The Metropolitan Council received a presentation on Jan. 8 from its community relations staff summarizing 2024 engagement activity and outlining priorities for 2025, including an upcoming State of the Region event on Jan. 30 at Allianz Field and new district-level “investment sheets” intended to show Met Council activity by council district.

The presentation, led by Community Relations Director Sam O’Connell, described work last year to formalize engagement practices, staff training, tribal liaison capacity, and a push to make council data more accessible. “We’re small but we’re mighty,” O’Connell said, describing the team’s recent staffing changes and the addition of a full-time native communities relations coordinator.

Why it matters: Council members and staff said clearer, more usable information and earlier outreach would help local officials, businesses and residents participate in planning for transit and infrastructure projects. The presentation included specific outreach metrics staff said they compiled from 2024: 76 standing committee meetings, 43 advisory committee meetings, visits to almost 100 cities and townships, about 500 meetings with members of the public, and more than 200 meetings with nonprofits and advocacy groups.

Michael Sund, the council’s community relations consultant, described how the office seeks to integrate community input into policy development, from early jurisdictional meetings through draft proposals and public comment. “Policy processes are cyclical. They’re iterative,” Sund said, explaining that community relations aims to facilitate connections among council members, staff experts and outside stakeholders so proposals go to the full council with broader input.

Elias Montesa, community relations specialist, summarized engagement themes staff heard across the region: transit safety and project planning, economic and business development, equity, the built environment, and water issues. “The big things that we always emphasize are transparency, honesty and meeting people where they are at,” Montesa said.

Staff also previewed a set of district investment sheets — PDFs intended as a first step toward a future interactive tool — that combine Met Council data by council district and that staff hope to distribute before the legislative session. O’Connell and Sund said the sheets are near completion and are timed to inform lawmakers and local officials as session begins.

Tribal relations and the regional development guide also featured in the presentation. Staff said updates to the council’s tribal policy and continued outreach to tribal partners will be a priority in 2025, and they reiterated that the regional development guide (referred to in the presentation as Imagine 2050) will shape many future council activities.

Council members used the presentation to press staff on follow-up practices and accessibility. Several members urged that when they forward constituent concerns to staff, the council member be kept on the response loop. Council Member Carter said she often receives input outside official public comment periods and asked where that correspondence is routed; O’Connell replied that community relations’ role is to triage and route such messages to appropriate program staff and to confirm the sender receives a reply.

Members also encouraged more district-level outreach and tours, and asked that the planned district investment sheets be briefed to members so they can use them in meetings with local officials and legislators. Council Member Lilligrain (referred in the transcript as Little Green/Lillibrand variants) described constituents’ difficulty finding Met Council data and said an interactive tool would be especially useful to people affected by construction and transit projects.

Staff said the State of the Region will be Thursday, Jan. 30, 1:30–3:30 p.m. at Allianz Field, and that they expect to have printed district investment sheets available at that event while the interactive tool is developed later. They also said onboarding, norms, and action plans will be part of the 2025 work to better coordinate council members’ community engagement.

The meeting record shows no formal vote tied to the presentation; the item was informational and staff invited follow-up questions and requests for briefings.

Looking ahead, community relations staff asked council members to share what they hear from constituents so staff can better tailor data and outreach products. “Tell us more,” Sund said, noting that council members’ on-the-ground knowledge helps staff prioritize data and engagement.