Lawmakers reacted to the Minnesota’s Office of the Legislative Auditor report on the boondoggle that is the $3 Billion Southwest Light-rail line.
From the Star Tribune: “This is exactly what happens when an organization feels no pressure to be transparent, to be accountable to the public that it serves, because it doesn’t report directly to a body that is accountable to the public,” said Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis, a longtime critic of the council, before the Legislative Audit Commission on Monday….
“Ultimately, Dibble said the public must “rise up” and pressure elected officials if they want the council to be more accountable for the millions it collects in taxes and spends on public transportation, wastewater treatment, parks and affordable housing in the region.”
Republican Sen. Call Behr has seen enough.
“Until we do major reform in the Met Council, and how it does its business, and what business it actually does and is responsible for … I don’t believe this will change,” Sen. Bahr told Minnesota Public Radio.
“Republican state Sen. Steve Drazkowski of Mazeppa took issue with Zelle’s response to the audit’s finding that the Met Council did not properly monitor disposal of contaminated soil. He questioned how Zelle could be certain there were no overpayments.
“You admit that you didn’t keep track of, and reconcile properly, the loads — but we paid the right amount. You can’t have both there,” Drazkowski said. “You can’t have your cake and eat it, too. So don’t be giving us that.”
Final report in probe highlights some lax oversight, need for tighter controls for $2.9 billion project.
By Janet Moore
Star Tribune
Lawmakers reacted to the final report from the state’s watchdog agency detailing construction-related troubles associated with the $2.9 billion Southwest light-rail line with a kind of weary wrath this week.
The 30-page report by the state’s Office of the Legislative Auditor concludes an exhaustive, nearly four-year probe of the Southwest project, the most expensive public works project in state history, which has been dogged with cost overruns and delays.
All told, the OLA released five reports, and each time, the findings generated bipartisan rancor largely aimed at the Metropolitan Council, the regional planning body that is overseeing construction of the Southwest project.
But the Legislative Auditor’s findings have failed to galvanize efforts to change the structure of the Metropolitan Council, whose members are not elected but appointed by the governor. Critics have long said that elected council members would be more responsive to the public — and their tax dollars.
“This is exactly what happens when an organization feels no pressure to be transparent, to be accountable to the public that it serves, because it doesn’t report directly to a body that is accountable to the public,” said Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis, a longtime critic of the council, before the Legislative Audit Commission on Monday.
Efforts by a state task force beginning in 2023 to reform the Met Council ultimately fizzled. Steps to make the council more accountable “have been thwarted by the defenders of the status quo,” Dibble said.
A bill has been introduced this session in the House by Rep. Jon Koznick, R-Lakeville, which calls for elected officials in the metro area to serve on the council in staggered terms. Koznick was unavailable to comment on the measure.
But it’s unclear if the bill will gain any traction in a legislative session that has a compressed schedule and a mandate for lawmakers to adopt a state budget amid a dire financial outlook.
Ultimately, Dibble said the public must “rise up” and pressure elected officials if they want the council to be more accountable for the millions it collects in taxes and spends on public transportation, wastewater treatment, parks and affordable housing in the region.
When it begins service in 2027, Southwest will connect downtown Minneapolis to Eden Prairie, through St. Louis Park, Hopkins and Minnetonka. The 14.5-mile line is about 85% complete, and the testing of trains along the route will begin later this year.
Met Council Chair Charlie Zelle said many of the Legislative Auditor’s suggestions in the report have been implemented. “Overall, we accept the feedback readily and concede many areas where we can improve and are in the process of improving,” he said Monday.
