Mitra Jalali
{{Short description|American politician}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Mitra Jalali
| image = Mitra Jalali Nelson Ward 4 Council Member.jpg
| office = President of the Saint Paul City Council
| term_start = {{start date|2024|01|10}}
| term_end = {{end date|2025|02|05}}
| predecessor = Amy Brendmoen
| successor = Rebecca Noecker{{cite news |last1=Melo |first1=Frederick |title=St. Paul City Council elects Rebecca Noecker as council president |url=https://www.twincities.com/2025/02/12/st-paul-city-council-elects-rebecca-noecker-as-council-president/ |access-date=19 February 2025 |work=Pioneer Press |date=February 12, 2025}}
| office1 = Member of the
Saint Paul City Council
from Ward 4
| term_start1 = 2019
| term_end1 = {{end date|2025|02|05}}
| birth_place = Minnesota
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1986}}
| alma_mater =
| residence =
| party = Democratic (DFL)
| website =
}}
Mitra Jalali (born 1986) is the City Council President and the Council Member for Ward 4 in Saint Paul, Minnesota.{{Cite web |title=Ward 4 - Councilmember Mitra Jalali {{!}} Saint Paul Minnesota |url=https://www.stpaul.gov/department/city-council/ward-4 |access-date=2024-01-10 |website=stpaul.gov }}{{Cite web |date=2024-01-10 |title=New St. Paul City Council President Mitra Jalali shares goals for historic council |url=https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2024/01/10/new-st-paul-city-council-president-mitra-jalali-shares-her-goals-for-historic-council |access-date=2024-01-10 |website=MPR News }} She became the first Iranian-American elected official in Minnesota when she was elected to the Saint Paul City Council in 2018.{{Cite web |last=Ansari |first=Hibah |date=2022-12-23 |title=Iranian Minnesotans call attention to political uprisings in Iran |url=http://sahanjournal.com/culture-community/iranian-minnesotans-rally-nicollet-mall-minneapolis-mahsa-amini/ |access-date=2024-01-10 |website=Sahan Journal }} In January 2025, Jalali announced her resignation from the city council effective February 5, 2025.
Early life and career
Jalali was born to immigrant parents in Minnesota. Her father, Hossein Jalali, came to the U.S. from Iran as a high school exchange student in Rochester, Minnesota, in 1978, when he was 16 years old. Her mother was adopted from South Korea by a family in Owatonna, Minnesota.{{Cite news |date=2020-01-03 |title=For many Iranian-American families, this moment has us sick and terrified |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/03/for-many-iranian-american-families-this-moment-has-us-sick-and-terrified |access-date=2024-01-10 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077}} Her parents met in college.
Jalali's father organizes the annual Twin Cities Iranian Culture Festival.
After college, Jalali started her professional career as a teacher in New Orleans.{{Cite web |last=Nordstrom |first=Tracy |date=2021-07-29 |title=Mitra Jalali - Pink to the People! |url=https://verve.place/blog-1/2021/7/29/mitra-jalali-pink-to-the-people |access-date=2024-01-10 |website=Verve }} After teaching, she worked as a community organizer and as a staffer to then U.S. Representative Keith Ellison.
Elected office
Jalali became the first Iranian American to hold elected office in Minnesota in 2018 when she was elected to represent Ward 4 on the Saint Paul City Council in a special election after the previous representative resigned to accept a job in the mayor's office. She was the second woman of color to hold elected office in Saint Paul.{{Cite web |date=2024-01-08 |title=The Unprecedented Saint Paul City Council Takes Office |url=https://www.womenspress.com/the-unprecedented-saint-paul-city-council-takes-office/ |access-date=2024-01-10 |website=Minnesota Women's Press }} She was also the first Asian American woman to serve on the council and the first to openly identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community.{{Cite web |last=Galioto |first=Katie |last2=Boone |first2=Anna |last3=Steinberg |first3=Jake |date=January 8, 2024 |title=St. Paul will swear in its first all-female City Council on Tuesday. How did we get here? |url=https://www.startribune.com/a-history-of-st-paul-women-on-the-city-council/600330010/ |access-date=2024-01-10 |website=Star Tribune}} At the time she was first elected, she was the youngest council member and the only renter among the members.{{Cite web |last=Prather |first=Shannon Prather |title=Mitra Jalali pushes St. Paul City Council to the left |url=https://www.startribune.com/mitra-jalali-pushes-city-council-to-serve-rising-st-paul/600035340/ |access-date=2024-01-10 |website=Star Tribune}}
Jalali was reelected to full four-year terms in 2019 and in 2023. After being sworn in on January 9, 2024, the council elected her council president at its first meeting on January 10. She identified the council's top three priorities as housing, sustainability and climate action, and community safety.
Jalali announced her resignation from city council in January 2025, citing concerns over her health. Her final council meeting was on February 5, 2025.{{cite news |last1=Thompson |first1=Howard |title=St. Paul City Council president Mitra Jalali to resign |url=https://www.fox9.com/news/st-paul-city-council-president-mitra-jalali-resign |access-date=January 27, 2025 |work=Fox 9 KMSP |date=January 26, 2025}}
City council president
= Controversy over ceasefire resolution =
On February 28, 2024, council member Nelsie Yang attempted to introduce a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict. Before Yang could do so, Jalali adjourned the meeting after approximately 50 minutes for unspecified reasons and asked Yang to connect with her later. After the adjournment, there were protests and dissatisfaction among the attendees, including pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Yang expressed frustration with the abrupt adjournment, calling it "undemocratic". She also voiced disappointment in her colleagues' unwillingness to support the resolution despite their personal agreement with it. The incident prompted discussions about democracy, public leadership, and the role of elected officials in addressing global issues at the local level.{{Cite web |title=City Council on 2024-02-28 3:30 PM |url=https://stpaul.granicus.com/player/clip/4736?view_id=37&redirect=true |access-date=2024-03-03 |website=stpaul.granicus.com}}{{Cite web |date=2024-02-28 |title=St. Paul City Council adjourns before cease-fire resolution could be introduced |url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2024/02/28/st-paul-city-council-adjourns-before-ceasefire-resolution-could-be-introduced |access-date=2024-03-03 |website=MPR News |language=en}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Ballotpedia|Ballotpedia}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jalali, Mitra}}
Category:21st-century Minnesota politicians
Category:21st-century American women politicians
Category:Minnesota city council members
Category:Women city councillors in Minnesota
Category:City council members of Asian descent
Category:American politicians of Iranian descent
Category:American women of Korean descent in politics
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