As the Minneapolis City Council Member for Ward 2, Cam serves on the Executive, Claims, Community Development, Elections, Rules, Health, Energy and Environment (Vice Chair), Public Safety and Regulatory Services, Taxes, and Zoning and Planning Committees. His additional appointments include previous service on the Civilian Review Authority Work Group, the 2008 RNC Convention Free Speech Work Group (alternate) and the Community Engagement Task Force. He currently serves on the Joint City County Lead Task Force, the Minneapolis/St. Paul Family Housing Finance Board, the Red Rock Corridor Commission, the University District Partnership Alliance Steering Committee and the Youth Violence Prevention Executive Committee. He is the only Green-endorsed member of the council and was elected in November 2005.
Background
Cam has lived in Minneapolis all his life and in or near the second ward since 1977 in the Cedar-Riverside, Longfellow and Seward neighborhoods. He has owned a duplex in Seward since 1991 where he lives with his family.
Cam graduated from West High School in Minneapolis in 1973 and with distinction from the University of Minnesota in 1977. After getting his Bachelor of Science degree in education, Cam went on to complete extensive graduate work in early childhood development and Montessori education. He is a writer, musician and accomplished Montessori teacher. Before being elected in 2005 he operated a small child care program and children's music company with Sarah and was Associate Editor of the nationally distributed education newspaper, Public School Montessorian. He is author of Together with Montessori, a guide to help parents and staff work together in harmony to create better schools.
Over that past 28 years he has worked in the community as a teacher, community organizer and performer as well as a reporter for the neighborhood newspaper, the Seward Profile, and editor of its West Bank Stories section.
Both professionally and as a community volunteer he has shown that he is an effective communicator, talented problem solver, excellent listener, quick learner and a proven consensus builder. He understands the issues and concerns of our City from many different perspectives.
Cam's record as a civic leader who has facilitated effective organizations and his ability to bring people together to achieve common goals is widely recognized. He is able to work effectively and cooperatively with a variety of people from different backgrounds while also maintaining his independence, holding true to his principles and never losing sight of the larger vision and ultimate goals.
His rich experience as a teacher, business owner, writer, political activist and neighborhood leader have helped him learn a great deal about the policy decisions facing our City, the values needed to guide those policies and the skills needed to manage its resources and help meet its challenges.
