Mayor Rybak, Council President Johnson Propose Additional Appointments to Stadium Implementation Committee
Diverse group to make recommendations about planning, land use, design and development
June 27, 2012 (MINNEAPOLIS) — Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and City Council President Barbara Johnson have proposed a diverse set of additional appointments to the City’s Stadium Implementation Committee.
On June 15, David Wilson, managing director at Accenture, and Thomas Fisher, dean of the University of Minnesota’s College of Design, were named Stadium Implementation Committee co-chairs. The City Council also appointed Mayor Rybak, Council President Johnson and Council Members Kevin Reich, Diane Hofstede, Sandy Colvin Roy and Betsy Hodges to the committee.
“For the stadium to be successful, it must reach out into the surrounding community. These committee members will help us do just that and bring more voices to the table,” said Mayor Rybak. “The stadium must be a great place to play football and hold other great events, but it must also be a good neighbor that is woven into the community.”
Mayor Rybak and Council President Johnson are proposing the following additional appointments:
· Russ Adams — Executive director, Alliance for Metropolitan Stability
· Hussein Ahmed — Executive director, West Bank Community Coalition
· Tim Baylor — Developer, outgoing member of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Commission
· Judith Yates Borger — Downtown East resident
· Rolf Engh — Vice president and general counsel, Valspar
· Chris Ferguson — Entrepreneur, owner of Dairy Queen franchise in Stadium Village; member of the Central Corridor’s Corridors of Opportunity Committee
· David Fields — Community development coordinator, Elliot Park Neighborhood Association
· Sarah Harris — Outgoing executive director, Downtown Improvement District, transitioning to University of Minnesota Foundation
· Clint Hewitt — Retired landscape architect, former University of Minnesota planner
· Peggy Lucas — Developer, outgoing member of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Commission
· Wade Luneburg — Secretary treasurer, UNITE-HERE Local 17
· Peter McLaughlin — Hennepin County commissioner
· Cory Merrifield — Founder, Save the Vikes
· Tom Meyer — Architect, Downtown East resident
· Cathy Rydell — Executive director, American Academy of Neurology
· D. Craig Taylor — Executive director, University of Minnesota Office of Business and Community Development
The Stadium Implementation Committee will be responsible for making recommendations to the Planning Commission and City Council on planning, zoning and land use; to the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority on the exterior design of stadium, plaza and environs; and more broadly on the long-term planning and development vision for Downtown East, West Bank and the University area. The State legislation that authorized the stadium directs the City of Minneapolis to establish the Stadium Implementation Committee.
If approved by the Council, Stadium Implementation Committee members will serve one-year terms that begin on July 1, 2012.
On Thursday, June 28, the City Council’s Committee of the Whole will consider Council President Johnson’s resolution to make these appointments, with final consideration by the full Council likely on Friday, June 29.
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Published Jun. 27, 2012