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Metropolitan Council Reform <br />• The Metropolitan Council in the greater Twin Cities area has major responsibilities, such as <br />waste water treatment, transit, distribution of federal funds for road projects, parks, etc., <br />metropolitan economic development, and any other projects the council initiates. <br />• The metropolitan planning organizations are required by the federal government for the <br />distribution of federal transit dollars. In all other jurisdictions across the country and in the <br />state of Minnesota, these organizations are made up of elected officials or a combination of <br />elected officials and appointed individuals. In Minnesota, the Metropolitan Council is solely <br />appointed by the Governor and serves at the will of the Governor. <br />• In essence, the Metropolitan Council is an arm of the state and not representing the citizens <br />of the greater Twin Cities metropolitan area. The appointees aren't elected, but have the <br />right to tax and, one could say, this is "taxation without representation." <br />• A group of counties and cities are challenging the organizational structure of our Metropolitan <br />Council'. They have identified six principles: <br />A majority of the council members should be elected officials. <br />2. Cities should have direct control over the appointment of city representatives. <br />3. Counties should directly appoint county representatives. <br />4. The terms of the Metropolitan Council should be staggered and not contiguous with <br />the Governor. <br />5. Representation should be from every metropolitan county government. <br />6. Voting should be based on population with checks and balances. <br />55 <br />