Met Council Chair Sue Haigh announces resignation

Susan Haigh, the chair of the Metropolitan Council, will resign her post to concentrate on her position as CEO of the Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity.

In a press release this morning, Haigh said she informed Gov. Mark Dayton of her decision this week. She has agreed to stay in the post until a replacement is named.

“It has been an honor to serve residents of the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul region as Chair of the Metropolitan Council,” said Haigh. “This job has been the capstone of four decades of service in the public sector and I’m proud of tremendous accomplishments of the Council and our dedicated staff. I want to thank Governor Dayton for giving me this opportunity to serve. I also want to thank the many outstanding local elected officials and citizens who’ve been engaged and supportive of the Council’s work and achievements over the last four years.”

Haigh, a former Ramsey County commissioner, had been named chair of the regional planning, transportation, parks and wastewater treatment agency in January, 2011. She is the 13th chair of the council.

During her term, the council opened the Green and Red Line mass transit routes and advanced the Orange Line BRT service and extensions of the Green and Blue lines. The announcement said Haigh will still be in place when the council’s first regional housing plan in 30 years is complete. She also has pushed for the regional transit tax and has been pushing to increase it to provide dedicated funding for transit expansions.

Haigh’s tenure has not been without controversy. The regional housing and transportation plans drew complaints that affordable housing was not being distributed throughout the seven-county region and that the transportation plan favored transit over roads.