Former Minneapolis City Council president runs for Hennepin County attorney

Former Minneapolis City Council President Paul Ostrow announced Thursday that he will run for Hennepin County attorney, bringing the field of candidates vying for the state's largest prosecutorial office to five.

Ostrow, an assistant Anoka County attorney, said in an interview that his platform will focus on bringing people together, holding police accountable while allowing them to do their work, and building trust with the community, among other priorities.

"I've been very concerned about the divisiveness on issues of public safety and the perceived conflicts between law enforcement and the prosecutor's office and community," Ostrow said. "To me, the most important attitude for anyone who wants this position is someone who can bring people together and solve problems and, frankly, rise above the divisiveness we see right now."

The slate of county attorney candidates in this November's election also includes former Hennepin County Chief Public Defender Mary Moriarty, Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Saraswati Singh, Richfield City Council Member Simon Trautmannand Minnesota House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced in September that he would not seek re-election. The Hennepin County attorney oversees 98 attorneys in the civil division and 110 attorneys in the criminal division. The office has an annual budget of $61.9 million for fiscal year 2021. The Hennepin County attorney's annual salary is $195,065.

Ostrow sat on the Minneapolis City Council from 1998 to 2009, serving as council president from 2002 to 2006. Ostrow's campaign said his leadership on the council, experience as a prosecutor on violent crimes and community volunteerism made him "uniquely qualified" for the post.

"My approach is: Is my voice and leadership needed at this time?" Ostrow said. "And I think it was. I do feel a real sense of calling and purpose to this campaign."

Ostrow's campaign website listed his priorities as rebuilding the "broken" relationship between the county attorney's office and police, rebuilding trust with the public by sharing data from the office online and in an annual public meeting, keeping violent offenders behind bars and cracking down on "drug kingpins" and cartels.

His other priorities include sharing officers' disciplinary records with defense attorneys when they are listed as witnesses in criminal cases and looking into "alternatives to felony convictions."

While Ostrow publicly supported last year's failed ballot measure to replace Minneapolis police with a new department of public safety, he opposes cutting officer numbers or funding for Minneapolis police.

"The notion that we reform police by cutting the number of police is nonsense in my opinion," Ostrow said. "We could have fewer police but have even more challenges and issues with police conduct than we have now. … That hurts, especially, communities of color in places that have the most significant problems with crimes."

Reforming police, he said, involves improved training, transparency in data about police work and a working relationship between prosecutors and police that identifies problem areas. Ostrow is a board member of the nonprofit Minnesota Coalition on Government Information, which filed a lawsuit last June alleging that Minneapolis police are illegally withholding hundreds of police misconduct records through a loophole.

Ostrow said he led changes to Anoka County's handling of drug cases that included forgoing charges in some cases involving "trace amounts" of drugs, encouraging treatment instead of incarceration for low-level offenders and focusing on prosecuting drug traffickers.

But he drew the line at some recent calls made by local prosecutors. He said he "strongly" disagrees with Ramsey County Attorney John Choi's announcement last September that in an effort to reduce racial disparities in the criminal justice system, his office would no longer prosecute most felony cases that arose from low-level traffic stops. Choi's office will no longer charge cases such as illegal possession of drugs or firearms if the evidence was discovered during traffic stops for violations unrelated to public safety, such as expired tabs.

"That's just not a road we can responsibly go down," Ostrow said.

Ostrow acknowledged that "these are not easy issues," but said racial disparities are better addressed through training and policies.

He also said the Minnesota Attorney General's Office's case against former Brooklyn Center police officer Kimberly Potter should have remained with the Washington County Attorney's Office. Freeman asked the Washington County Attorney's Office to handle the Potter case, and it charged her with second-degree manslaughter for fatally shooting Daunte Wright during a traffic stop. The attorney general took over the case after demonstrators protested outside Washington County Attorney Pete Orput's home demanding a stiffer charge. The office later filed a first-degree manslaughter count against Potter, which Ostrow believes was inappropriate. Potter was convicted of both counts and awaits sentencing.

"I was very, very troubled when the case was taken away from Washington County, and I remain troubled by that," said Ostrow, who believes Potter should serve prison time on the lower count.

Ostrow, 63, has been a prosecutor in Anoka County for the last 12 years. He lives in northeast Minneapolis with his wife and has two adult children.