Advocacy in Action with the GADs: an September 2025 update

SPAAR's Government Affairs Directors (GADs), Becky Wegscheid and Simon Opatz, engaged with several city and county elected officials and staff throughout SPAAR’s jurisdiction in September.

Simon attended a Ramsey County Board Meeting where the Board of Commissioners discussed the county’s priorities in the context of their 2026 budget. He also represented Realtors® at a community meeting held by Saint Paul’s City Councilmembers to discuss the mayor’s proposed 2026 budget. At this meeting, Simon relayed SPAAR’s concerns about ever-growing property tax increases and their burden on current and future homeowners in the city. This advocacy followed a letter drafted by both of SPAAR’s GADs urging the City Council to consider the burden of this property tax increase on residents.

Simon invited more than 250 elected officials and local government staff to attend SPAAR’s third annual Housing Resource Fair, which took place on September 25 with nearly two dozen nonprofits and city and county partners.

Becky continued her work with the City of Columbia Heights to bring homeownership classes in multiple languages to the city and to coordinate a successful homeownership resource night for residents looking to buy their first home.

Both GADs represented SPAAR at a couple events in early September including at a Saint Paul City Council meeting where there was good discussion about the need for housing density and at an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) open house in Golden Valley where they toured a newly built ADU, heard from the homeowners about the process, and from Golden Valley Mayor, Roslyn Harmon, about the city’s efforts to expand housing opportunities.

Alongside SPAAR members, Becky and Simon also participated in candidate endorsement interviews. SPAAR interviewed three of the five candidates in the race for Saint Paul Mayor and chose to endorse Rep. Kaohly Her for the role. Be sure to vote on November 4.

SPAAR's GADs will continue connecting with elected officials, government staff and local housing stakeholders on behalf of all SPAAR members. As always, please notify Simon or Becky of news going on at the city or county levels that should be on SPAAR’s radar.

Contact Becky (bwegscheid@spaar.com) or Simon (sopatz@spaar.com) to discuss any of the information above or for any questions.