St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter stepped in to appoint Matt Privratsky as an interim council member after the City Council was stuck in a 3-3 standstill vote. Privratsky will act as a tie-breaking vote in the next few months.
Carter appointed Privratsky on April 7 to fill the vacant City Council seat for Ward 4 after former council member Mitra Jalali stepped down on Feb. 5. Privratsky will act as an interim council member until a new council member is sworn in following a special election held on Aug. 12. Privratsky served as a legislative aide for Jalali from 2018 to 2021 and is the current director of government affairs for Nokomis Energy, a clean energy producer.
At the swearing-in of Privratsky on April 9, Carter cited a list of robust candidates as an obstacle in making the final decision.
“We, in this building, have had a major challenge over the past month or so of working through all of the incredible, gifted, talented [and] quality candidates who have stepped forward from Ward 4,” Carter said.
The mayor’s decision indicates an underlying tension in St. Paul's local government. Despite St. Paul’s fairly unpolarized, democratic political environment, Political Science professor David Schultz recognizes divisions that have been growing throughout the city's politics.
“There is a significant divide between the mayor and city council on a variety of issues right now, where they seem to be pursuing different agendas. I think the mayor has been pressing very hard on who he would like to have in terms of where he wants to influence the council. But also I think we’re starting to see some divisions in the city council itself (between council members) in terms of, again, a host of small little issues,” Schultz said.
Privratsky, while only serving in the council for about four months, will tip the scale on several key issues, including rent control and tenant protections.
“We have critical votes awaiting, and we needed a candidate who had both an extensive set of history of community activity in Ward 4 and [who] works to carry the work forward. We needed a candidate who understood the way city hall operates and could hit the ground running as we jump straight into important conversations in just a matter of hours,” Carter said.
Privratsky has this experience working in the city council under Jalali. He looks forward to continuing the work of his predecessor and former boss.
“[I am] happy to be able to serve in this role, happy to be helpful for Ward 4, really proud to be able to be able to continue the term of my former boss, former Council President Mitra Jalali and have the chance to come in and work for the residents of Ward 4,” Privratsky said at a press conference after his swearing in.
The Hamline-Midway Coalition (HMC) was able to include Jahali in town halls and connect elected officials with their constituents. HMC board member and sophomore Kaitlynn Fuller hopes to continue these connections with interim council member Privratsky.

“It would be great to continue doing things like [town halls], just kind of making sure that we are holding our representatives accountable, making sure they are really involved in the community and know what is going on,” Fuller said.
Privratsky carries an important role of connecting with constituents and making important decisions over the next four months, but looking forward to the special election in August, constituents of Ward 4 will be choosing the candidate they want to act as the tiebreaker going forward. Schultz believes that this upcoming special election will be influential for St. Paul and everyone who lives here.
“[The special election] is going to be really important, it really is. Ward 4, including the students who live in Ward 4 and are registered to vote, could have a potentially big impact again on a whole range of issues that affect the University and the students. This person is going to be the tiebreaker, and I think because of that I think there needs to be a lot of attention paid to this race,” Schultz said.