Melvin Carter

Melvin Whitfield Carter III (born January 8, 1979) is an American politician who is the mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Carter was a Saint Paul City Council member from 2008 to 2013 and a vice chair of the council.

He also was an adjunct faculty member at University of Minnesota-Duluth, teaching graduate-level classes on campaigns and elections.

After his tenure, he was appointed as Director of the Office of Early Learning within the Minnesota Department of Education.

In 2008, he was listed in Ebony magazine’s 30 Under 30.

In 2009, he established the Saint Paul Promise Neighborhood, which brought together the community and government to promote better education quality in schools.

In 2011 he received a Barbara Jordan Leadership Award from the National Young Elected Officials Network.

During his tenure as mayor, Carter was instrumental in raising the city's minimum wage to $15 per hour.

He also established the Office of Financial Empowerment.

He launched CollegeBound Saint Paul, the city's college savings account program, and the People's Prosperity Pilot, a guaranteed income program that gives 150 families $500 per month for 18 months.

His administration's slogan is "Building a city that works for us all means we all must do the work."

Carter introduced The Housing Trust Fund as a way to address affordable housing in St. Paul.

This program was directed toward low- and middle-income residents and provided them with stabilized and affordable housing options.

Carter also introduced The Families First Housing Pilot, which gave certain families financial assistance with rent and services to maintain their housing.

This program has a direct partnership with St. Paul Public Schools by providing this assistance to families in need that have children enrolled in those schools.

In 2023, Carter added additional funding to an Inheritance Fund that would lend money to homeowners in low- to middle-income neighborhoods and renovate them.

He took this position in the summer of 2013.

As a city council member, Carter helped create the Department of Human Rights & Equal Economic Opportunity.

He also sponsored legislation including Ban the Box, requiring landlord notification of foreclosure, and banning the sale of candy cigarettes.

Elected to his first term in 2017 and reelected in 2021, Carter is the 55th mayor of St. Paul and its first African American mayor.

His current term of office ends on January 1, 2026.

Carter has supported raising the city's minimum wage to $15 per hour.

He is one of 11 U.S. mayors who co-founded Mayors Organized for Reparations and Equity, a coalition of municipal leaders dedicated to starting pilot reparations programs in their cities.

Carter was born in Saint Paul's Rondo neighborhood.

He is the son of Melvin Whitfield Carter Jr., a retired Saint Paul police officer, and Toni Carter, a Ramsey County commissioner.

Carter is a fourth-generation Saint Paul resident.

Carter still lives in the Rondo neighborhood where he was raised, along with his wife, Sakeena Futrell-Carter, and their children.

He participated in the University of Minnesota Talented Youth in Mathematics Program (UMTYMP) in junior high and high school, and graduated from Saint Paul Central High School.

Carter earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Florida A&M University.

During his time there, he became a brother of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

Carter earned a Master of Public Policy from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs of the University of Minnesota.

In 2018, Carter signed a Minimum Wage Ordinance into St. Paul that raises the minimum wage annually for residents.

The Fund was initially introduced in 2020; its main goal is to ensure that the residents who move into these homes can build their wealth in their homes.

In 2021, Carter initiated programs directed toward immigrants and refugees in St. Paul.

The St. Paul Immigrant Legal Defense Fund provides representation to immigrants who have been detained or are at risk of deportation.

This is available for refugees or immigrants who make less than 200% of the poverty line.

Carter also introduced Welcoming St. Paul: Immigrant and Refugee Program, a system dedicated to integrating immigrants and refugees into St. Paul with other residents in the city, as well as opening up access to services within the city.

This took effect in 2020 and continues to rise each year.

As of 2023, minimum wage had reached $15/hr for large businesses and $13/hr for small businesses.

Effective July 2024, the minimum wage in St. Paul for large businesses will be $15.57/hr for large businesses and $15/hr for small businesses.