Star Tribune
Senate committee approves Zelle for second term as Met Council chair
A key Senate committee voted Wednesday to reappoint Charlie Zelle as chair of the Metropolitan Council, the often controversial planning agency that oversees public transportation, wastewater treatment, regional parks and affordable housing in the Twin Cities metro area.
The Senate Transportation Committee approved Zelle’s reappointment on a voice vote. He must still be confirmed by the full Senate, but no date has been set for a final vote.
Zelle, a 67-year-old St. Paul native, was named chair of the Met Council by Gov. Tim Walz in 2019. He has since dealt with safety issues on Metro Transit and ongoing challenges related to construction of the $2.7 billion Southwest light-rail line.
The Southwest project, which is slated to connect downtown Minneapolis and Eden Prairie beginning in 2027, has been plagued with delays and cost overruns, and is now being reviewed by the Office of the Legislative Auditor. Though much of Southwest’s planning occurred before Zelle’s tenure, he has faced criticism that the Met Council lacked transparency in its handling of the project.
“The trust is lacking,” said Sen. John Jasinski, R-Fairbault, ranking minority member of the Transportation Committee. “I’m hearing frustration from both sides of the aisle.” He added that his criticism wasn’t personal.
Zelle responded that Jasinski’s comments “are taken to heart. There is opportunity for improvement.”
The Met Council recently announced creation of a Regional Transit Infrastructure division to provide a more “consistent and robust approach” to complicated infrastructure transit projects, like Southwest and the planned Blue Line light-rail extension to the northern suburbs.
Zelle said the new division is related to feedback from the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and the Legislative Auditor on how to better plan and build light-rail and bus rapid transit projects. The division’s executive director, who has not been named, will report to Zelle.
The Transportation omnibus bill currently being honed at the Legislature calls for a Metropolitan Governance Task Force to make recommendations on the Met Council’s structure by Feb. 1, 2024. The group will likely discuss whether council members should be elected, rather than appointed by the governor.
Regarding safety issues on the existing transit system, Zelle noted that a new chief, Ernest Morales III, has been named to lead Metro Transit’s police force, and that the Met Council has implemented a comprehensive safety plan. He said safety and security are top issues for the council and added that “we are making good progress.”
Zelle remains chair of his family business, Jefferson Lines, a Minnesota-based intercity bus company. He said he’s been advised that his position is not a conflict of interest. He stepped down as president and CEO of the company in 2012 when he was appointed MnDOT commissioner by Gov. Mark Dayton.
Zelle said he wants a second term with the Met Council to capitalize on the “complicated lessons” he’s learned, particularly from the Southwest project.
“The biggest lesson is that we need to do more work at the very beginning of a project,” he said, “because once it starts, it’s like, ‘Wow, you can’t stop the train.’ “
A 65-year-old pedestrian was struck and killed by a pickup truck near Christmas Lake Friday afternoon as she was walking through a crosswalk, the Minnesota State Patrol said.
The woman was crossing Highway 7 around 1 p.m. when she was hit by a 2019 Ford F-150 turning left from Christmas Lake Road onto the highway headed east, the State Patrol said in its report. The intersection is just east of Excelsior, between Saint Albans Bay and Christmas Lake west of Minneapolis.
The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, Minnetonka police, and other agencies responded to the fatal collision. The State Patrol has not released the identity of the pedestrian.
The driver has not been arrested. Agencies are still investigating the collision, State Patrol Lt. Michael Lee said. Alcohol was not involved in the crash, the State Patrol said.
Former trooper Shane Roper, 32, had his last day Tuesday, State Patrol Lt. Michael Lee said. Roper’s attorney did not immediately return a request for comment Friday evening.
In July, Roper was charged with criminal vehicular homicide and manslaughter. He was also charged with criminal vehicle operation related to five other people who were seriously injured in the incident.
The criminal complaint states that Roper had been pursuing someone “suspected of committing a petty traffic offense” as he exited Hwy. 52 onto 12th Street SW. As he neared the intersection with Apache Drive, he reportedly turned his lights off and continued to accelerate with a fully engaged throttle.
Roper was traveling at 83 mph with his lights and siren off as he approached the intersection, a Rochester police investigation found. The trooper’s squad car slammed into the passenger side of a car occupied by Olivia Flores, which was heading west and turning into the mall.
Flores died from the blunt force injuries. She was an Owatonna High School cheerleader and set to graduate June 7. There were two other people in the car with Flores.
Olmsted County Attorney Mark Ostrem said in a statement following the charges that Roper violated his duty in “a gross fashion.”
Roper told investigators he was not paying attention to his speed at the time of the crash, and that he believed his lights were still activated when he exited the highway.
Steven Frane Bailey, 56, of St. Louis Park was arrested in connection with the incident and charged with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide and nine counts of criminal vehicular operation. His blood alcohol content measured at 0.325% after officers administered a preliminary breath test at HCMC, according to charges filed in Hennepin County District Court.
In his first court appearance Wednesday, Bailey told a judge his use of alcohol is not a problem. He has an extensive history of drunken driving convictions, starting in 1985 in Wisconsin. Additional convictions followed in Wabasha County in 1993 and Hennepin County in 1998, according to court records. Two more convictions followed in 2014 and 2015.
A Hennepin County judge set his bail at $500,000 with several conditions, including that Bailey take a substance use disorder assessment, that he abstain from drinking alcohol, avoid Park Tavern and stay away from the victims and his family.
His next court appearance is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 1.
Staff writers Paul Walsh and Jeff Day contributed to this report.
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