Former Commissioner McLaughlin reflects on public service

‘Patron Saint of Lost Causes’

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part two of a two-part series. The first section ran in the January 2019 edition of the Messenger and can be found online here.
By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN
If there’s one thing that defines Peter McLaughlin’s career as a public servant, it may be his attitude towards what others consider to be lost causes.
“I’m sort of the Patron Saint of Lost Causes,” admitted McLaughlin.
There’s something about certain projects that kept him searching for solutions, even over decades, observed McLaughlin, who was elected as District 4 Hennepin County Commissioner first in 1990 and left office in December 2018.
Photo right: In an effort to make it more cost effective to plant trees in the county, former District 4 Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin supported adding a tree nursery specifically focused on replacing trees lost to Emerald Ash Borer. Starting 20 years ago, the county has planted over 5,000 trees during Arbor Day celebrations. In addition to these plantings, a small food forest was planted in Adams Triangle in Longfellow, and 163 trees were planted along Hiawatha Ave in 2015 and 2016. (Photo submitted)
Take the Fort Snelling Upper Post, a group of 27 historic buildings that were falling apart. There wasn’t a fund of money available to pay for fixing the buildings nor anyone interested in using them. But McLaughlin believed they should be saved and so he kept talking about it with others. When the site was listed as one of the top endangered historic sites in the United States, he realized there might be a source of workers he could tap into.
Even better, the county was already paying for the Sentence-To-Service crews so it wouldn’t cost additional money.
When one of the buildings collapsed, others also started shuffling things around, working hard to find funds to pay for building materials to stabilize the buildings.
A group began meeting to talk about the future of the site, and McLaughlin chaired the Fort Snelling Upper Post Task Force. They put together a land use plan and waited for the right opportunity.
It came in 2018 when the Plymouth-based Dominium, no stranger to historical renovation projects, and the Department of Natural Resources struck a deal to redevelop the site into 176 units of affordable housing. Soon veterans and families will be breathing new life into the 47-acre site that’s the last unincorporated area of Hennepin County.
Systematic change for libraries
Things shifted for McLaughlin 12 years ago. His daughter was born, and he battled prostate cancer. “I decided at that point to work on bigger projects,” he said.
McLaughlin added, “You can do individual projects, but you have to turn them into something bigger, into systematic change.”
Around the same time Minneapolis started closing libraries—an option they hadn’t done even during the Great Depression, McLaughlin pointed out. And they planned to close more. Two of the three closed libraries were in McLaughlin’s district, Roosevelt and Southeast.
McLaughlin learned about the issues while attending a spaghetti dinner in the basement of a Lutheran church in his district. He didn’t hesitate about taking this project on. He supports walkable, bikeable cities, and to have that one needs destinations such as libraries. “They are places that anchor neighborhoods,” observed McLaughlin.
Photo left: Roosevelt Library was shuttered by the Minneapolis Public Library board but was then reopened after a Library fund was created to invest in libraries across the county. Former District 4 Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin had supported the merger of the Minneapolis and Hennepin County library systems that made these renovations and expanded hours happen. (Photo submitted)
There had been discussions about merging the Minneapolis Library and the Hennepin County Library systems for years, but it had never progressed. McLaughlin believed the time had come, and he worked to make the merger happen within a few months.
There were issues, such as the suburban libraries worried their money was going into a declining system, and the city libraries worried their referendum money would be used outside Minneapolis. But a deal was struck, and the merger became official on Jan. 1, 2008.
“Libraries are one of the great democratic services we provide,” stated McLaughlin. “It needed to be solid.”
Since the merger, all the closed libraries have been re-opened, nearly every library in the system has been renovated (the last project just began), and hours added. For the first time since the Kennedy administration, Central Library downtown is open seven days a week.
Fight for light rail
Neighbors stopped the freeway from going in during the 1960s, but then nothing happened along the giant swatch of right-of-way along Hiawatha Ave. for years. It took until 1985 to reach a deal about what the road would look like, and until the early 1990s to finish the project. Meanwhile, discussions had gone back and forth for years about light rail lines and which one should be the first.
“I took on the fight for rail transit,” McLaughlin said. He knew one of his biggest battles was to reach an agreement between Hennepin and Ramsey counties and keep that in place until federal and state funding was appropriated and work could begin. It was agreed that because right-of-way was available along Hiawatha, and the Environment Impact Statement already done (because of the road work), that it would be the pilot project.
Governor Carlson signed off on a $40 million appropriation, and then Governor Ventura (who had attended Roosevelt High School) made the line a priority. A bonding bill was passed in 1999 during Ventura’s first year in office that included the last $60 million needed from the state.
“I always told people, we put all our chips on red 26 and spun the wheel,” said McLaughlin.
Once the Blue Line was operating (2004), the Green Line followed in 2014, connecting Minneapolis and St. Paul along University Ave. The Southwest extension of the Green Line is next. When McLaughlin attended the Green Line groundbreaking on Nov. 30, 2018, he brought the same shovel he used at the Blue Line groundbreaking.
Photo right: Former District 4 Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin speaks during the South Minneapolis Hub opening along Lake St. and Hiawatha Ave. The South Minneapolis Hub represents a move to decentralize human services from downtown to make it easier for people to get county social services at a site that’s more accessible. (Photo submitted)
McLaughlin’s focus on “transit ways” has also included bus lines (such as the Orange line that will be going down 35W), and he’s had a whiteboard in his office for decades that shows a transit map of the region.
“Why do I care so much about this? Transit reinforces the center as the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul,” McLaughlin explained. It goes back to the lessons he learned in Trenton, N.J. and from Sears, and the exodus of people from the city that happened across the nation. How do you keep people in the city? If you’re McLaughlin, you give them something to stay for.
“It’s all part of how do we attract people to the city and make a more prosperous life?” McLaughlin said.
Development has come
Some of the light rail supporters, including McLaughlin, promised that there would be development along the lines. Every year for many years, a Star Tribune reporter would call him to ask when development was going to happen.
After a recession and years of planning, in 2015 McLaughlin helped broker a deal for the county to anchor a large development at Hiawatha Ave. and Lake St., and things began to snowball.
In addition to the new development on the southwest side of Lake and Hiawatha, there is a new building on the north side, and another multi-story apartment building a few blocks south. Several buildings are planned around the 38th St. Station, and Longfellow Stations was built there on the southeast side a few years ago. A major development is in the works at 46th St., and five more are in progress.
McLaughlin tries to work within existing plans to make other things happen.
Some have accused him of being too patient. “It takes a long time to work these puzzles out,” he observed.
Hennepin County had already decided to decentralize its services and spread out buildings to be more convenient the communities it serves. It needed a hub somewhere in south Minneapolis, so McLaughlin pitched the idea of putting a service center at Hiawatha and Lake. It became part of a development that will add more than 500 housing units and a permanent space for the Midtown Farmers’ Market. The first housing unit opened on Dec. 1, 2018. Next year, a site that wasn’t generating any tax revenue while owned entirely by Minneapolis Schools will generate $300,000 in property taxes, and that’s just a start.
“You can’t do all the things you want to do with new money,” said McLaughlin. “You’ve got to do it with money you were going to spend anyway. You have to be intentional about it.”
Battling crime and building a Greenway
The Midtown Greenway is an iconic part of south Minneapolis now, but when McLaughlin started his career it was a trench where folks threw their old mattresses and trash. The city had just been dubbed “Murderopolis” by the New York Times, and south Minneapolis was the epicenter of the crime issues facing the city.
“I used to say if you’re going to go down to the Greenway to do an inspection, you need to be sure to get your tetanus shot up to date,” said McLaughlin.
He got involved with the Midtown Community Works Partnership, and they worked to convince first Honeywell and then Wells Fargo when they took over the Honeywell facility at 600 S. 4th St. to support the Greenway project.
Construction on the line began in 2000 and the final phase was done in 2007. Organizers are now considering an extension across a rail bridge to St. Paul.
“We said there would be development along the trench, and people laughed at us 20 years ago,” recalled McLaughlin. “Success will beget more success—and that’s what happened.”
The line has become one of the busiest bikeways in Minnesota and recognized as the best urban bike trail in the nation. Plus, new housing and retail have gone in along the trail.
The trail was one of several prongs of an approach focused on building up the neighborhood and reducing crime.
“You’re not going to solve crime without a comprehensive approach,” observed McLaughlin, or solve racism. For him, one part always includes adding jobs, and so he worked to build up what was already existing in the neighborhood, including Wells Fargo and Abbott hospital through work with the Phillips Partnership. They supported Abbot’s heart hospital expansion, keeping it in the city versus out in the suburbs.
They offered funds to rehabilitate old homes and increase the number of owner-occupied houses, supported by the Project for Pride in Living (PPL) Selvaggio Fund.
The group worked to create the Pathways Program to provided training at the Minneapolis College for jobs at Abbott, as well as jobs within the county itself.
McLaughlin once found himself in the elevator with three women who were part of the Pathways program. As they got out, one told him, “This job changed my life.”
“That’s why I do this work,” remarked McLaughlin.
Entrepreneurial policymaker
McLaughlin has approached policymaking by trying to fix community problems, even when there was no clear role for Hennepin County in the solution, pointed out his principal aide Brian Shekelton.
“Life’s problems aren’t categorized by a series of neat silos, and he believes that silos shouldn’t define the way to fix problems.
“Before Commissioner McLaughlin took office Hennepin County wasn’t helping to build train lines, it wasn’t helping to build permanent homes for farmers markets. It wasn’t leading a partnership to build Greenways (Midtown was a community development project, not just a transportation/recreation project). It wasn’t investing in Minneapolis parks or Minneapolis libraries. It wasn’t creating train stations like Target Field Station, and it didn’t have a tree nursery to replenish the lost Ash trees,” Shekelton
Shekelton summed up, “I’ve always thought that of Peter McLaughlin as an entrepreneurial policymaker, and I think that’s why he has been able to achieve so many goals.”
What’s next?
So, what’s next for the man who left office in December after 28 years?
He’s not sure.
“I’ve devoted my entire adult life to community work,” he said.
He doesn’t think he’s done yet.
“I’m still a believer that government can play a positive role in changing people’s lives,” remarked McLaughlin.

Article printed in the February 2019 Longfellow/Nokomis Messenger and by permission in the March 2019 edition of The Alley newspaper.

INSTRUMENT OF CHANGE: Outgoing County Commissioner McLaughlin reflects on public service

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part one of a two-part series.
By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN
When outgoing Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin drives through the district he’s served for 28 years, he’s proud of the work he’s accomplished.
“I feel good looking around at all the things I helped do,” observed McLaughlin, who lives in Standish-Ericsson a few blocks from the train station at 46th and Hiawatha.
“The county is a pretty amazing instrument, and I’ve put energy into making it an instrument of change.”
Photo right: “I feel good looking around at all the things I helped do,” observed Hennepin County District 4 Commissioner Peter McLaughlin, who left that office in December 2018 after 28 years of service. “The county is a pretty amazing instrument, and I’ve put energy into making it an instrument of change.” (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)
From the start, he took his charge to be making things better for those who had elected him, and he worked to show up even when the heat was on.
Close to 40% of Minneapolis’ population live in McLaughlin’s district 4, and there is a steady stream of constituent calls and community meetings.
“Commissioner McLaughlin has a track record of getting things accomplished, and that has been the most exciting thing about working for him,” said his principal aide Brian Shekleton, who has worked in McLaughlin’s office for 12 of the last 21 years at three different times.
Shekleton pointed out the visible and structural investments such as LRT lines, the Midtown Greenway, Target Field Station, the Midtown Exchange, and safer street designs, that have improved Minneapolis and the region.
“But Commissioner McLaughlin has fought for the much less visible investments in people through training programs, human service support structures, supportive housing, environmental response funds, library, and youth sports investment funds, amongst many other programs.
“It’s these investments in people that have helped foster a more stable social fabric, something that is much less monumental but it is people who make a city livable, and I have found that working on these projects to be incredibly rewarding,” stated Shekleton.
His life was changed
McLaughlin didn’t grow up thinking he’d get into politics. He lived in a small town in western Pennsylvania, the son of a printer. Over the years, he watched the town wither away as the manufacturing jobs dried up.
McLaughlin earned a scholarship to attend Princeton University where he studied statistics and economics.
It was during the Vietnam War, Lyndon Johnson was president, New York City was going bankrupt, there was rioting in the streets, and people were fleeing the city in favor of the suburbs.
The summer before his junior year, McLaughlin took an internship working in Spanish Harlem. “The events in Spanish Harlem got me involved in community organizing and changed my life,” recalled McLaughlin. He switched his major to politics.
Then he went to work for the mayor of Trenton, N.J. The office was focused on revitalizing a dying downtown, and one tool was passing a progressive income tax to ease the property tax burden. As a “punk kid” he accompanied the mayor to Washington, D.C., among other places, and got an up-close look at the mayor’s work.
Photo left: The bike lanes on Park and Portland were the first, significant lanes to be put on a Hennepin County road and paved the way to new lanes on Minnehaha Ave, E. 46th St., and Washington Ave. downtown. McLaughlin has fought for visible, structural investments such as LRT lines, the Midtown Greenway, Target Field Station, the Midtown Exchange, and safer street designs during his 28 years as a Hennepin County Commissioner. (Photo submitted)
Force of community
McLaughlin came to Minnesota for the first time in 1975 to attend graduate school at the University’s School of Public Affairs and never left.
What struck him most were the social networks Minnesota had in place to get things done.
“You not only had tangible investments being made, but you also had this group of people that came together as a force within the community,” he observed.
McLaughlin got pulled into serving as board chair for the Powderhorn Residents Group (now PRG), helping with affordable housing developments. PRG was one of the first groups focused on that in the city. Its first project was revamping the Whittier School at 26th and Blaisdale into 45 units of affordable housing.
When he bought his first house near Matt’s Bar, McLaughlin watched how a city program that put people into vacant homes for $1 stabilized his block.
McLaughlin was hired by the Urban Coalition of Minneapolis and began focusing on social justice issues. Everything they did was cutting edge at the time, affordable housing, weatherization for owner- and renter-occupied homes, apprenticeship credits, education, and more.
Then Pastor Brian Peterson of Walker Church approached McLaughlin and asked him if he’d ever thought about running for office.
McLaughlin agreed to try it and was elected to three terms in the Minnesota House beginning in 1985. Minnesota was in a deep recession, and unemployment was high.
McLaughlin helped create the Jobs Now Coalition to offer a wage subsidy program that is still operating today, and helped pass the Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) to put more control in the hands of Minneapolis neighborhoods and foster community. He sponsored the first parental leave act in the country that included six weeks for fathers, as well as mothers.
Directly affecting lives as Commissioner
Then, in 1990, he decided to run for Hennepin County Commissioner because he wanted to be more involved in doing things that directly affected people’s lives.
An experience early on shaped the rest of his career. He accompanied then-Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton and others to Chicago where they met with Sears representatives to ask that the company be the anchor tenant in the redevelopment of the Sears site on Lake St. (now Midtown Global Market). Sears was focused on how much disposable income residents in the area had, and that’s when McLaughlin realized that to get development he needed to focus on jobs first.
“I’m a believer in the economy and how important it is to have jobs for people,” stated McLaughlin. “That’s what pays the mortgages, the grocery bills. That’s what goes to Sears.”
Photo right: Commissioner Peter McLaughlin led the protection of the Upper Post buildings at Fort Snelling using Sentence-to-Service Crews to stabilize the buildings. The buildings will now be redeveloped by Dominium to create housing. (Photo submitted)
He set off to create a renaissance in South Minneapolis and hopefully staunch the exodus of people leaving the city.
It wasn’t going to happen overnight.
“You have to be paying attention when the opportunity arises to do something,” McLaughlin explained.
That involves doing something before then, however. McLaughlin’s method included serving on committees, talking to people, setting up the framework needed and doing studies so that when the time is right, things are in place.
While leaving Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) one day, McLaughlin came out a different door than usual and noticed an old, vacant brick building across the street. He checked the property tax records, saw it was owned by Allina and asked them what they planned to do with it. Fast forward a few years, and the building has been transformed into housing for youth and working adults through a collaboration between the city of Minneapolis, Central Community Housing Trust (CCHT), Allina, the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota, and YouthLink.
“I’m kind of always on the lookout for things like that,” McLaughlin said. “You need a network of people to make that happen.”
Look for part two in this series in the February edition of the Messenger.

Article printed in the January 2019 Longfellow/Nokomis Messenger and by permission in the February edition of The Alley newspaper.

Three candidates seek District 4 Hennepin County Board seat

BY TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN
Three South Minneapolis residents are vying for the District 4 Commissioner seat, and the field will be narrowed to two after the primary on Aug. 14.
Any race in Hennepin County that has more than two candidates will be narrowed by a primary election.
Angela Conley
www.voteconley.com
Angela Conley seeks to be the first ever Black Commissioner to serve Hennepin County.
If elected, Conley promises to amplify community voices in decision-making. She would also prioritize a massive reduction in the amount of inequity across all county departments, and seek to make the 4th district seat on the County Board a true reflection of the diverse communities it serves and a safe place for all to inform policy decisions.
Toward that end, she would form the first-ever Hennepin County Racial Equity Advisory Council.
Conley believes that it is critical to preserve families through social service programs that offer career guidance, housing, health care and other supports. She supports passing the African-American Family Preservation Act (HF3973).
She believes that the lack of housing affects too many people of color, indigenous people, and immigrants, and would lead housing reform to address this crisis.
Conley used to be that single mother on the bus with a stroller and says she understands the importance of a strong public transportation system.
Conley has spent many years of her working life as a social worker covered by a collective bargaining agreement; with AFSCME during her earlier years at Hennepin County, and then MAPE during her years working for the state of Minnesota. “My deep labor roots have shown me that when we lock arms together, we can move mountains,” said Conley. “The cornerstone of this campaign is building community power, and nowhere is that power more visible than in the achievements of working people collectively bargaining for better lives for themselves and their families.”
She would seek to address “the epidemic of state-sanctioned violence against Black, Brown and Indigenous populations” by eliminating the cash bail system and enacting policy that requires low-level offenses be met with restorative justice instead of jail.
Conley also supports common-sense clean air and water solutions.
Born and raised in South Minneapolis, Conley currently rents a home in the Bryant neighborhood with her four children.
“For nearly 20 years I have worked tirelessly to change systems at the macro level, both at the state and county, in ways that are holistic, person-first and seamless,” said Conley.
Past volunteer work includes President of Bryant Neighborhood Organization, and two years on the Adult Mental Health Local Advisory Council. Endorsements include Take Action MN, Women Winning, Survivors Lead, Our Revolution – Twin Cities, Minnesota Young DFL, and an “A” rating from the Stonewall DFL Caucus.
Megan Kuhl-Stennes
www.meganforhennepin.com
Endorsed by the Green Party, Megan Kuhl-Stennes has spent the past ten years cultivating a family, an urban farm, and a passion for zero waste.
“I have devoted my professional life to moving us to zero waste, which centers on designing and managing products and processes in a way that eliminates threats to our health and the environment. The principles and values of zero waste can guide decisions beyond how we treat physical objects,” stated Kuhl-Stennes.
Her priorities include implementation of a truly zero waste plan within the county; community engagement and empowerment to make all people in the county active agents in establishing and implementing priorities; affordable child care that will also build capacity for small, family-owned businesses and working parents; urban food systems and access to high quality, local, organic food; a basic income guarantee to establish a universal, unconditional, regular payment from the county that would be enough to live on; and implementation of ranked choice voting in Hennepin County.
She advocates for decriminalizing the personal possession, use, or sale of all drugs for those 18 and older and shifting resources from these “racist practices of criminalization to more effective preventative health approaches” to decrease drug abuse and the conditions that lead to addiction.
“Instead of simply maintaining the status quo, we have the resources, money, and energy to make far-reaching changes that address the root causes of community concerns: income inequality, climate change, lack of accessible and effective health care, and lack of access to quality housing,” said Kuhl-Stennes.
Raised in Dubuque, Iowa, she graduated from the College of St. Benedict-Saint John’s University with a degree in environmental studies and a minor in theology. Following college, she lived in the Phillips neighborhood during a year of volunteer service with the St. Joseph Worker Program, and has owned a home in East Phillips Neighborhood since 2010 with her partner and three-year-old son.
As a 10-year employee of Eureka Recycling, Kuhl-Stennes works in customer service, community engagement, and advocacy. At Eureka, she pushed to stop recent legislative attempts to preempt local laws and led the fight in 2017 against the preemption of plastic bag bans and fees at the state legislature.
Other experience includes: Spirit of St. Stephen’s Catholic Community, Community Council member (2012-2013), and chair (2014-2015); Eco Education, Board of Directors member (2011-2013); Minnesota Environmental Fund, Board of Directors member (2017-current); and 5th Congressional District Green Party, Steering Committee member (2011-2014, 2016-2017).
Peter McLaughlin
www.petermclaughlin.org
Peter McLaughlin has focused on investing Hennepin County resources in ways that will build a strong, urban, regional center.
He championed the Hiawatha LRT when nobody thought it could be built, and continues to support building out the LRT system. He presently serves as chair of the Counties Transit Improvement Board, which advocates for the expansion of the transit system.
McLaughlin helped develop a comprehensive county bicycle transportation plan and create a bicycle gap funding program to expand non-motorized transportation options. He advocated for the construction of Target Field Station in downtown Minneapolis, which serves multiple light rail, commuter rail, and intercity passenger rail lines, as well as pedestrians, bicyclists, and bus riders.
He worked to achieve a merger with the Hennepin County Library System when the system was shuttering libraries and supported renovating and modernizing its buildings.
McLaughlin authored the resolution making Hennepin County one of the founding members of Cool Counties, which seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by the year 2050.
He serves as chair of Fort Snelling Upper Post Task Force, Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority, and County Administration Committee. His priorities also include workforce development as retiring Baby Boomers could mean the loss of 32% of Hennepin County’s workforce.
“Thank you for supporting my work on economic and social justice, elimination of the education gap, fair taxes, and a transportation system that is reliable, affordable and sustainable,” said McLaughlin.
McLaughlin received his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University in 1971, and his master’s degree from the Graduate School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota in 1977. He moved to Minnesota in 1975 and resides in the Standish-Ericsson neighborhood with his wife and daughter.
Over the years he has started and joined many community service organizations, including Phillips Partnership and the Midtown Community Works Partnership; and he’s served on the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners since 1991. Before that, McLaughlin served three terms in the Minnesota Legislature.
He has been endorsed by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, AFSCME Minnesota Council 5, and the Hennepin County staff line workers, among others. He also received  an “A” rating from the Stonewall DFL Caucus.