St. Paul City Council to certify election results, discuss tobacco licenses at Wednesday meeting

Emily Baude KSTP

The St. Paul City Council is meeting on Wednesday to discuss the recent election and restricting tobacco in the city.

At 3:30 p.m., the council will gather to declare the official results of the city’s general election, which was held on Nov. 7.

The council will also consider amending the legislative code to remove tobacco vending machine licenses, reduce the number of tobacco shop licenses from 150, and reduce the number of tobacco product shop licenses from 25 to 15. Additionally, the council will consider moving the penalty into the matrix penalties under section 310 of the legislative code.

The council meeting comes after the city’s residents elected what’s considered one of the most progressive councils the city has ever seen — with an all-female, under-40, majority BIPOC council.

St. Paul Mayor Carter recently noted he “looks forward” to working with the newly elected council. “I think it will be really helpful to have folks in this building and space doing the work with us who have very little allegiance to the way things have sort of always been done around City Hall,” said Carter.