When St. Paul City Council President Mitra Jalali looked out at her fellow council members at their initial meeting this week, she saw all the members' seats were occupied by women — a first for Minnesota's capital city.
Experts who track women in politics said St. Paul, with a population of about 300,000 people, is the first large U.S. city they know of with an all-female city council. But even as the council members celebrate the milestone, they are expressing more excitement about what the all-female council can accomplish in the coming year.
