Minneapolis elections are next year. Time to start the debate about the city’s direction.

• Support, don’t harm, business: Socialists are, by definition, against capitalism. And it shows. Minneapolis lost more than 15,000 jobs from second quarter 2019 to second quarter 2024, almost 4.5%. The city’s response? A Labor Standards Board under which the City Council will dictate how businesses operate. Predictably, more businesses will leave. What do we need? A council dedicated to increasing well-paid jobs, helping grow the economy and freeing business to flourish.

• Electric vehicles over bike lanes: The City Council voted to close I-94, part of its everyone will walk, bike and take transit agenda. How is it going? Transit ridership has plummeted. Walking has declined and biking is too small a percentage of travel to matter. Yet the city is rebuilding its streets as if everyone is going to walk, bike or take transit. We need a City Council that takes the climate emergency seriously and builds infrastructure for a future of electric vehicles, not just bicycles and buses.

The elections are next year. The time to start talking about the city we want is now.

Carol Becker, of Minneapolis, is a college professor and data analyst. For 16 years she was a member of the Minneapolis Board of Estimate and Taxation.