Met Council staggered terms

A plan to stagger the terms of Metropolitan Council members has been nixed by Gov. Mark Dayton.

The council is a regional planning agency serving the Twin Cities metropolitan area. The governor appoints its members, and their terms are “coterminous,” meaning they end at the same time. Dayton vetoed a bill that would have allowed eight of the council’s 17 members to begin and end their terms two years after a change in gubernatorial administrations.

The bill’s supporters say the ability to replace all the members at once makes the council less effective and more dependent on staff. They argue staggered terms would provide for greater institutional knowledge to be retained between gubernatorial transitions.

In his veto message, Dayton said the current arrangement has worked well. He quoted his predecessor, former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who vetoed a similar measure in 2008. Pawlenty wrote that the council’s current structure “was the result of reforms intended to increase Metropolitan Council accountability.”

A January 2011 report on metropolitan transit governance from the Office of the Legislative Auditor recommended staggered terms for the council. Staggered terms have also been proposed by the Legislative Commission on Metropolitan Government.

The measure had bipartisan support among lawmakers, but the council opposed it.

Rep. Peggy Scott (R-Andover) and Sen. Benjamin Kruse (R-Brooklyn Park) are the sponsors.

HF2404/ SF2014*/CH158