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Message from the Council Chair - June 2003

New Council charts a different course

Having been on the job as Metropolitan Council Chair for about four months, I'm often asked about my specific vision and goals for the Council, and, more generally, the region. I'm always tempted to respond with a Met Council version of the Hippocratic Oath and say, "First, do no harm."

Our region is blessed with a diverse economy bolstered by a skilled workforce educated in excellent schools and a world-class research university. The physical amenities are plentiful and diverse, ranging from high-quality farmland to parks, lakes, and trails. Perhaps most important, our region has a tradition of civic engagement that promotes an honest and responsive government.

In spite of this high level of civic activity, the Met Council is a mystery to large segments of the public. I often have said that 90 percent of the public does not know what the Council does, and the remaining 10 percent go to bed preoccupied with our every move.

Simply put, the Metropolitan Council exists to represent the interests of the entire region in four key areas: transportation, wastewater treatment, parks and open space, and aviation. In addition, we have been given specific responsibilities to address the important issue of affordable housing in our region.

Organizing principles

The organizing principles behind the Council were: public systems that have regional impacts are best planned and provided for on a regional basis; and, regional infrastructure — which requires a tremendous amount of public investment — must be used as efficiently as possible. These basic conservative ideals should serve the region well as we prepare to accommodate nearly a million more people in the next 30 years.

Planning for this projected growth, particularly during such lean economic times, presents tremendous challenges. It is clear that when housing is clustered around transportation and sewer systems, the region will save millions of dollars in future infrastructure costs.

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90 percent of the public does not know what the Council does, and the remaining 10 percent go to bed preoccupied with our every move.

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Growing congestion

When jobs and services are also accessible, fewer and shorter automobile trips are required. If we do not pay attention to these factors, however, congestion in our region will continue to grow rapidly. For example, the number of autos per households has grown from 1.3 in 1970 to 1.8 in 2000. The number of daily trips per person has grown from 2.7 to 4.2 and the average distance traveled has grown by one-third.

In sum, we have more people taking more trips over longer distances. This has resulted in the number of vehicle miles traveled growing by 140 percent from 1975 to 2000 while our population grew by 37 percent. For the most part, these issues are nonpartisan. When you are stuck in traffic, you are neither a Republican nor a Democrat — you are just frustrated.

Congestion solutions

As Metropolitan Council Chair, I am committed to a multi-modal approach to the region's ever-increasing congestion, an approach that involves both roads and transit. This includes bringing the Hiawatha line into service on time and within budget, and operating that service as efficiently as possible.

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When you are stuck in traffic, you are neither a Republican nor a Democrat — you are just frustrated.

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Whether other LRT lines should be pursued in this region will depend, in large part, on whether the Hiawatha line proves to be a cost-effective way of moving people. I also support high-speed express buses on dedicated busways and construction of additional freeway lanes, perhaps underwritten by a congestion-pricing model similar to what is currently being proposed by Congressman Mark Kennedy.

In addition, the Met Council is working with the University of Minnesota to develop cutting-edge technology to facilitate more effective use of shoulder lanes by buses, and we are implementing new systems that will enable us to collect fares more efficiently and revamp our routes to provide better customer service.

Cutting costs

The Metropolitan Council must always discharge its responsibilities in a fiscally responsible manner. To that end, we are prepared to do our share to address the state's $4.2 billion budget deficit.

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We are looking for new ways of reducing costs, like soliciting competitive bids for services traditionally provided by the Council.

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We are making tough, but necessary choices. We are reducing some transit service, and we are raising bus fares. We are eliminating over 200 positions across the organization. And, whether the Legislature requires it or not, we will reduce our property tax levy so that metro area residents will not see an increase in their metro tax assessments.

We are also looking for new ways of reducing costs, like soliciting competitive bids for services that were traditionally provided by the Council. We have been exploring an innovative approach to managed competition, where Metro Transit would compete with private firms to offer the most efficient and effective means of operating the Hiawatha light rail line, for example. Some legislators are now interested in this concept too, and have passed legislation requiring us to follow this path. We welcome the Legislature's support for this approach.

Customer focus

A second area of focus will be customer service, with local units of government being among our key customers. We view local elected officials as our partners, and the Met Council's success depends, in large part, on our relationships with those partners. This Council has already demonstrated a willingness to work closely with local governments to resolve our differences.

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We view local elected officials as our partners, and the Council's success depends, in large part, on our relationships with those partners.

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As an example, the Met Council and the City of Brooklyn Center had been sparring for the past five years over the location of a transit hub. The new Council made it a priority to resolve that issue, and, working closely with the city, has done so. We are equally committed to working with the City of Lake Elmo to amicably resolve another lingering dispute. While that one is still in progress, we will not fail for a lack of effort.

Another customer service issue has to do with the Council's Livable Communities grant program. Historically, the core cities and first-ring suburbs have received the lion's share of grant funding — about 85 percent since 1996.

The new Council recently voted to target 30 percent of our grant dollars to outer-ring suburbs and rural growth centers within the region. This change in the distribution plan should result in a more equitable allocation of scarce Livable Community grants — dollars that have always been in high demand.

Core services

Finally, the Council will refocus its efforts on its core services — those principal services that the Legislature has specifically directed the Council to undertake. We are statutorily obligated to operate the Metro Transit, Metro Mobility, and wastewater treatment systems, for example.

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The new Council has a heightened level of respect for local control and autonomy.

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Those systems encompass the vast majority of our employees and our budget, and provide tangible benefits to our customers. We will focus on delivering those services efficiently and effectively, and we will restate our mission to reflect those priorities. At the same time, we will ferret out any functions that the Council may been engaged in that may exceed the bounds of our core mission.

Regional planning is another core service, one that has generated a significant amount of controversy. The new Council is taking a fresh look at the Blueprint 2030, the overarching regional planning document that the previous Council adopted in its final days.

In fact, our Council has already determined that this document should be a flexible "framework" around which our systems plans can be developed, rather than a more rigid "blueprint" which dictates how things will be done. Again, this change reflects the new Council's heightened level of respect for local control and autonomy.

These changes, which have just begun to emerge over the past couple months, clearly indicate that this Metropolitan Council brings a new attitude to regional governance, and will very likely be charting a somewhat different course from its predecessor. However, we all know that "the proof is in the pudding," and I am anxious and excited about the opportunity to give the region a taste of something different.

Peter Bell

June 2003