The city enters a new era as Her is sworn in as the city’s 56th mayor, marking a historic milestone as the first woman, the first Hmong American, and the first refugee to hold the office.
She addressed a vibrant crowd at St. Catherine University, with a steely resolve to tackle modern challenges.
"We have a federal administration determined to make life for all of us here, whether it is cutting funding to our city or targeting our neighbors, we are facing an unprecedented incursion that we must meet head on."
Her, attributing much of her success to her immigrant parents’, as the city faces an uptick in local ICE activity.
She says she's committed to strengthening city ordinances and police partnerships to protect the city's resident's.
"When ICE comes here again we are working together as a community. Lets not forget who is the aggressor here, who is the one tearing families apart, who is targeting people by the way that they look, or how they sound. Working together in solidarity is the only way to weather through these next few years."
She also announced the launch of a new data-driven strategy to address over a $1 billion dollars in deferred maintenance for the city following a cyber attack this past summer.
Beyond her focus on immigration and infrastructure, Mayor Her pledged to streamline city services by speeding up construction permits and improving direct response times for all resident requests.
She also committed to fostering a more vibrant local economy by facilitating high-level retention conversations with business owners across key commercial corridors like Payne and Grand Avenues.
She concluded her remarks by honoring the late House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark.
"Now, lets get to work or in the words of Mellissa Hortman, LFG."