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<br />4 <br /> <br /> <br />11) Is this about the suburbs complaining? <br /> <br />No. This is about ensuring that the entire region feels represented by the Metropolitan Council. <br /> <br />12) Is the Metropolitan Council accountable to their constituents? <br /> <br />No. Although the Council has the power to levy taxes on metropolitan area residents, it is not <br />accountable to those residents and is instead solely accountable to the Office of the Governor, <br />which over the last five election cycles was only once elected with majority support from metro- <br />area voters. <br /> <br /> <br />QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PRINCIPLES THEMSELVES: <br /> <br />13) Aren’t local elected officials too busy to serve on the Council? <br /> <br />There is a time commitment to serving on the Council, true, but it is only a part-time <br />engagement. Many current Metropolitan Council members hold other full-time jobs. <br />Furthermore, local elected officials serve on the metropolitan planning organizations of every <br />other large city in the country. <br /> <br />If these principles are enacted it will be part of cities and counties’ role to ensure that those <br />appointed to the Council are comfortable with the time commitment. All elected officials must <br />consider their availability and take responsibility for effective allocation of their time. There are <br />43 elected county officials and approximately 800 elected city officials in the metropolitan area; <br />we are confident that a sufficient number within that pool would be ready, willing, and able to <br />serve on the Council. <br /> <br />14) Some claim that local elected office and Met Council membership are “incompatible” <br />offices. Is that true? <br />There is nothing in the state constitution or in statute that makes these offices <br />incompatible. Reform legislation authorizing service on the Met Council by local elected officials <br />would also resolve any such questions. <br />As a practical matter, incompatibility arises when an individual cannot discharge the duties of <br />two offices with “fidelity and propriety.” Holding a different point of view, or needing to <br />represent the interest of a particular constituency on an issue, does not prohibit a member from <br />fulfilling the responsibility with “fidelity and propriety.” In fact, it is the problem-solving and <br />resolution of diverse viewpoints and perspectives that gives strength to our elected bodies at <br />every other level of government – including city councils, county boards, and the