Volunteers Needed for CMAL's Update Study of Met Council Governance

The Council of Metropolitan Area Leagues (CMAL) is currently studying the Metropolitan Council. They need LWV members to interview elected officials and city and county planners or managers to assess the impact of the Met Council and seek suggestions for improving Met Council governance. This is a small time commitment with a big impact for CMAL's study committee.

The interview questions are being developed and will be ready after October 26. There will be a brief training for volunteers. We hope to have all interviews completed by Thanksgiving. League members will go out in pairs to do the interviews, unless they feel comfortable asking questions and taking notes by themselves. Please contact LWV Minnesota President Marti Micks at 763-546-7930 or firstvp@lwvmn.org if you are able to help or have questions.

“Wherefore the Metropolitan Council?" - Expert Panel on the Metropolitan Council Hosted by the

On Saturday, October 20 the Council of Metropolitan Area Leagues of Women Voters (CMAL) will host an expert panel on the Metropolitan Council at the Autumn Grove Park Gathering Center in Roseville. The panel will answer questions about how the Met Council should be governed and what the current controversy is all about. The event is free and open to the public and the program goes from 10 a.m. to noon. Arrive anytime after 9:30 a.m. to enjoy coffee and sign in. Panelists include:

• Deb Dyson, Minnesota House Legislative Analyst

• Keith Carlson, Executive Director, Minnesota Inter-County Association

• C. Terrence Anderson, University of Minnesota Center for Urban & Regional Affairs

• Charlie Vander Aarde, Association of Metro Municipalities

Optimist Club of West St. Paul Mayor & City Council Candidate Forum on October 17

The Optimist Club of West St. Paul hosted a unique forum for candidates for West St. Paul Mayor and City Council on October 17. Each candidate spoke separately during an assigned time slot and there was also a presentation regarding the proposed local option sales tax. There are two partial videos of the forum. This video is the best quality but doesn't include the first candidate (Fernandez). This video isn't as good but does include part of the remarks from Fernandez.