A new focus for a Hennepin County commissioner скачать в хорошем качестве

A new focus for a Hennepin County commissioner

The Hennepin County Board will soon have a new leader. Mike Opat of Robbinsdale is stepping down after nine years as chair. Opat says there is still plenty of work to do as a commissioner on the board. The Hennepin County Board represents 1.1 million residents and has an annual budget of $1.7 billion. When someone else takes over the role of chair next year, Opat says it will leave him more time and energy to work on the issues about which he is most passionate. One of those issues includes protecting the county’s most vulnerable residents. "At the state Legislature, we’re at a moment where we’re going to have to look at how we take care of our developmentally disabled constituents, group home policies, and work arrangement policies," said Opat. "There’s really a new day dawning and I think that’s going to take some time and attention." Another major priority for Opat is transportation. He will continue to work on one of the biggest projects for his district, the Bottineau Light Rail Line. "It’s a very important two years for the project," he said. "We need to get through federal approvals, and we need to have the cities plan the station areas and really take advantage of it. We only get one chance to do it." Opat has represented the county’s First District, which includes much of the northwest metro, since 1992. He has served as chair for a total of nine years, first from 2001 to 2003 and again from 2009 until now. The Hennepin County Board will elect a new chair in January. Cassie Bonstrom, reporting http://www.ccxmedia.org   / ccxmedia.org     / ccxsports   Learn about our mobile app - http://bit.ly/CH12app Channel 12 is on Comcast cable in the northwest suburbs of Minneapolis and includes the cities Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Crystal, Golden Valley, Maple Grove, New Hope, Osseo, Plymouth and Robbinsdale.