Kaohly Her

St. Paul, Minnesota, Mayor Kaohly Her has nominated Assistant Chief of Operations Jeramiah Melquist to lead the city's fire department. Melquist, a 26-year department veteran, has held roles including assistant chief of medical services, deputy chief, district chief, fire captain and fire equipment operator. Her selected him from five finalists, three internal and two external, citing his experience and leadership style, which he describes as mission-driven and people-first. He pointed to the department's recent Class I rating from the Insurance Services Office, placing St. Paul among the top 1% of U.S. fire departments for protection and readiness. The nomination now requires confirmation by the St. Paul City Council.

The St. Paul City Council unanimously approved a resolution directing the city and county to ramp up outreach to unsheltered residents, including those at encampments near Shepard Road and the former Pig's Eye Park site, which Mayor Kaohly Her ordered cleared in August. The non-binding plan calls for a 60-day "strategic investment period" with a housing navigation tent, intensive casework, and progress reporting, plus a push for temporary low-barrier indoor shelter this winter and expansion of tiny-home "village" style housing modeled on Minneapolis's Avivo Village. It does not pause encampment clearings, a step advocates had sought, and leaves funding and cost questions unresolved pending county and state partnership.

The St. Paul City Council is set to push Mayor Kaohly Her to adopt a new three-part homelessness strategy after the clearing of the Pigs Eye Park encampment failed to produce lasting housing outcomes. Of roughly 200 residents the city tried to help, only about seven accepted services, with many displaced to other encampments instead. The new plan calls for a 60-day outreach and housing-assistance period before any future clearings, a temporary low-barrier indoor shelter to run through winter, and an eventual permanent shelter modeled on an indoor "village" concept using converted warehouses. The push comes as St. Paul contends with a $26 million budget deficit.

St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry has amended his lawsuit against Mayor Kaohly Her, adding retaliation and false-statement claims and bringing the total to seven counts. The original suit, filed in September, included retaliation claims against the city and sexual harassment and battery allegations against Her. An outside investigation by Resolute Law cleared Her of harassment but found she acted inappropriately. Henry's amendment alleges Her gave investigators false information, including claims the police department acted without mayoral approval on a contract that predated her term, and says the city knew the statements were false. The city has hired outside counsel for Her and is weighing whether it must cover her legal costs.

St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry has amended his lawsuit against Mayor Kaohly Her, adding a seventh count of reprisal under the Minnesota Human Rights Act. Henry originally sued Her and the city Sept. 23, alleging data practices and whistleblower violations, sexual harassment, reprisal, aiding and abetting, and battery, stemming from claims including unwanted touching, job threats, and inappropriate comments toward officers. The amended filing cites a city-commissioned investigation by Resolute Law, saying a two-page summary "falsely minimized" witness accounts, and a later redacted report. It also references a podcast interview Her gave after the suit was filed. Her has denied sexual harassment allegations but said she would undergo workplace conduct training and apologized for crossing professional lines.

The St. Paul City Council is set to pass a resolution overhauling how the city handles homeless encampments, after the clearing of the Pig's Eye Regional Park site saw most of its roughly 140 residents relocate to a nearby area off Randolph Avenue and Shepard Road rather than find housing. The $11 million plan, backed by six of seven council members, calls for a 60-day notice and outreach period with an on-site navigation tent, followed by a temporary low-barrier shelter in a large indoor facility through winter, and eventually a permanent indoor "village" modeled on Minneapolis's Avivo Village. Mayor Kaohly Her has not said when remaining encampments, including Randolph Avenue, will be cleared, though officials expect action before winter. Funding sources remain unidentified.

The Department of Justice has sued St. Paul, Minnesota, and Portland, Oregon, over city ordinances barring federal law enforcement officers — including ICE and Customs and Border Protection agents — from concealing their faces while on duty and requiring agency and name identification on their uniforms. The lawsuits argue the measures violate the Constitution's Supremacy Clause by unconstitutionally regulating federal officers and endangering officer safety and federal operations. These filings bring the DOJ's total challenges against such state and local laws to 11, including a recent suit against Denver.

Named defendants in the St. Paul case include the city, Mayor Kaohly Her, the St. Paul Police Department, Chief Axel Henry, and City Attorney Irene Kao. St. Paul's mask ban, passed in February, followed the end of the Trump administration's Minnesota immigration enforcement surge and came weeks after a masked ICE agent fatally shot U.S. citizen Renée Good in Minneapolis. Violations are misdemeanors in St. Paul, while Portland's ordinance, proposed in September 2025, allows civil enforcement. At least eight states and nine localities have enacted similar restrictions nationwide.

A legal and political standoff between St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her and Police Chief Axel Henry has escalated into a lawsuit, a city-commissioned investigation, and mounting taxpayer costs. Henry sued Her on Sept. 23, alleging sexual harassment and violations of whistleblower and data-practices laws. A 76-page report by outside firm Resolute Law, released in redacted form Oct. 1, found the mayor acted inappropriately in several instances—including sharing sexualized memes and altered photos, and discussing her body with two female employees—but did not substantiate sexual harassment or retaliation claims by either side.

The city has already spent over $43,000 on the investigation and hired an employment law firm at $500 an hour, with costs expected to grow. Legal experts anticipate a settlement that would likely see Henry leave city employment. Removing Henry as chief or recalling Her before 2028 would both require difficult legal thresholds under the city charter, making a negotiated resolution the most probable outcome.