[Mpls] Posting

[Meyerlaugh]

David,

Please post.

I have often commented on how difficult it is to catch the attention of the voters when you are runningfor County Commissioner. My hat is off to the issues list and those of you who participate in it for paying attention and providing the opportunity to present information. Thank you to those of you who have written words of support.

Please excuse the length of this posting, but I have been busy, have gotten a lot done and have a lot more that I want to accomplish.

During the time I have been privileged to serve on theHennepin County Board of Commissioners, we have accomplished remarkable things.  In 1992, no one gave Light Rail Transit much of a chance, and yet, at the end of 2001, the HiawathaLine was more than 30% completed! During the past few years, I have helped bring, for the first time,significant Hennepin County resources to the fight for affordable housing.  In 2002 alone, the Hennepin County Affordable Housing Incentive Fund will provide $4 million for projects throughout the county,adding to the hundreds of units we have already helped create in the last two years.  And the Midtown Greenway has gone from an abandoned trench to a multi-use trail that will soon be built to Hiawatha Avenue, and in the years to come, all the way across the Mississippi River.

As hard as we have worked and as much as we haveaccomplished, there are challenges that remain.  I am excited about the work ahead and the opportunities that wehave to make Hennepin an even better county in which to live and work.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING:
During the past three years, Hennepin County has dedicated millions of dollars to developing affordable housing.  But the County alone cannot spend enough to solve the problem,and we must be creative in our efforts. I am working with local and state veterans and housing organizations to secure State bonding money for the Fort Snelling Veterans Housing Project –218 units of efficiency housing. We have used County bonding to turn over 1000 new market rate units into critically needed affordable units.  I also authored a resolution providing funding to support development of a land trust for affordable housing in Minneapolis.  And County Sentence toService crews (men and women) are rehabilitating boarded properties and getting them back into productive use.  These are the kinds of creative, effective projects I will continue to fight for on the County Board.

ENVIRONMENT:
The picture on global warming is clear and frightening.  I am doing all I can to make Hennepin Countya partner in reducing dangerous emissions and an innovator in new and greener forms of energy.  With my leadership,Hennepin County’s capital plan calls for investing in a large gas turbine atHennepin County Medical Center and in gas turbines and experimentalfuel cells at the County Home School, making us less dependent oncoal- and nuclear-fueled electricity. Hennepin County has also distributed thousand of below-cost compostbins to reduce solid waste volumes. And, perhaps most new and old all at once, I am working on the development of a Community Energy Coop in the Phillips Neighborhood.  If successful, this would be the first urbanelectric coop in Minnesota and the first new coop statewide since the late1930’s.  The coop would organize consumers to more effectively purchase electricity, manage use through conservation and explore the potential for neighborhood electric generation.

HUMAN SERVICES:
At Hennepin County, our main job is to provide health care and human services, from emergency assistance and medical assistance to childcare and Level 1 trauma care at Hennepin County Medical Center.  I am leading efforts to make these services work better for individuals and families and to keep costs down.  Collaboratives like the Hennepin/PowderhornPartners move workers into the community and break down bureaucratic barriers.  As Chair of the ServiceIntegration Policy Committee, I am working to spread the lessons of the Powderhorn partnership to the rest of County operations.  And as Chair of the Youth Coordinating Board, I am working to improve youth recreation opportunities and to create a true early childhood development system in Minneapolis.

TRANSIT: The first Light Rail Transit line is an enormous accomplishment, but only with a multi-modal transit system throughout the region will we fully combat the congestion, pollution and sprawl that the Republicans’ highways-only approach creates. I am working hard on Northstar Commuter Rail, which will extend transit service from downtown Minneapolis to St. Cloud and beyond.  And the Central Corridor LRT linewill connect Minneapolis with the Capitol and downtown St. Paul.  I have also worked to advance busways like the Northwest Corridor (downtown Minneapolis to Monticello).  We need all of these pieces and more to create a system that allows transit to be a true alternative to the automobile.

BICYCLES:
I spend a lot of time on my bicycle.  I am spending almost as time trying to make this the decade of the bike trail.  In 30 years, I want people to look at this time as pivotal in thedevelopment of a high quality, much-loved and heavily used system of biketrails.  I authored a resolution devoting County financial and staff resources to filling gaps in our current system.  We will soon be getting a blueprint for how to proceed.  At my urging, Hennepin County Regional Rail Authority just purchased the 43-mileDakota Rail right-of-way.  This corridor, from Wayzata through Carver County to Hutchinson was in danger ofbeing sold off piecemeal. Now it is preserved for transit and trail use.

These are only some of the projects I have been, and hope to continue, working on as County Commissioner in the next four years.

Peter McLaughlin
Hennepin County Commissioner, 4th District


o