Choices for Change: A Guide to Local Government Cooperation and Restructuring in Minnesota

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Professor Honadle worked for two years with twenty citizen-volunteers from two Minnesota cities on a study to help them decide whether to recommend consolidation of the cities. The consolidation study was the direct result of a citizen-led petition drive to study the issues surrounding consolidation.

In addition to consolidation, during the project property was detached from one of the municipalities and annexed into the other. Meanwhile, citizens around the state were raising questions about incorporating, interlocal cooperation, and other means of making change at the local level.

There did not seem to be a way citizens could easily find out what their options were, what questions to ask, what experiences other places had had with the various options, and where to go for help. It was against this backdrop of cooperation and restructuring options for local government in Minnesota that this book was conceived.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the following people for serving on the advisory board for Choices for Change: A Guide to Local Government Cooperation and Restructuring in Minnesota, and for their guidance and advice:

Gary Carlson, League of Minnesota Cities; Julie Dresel, Branch-North Branch Consolidation Study Commission; Troy Gilchrist, Minnesota Association of Townships; Ken Hartung, City Administrator, Bayport; Susan Hoyt, City Administrator, Falcon Heights; Nancy Larson, Executive Director, Minnesota Association of Small Cities; Nancy Lenhart, Minnesota Extension Service, Carver County; Barbara Lukermann, Humphrey Institute, University of Minnesota; Patricia Lundy, Minnesota Municipal Board; Pati Maier, Minnesota Board of Government Innovation and Cooperation; Jeff Nelson, Chair, Lino Lakes-Centerville Consolidation Study Commission; Steve Reckers, Minnesota Planning; Rich Spencer, Government Training Service; Elizabeth Templin, Minnesota Extension Service, Washington County; John Vinton, Hamline University; and Carole Yoho, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Minnesota.

In addition, thanks go to the staff of the Minnesota Extension Service, the Minnesota Municipal Board, and all of the city and township officials who offered their insights, experiences, and recommendations for the case studies. Kathleen Cleberg, the editor, helped take a complex subject and explain it in everyday language. Without their help, this guidebook would not be possible.

Authors

The authors, Beth Honadle and Patricia Love, are Professor and Graduate Research Assistant in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota.

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