Advocacy in Action: a November 2025 update

SPAAR’s Government Affairs Directors (GADs), Becky Wegscheid and Simon Opatz, actively engaged with numerous elected officials, government staff and housing stakeholders throughout November on behalf of SPAAR members.

On Tuesday, November 4, SPAAR-endorsed mayoral candidate, Kaohly Her, won her race to become the next mayor of Saint Paul. She will be the first female mayor and first Asian-American mayor of Minnesota’s capital city. SPAAR is confident Mayor-elect Her will be a great partner for the Realtor® community.

Also in November, Becky and Simon met with several elected officials and city staff to discuss a wide variety of topics related to housing and homeownership.

Becky met with the Little Canada mayor and councilmembers to discuss new developments and opportunities in the city. In addition to those outreach meetings, Becky also met with Transforming Neighborhoods stakeholders to discuss next steps for the White Bear Avenue corridor. SPAAR looks forward to continuing those relationships in 2026.

Simon met with Mayor Levine of Mendota Heights who talked about the need for public transportation in her community and her interest in advocating for multi-generational living as one way to attack the affordability crisis.

Simon also met with Mayor Francis of South Saint Paul. They discussed the need to educate seniors about the alternatives to single family home living and an effort to open up homeownership opportunities for young families.

The mayors expressed interest in continued collaboration with Realtors® to help advance homeownership opportunities in their respective communities.

The GADs will continue to meet with elected officials and staff in the communities within SPAAR's 12-county service area on behalf of SPAAR’s membership.

Reach out to Simon Opatz (sopatz@spaar.com) or Becky Wegscheid (bwegscheid@spaar.com) with any questions about advocacy efforts, interest to participate in meetings with local elected officials or to get more engaged with SPAAR's Government Affairs Committee.