for me,” said Noecker. “We need to be bringing in more housing, jobs and businesses. The only way that we can fuel the progressive work that we want to do for our residents is if we have the tax base to do it, and that’s also the only way that we can effectively bring down taxes while also delivering great services…. Downtown revitalization is a huge part of economic growth. I’m very invested in our office-residential conversion incentive program that we’ve launched. I’m excited about the many new units of housing that are coming online.”

Last fall, the St. Paul Downtown Alliance found that 10 of the city’s downtown office buildings are suitable for transitioning into residential housing and could ultimately bring in 4,000 new residents. They include the U.S. Bank Center on Fifth Street, the First National Bank Building on Minnesota Street and the Park Square Court building by Mears Park. Noecker noted that the city annex building is also prime for transition, and that moving city staff to a more approachable location – perhaps on street level – may encourage more people to get involved in local governmental affairs. It should be noted that some office buildings won’t be touched because the city is looking to bring workers back to downtown offices. For example, the mayor’s office is expected to soon implement an “office forward” policy requiring its workers to return to the office at least four days a week. Downtown has been struggling since the rapid shift to remote work following the pandemic.

“I believe the city has a serious role to play in bringing people back to downtown because we’re a major downtown employer,” said Noecker.

As part of a downtown investment strategy adopted last spring, the City of St. Paul, St. Paul Downtown Alliance, and a few other entities are working to attract 20,000 more residents downtown and 20,000 workers (for a total of 75,000) and increase the number of annual visitors downtown by 20% to 10 million.

Housing
Not all new developments will be multi-family housing. Last year the city created a fund for supportive housing and is looking to create affordable housing – including duplexes and triplexes – on its HRA-owned land. Noecker is working with Ward 3 Councilmember Saura Jost to update the city’s rent stabilization ordinance to increase affordable housing options in the city. When that ordinance is brought forward, Noecker plans to simultaneously attempt to bring back tenant protections that could limit the amount people must pay for security deposits, require more in-depth background checks of prospective renters and more. The city once had them but was forced to repeal them due to litigation.

Commerical Corridor Fund
More immediate is the launch of a new Commerical Corridor Fund, expected to go online within the next month, supported by a $1.4 million budget. District councils such as the West Side Community Organization and CapitolRiver Council, and business associations such as the South Robert Street Business Association, will be able to apply to receive $100,000 from the fund annually. The funds can be used for promoting a commercial corridor and its activities, as well as landscaping, public art and more. Noecker said the application process will be much easier and quicker than that of a STAR grant, so funds could get out the door within a few months of applying.

“There’s very limited funding from the city right now for anything that’s not physical capital through our STAR program, so we wanted this to be more flexible,” said Noecker. “We also wanted to direct these dollars towards the businesses organizations rather than just individual businesses, because we know there’s a need for coordinated activity along many of our main streets – not just one awning here and one HVAC system there. We want it to be a little bit more strategic.”

Other goals
Other goals for the year include passing a tree preservation ordinance to help preserve more of the urban tree canopy, increasing Metro Transit safety, and maintaining day-to-day services. Noecker will also continue hosting Community Conversations once a month at local businesses and organizations. These are informal gatherings where people can learn about various city operations, ask questions about projects and share general concerns.

“They’re the highlight of my month,” said Noecker, noting that constituents can request topics for conversation. “Almost every other community conversation I have now is with a guest speaker. For example, we’re going to have the Chief Judge John Guthmann joining me at the next one to talk about the justice system’s role in public safety.”

The next Community Conversation is 9-10 a.m., Thursday, Mar. 13 at Linwood Recreation Center, 860 St. Clair Ave. For more information, visit stpaul.gov/department/city-council/ward-2.

In 2015, Noecker became the first woman to represent Ward 2. Today, she oversees an all-female council. Prior to her election, she served on the St. Paul Planning Commission and on the board of directors of the West Side Community Organization. She also founded West Siders for Strong Schools, a neighborhood group promoting excellence in public schools on the West Side. She grew up in St. Louis Park, earned her bachelor’s degree in social studies from Harvard College, and spent the first part of her career as a middle school science teacher.

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