We’ve got Minnesota political leaders spread out from coast to coast today.
Gov. Mark Dayton, just back from a trade mission to Japan and South Korea, is in Charlotte, N.C., for the Democratic Governors Association Fall Policy Meeting. They’re talking about “The New Economy: Emerging Technologies in Biotechnology, Health Care, Energy, and Transportation.”
The governor gets back Tuesday.
And Twin Cities Mayors R.T. Rybak and Chris Coleman are with a local group visiting Portland, Ore., to see if they can pick up some ideas on governing and growth and transit.
Also among the 90 local folks on the 10th annual Inter-City Leadership Visit, hosted by the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce and the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce: Bloomington Mayor Gene Winstead and Edina Mayor Jim Hovland, Sue Haigh, Metropolitan Council chair; Jon Campbell, president of Wells Fargo; Sean Kershaw, president of the Citizens League; Lester Bagley, vice president of the Minnesota Vikings; and David Olson, pre;sident of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.
They also return Tuesday night, so by Wednesday our in-state leadership teams will be back at full strength.
I know that reading about something being done in another part of the country is not as much fun as going there to take a look, but it’s certainly cheaper, a point all of our politicians might want to keep in mind.
However, you can’t have discussions with a text or debate its content as a group or see with your own eyes what one type of transit, for instance, is most attractive and/or easiest to use.