Inver Grove Heights Man Not Among Governor's Appointees to Met Council

Jess Myers, an Inver Grove Heights resident who applied for a district seat on the Metropolitan Council, was not among the 16 appointees to the council selected last week by Gov. Mark Dayton.

Myers, who who lived in Burnsville for 10 years before moving to Inver Grove in 2001, served as a researcher and writer for the Minnesota Senate for a decade. His experience there, he said earlier this year, allowed him to become familiar with the Met Council's duties and purpose. His desire to represent Inver Grove Heights led him to apply in January to be the District 15 representative for the group, which is responsible for much of the regional planning for the seven-county metropolitan area.

Under state law, the governor appoints all 17 Met Council members, who must reside in the district they represent. Inver Grove Heights falls within in the council’s 15^th district, which spans a part of northern Dakota County that also includes Eagan and Burnsville.

Dayton announced last week that Steven Chavez, a member of the Eagan Planning Commission, was his choice for the Met Council's District 15 seat. Other applicants  for the position included James Carlson, Adeel Lari and Margaret Schreiner.

Myers was not immediately available for comment. Were he to be appointed to the group, Myers said in an interview in February, he would have focused on improving Dakota County's public transportation system, including the possibility of a light rail line down the Roberts Street corridor.