The Paper Trail: Legislative Auditor recommends Met Council reform

The Office of the Legislative Auditor has released a report that criticizes the “fragmented” state of transit governance in the metropolitan area.

The report recommends the Metropolitan Council should be reconfigured as both locally elected and appointed council members. The council’s 17 members are currently appointed by the governor. PIM’s sister publication Capitol Report has reported that legislators continue to be interested in reforming the Met Council.

Peter Bell, who has Met Council chairman under Gov. Tim Pawlenty, said making the council elected at the local level would turn the board into a “mini-Legislature” that gets bogged down by parochial concerns.

Gov. Mark Dayton has appointed Susan Haigh as Bell’s successor. He hasn’t yet appointed the rest of the council.