Larry Kraft

Why did you decide to run?

I spent 25 years in the high-tech industry (and) have run a budget about the size of the city’s. I left that world six years ago because I was concerned about my kids’ future around climate change, and for most of the past five years, I was running a small national nonprofit called iMatter. iMatter works with primarily high school students that care deeply about the climate crisis and want to get involved. One of the first groups that we worked with was here in St. Louis Park — it was the Roots and Shoots club at the high school. They worked for our City Council a few years ago, gave them a report card, pushed them to take action and the council adopted our Climate Action Plan last year, (which is) the best in Minnesota and one of the most aggressive in the country.

What do you believe is the biggest issue in the city right now that you would like to address?

I think climate change is something that is one of the biggest issues that we face in all levels of government. We have an opportunity here at St. Louis Park to rethink how things will work in this new environment.

What changes would you like to make to address climate change?

I want to build on this Climate Action Plan. I want to see a really effective business engagement program implemented because commercial sources account for about two thirds of our emissions in St. Louis Park. I want to be able to simultaneously provide opportunity education for businesses — what they can do to lower their (energy use) and lower their footprint, as well as to save money in doing those things. When they do these things that are right for emissions in the environment, I want to provide them publicity so we can drive more people to them. I’d like to see us expand the great Recycling Champions Program. 

What other issues are you passionate about?

I believe that climate is not a single issue, it impacts virtually every area of government at every level, but at the city level, (climate change can be seen) from waste to renewable energy, from transit to economic development and even affordable housing which is very important to me. … I’ve been doing a lot of door knocking and talking to residents, so for the basic issues of making sure the streets are plowed and clean, public safety is important and also paying real careful attention to the tax burden on people. 

What specific skills do you believe you bring to the table for the City Council?

I have a lot of experience in seeing what other cities have done around climate change and also having exposure to many other cities gives me a real deep appreciation for St. Louis Park. At the core of my skill set is a real attention to listening to people, listening with the intent to understand, and then being able to get input from many different sources and then bridging them together.