St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter has officially appointed Matt Privratsky to fill a vacant seat on the city council, restoring a voting Ward 4 member to the post the council tried and failed to fill on its own.
The Ward 4 seat had been held by former Council President Mitra Jalali, who stepped down on Feb. 5 and officially left city employ on March 8. Privratsky, a lobbyist for clean energy developers, served as her legislative aide from October 2018 to October 2021.
“Matt’s history of community action, prior service in City Hall, and alignment with former Council President Jalali make him the perfect choice,” said Carter, in a written statement. “I am honored to appoint him to fill this vacancy until Election Day.”
Privratsky is expected to be sworn in on Wednesday, in time for public hearings on a major amendment to the city’s rent control ordinance and a raft of tenant protections, issues that had left the six other members of the council divided over whom to appoint to fill the Ward 4 seat.
After interviewing four finalists, members of the city council attempted, multiple times across two weeks, to recommend Privratsky or Hamline-Midway neighborhood advocate Lisa Clare Nelson as the council’s preferred choice, but the motions were repeatedly blocked or voided by fellow council members.
Under the city charter, the council has 30 days to fill the vacancy or the decision falls to the mayor, who has urged the council to repeal rent control for buildings constructed after 2004, with the goal of jumpstarting lagging housing construction.
The two other finalists were artist and community organizer Sean Lim and nonprofit consultant Melissa Martinez-Sones, who withdrew her name from the running amid the council’s public and highly-charged infighting.
Privratsky is a former director of public affairs for Fresh Energy and launched his career at the Minnesota Rural Electric Association after serving as news director for a Morris radio station. He is currently the director of government affairs for Nokomis Energy, a Minneapolis-based energy developer.
Related Articles
St. Paul Ward 4 race: School Board member Chauntyll Allen declares; Hamline-Midway Coalition disavows Cole Hanson campaign
Rent control, budget, acrimony, attendance issues dog St. Paul City Council
Joe Soucheray: Test the sirens! The season of Trash Emergencies is upon us!
St. Paul City Council OKs 90-day extension for trash site
St. Paul City Council fails — again — to fill Ward 4 seat
Leave a Reply