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Panel takes on future of Metropolitan Council
A newly created panel will spend six months pondering revamp of Minnesota’s regional planning agency.
ST PAUL, Minn — A new commission will delve into the function and history of the Metropolitan Council, with an eye toward revamping that regional planning agency.
Lawmakers created the Metropolitan Governance Task Force as part of the transportation bill during the 2023 session. The panel, made of a bipartisan group of legislators, local elected leaders, and citizen experts, held its first meeting Wednesday.
“The goal is to really look closely at the Metropolitan Council and its governance and its role in the region, and figure out ways to make this agency more transparent and more accountable to the public,” Rep. Frank Hornstein, the Minneapolis Democrat who chairs the new task force, told KARE 11.
It’s a story that begins and ends at the state capitol, where in 1967 the Legislature created the Metropolitan Council. The agency has been in the crosshairs of Republican lawmakers for years, but cost overruns in the Southwest Light Rail Project prompted Democrats to consider a change.
“The Met Council was created by the Legislature. If it needs to be fixed, it needs to be fixed by the Legislature,” Rep. Hornstein remarked.
The Met Council’s most visible role is public transit, which includes Metro Transit buses, light rail trains, and the Metro Mobility ride service for persons with disabilities. But the agency also runs regional wastewater treatment plants, regional parks and provides federally funded affordable housing.
“You can’t take a sledgehammer to the Met Council as some people would love to do, you can’t just bust it all up. You can’t put a pretty band-aide ribbon on it and say everything’s perfect either because many disagree with that,” Rep. Jon Kosnick, a Lakeville Republican, said during the inaugural meeting.
The Met Council’s 16 members each represent different parts of the 7-County Twin Cities Metro area in districts of roughly equal population. They’re all appointed by the governor.
The Met Council chairperson is also appointed by the governor and holds a cabinet-level position. Democrats have held the governor’s office in Minnesota since 2011.
One option the task force will explore is having all or some of the members elected directly by voters. Some argue that would make the council more responsive and accessible to the public.
“We want to know is it really working to have appointed members? And is the agency accountable to the public in a way that makes sense?”
Myron Orfield, a University of Minnesota Law School professor and former state lawmaker, said it’s not completely clear if the Metropolitan Council is a state agency or form of local government that would require elected members.
“It’s very deeply embedded in American democracy that the people elect the people that tax and make big decisions. It’s not like that in England, in Europe.”
The harshest criticism at the first meeting came from Minneapolis City Council Member Lisa Goodman.
She said she hears regularly from business owners about troubles they encounter dealing with Met Council regulations.
“The system is just absolutely refusing to deal with the general public because the commissioners don’t take constituent calls and the staff often ignore them,” Goodman told fellow panel members.
Rep. Ginny Klevorn, a Plymouth Democrat, said the panel should rush to make sweeping generalizations about the council members.
“I can only speak to the Met Council representative that I work with closely, who is incredibly responsive, who shows up all the time and is in community all the time.”
The task force’s goal is to come up with a set of recommendations for the legislature before the start of the 2024 session in mid-February.
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Authorities said they’re concerned for Yarmakov’s wellbeing because she lives with autism and Type 1 Diabetes.
MCGREGOR, Minn. — Search and rescue efforts are ongoing for a woman who went missing in rural Aitkin County last week as multiple local and state agencies and volunteers continue to comb through the area north of McGregor.
In an update posted to its Facebook page Tuesday morning, the Aitkin County Sheriff’s Office said Tonya Yarmakov, 23, still hadn’t been located since her family reported her missing from Savanna State Park on Sept. 4. Authorities said they’re concerned for Yarmakov’s wellbeing because she lives with autism and Type 1 Diabetes.
According to the sheriff’s original press release, Yarmakov was in the park outside McGregor with her family the morning she went missing. The release said family members allegedly told authorities they left Yarmakov alone on a dock as they went fishing, and around noon, saw her get up and run away.
The statement said the family launched their own search before reporting her missing around 1:30 p.m.
Yarmakov is 5 feet tall and has dark brown hair. The sheriff said she was last seen wearing a rainbow tie-dyed t-shirt, gym shorts, black shoes and black headphones.
According to police, crews have logged hundreds of hours searching for Yarmakov thus far, but have not turned up any leads.
If you have information about Yarmakov’s current whereabouts, the Aitkin County Sheriff’s Office urges you to contact them at 218-927-7435 or call 911.
While the school building was impacted, police say no students or staffers were hurt in the incident.
DULUTH, Minn. — Students and staffers at a Duluth elementary school encountered a bit of unexpected – and unwanted – excitement Friday morning when a vehicle smashed through a wall of their gym.
Northern News Now/KBJR reports that the incident unfolded at Myers-Wilkins Elementary on N. 8th Ave. E. just before 8:30 a.m. Duluth police told the station that two people were inside the vehicle when it ran a stop sign, went through the intersection and down an embankment, then careened through the gym wall.
No one inside the school was hurt, but the two people in the car were taken to the hospital for treatment.
The Duluth Public School District tells Northern News Now the gymnasium will be closed for an undetermined time while engineers examine its structural integrity.
Meanwhile the school is on a secure protocol, meaning access to the building is limited while students go about their day.
The child was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for scratches and bite wounds to the head, face and legs.
BREMERTON, Wash. — A child and their mother were attacked by a river otter at the Bremerton Marina Thursday morning.
According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), a woman and her young child were walking on a dock around 9:30 a.m. when the river otter pulled the child into the water. The woman said the child was underwater for a few moments before resurfacing.
WDFW officials say the otter kept attacking the woman while she pulled the child out of the water.
The child was treated at a hospital in Silverdale for scratches and bite wounds to the head, face and legs. The woman was bit on the arm.
“We are grateful the victim only sustained minor injuries due to the mother’s quick actions and child’s resiliency,” said WDFW Sergeant Ken Balazs said in a prepared statement. “We would also like to thank the Port of Bremerton for their quick coordination and communication to their marina tenants.”
According to WDFW, the otters in the marina will be “trapped and lethally removed” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services, then tested for rabies.
River otter attacks are rare, and WDFW officials advise against instigating any close encounters. There have been six documented human-river otter incidents in Washington state in the last decade.
“When we do see this on the rare occasion that it does occur, it’s for territoriality or protecting its pups. If it’s a female, protecting its pups,” said Matt Blankenship with the WDFW.
And while many think of them as cute, curious creatures. They can cause serious injuries.
Jen Royce, who lives in Bozeman, Montana, was attacked by a river otter last summer. The damage was extensive.
“I had really large bite wounds on each cheek. A really big gash on this left side of my eye here.. luckily it didn’t get my eye.. it bit through my nose,” Royce said.
She wants to urge others to be cautious around the animal.
“My main goal is to spread awareness. I don’t want people to go out and kill otters. That’s not what this is about. It’s about trying to be more prepared in nature,” Royce said. “Not to let your guard down and hopefully, if someone learns something from my story. I feel like that’s why I’m still here.”
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