Illustration by Getty Images.
Voters in the Twin Cities region may soon have a new item on their ballots: Metropolitan Councilmember.
For decades, there have been complaints about the Metropolitan Council, the state agency that serves as a partial regional government for the seven-county metro area. The Met Council runs Metro Transit, manages wastewater treatment, signs off on city plans, and does other things that should be administered regionally — you probably don’t need 170 sewage plants.
The complaints are often related to the unelected nature of the 17 councilmembers. Being a state agency, they are appointed by the governor, and confirmed or rejected by the state Senate.
Last year, the Legislature created a task force to come up with ideas to “reform” the Met Council, perhaps by electing the members, or maybe electing some of them and then having other local elected officials on the council, or keeping it the same way, or something else. The task force was not able to agree on a specific proposal . The Legislature may pick one of the six options they suggested.