My Reflections
By Charlie Zelle - Chair, Metropolitan Council of the Twin Cities
It has been just over a year since that horrific day when George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis. As I reflect on this time when our region has been in an international spotlight, I am filled with a range of strong emotions.
From the pain and shame in seeing a region I love fall into tumult and despair to the clear-eyed determination born from increased awareness as I have joined in collective outrage and demands for justice. It is my honor and responsibility as a leader of regional government to take a hard look at what we can do to address the disparities and injustices more directly in our region.
My engagement in the civic life of our region, including my interests in community development, transportation, education, and the arts (especially theater) propels me to consider how many ways we need to act to truly address the American legacy of racism and injustice.
We need to be urgent and vocal advocates for change. At the Metropolitan Council, we are taking small but important steps to be better partners in advocating for economic prosperity. This can be found in how we are spending our budget to further imbed principles of equity in our work, and in our willingness to hear from our customers and neighbors about whether they feel safe on our transit system and when interacting with our police officers.
I know being anti-racist means disrupting the status quo. I know that means investing in different approaches, different voices, and asking more critical questions that turn the spotlight right back on us.
Each year, we have some discretionary funds in our budget for targeted efforts. With these good ideas from all Met Council divisions and the support of Council Members, we are embarking on several specific initiatives:
Increasing contracting with underutilized businesses
Increasing housing stability through investment in more deeply affordable, larger family housing units
Training and hiring youth who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color to further diversify our Environmental Services division
Evaluating ways to more intentionally involve and benefit people who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color in transportation prioritization and investment
Reducing barriers to maintenance technician careers through a training program
Expanding multicultural representation in transit marketing
We are also beginning the process to update our regional development guide, which occurs every 10 years following the decennial U.S. Census. In the 2040 plan, we prominently identified equity as a critical regional outcome. This next plan will likely expand and deepen the region’s vision for what that means. We need our regional policies and investments to be responsive to our realities in this region.
These specific projects and programs are important steps. And though we know there’s so much more work to do, we’re committed to doing our part for racial justice and equity in the region. Our challenge will be maintaining the momentum and urgency for what can only be accomplished by acting collectively over time.
We’re on an important journey together. We have an opportunity to send an important message about Minnesota to the world, a region that has truly achieved results.
ABOUT THE REFLECTIONS CAMPAIGN
After a year of reckoning with the ravages of racism in our schools, businesses, neighborhoods, and halls of justice, we see clearly that racism is deeply woven into every fiber of our society and that the consequences have touched each person in America. We see the depths of division and racism and the imperative to work in new ways to address very old problems.
The Center for Economic Inclusion invited leaders at all levels and from across sectors to share their reflections of the past year; several members of the Center’s staff have also participated. We wanted to learn how they have reckoned with racism over the past year; what is different in the places where they live, work, and play; what they think the the future holds; and what they think it will take to reimagine and build an economy that truly works for everyone.
We thank the leaders who answered our call to participate in this campaign. All week long, we will share their powerful reflections, in their own words.
> To engage with our entire Reckoning to Rise Together series, click here.