Metropolitan Council (MN Governor's Race)

“Ninety percent of the people don’t know it exists. And the other 10 percent go to bed each night worrying about what it might do.” In 2014, those were the words of former Metropolitan Council chair, Peter Bell, who served as chair during all 8 years of Tim Pawlenty’s term as governor. If you’re among the 90% who have never heard of the Met Council, allow me to shed some light on this issue.

The Met Council is the 4th largest governing body in Minnesota as measured by annual budget. It serves the 7 county metro area. It has the power to tax and delivers some of the most important services in the metro area. And, the entire 17 member council is appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate, so none of them are elected by the public. There really isn’t an unelected governing body like this anywhere else in the United States.

The Met Council was created by the legislature in 1967 in response to a federal law requiring regional bodies to review loan and grant applications. Initially, it was charged with crafting regional growth plans, and then getting local and regional land use, as well as road and sewer projects to conform to those plans. It had the authority to approve budgets of the regional transit agency and regional wastewater agency, even though it wasn’t directly responsible for delivering those services. In the 90’s, a new bill folded the transit and sewer agency into the council which is how the council stands today.

It’s 2018 Operating Budget is $1.057 billion. 37% of those funds come from user fees for wastewater treatment and transit services, 48% come from state and federal funds, 9% comes from property taxes in the 7 counties, and 6% comes from “other” sources. A 2014 report in the MinnPost said that it had 4,200 employees. Their employees drive the buses, plan the parks, support development, treat wastewater, and plan for future growth.

Their current priorities are creating a sustainable 21st century transportation system, promoting affordable housing for all, and investing in infrastructure that supports economic development for all. Their regional planning initiatives include community planning, housing, parks, transportation, and wastewater and water services. They operate Metro Transit, Metro Mobility, and Transit Link. They collect and treat wastewater. They work to ensure clean water for the future. They plan for future growth, plan and develop parks and trail systems, and provide affordable housing for qualifying low-income residents.

Given that the council is unelected, critics wonder how the council would operate if they were accountable to the people and not accountable to the governor. They say the fact that they are unelected reduces their credibility and members aren’t sufficiently held accountable for their decisions.

Supporters say that the Metropolitan Council is an easy political target and the council is not the all-powerful council that some critics claim. Sixteen of the members serve districts of equal population and govern the agency, but major decisions are made by the chair in concordance with the governor and nothing can be done without approval from the governor. Governors can bypass the council on decisions. Additionally, its budget and programs are regularly scrutinized by the legislature. They also say that the Met Council is far more effective and efficient that other regional bodies that are elected and often end up with partisan gridlock.

Back to Peter Bell, “People who say it should stay the way it is are naive,” he said. “And those who say it should change 100 percent should know that would create all sorts of problems.”

Here is what I could find on the candidate’s stances related to the Metropolitan Council:

Jeff Johnson (R): Candidate Johnson will eliminate the Metropolitan Council entirely and start over with a limited regional body which has no taxing authority that will coordinate sewer and water service lines and an integrated bus system. He says, “We can not tinker with the Met Council. It must go.”

Erin Murphy (D): Candidate Murphy has no public stance on this issue from what I could find.

Tim Pawlenty (R): Candidate Pawlenty vetoed a bill that easily passed both houses when he was governor. The bill would have had the 17 members of the council stagger their terms by 2 years instead of serving concurrent 4 year terms.

Tim Walz (D): Candidate Walz has no public stance on this issue from what I can tell, but in 2011, his deputy chief of staff left her job to become the communications director for the Metropolitan Council. That’s the only connection I could find.