Laserfiche WebLink
8/16/2016 <br />Citizens League plan would bring more transparency to Met Council appointments - StarTribune.com <br />NORTH METRO <br />Citizens League offers compromise <br />proposal for Met Council reforms <br />Governor would still appoint members, but counties and cities gain <br />voice in nominating them. <br />By Shannon Prather (http://Www.startribune.com/shannon-prather/188067161/) Star Tribune <br />APRIL 8, 2016 β€” 9:41PM <br />The Metropolitan Council was born out of crisis. <br />Confronted with a patchwork of failing sanitary sewers, the Citizens League proposed <br />creating a regional council whose power would cut across city and county lines to <br />manage a metrowide sewer system. <br />Now, nearly 50 years later, the Citizens League says it has the best solution to revamp <br />the Met Council, now a powerful β€” some believe too powerful β€” planning agency for <br />the Twin Cities metro area. <br />"We are asking for greater accountability and more involvement," said Sean Kershaw, <br />the Citizens League's executive director. <br />Leaders with the Citizens League, a nonprofit policy group, say their plan will shine light <br />on the entire Met Council selection process and hold the governor more publicly <br />accountable for appointments. They say it offers a better compromise than other reform <br />plans that have pitted some city leaders against county commissioners. <br />And it's a plan that Gov. Mark Dayton may actually sign into law, they say. Three <br />former plans to reform the Met Council were vetoed by three different governors <br />including Dayton. <br />Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL -Minneapolis, has agreed to cut and paste most of the Citizens <br />League's proposal into an existing Met Council reform bill. <br />Under the reform plan, the govemor would still appoint the entire 17 -member Met <br />Council. But an expanded 13 -member nominating committee would vet the candidates <br />and make its recommendations public. <br />The nominating committee would include three city representatives, three county <br />representatives and seven others of the governor's choosing. If the governor rejects their <br />recommendations, the public would know, Kershaw said. <br />The Citizens League also is recommending staggered temis for Met Council members, so <br />the entire council doesn't turn over with each gubernatorial election. <br />"There is this perception that the nominating process goes underground," said Pahoua <br />Yang Hoffman, the Citizens League's policy director. "This is reaction to criticism we've <br />heard from cities and counties that they don't have enough of a voice in the nominating <br />process." <br />Currently, the governor selects a seven -member nominating committee, which <br />recommends candidates without releasing their names to the public. <br />That process, laid out in state law, long has fueled cries of "taxation without <br />representation," because the Met Council has taxing authority, controls a $987 million <br />annual budget and oversees regional planning in 188 communities. <br />Over the years, rumors have swirled that governors have quietly rejected some or even <br />all of the recommendations and made their own appointments. Frustration with the <br />selection process has prompted nearly annual efforts at the State Capitol to change it. <br />"It creates this perfect storm for disagreement," Yang Hoffman said. <br />Reaching Washington <br />Criticism of the council's makeup has become so acrimonious that battles now are being <br />waged on two fronts β€”in St. Paul and in Washington, D.C. <br />(http://stmedia. startdbune,com/images/ows_146016811 <br />Kershaw <br />http:/AA ww.startribune.com/citizens-league-offers-compromise-proposal-for-met-counciI-reforms/374768531/ 1/2 <br />