Pedestrian Advisory Committee

The mission of the Pedestrian Advisory Committee is to advise the Mayor and City Council on policies, programs, and actions for improving pedestrian safety, mobility, accessibility, and comfort; for promoting walking for transportation recreation, and health purposes; and for strengthening the linkage between the pedestrian environment and public transportation.

Committee Staff - Matthew Dyrdahl, 612-673-3642, [email protected] or Millicent Flowers, 612-673-3310, [email protected]

Resources

Current Openings/Application Process

PAC Guiding Principles

PAC Principles and Responsibilities

PAC Bylaws

Meetings

Message from the Minneapolis Clerk's Office:

This is to inform you that the we are CANCELLING all meetings of non-essential boards and commissions through at least Friday, April 17, 2020.

By “non-essential” I mean those boards, commissions, committees, working groups, task forces, etc., that are: (1) not required under state law or City Charter and therefore are created by and operate at the discretion of the City Council and (2) are comprised primarily of external individuals appointed by the Mayor and/or City Council (but which are not primarily composed of City policymakers or City staff).

The decision-making bodies which we are focused on supporting for continued public meetings—in some fashion—during this immediate emergency timeline include:

• City Council (and its committees)

• Executive Committee

• Audit Committee

• Planning Commission

• Zoning Board of Appeals

• Heritage Preservation Commission

• Board of Estimate & Taxation

• Charter Commission

These decision-making bodies are required under state law and/or City Charter and have policy-making authority that impact the operations of the City enterprise. They are also subject to the MN Open Meeting Law, which allows for remote meetings provided certain requirements are satisfied. The Clerk’s Office, in conjunction with Communications and IT, are working very hard to put in place the technical infrastructure necessary to support these bodies as a top priority.

The Clerk’s Office has general oversight responsibilities for appointed boards and commissions. Given the local emergency declared by Mayor Frey, we, like many or most of you, are operating with a much-reduced on-site crew. We simply lack the capacity to provide direction, answers, technical support, and more to the daily calls we have been receiving over the past few days about meetings of appointed boards and commissions. As indicated, our immediate focus must be on supporting the operating requirements of the City Council (and other policy-making bodies listed above) so they can continue to function within the requirements of the law during the declared emergency. We are aiming to have the technical capacity to support remote meetings starting with the special emergency meeting of City Council that is scheduled for this Thursday, March 19, at 1:30 p.m.

While I know we all appreciate the work of our City’s appointed boards and commissions and the engagement opportunities that they provide, it is not possible for us to give them the support and attention they may require right now. Nor is it possible to provide the technical support for remote meetings for all of these individual bodies within the requirements of the MN Open Meeting Law. We will reconsider whether or not we can support remote meeting operations for non-essential appointed boards and commissions in the interim. For now, we will cancel all those meetings through at least Friday, April 17, 2020.

In those instances where important decisions are pending before appointed boards and commissions it is highly probable that there are alternate methods to address those matters, particularly given the declared state of emergency throughout the City. Those decisions can and should be elevated through department leadership on a case-by-case basis.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation as we all move through this new and interesting landscape of “local emergency” together.

Regards,

Casey Joe Carl

City Clerk

City of Minneapolis – Office of City Clerk

City Hall

350 South Fifth Street – Room 304

Minneapolis, MN 55415-1382

TEL: 612-673-2216

FAX: 612-673-3812

[email protected]