Crisis Leadership • Continuity of Operations • Public Trust

As Deputy Mayor of Saint Paul, Jaime Tincher confronted an extraordinary convergence of crises: the COVID-19 pandemic, civil unrest following the murder of George Floyd, and a significant cyberattack that threatened municipal operations, payroll, and public confidence. Each crisis carried high stakes on its own; together, they tested the city’s systems, workforce, and leadership capacity simultaneously.

Jaime served as the city’s operational anchor during prolonged and compounding uncertainty. She led and aligned executive teams responsible for public safety, health, housing, finance, technology, and workforce continuity, bringing clarity, coordination, and disciplined decision-making when fear, fatigue, and disruption were widespread.

She prioritized essential services, stabilized workforce operations, and paced decisions deliberately, balancing urgency with long-term institutional resilience. During the cyberattack, her first actions focused on safeguarding public safety systems and ensuring uninterrupted payroll for more than 3,000 city employees, reinforcing trust inside City Hall and across the community at a moment when stability mattered most.

This was not Jaime’s first experience leading through high-consequence disruption. Earlier in her career at the state, she was part of executive leadership during Ebola preparedness planning, coordinating cross-agency public health readiness and executive response. She also supported statewide leaders through multiple officer-involved shootings, navigating intergovernmental coordination, public communication, and policy response amid deep community trauma. Across roles and contexts, she has repeatedly led organizations where trust, safety, and continuity were on the line.

Jaime’s crisis leadership was defined by how she guided teams of leaders through uncertainty. She established clear priorities under pressure, coordinated across complex systems, and ensured roles and responsibilities were understood. Her approach was workforce-centered and transparent, recognizing that maintaining trust, communication, and continuity was as critical as resolving the crisis itself.

Rather than reacting moment-to-moment, she focused on pacing decisions, aligning leaders, and creating enough structure for teams to operate effectively even as conditions evolved.

*Photo c/o TwinCities.com Pioneer Press*

Under Jaime’s leadership, Saint Paul maintained continuity of essential services, protected worker pay during a cyber crisis, and navigated extended disruption without institutional breakdown. The city sustained public safety and core operations, coordinated recovery efforts following civil unrest, and managed pandemic response in ways that reinforced long-term system resilience.

Her leadership preserved internal stability and public trust during one of the most challenging periods in the city’s history, demonstrating how steady executive leadership can hold systems together when conditions are at their most volatile.