New CapitolRiver Council leaders
seek top priorities for downtown

Schlitz moved to Minnesota last year to become an assistant attorney general in the public safety division of the Minnesota Attorney General’s office. She relocated from Fort Worth, Tex., where she served on the city’s planning and zoning committee and taught school while pursuing her law degree. Notably, at the age of 19, Schlitz became the youngest woman to ever graduate from law school in the United States.

Her passion for community activism spurred her to quickly get involved in the CRC and she held the vice chair position for a few months before former chair Jess Grams’ term ended.

The reenergized team expects to roll out a survey in the next few months to learn what downtowners most want to see in their community. It won’t be a one-and-done effort but something that will be promoted online and at events for years to come, according to Schlitz. Following the first round of feedback, the team will iron out specific monthly and annual goals designed to meet residents’ desires. Currently, the top priorities of the CRC are helping the city refine its new street and sidewalks plan, making skyway improvements such as adding the routes to Google Maps, and reviving its arts committee, which has been inactive for a few years. The CRC is also considering forming new committees focused on issues related to physical and mental health, sports and STEM (science, technology, engineering, math). It currently operates three committees: Skyway Governance Advisory, Planning and Zoning, and Public Realm.

Notably, district councils are poised to receive a funding boost in 2026 and the City recently rolled out a new grant program which district councils can utilize to enhance commercial corridors.

“What do the people that we serve want to see done? Where do they struggle? Where do they succeed? What are they excited about? What are they dreading? How can we assist? With the city council, we want this [survey] to be a connection for the community to reach out and be heard and have their issues addressed,” said Schlitz.

She was quick to praise longtime executive director Jon Fure who has been the “common thread” at the CRC, which only requires one-year terms of its board members and has therefore been bogged down at times by leadership turnover.

Schlitz is optimistic about St. Paul’s initiative to convert several downtown office buildings to residential and ultimately increase the number of people living downtown. Coupled with more people returning to work in-office, she is hopeful the overall downtown economy and atmosphere will improve. However, she recognizes things won’t rebound to exactly how they were before the pandemic, and that downtowns across the country are seeing similar trends.

“We’re going to see more people in St. Paul and, in turn, more engagement,” she said. “I don’t think we’ll see remote work or remote business ever go away and I personally think that’s a really good thing… We don’t want to try to go back to exactly the way things were in 2019 because it’s not 2019 anymore. But at the same time we want to bring back some of those elements of being engaged in the city so businesses see that income and neighbors have that person-to-person connection.”

Other new leaders include vice chair Julie Printz; treasurer Sara Maruska; Internal Affairs Officer Thomas Burke and External Affairs Officer Christopher Melendez. High school student Olivia Robins is the new secretary; she wassought out by the Council to help garner youth perspectives and engagement. Appointed members are Kim Chung, St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce; Tina Gassman, BOMA; Joe Spencer, St. Paul Downtown Alliance; Erin Zolotukhin-Ridgway, St. Paul Central Library; and Olivia Robins, Youth On Boards.

“I’m excited to work with the board of CRC to bring people out and remind everyone that this is still a community, this is still a home, this is still a place for fun and a place for advocacy and just a place that we make it,” said Schlitz.

If you have an idea on how to create positive change in downtown or want to give feedback about city policies affecting downtown, contact the CRC or attend one of its public meetings, held 5:15-6:45 p.m., the third Tuesday of the month, via Zoom. The next meeting is September 16. For more information, visit capitolrivercouncil.org.

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