Lisa Bender

Lisa Bender
President of the Minneapolis City Council
Incumbent
Assumed office January 8, 2018
Preceded by	Barb Johnson
Member of the Minneapolis City Council from the 10th Ward
Incumbent
Assumed office January 6, 2014
Preceded by	Meg Tuthill
Personal details
Born	Elizabeth Peterson (1978-05-11) May 11, 1978
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic–Farmer–Labor
Residence	Lowry Hill East, Minneapolis
Alma mater	University of Minnesota University of California, Berkeley
Occupation	City planner
Website	Official website

Elizabeth Peterson "Lisa" Bender (born May 11, 1978) is an American Minnesota DFL politician and city planner living in Minneapolis, currently serving her second term on the Minneapolis City Council as a representative of the city's 10th Ward. In 2018, she was unanimously elected president of the Minneapolis City Council.

Early life and career

Born in Shoreview, Minnesota, Bender graduated from Irondale High School and earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota in Spanish and Biology. In 2001, she moved to New York City and worked as the Communications Director for the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, traveling across the world advocating for biking, walking, and non-motorized transportation. She received her master's degree in City and Regional Planning from University of California, Berkeley in 2007.

She worked for the City of San Francisco as a city planner before returning to Minnesota in 2009 where she worked for Hennepin County before moving to the Minnesota Department of Transportation to manage Minnesota's Safe Routes to School program. She co-founded the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition, an advocacy organization working to make riding a bike safer and more joyful in Minneapolis.^[1][2]

In 2012, Bender decided to challenge incumbent Meg Tuthill for the DFL endorsement for a seat on the Minneapolis City Council representing the city's 10th Ward.^[3] After six ballots and five hours, she secured the party's endorsement over Tuthill and two other challengers. She defeated Tuthill in the general election on November 5, 2013 with 62.4% of the vote.^[4][5]

Minneapolis City Council

Bender was sworn into office on January 6, 2014.^[6] She was named chair of the city's Zoning and Planning Committee, one of only two first-term council members to chair a standing committee of the council.^[7]

Bender being interviewed by a reporter outside the Minneapolis Police Department's Fourth Precinct during the fifth night of demonstrations following the shooting death of Jamar Clark.

During her first term, Bender has focused on creating a safe transportation system for all, expanding affordable housing choices, fighting for workers protections and higher wages, and supporting community and environmental health.^[8][9] She authored the city's complete streets ordinance, protected bikeway update to the Bicycle Master Plan, accessory dwelling unit ordinance and landmark paid sick leave ordinance, establishing Minneapolis as the first city in the Midwest guaranteeing workers the ability to accrue up to 48 hours of sick and safe time each year.^[10][11][12] In 2015, she authored an ordinance eliminating or reducing the minimum parking requirement for new residential developments along high-frequency transit routes.^[13][14] The Obama Administration highlighted Bender's parking reform ordinance in its 2016 Housing Development Toolkit as a successful initiative to lessen housing costs, reduce pollution, traffic congestion, and improve economic development.^[15]

In addition to serving as the chair of the Zoning and Planning Committee during her first term, Bender sat on the Committee of the Whole, the Elections and Rules Committee, the Health, Environment, and Community Engagement Committee, the Taxes Committee, the Transportation and Public Works Committee, and the Ways and Means Committee.^[16]

She was named L'Etoile Magazine's MVP of the year in 2015.^[17] In 2016, she was named one of Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal's People to Watch^[18]. ^[19]

On April 22, 2017, Bender was endorsed by the DFL for a second term.^[20] Bender won her re-election campaign on November 7, 2017, making her the first incumbent in over 20 years to do so in the ward.^[21]

Following the 2017 elections, Bender was unanimously elected by her colleagues as the new President of the Minneapolis City Council.^[22]

While serving as President of the Minneapolis City Council, Bender also sits as the vice-chair of the Transportation and Public Works Committee, the Elections and Rules Committee, and the Executive Committee. Bender is also a member of the Zoning and Planning Committee, the Budget Committee, the Housing Policy and Development Committee, the Committee of the Whole, and the Intergovernmental Relations Committee. ^[23]

Personal life

Lisa Bender at a campaign event in 2013

Bender lives with her husband Ryan and their two daughters in the Lowry Hill East neighborhood of Minneapolis and is a parent volunteer in the Minneapolis Public Schools.^[24] Bender is a year-round bicycle commuter.^[25]

In 2010, Bender was diagnosed with stage II breast cancer 11 weeks into her first pregnancy. She has since recovered.^[26]

Three weeks before election day, Bender gave birth to her second daughter in October 2013.^[27]

In the 2016 Democratic primary, Bender was the only Minneapolis elected official to endorse Senator Bernie Sanders' campaign.^[28] She served as the campaign's surrogate before the local media on caucus night when Sanders won Minnesota and was elected to be a delegate for him at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.^[29][30] Bender later supported Hillary Clinton's bid for the presidency.

Electoral history

References