By Cristof Traudes

In Southwest’s only race for DFL endorsement for a City Council seat, where do the candidates stand?

THE WEDGE — With the 10th Ward endorsing convention for the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party coming up on April 18, the race’s remaining two candidates squared off in a brief forum in late March to show exactly where their differences lie.

Matt Filner and Meg Tuthill both are seeking the DFL endorsement for the City Council seat. Filner is the state director of the Progressive Majority, Tuthill the longtime co-owner of Tuthill’s Balloon Emporium, 2455 Hennepin Ave. Incumbent first-termer Ralph Remington has decided not to run, while a third candidate, nurse and Planning Commission member Lara Norkus-Crampton, last month announced she was ending her bid.

About 60 people attended the March 22 forum, and questions ranged from Ward 10-specific to citywide. Here are some highlights:

The good and bad of development: The candidates largely agreed with one another on the basics of development in the 10th Ward, especially that it’s hard to have a ward-wide stance on the issue. The ward is too diverse for that, they said.

Tuthill expressed her strong dislike for developers buying property and immediately seeking zoning changes and said she’d fight those kinds of requests.

“I am very concerned about our lakes looking like Miami Beach,” she said.

The two also agreed on the prevalence of Uptown’s entertainment-heavy status. Filner said there should be more daytime jobs there, while Tuthill complained about the city too frequently putting new entertainment and drinking establishments in the area.

“I like a glass of wine just as much as anyone,” she said. “But I don’t need 50 choices.”

Seeing eye to eye: Tuthill and Filner often found themselves providing similar responses. Asked whether they supported the elimination of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, both replied with adamant no’s. Both said the city’s budget problems could be fixed by becoming more efficient, and both said they support the city’s expansion of light rail.

“This is what happens when you have two progressives running,” Tuthill quipped.

Backgrounds not so similar: Filner came to Minneapolis from the East Coast and previously lived in the Elliot Park and Longfellow neighborhoods; Tuthill has lived in the Wedge for three decades. Filner said he moved here because he was impressed with neighborhoods’ infusion into city politics; Tuthill pointed out that she helped launch the Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association. Filner said he supports small businesses because his grandfather made his living as the owner of a small business; Tuthill responded by saying she’s owned her own small business, Tuthill’s Balloon Emporium, for 30 years.

New Vikings stadium? Asked whether he supported public financing for a new Minnesota Vikings stadium, Filner got fiery.

“It’s hard to answer that question without saying [the idea] is stupid,” he said. “It’s just colossally stupid.”

Tuthill said she’d support making it a ballot measure so that voters can decide the issue themselves. But Filner said it shouldn’t even get to that point. That the Vikings even asked for $700 million in public financing “is one of the most absurd ideas I’ve ever heard,” he said.

Focusing on the ward: Filner mentioned several times his work in Elliot Park, how he helped get the mixed-use East Village development off the ground. Elliot Park is located in a different ward, which led Tuthill to note that she’ll be Ward 10-heavy in her work on the City Council.

“The ward has to come first,” she said.

Filner said it’s important to be a representative of the ward but that thinking only as a ward will lead to reactive and not proactive work.

“Our ward can thrive when the city thrives,” Filner said.

For more information on Meg Tuthill, click here.

For more information on Matt Filner, click here.