Minneapolis Mayor-elect Betsy Hodges has named a transition advisory committee to help her set the agenda for her first 10 days in office.
The 27-member committee will be chaired by activist and writer Laura Waterman Wittstock.
“I am grateful to these outstanding community leaders for their willingness to advise me as I prepare for my first term as mayor of Minneapolis,” Hodges said in a news release announcing formation of the committee.
The list includes Larry Redmond, who served as finance chairman for the Mark Andrew campaign; Peter Bell, a Republican and former chair of the Metropolitan Council; Olga Viso, director of the Walker Art Center; and Sondra Samuels, CEO of the Northside Achievement Zone and wife of mayoral candidate Don Samuels.
The committee will make plans for the Jan. 2 swearing-in ceremony and the Jan. 6 formal inauguration. Plans currently include a tour of Minneapolis neighborhoods. A separate committee that will focus on the inauguration will be named shortly.
“Cradle-to-K and K-12 education are a top priority for my first term as mayor,” said Hodges. “We will discuss education during the transition, and when I become mayor, I will give the issue my full attention.”
Kristin Beckman of Habitat for Humanity and longtime DFL activist Jeff Blodgett will serve as volunteer transition co-coordinators.
Here is the full membership of the transition committee:
Laura Waterman Wittstock (chair) — president and CEO, Wittstock & Associates, author
Alfred Babington-Johnson — president and CEO, Stairstep Initiative Cos.
Anthony Newby — executive director, Neighborhoods Organizing for Change
Bill McCarthy — president, Minneapolis Regional Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO
Daniel Yang — director of organizing and community building, Native American Community Development Institute
David A. Wilson — managing director, Accenture Minneapolis
Frank Brown — co-chair, DFL African American Caucus
Greg Hestness — assistant vice president of public safety and chief of police, University of Minnesota
John Griffith — executive vice president of property development, Target Corp.
Julie Ristau — co-director, On the Commons, and co-chair, Homegrown Minneapolis
Ken Rogers — chair, Minneapolis Advisory Committee on People Living with Disabilities
Kyle Makarios — director of government affairs, North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters
Larry Redmond — principal, Redmond Associates
Majdi Wadi — CEO, Holy Land
Margot Imdieke Cross — accessibility specialist, Minnesota State Council on Disability
Megan O’Hara — youth outdoor employment director, Wilderness Inquiry; senior fellow, endowed chair, Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture
Michelle Dibblee — organizing director, OutFront Minnesota
Olga Viso — director, Walker Art Center
Peter Bell — Former chair, Metropolitan Council
Rabbi Michael Adam Latz — senior rabbi, Shir Tikvah
Sarah Harris — managing director, University of Minnesota Foundation Real Estate Advisors
Shay Berkowitz — owner, ReGo Electric
Sheik Abdirahman Sharif — imam, Masjid Dar Al-Hijrah
Shirley Nelson — executive director, Women Candidate Development Coalition
Sondra Samuels — president and CEO, Northside Achievement Zone
The Rev. Michele Morgan — priest associate, St. John’s Episcopal Church
Veronica Mendez — organizer, CTUL (Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha).