Additional Q-and-A with Heather Edelson

Here’s candidate Q-and-A content in addition to what appeared in EPLN’s print Voter Guide, mailed to Eden Prairie homes in early October. We are repeating the Voter Guide’s introduction of the candidate.

Heather Edelson

Website: www.heatheredelson.com

Edelson, who lives on Drexel Avenue in Edina, has been serving as the District 6 representative on the Hennepin County Board since winning a special election in May, hiring staff and meeting with 16 mayors and police and fire chiefs. She filled a seat formerly held by Chris LaTondresse, who resigned last September.

Edelson previously served six years in the Minnesota House, where she was chief author of the Read Act and focused on literacy, special education services and supports, mental health, public safety, disability rights and environmental protections. Before being elected to the House in 2018, she served on several boards and commissions.

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Outside of elective office, Edelson is a former Hennepin County guardian ad litem; organized intergenerational “buddy bingo,” served on a PTO, on local education committees and on a police department crime fund, and she is a supporter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).  During the pandemic, she volunteered weekly to grocery shop for seniors with Help at Your Door.

Edelson also serves on the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District Commission, which brings all seven metro counties together to share resources on protecting public health and controlling mosquito populations. 

She said the role of county commissioner is focused on the policy areas where she was most effective during her service in the Minnesota House, including public safety, human services and the environment. Edelson said she brings a unique perspective to her work: a lived experience growing up in poverty and heavily relying on Hennepin County services for housing, food and transportation.

Edelson said she has endorsements from Everytown for Gun Safety, AFSCME, Teamsters, Women Winning and from many elected officials and leaders who serve District 6. She has received campaign support from AFSCME, the union that covers employees of Hennepin County, including social workers, correction officers, child support staff, librarians and others.

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EPLN: What is your position on the much-debated question of whether Hennepin Healthcare, the County Board, or another entity should control Hennepin County Medical Center and other county health facilities?

EDELSON: I support there being a Hennepin Healthcare System board, which is how the model is currently structured. We should improve on the current mode, by adding another labor member, for example, and I believe we can. I am opposed to having the hospital go back under the direct day-to-day management of Hennepin County.

EPLN: The county has a solid-waste management plan that calls for considerably less trash to be produced by 2030, yet the state says the county is actually headed in the wrong direction. What additional steps would you propose, if any, to get residents to produce less garbage?

EDELSON: The state may be heading in the wrong direction, but Hennepin County actually is improving its recycling and composting, and waste has been at the same levels for the past two years. We need to reduce waste by reusing. Passing the Extended Producer Responsibility legislation last session will help us ensure that more products are made to be reused or recycled. This new Minnesota law will not be implemented for several years, but companies will start launching early, which is great news for our state!  

EPLN: How would you maintain impartiality and fairness, even when faced with issues that may conflict with your personal beliefs?

EDELSON: This is a skill you learn after serving in public office for years. Being a public servant is not about me or any elected official – it’s about the communities we serve. I learned this after serving in the Minnesota House my first year when I thought I had all the answers. It’s a lesson I cherish. The best public servants also know that, regardless of how you or others vote, you always help anyone in need because that is why we do this work. With that said, please always feel free to contact me. It is my honor to serve our community.