Defending the Met Council’s vision for urban,
transit-oriented growth was council member Jon Commers, who represents western
St. Paul. Raising questions about this
exercise in central planning was Katherine Kersten of the Center of the American Experiment,
a non-profit think tank.
Although the North and other Chambers do such
programming on a regular basis, it is still relatively rare in our public
spaces to hear a frank discussion of an issue of great public controversy by
two people directly involved. Many
groups shy away from topics where people disagree, or only hear from one side
at a time.
The Met Council’s Thrive 2040 regional plan is certainly
controversial, with many local governments wary of its top-down
approach. Ms. Kersten’s biggest applause
line this morning came when she suggested that rather than the Met Council
approving the plans of local cities and counties, it should be the other way
round.
Both parties this morning kept the discussion respectful
and informative. For my taste, Council
Member Commers tried too hard to keep the conservation at the “vision
statement” level, and not get into the practicalities of how the Council’s
plan would affect local communities.
No one disagrees with sentiments like “maximize opportunities
for growth” or “maintain a strong quality of life.” What a local city may not understand is why
they have to give up zoning control to achieve such ephemeralalities.
When its impact hits, Thrive 2040 will not arrive in
the form of a feel good speech by a local politician. Instead, it will arrive in the form of a
split vote by a divided city council on some snowy evening in February when the
local government cedes control of its fate in exchange for a modest “free”
planning grant.
For her part, Ms. Kersten wanted to dive into the
details of the fair
housing and the Transit-Oriented
Development aspects of the Thrive 2040 plan. For his part, Mr. Commers kept trying to
steer the conversation back to sewer service.
No, you read that correctly. When founded back in the 1960’s, the Metropolitan Council’s
original mission was to rationalize the various wastewater utilities around the region. When confronted with questions about a
mission creep of Everest proportions, the Met Council falls back to defending
its one, unqualified success. The idea
being that in order to have efficient sewer service, somehow you must
micromanage every decision made by local government.
Wastewater may be only one
of five divisions of the agency, but it is the least controversial. Like every government confronted with
questions about its size and scope, the Met Council falls back on the “police and
fire” defense. Everyone agrees that
public safety is a legitimate function of government. So in for a dime, in for a dollar, goes the
logic.
While at the event, this morning I happened to pick
up a copy of the North Chamber’s legislative positions flyer. Under the heading of transportation, the
Chamber has adopted the sensible position of funding the following projects in
the North Metro,
1. Expansion
of capacity on 35W
2. Expansion
of 694 to a full six-lane beltway
3.
Completion of the final leg of Hwy 610
Those projects are really under the purview of the state
transportation department. As luck (or
good planning) would have it, the state transportation commissioner is
headlining the group’s November event.
But the notion that we should build out our freeway system to add
additional capacity really flies in the face of everything that Thrive 2040 is
about. If my notes are correct from this
morning, the event’s moderator pointed out that area transit use has
skyrocketed: from 2.5 percent of all trips to…3.2 percent. While logging an impressive percentage gain,
the Met Council’s obsession with mass transit is an example of the tail wagging
the dog in a region where the automobile is still the vehicle of choice for
moving around.
Still, it was good to have the issue aired by two
articulate, well-informed participants.
Here’s hoping for more of that going forward.
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