At a time when wage activists are calling for “$15 Now!,” Chris Holbrook has a different philosophy. You might call it “$15 never!” — a minimum wage of zero.

“I believe in voluntary contracts,” said Holbrook, who points to the complicated experience of Seattle, where some businesses reduced worker’s hours after the minimum wage went up. “If you’re not making enough money, you’re free to go look for another job that will pay you more. It’s supply and demand.”

It takes a special chutzpah to run for mayor in St. Paul as a Libertarian, but Holbrook acknowledges he’s barely running. He’s done no fundraising. He’s posted no lawn signs. He won’t waste time — his or yours — door knocking.

In an election season that could break local fundraising records, his name will appear on the Nov. 7 ballot as a symbolic gesture, a kind of protest vote, and an alternative to the leading slate of DFL candidates, all of whom have supported some version of a $15-an-hour minimum wage.

In fact, the Hamline-Midway resident hasn’t asked for any endorsements in what’s officially deemed a non-partisan election, not even from the Libertarian Party of Minnesota. And he chairs the Libertarian Party of Minnesota.

It’s an unusually relaxed and understated approach. But his laissez-faire attitude to both politics and campaigning has scored him a few thousand fans in the past — 18,082 of them, in fact.

In 2014, in his first and only previous political race, Holbrook came in fifth of five gubernatorial candidates with just shy of 1 percent of the vote in Minnesota.

“I’m realistic,” said Holbrook, dressed in a Black Sabbath t-shirt over drinks at BlackStack Brewing, one of his favorite new Midway neighborhood hangouts. “Just like when I ran for governor, it’s to satisfy my conscience and give people a choice.”

BLASTS FROM THE LEFT AND THE RIGHT

As a Libertarian, Holbrook, a senior account manager with a Lakeville-based building supply company, walks a sometimes lonely road in St. Paul.

On social media, progressive liberals mock his fiscal conservatism. The Milwaukee-area native points out he’s made enemies on the right, as well, who reject his social liberalism.

After the killing of St. Paul school worker Philando Castile during a traffic stop, he followed the court trial of former St. Anthony Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez in the news. When a Ramsey County jury acquitted Yanez of all charges in the shooting death, Holbrook issued a public statement on behalf of the party.

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“We are sickened by the lack of justice delivered by our system today in the state of Minnesota,” he wrote. “We fully support the statements and reactions of the grieving Castile family who accurately describe race relations in Minnesota as devolving in a broken system that needs to change. With deepest sympathies, the Libertarian Party of Minnesota stands with you.”

The angry emails he received in response came in fast.

“I consider it a badge of honor when we get trolls and hate mail from the left and right. It never bothers me,” Holbrook said. “That family was wronged.”

TACKLING THE ISSUES

How do Libertarian values that call for less government, more personal freedom line up with the state of affairs in St. Paul today?

Not well, says Holbrook, who opposes the city’s efforts to organize trash collection.

City officials claim there are too many garbage trucks overburdening city alleys, but he points to a citywide recycling contract that went into effect this year. The large recycling trucks can only be loaded from one side, so they now travel every alley twice.

“Lack of choice is never more efficient or cheaper,” he said.

He also points to an annual administrative fee of $52 that St. Paul has proposed charging residential property owners on top of their monthly trash hauling rates.

“Multiply that by 100,000 households,” he said. “That comes out to over $5 million. For them to tell you what trash company to contract, why does that come out to be over $5 million?”

He believes the city’s efforts to ban tobacco products like menthol cigarettes and fruit-flavored vapes from convenience stores will hurt small retailers without helping the public.

“Prohibition doesn’t prevent consumption,” Holbrook said.

On the city’s proposed master plan for the former Ford truck assembly plant property in Highland Park, Holbrook said the city is not “respecting the wishes of the neighborhood” in pushing for high-density zoning that will govern future development.

“The city seeks public comment but does not take it into account when they make a decision,” he said.

When it comes to the Major League Soccer stadium under construction within walking distance of his home, Holbrook objects to the more than $18 million in public funds that have gone toward clean-up and infrastructure, including a recent decision by the city council to allow up to $900,000 in “tax increment financing” dollars.

The “TIF” money functions as a loan to be paid back through property taxes generated by other St. Paul properties.

“I hear the whole TIF argument — the investment wouldn’t happen ‘but for’ public money,” said Holbrook, referencing a frequent justification for using the controversial financing tool. “Bull! There’s always a developer who will make it happen.”

Then there’s the bike lanes.

In St. Paul, it seems there’s always a fight, somewhere, over bike lanes.

“I don’t care about bike lanes,” Holbrook said. “I’m agnostic. I’m not for them or against them. I don’t have any agenda to create them or take them away.”

It’s a philosophy, he says, that pretty much sums up his candidacy.