urbanMSP

I'm pleased with this list: I don't know Deb Barber, but Gail Dorfman has generally impressed me with her urban thinking despite having represented a fairly suburban district on the HC board. I know Cara Letofsky very well - I was on her campaign committee for her (unsuccessful) bid for Ward 2 councilmember back in 2005. She's very knowledgeable about the wonky intricacies and details of public policy; she's the sort of person I would hope the unelected Met Council would be filled with - somebody who knows the details and is interested in the technicalities, not somebody who puts a lot of energy into creating a public persona for electoral success.

True. That's my take as well. On the surface, it appears that Dayton has appointed insiders, and could be accused of paying excessive political patronage. Yet, at the same time, the "insiders" he's appointed are indeed quite qualified and wonky. And they're (relative) outsiders to campaign politics, which likely contributes to their (relative) lack of name recognition and thus the perception that this is merely political payback.

http://post.mnsun.com/2015/03/kolb-slavik-testify/

On Feb. 25, Crystal City Councilmember Jeff Kolb and Plymouth Mayor Kelli Slavik both spoke at an informational hearing on H.F. 75, a bill that would declare the Met Council’s plans “advisory” and not require local governments to conform to it. The hearing was conducted by the house’s newly-formed Subcommittee on Metropolitan Council Accountability and Transparency.

Bill author Linda Runbeck (R-Circle Pines) said her legislation was created, “in response to a growing chorus of concern about the prescriptive nature and the growing expansion of authority that the Met Council has over our cities and counties in the metro area.”

Met Council spokesperson Bonnie Kollodge said that Runbeck’s bill would lessen the council’s ability to effectively avoid duplication of services and create economies of scale in the Twin Cities.

...

It's crazy how solidly-DFL inner suburbs (at the state/federal level) wind up with conservative city councilmembers. It's actually not that uncommon though. Kolb in this instance, plus there were a number of folks that ran & won in 2010, inspired to run for office by the national Tea Party momentum that year. I can't think of a whole bunch off the top of my head, but for sure West St. Paul, South St. Paul, etc. have seen conservative city councilors or mayors in recent years, despite being solidly DFL-leaning areas.

Solid article though for a local paper. Excellent quotes from the Met Council spokesperson. Way to stand up for regional governance! Bravo Bonnie Kollodge!

Kollodge also pointed to “What happens when a metropolitan area has way too many governments,” a Washington Post opinion piece that argues for regional cooperation when developing urban areas.

There, author Emily Badger cites a report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which claims that when the number of municipalities per 100,000 residents is doubled, regional labor productivity falls by “5 to 6 percent.”

“In short: the more little governments you have, the less productive the entire local economy is,” Badger writes. “The larger problem is that local economies – and, relatedly, commuting patterns – don’t stop at municipal borders. And when we carve up services and public resources that way, we effectively undermine those economies.”

Four counties are going to lobby the federal government to come in and change the Met Council to be more elected.

http://www.startribune.com/local/298845141.html

And Dayton is reallllly pissed about it.

4 suburban counties hire federal help to upend Met Council
http://www.startribune.com/local/298845141.html

The counties say they have been particularly riled since seeing how the Met Council planned on scoring transit projects with weights given to nonmotorized transportation modes and to concentrated areas of poverty — issues that county officials say do not reflect suburban problems such as congested intersections.

Ugh, God forbid we do something to help the poor rather than add another 9 lane stroad to Eagan. The counties involved here are Anoka, Carver, Scott and Dakota.

Is it too late to go scorched earth on them like he did on the park board and just cut them off from the public money teat they suckle so vigorously from? Don't Hennepin and Ramsey pay most of the way anyway?

Is it too late to go scorched earth on them like he did on the park board and just cut them off from the public money teat they suckle so vigorously from? Don't Hennepin and Ramsey pay most of the way anyway?

The DFL is trying to gain legislative seats in the suburbs, not lose them.

From a good/efficient governance standpoint, the best case scenario out of this is that we eliminate the 7 counties and elect the Met Council instead.

Of course, that isn't the best political result for the core cities, as "Metropolitan County" would be further towards the center than Hennepin County is today. Overall it would still be solidly left of center though, and immune from future Republican Governors. Region-wide, the balance of power would likely be held in the 1st & 2nd ring suburbs.

From Nick's most excellent (and unfortunately under-appreciated) streets.mn post, there are approximately 2.95MM people in "Metropolitan County" (2013). Of that, Minneapolis and St. Paul make up 700,000, or less than 25%. Mpls-StP and "urban" suburbs make up just over 1MM. While the 7-county metro area is now very solidly DFL, except around the less-populated fringes, it is also very solidly suburban, with two-thirds of its residents living in 2nd ring, 3rd ring, exurban and rural areas.

4 suburban counties hire federal help to upend Met Council

Looks like they've decided what they want to spend their CTIB funds on

Personally, as a taxpayer in a county that has a significant amount of non-auto-oriented development, I'm not eager to see Municipal County. I don't want to bail out CWADS when SHTF regarding our land use pattern and the growth ponzi scheme. I don't really see what's in it for the urban areas. If we have a blue "urbanized/walkable" county (per Nick's map), that would be ideal. But probably not going to happen.

The fact that Hennepin County has the largest most populated densest (well, probably densest) city in the state, and also farmland, is something I feel weird about.

Really? You only have to go, like, 4-5 miles from the city core in almost every major European city to hit farmland.

I didn't know the Citizens League was doing a whole task force thing on Met Council reform: http://citizensleague.org/the-citizens- ... ask-force/

Sounds like it's already underway. This did not receive the promotion it should have.

EDIT: It appears MinnPost did a write-up, but I missed this a few weeks ago: https://www.minnpost.com/political-agen ... et-council

There was even an editorial in the Strib, "In Defense of the Met Council": http://www.startribune.com/in-defense-o ... 324010211/

EDIT 2: Minutes from the first meeting http://citizensleague.org/wp-content/up ... 5.2015.pdf

I did not know they had a task force either. I recognize many of the names on the TF. Quite the list for sure.

The Met Council's Transportation Advisory Board is seeking new members. Applications must be made by October 28. I applied for a seat two years ago.

http://www.metrocouncil.org/Council-Mee ... ncies.aspx

Looks like the Land Use Advisory Committee is also seeking some members, too.

Huh...now that I moved to the west side of Lyndale, I'm in a different Met Council district and TAB district (each TAB district is two Met Council districts, so 8 total citizen members on TAB)

Positions open
Citizens A, B, C and D
Two transit reps
Non-motorized rep

Here's who currently fills those seats: http://www.metrocouncil.org/Transportat ... mbers.aspx

I wish it was clear which seats have incumbents seeking reappointment and which seats don't.

How the Met Council is keeping small businesses from expanding

Ruhel Islam, co-owner of Longfellow restaurant Gandhi Mahal, nearly shat himself. The letter said he owed the Met Council for something called a "Sewer Availability Charge."

Weeks earlier, Islam had basked in delight as the restaurant opened a 24-seat expansion. Now the Council, which operates the sewer and water lines in the seven-county metro area, had sent him a $24,000 bill for this added burden to the infrastructure.

http://www.citypages.com/news/how-the-m ... ng-8185893

Small Minneapolis businesses bailing out East Bethel. It's the system exurbia hates so much, hmmm?