The chair of the Metropolitan Council will retire in early September, Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Penny Flanagan announced on Tuesday.
Charlie Zelle has served as chair for the past five years. The Met Council is the regional policy-making body, planning agency, and provider of essential services in the seven-county Twin Cities metro area.
Charlie Zelle, chair of the Metropolitan Council, speaks during a news conference to announce Metro Transit’s increased focus on the health and safety of its transit riders in St. Paul on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
Zelle will retire on September 10. Plans for interim leadership of the council are forthcoming, said a press release from Walz and Flanagan’s office.
“Chair Zelle’s years of public service have made a lasting impact on not only the Met Council but public transportation and infrastructure across Minnesota,” Walz said. “His service has positioned the council and our state for continued success and innovation.”
Zelle, who was appointed chair in 2020, was the driving force behind accomplishments by the council such as approval of Imagine 2050, the Met Council’s deployment guide; funding and scheduling for the Green Line expansion; securing funding for regional park investments and securing the largest investment in transit infrastructure through legislative action, the press release said.
Before he was appointed to the council, Zelle was chair of Jefferson Lines and was president and CEO for more than 20 years. In 2012, he was appointed commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Transportation where he oversaw a multimodal state transportation agency with an annual budget of more than $4 billion.
For his work in transportation policy, he received the George Rucker Award by the Community Transportation Association in 2009 and the Ray L. Lappegaard Distinguished Service Award by Center of Transportation Studies in 2012.
He was born and raised in St. Paul and received a bachelor of arts from Bates College and a master of business administration from the Yale School of Management.
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