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Pawlenty names Bell to head Met Council
by Laura McCallum, Minnesota Public Radio
January 9, 2003

Peter Bell is the executive vice president at Hazelden Foundation, and a former top executive at TCF Bank. (MPR Photo/Laura McCallum)

Gov. Pawlenty has named Peter Bell to chair the Metropolitan Council. The regional planning agency has come under fire for its "smart growth" development policies, and Pawlenty says he wants to make the Met Council more accountable.

St. Paul, Minn. — Bell is an executive vice president at Hazelden Foundation, a former top executive at TCF Bank, and a University of Minnesota regent. His new post at the Met Council is part-time, but Pawlenty says it won't be an easy one. He says Bell has the skills and temperament to be, in Pawlenty's words, "in the center of the swirl that is the Metropolitan Council debate."

"Clearly we need a regional entity for planning and otherwise relating to our sewer services and our transportation and transit systems, and our housing functions and others, but this is also an agency that in my opinion has experienced some mission drift," Pawlenty said.

Pawlenty says the council, whose 16 members are appointed by the governor, isn't accountable to voters. As a state legislator, Pawlenty voted to make the Met Council an elected body. Now, Pawlenty says he might not push for an elected Met Council, but will propose changes that could include more legislative oversight.

"We can't continue to have an entity with this much power, with this little accountability. It has enormous financial regulatory powers including taxing authority, and the accountability needs to be addressed," he said.

Last month, the Met Council appointed by Gov. Ventura adopted a 30-year plan for metropolitan growth that concentrates new development in higher-density population centers. Bell says he hasn't studied the Blueprint 2030. He says he has no preconceived notion of how the metropolitan area should expand to accommodate an expected influx of one million people over the next two decades.

"I think growth by and large is good," said Bell. "But I think that we do have to handle that growth in a way that respects our environment, in a way that is economically efficient, and that is somewhat coordinated. I think that an individual's right though, an individual, a family, a business' right to live where they want to, unimpeded or uninhibited by government, is something that all units of government need to respect."

Bell, who lives in Minneapolis, served on Pawlenty's transition advisory committee. He is African American, and the first person of color to be appointed to Pawlenty's cabinet. Pawlenty has named nearly half of his 26-member cabinet.

Legislators reacted cautiously to Bell's appointment. Newly-elected Rep. Frank Hornstein, DFL-Minneapolis, just stepped down from the Met Council. He says Bell is bright and capable, but it's too early to tell if he's the best person to lead the council right now. Hornstein says he hopes Bell continues the council's direction.

"Under Chair (Ted) Mondale, this council made incredible headway in terms of improving ridership in Metro Transit, in providing very cost-effective wastewater treatment services, providing a blueprint in growth strategy that actually was embraced by many suburbs in terms of our work. So our hope is that all of these things can be continued," said Hornstein.

Hornstein says the Met Council is already accountable to a legislative oversight commission, and he thinks it should remain an independent entity.

Other legislators would like to either get rid of the Met Council or make it an elected body. Rep. Phil Krinkie, R-Shoreview, says he thinks the council dictates planning to local governments, and he'd like to transfer the functions of the Met Council to the state.

Krinkie says he's reserving judgment on whether he'll like the way Bell runs the council. "Gov. Ventura said during his campaign that he was going to downsize or even eliminate the Metropolitan Council, and his subsequent appointment, Mr. Mondale, continued only to expand the role and the power of the council, not diminish or in any way impede the power of this unelected body. So Gov. Pawlenty has 16 appointments in addition to the chair; we'll give him the benefit of the doubt, for at least the first two months."

Pawlenty also appointed Vicki Grunseth to chair the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which has also had its share of criticism. The MAC owns and operates the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and six reliever airports in the region. Grunseth has been a consultant to start-up telecom companies, and at one point, lived on the same street as Pawlenty in South St. Paul.

She is the ex-wife of 1990 Republican gubernatorial candidate Jon Grunseth.

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