A few moments of frustrations boiled over during a town hall meeting addressing concerns in St. Paul’s Hamline-Midway neighborhood. 

The room was packed with community members as they heard from representatives on several levels of government — city council, county commission and state Legislature. Prepared questions, formed from what organizers say were hundreds of submitted questions, were asked to the panel about their work to address several issues. 

The neighborhood is located just north of I-94 on the city’s west side and includes Allianz Field. 

Organized by the Hamline-Midway Coalition, the town hall’s topics included the environment, transportation, housing and public safety, including high drug activity. Last month, the coalition told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS the avenues of Snelling and University have consistent “open-air drug use.”

“If we spend money or pass laws that don’t get down to help the people that need help, we actually haven’t done anything, it’s not useful,” St. Paul DFL state representative Leigh Finke said to the crowd. She adds her focus will be on continued investment in affordable housing and programming. 

“Culturally specific program implementation is how we get those dollars to do the work we want them to do,” Rep. Finke said. 

While there was a wide variety of issues discussed, the most apparent frustration was surrounding drug use and the troubled Kimball Court Apartments. At times, community members yelled out their frustrations with the complex, demanding the panel address it. 

Just this week, 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS highlighted some of the specific issues a tenant has been experiencing at the Kimball Court Apartments. A police report from last month highlighted fentanyl use in and outside of the complex “multiple times on a daily basis.”

Because of the high interest and worries in Kimball Court, the Hamline-Midway Coalition has set a dedicated town hall to address it on Nov. 7 at 6:30 p.m. at Hamline University’s West Hall. 

Recently, the St. Paul City Council committed more than $3 million to invest in Kimball Court — council president Mitra Jalali stands by the investment, sharing she feels it will improve the current conditions. 

“There are, frankly, people outside right now who need more space, and they have nowhere to go, and my hope is that the renovation that we’re supporting is going to create more space, actually help the building be safer than it is right now,” Jalali said.