| For Immediate Release | For more information contact: |
| January 16, 2002 | Jeff Bakken (651-297-5600) |
ST. PAUL State Representative Mark Buesgens (R-District 35B, Jordan) has been elected vice chair of the new Legislative Commission on Metropolitan Government. The commission will provide oversight of the Metropolitan Council's budgets and programs, allowing lawmakers to keep a closer eye on their activities.
"Until now, the unelected Met Council has had no real oversight and it was very difficult for the Legislature and citizens to adequately monitor its operations," said Buesgens, who chairs the House Subcommittee on the Metropolitan Council.
The commission will monitor, review and make recommendations to the Legislature and to the Met Council concerning the Council's property tax levies, operating and capital budgets, land use planning and work and capital improvement programs.
The Metropolitan Council was established in the late 1960s to advise local cities and townships in the Twin Cities area about how to plan and manage growth in their individual communities. By the mid- 1990s, the Council shifted from an advisory organization to a large government bureaucracy when it was assigned major responsibilities for mass transit and waste disposal, as well as housing and redevelopment activities and regional planning.
Buesgens said many metro-area cities and townships became wary of the Met Council's authority when it began to impose growth plans on local communities even though the Council was not accountable to local taxpayers because its members were appointed by the governor, not elected.
The Scott County lawmaker has been especially critical of the Council's "Smart Growth" initiatives, such as light rail transit and mandated high-density, multi-family housing. Buesgens twice has authored legislation to eliminate the Met Council. His latest bill has passed to House floor, where it will be debated when the Legislature reconvenes at the end of the month.
Senator Claire Robling (R-District 35, Prior Lake) also is a member of the new Met Council oversight commission.
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