With family at her side, St. Paul City Council’s newest member, Molly Coleman, took the oath of office Wednesday at City Hall.

Coleman said her predecessor, Council President Mitra Jalali, had set a “high bar” for progressive leadership and that she had “very big shoes to fill.”

In a brief speech after the swearing-in, she outlined what she said were the main reasons she decided to run.

“The first: I love the city of St Paul. The second: I believe that we have a duty to build an economically just city. The third, I believe that we have an obligation to build a functional democracy,” she said.

Coleman, the daughter of former St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, will represent Ward 4, which includes Hamline-Midway, Merriam Park, St. Anthony Park, and parts of Macalester-Groveland and Como.

The

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