American Experiment on Governance
Governance Reports
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How the Met Council Misplans the Twin Cities
How the Met Council Misplans the Twin Cities by Randal O’Toole. From the Spring 2017, Issue 7 of Thinking Minnesota....
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The Twin Cities Met Council: A Comparative Assessment
The Twin Cities Met Council: A Comparative Assessment This report is designed to give lawmakers and citizens basic information about how the Met Council compares to other large, metro area bodies bot...
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Governance Articles
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St. Paul should stop using ‘fees’ to fund street maintenance
Minnesota’s Constitution imposes some important limitations on a city’s tax power. For several years, the city of St. Paul has imposed a right-of-way assessment on all property owners to fund road...
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Editorial counterpoint: Why fight over light rail when there’s bus rapid transit?
Why fight over light rail when there's bus rapid transit? BRT is cheaper than LRT. It could actually ease congestion and, if it fails, it's less down the drain....
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Minnesota needs a Brexit from the Met Council and regionalism: Dakota County makes a move
Allow me to juxtapose two news stories. The first is a local story, a small rebellion so obscure you might not have noticed it, which signals an important shift in regional partnerships. The other is ...
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Governance Posts
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Lawsuit Claims St. Paul Failed to Implement Own Sick Pay Policy
The St. Paul City Council imposed a controversial paid sick leave ordinance on all businesses last year. The ordinance allows employees to take up to additional six paid days off every year, essential...
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St. Louis Co. Commissioner Cracks Down on Amazon Orders
You’d think that spending taxpayer funds on supplies from local businesses over Amazon would be a no-brainer, particularly in St. Louis County. But County Commissioner Keith Nelson recently made...
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Gov. Walz Fails to Stay the Execution of Kenilworth Trail until SWLRT is funded
The Met Council has been saying for years that it is ready to apply for a federal grant. Yet, here we are in 2019, during the Trump administration, without an invitation to apply for $929 million fede...
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End government shutdown threat for good with bipartisan legislation
This opinion editorial originally appeared in the Star Tribune: A news alert recently popped up on my phone: “Minn. lawmakers move hush-hush budget in rushed special session.” Another year, anothe...
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City Changes Drive Half of Trash Haulers Out of St. Paul [UPDATED]
Too often government not only fails to look out for the “little guy” but makes life downright impossible. The latest case in point? The continuing fallout from the organized garbage collec...
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Governance Media
Howard Root: Five Heart-Stopping Years as a CEO on the Fed’s Hit-List (5.12.17, 50 min.) (50 min.)
Howard Root: Five Heart-Stopping Years as a CEO on the Fed’s Hit-List (5.12.17, 50 min.)...
The Twin Cities Met Council: A Comparative Assessment (Narrated PowerPoint) (09:33)
This presentation is designed to give lawmakers and citizens basic information about how the Met Council compares to other large, metro area bodies both in terms of governance structure and scope of a...