Before becoming the Ward 1 City Council Member, Elliott Payne started at City Hall in 2016 with the Office of Performance and Innovation (OPI). In this role, he:

• Helped establish the Behavioral Response Team
• Designed the Small Business Portal to make it easier for BIPOC and immigrant entrepreneurs to launch and grow their businesses
• Helped amend the Conduct on Licensed Premises ordinance to protect renters from unjust evictions

He has served his community as a volunteer and board member of several non-profit organizations including Art Buddies and Minneapolis College Foundation.

During his time as a Council Member, Elliott Payne has:

• Led the City Council effort to expand alternative public safety responses by funding the City’s Behavioral Crisis Response program and creating a Public Safety Ambassador Program for the City’s cultural corridors
• Championed workers’ rights by authoring a budget amendment that increased funding for our co-enforcement program that helps stop wage theft and by supporting a minimum wage for drivers of Transportation Network Companies (TNC)
• Advocated for public transit by being an author on a directive to make the City a partner in the Transportation Assistance Program that allows residents to access $1 trips and by fighting for Bus Rapid Transit on Como and Lowry Avenue in the Ward
• Supported our environment by authoring an ordinance that reduces toxic air pollutants from autobody shops and by supporting the Climate Equity Plan
• Fought for better infrastructure in Ward 1 with major improvements on Johnson Street, Monroe Street, Lowry Avenue, 37th Avenue, 29th Avenue, St Anthony Parkway, and Ridgeway Parkway

Elliott Payne lives in the Audubon Park neighborhood with his wife Lindsay and is proud to represent his neighbors.