Mill City Times Endorses Martha Holton Dimick

By David Tinjum, Publisher, Mill City Times

On August 9th, primary voters will decide which two candidates for the Hennepin County Attorney position will move on to the general election in November. Michael Freeman currently holds the seat and is not seeking reelection. In a crowded field of 7 candidates, there is one stand out candidate who will deliver both safety and sensible reform–Martha Holton Dimick. She is endorsed by downtown council members Michael Rainville and Lisa Goodman, and Mayor Jacob Frey, among others.

Dimick has a unique set of life experiences that make her the most qualified person for this seat. Crucially, she is the candidate with the most relevant professional resume. Dimick has not only worked as a Hennepin County prosecutor and served as a violent crimes judge, she has also actually managed an office of prosecutors as the Deputy City Attorney in Minneapolis. With crime at historic levels across Hennepin County, more than ever we need a County Attorney who requires no introduction to the many facets of the job, and someone who can successfully work with all public safety partners. 

Her ability to collaborate with community partners is another unique qualification she brings to this seat. Dimick was hired to serve as the community prosecutor for North Minneapolis during the Murderapolis years by then Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar. Crime was near record highs and “no one trusted the police or the prosecutors” according to Dimick. By the time she left that job for appointment on the bench, crime had fallen to record lows in North Minneapolis. Dimick says there is no secret to reducing crime given proper resources: you must create partnerships between the community, the police, and county social service providers as a broad coalition, not individual stakeholders pointing fingers at one another. 

Certainly, reform is needed, and Dimick is the person who can do this work without throwing the entire prosecutorial system into chaos. As a Black woman born and raised in Milwaukee during a time of particularly rampant crime and racism, who moved to North Minneapolis where she has lived for over 20 years, Dimick has a credibility others lack. Justice, accountability, safety – none of these things are theoretical or removed from Martha Dimick’s daily life. 

More than that, she has decades of professional experience to know where and how prosecutorial discretion can make a difference. For example, Dimick recently pointed out that keeping lower level felony immigrants from ICE detention and removal can be as simple as charging them for 364 days, rather than the more common default sentence recommendation of 365 days – 365 automatically triggers ICE involvement, 364 days does not. It’s refreshing to have a candidate with simple, practical answers that balance accountability and compassion, rather than someone ready to give up the notion of doing the job of prosecuting entirely to make a point.

Those of us living and working Downtown know that now is not a moment to indulge in experiments that other cities are rejecting. It is not time to elect another politician who will hide when difficult issues arise. Now is the moment to elect Martha Holton Dimick, a woman who can serve all of us who need a reprieve from the violence that is affecting our quality of life and the prospects of a city we love. 

- David Tinjum, Publisher, Mill City Times