Council members & districts

Charlie Zelle

Metropolitan Council Chair

Charles A. Zelle is chairman of Jefferson Lines, an intercity bus company with scheduled passenger routes in 14 heartland states from Minnesota to Louisiana. He held the position of president and CEO for more than 20 years until 2012, when he was appointed commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Transportation. In that capacity, he oversaw a multimodal state transportation agency with an annual budget of more than $4 billion.

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Contact

390 Robert St. N.
Saint Paul, MN 55101
651.602.1453
Charles.Zelle@metc.state.mn.us

Judy Johnson

Metropolitan Council Member, District 1

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Johnson is a former mayor and council member of the City of Plymouth. She has been a board member and president of the League of Minnesota Cities and is a former board member of Metro Cities and the Municipal Legislative Commission, and a former member of the Regional Council of Mayors. She is the Director of Business District Services for the 50th & France Business District at the Musicant Group, an interdisciplinary placemaking and public space management firm that creates places where people want to be.

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Contact

390 Robert St. N.
Saint Paul, MN 55101
612-384-4636 or 651-602-1395
judy.johnson@metc.state.mn.us

Reva Chamblis

Metropolitan Council Member, District 2

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Chamblis has wide-ranging experience in planning, organizing, and implementing community engagement projects and organizations. She was a human rights commissioner for the City of Brooklyn Park from 2013 to 2016. She served as consultant for engaging underrepresented residents in Brooklyn Park and other northeast Hennepin County cities in planning for the METRO Blue Line extension project, and is founder and president of Northwest Community Building.

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Contact

390 Robert St. N.
Saint Paul, MN 55101
612-403-4951
reva.chamblis@metc.state.mn.us

Christopher Ferguson

Metropolitan Council Member, District 3

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Ferguson is the Vice President of Business Development and Delivery for The Summit Group and President and CEO for Bywater Business Solutions. From 2010 to 2014, Ferguson served as Chair of the Central Corridor Business Resources Collaborative. Ferguson has also served on the Midway Chamber of Commerce, Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, Minneapolis Workforce Council, and the Corridors of Opportunity Policy Board.

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Contact

390 Robert St. N.
Saint Paul, MN 55101
651-602-1395
christopher.ferguson@metc.state.mn.us

Deb Barber

Metropolitan Council Member, District 4

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Deb Barber was appointed to the Metropolitan Council in 2015 by Gov. Mark Dayton and reappointed in 2019 by Gov. Tim Walz. She is co-founder and Senior Partner of Canopy Medical LLC. Barber served multiple terms as the chair of the Scott County Human Services Resource Council. She also served as vice chair of the Shakopee Economic Development Advisory Committee, as well as a member of other community advisory boards.

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Contact

390 Robert St. N.
Saint Paul, MN 55101
612-819-0848
deb.barber@metc.state.mn.us

Molly Cummings

Metropolitan Council Member, District 5

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Cummings has an extensive background in local government and regional issues. From 2016 to 2019, she served as Mayor of Hopkins, following four years on the Hopkins City Council. In that time, Cummings served as the Co-Chair of the Regional Council of Mayors and as a member of the Greater MSP Regional Competitiveness Working Group. Cummings has also served on the National League of Cities (NLC) Human Development Committee and Corridor Management Committee, and was one of five mayors selected from across the country to participate in a program on equity and inclusivity through the National League of Cities University.

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Contact

390 Robert St. N.
Saint Paul, MN 55101
612-403-4961
molly.cummings@metc.state.mn.us

Vacant

Metropolitan Council Member, District 6

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Contact

390 Robert St. N.
Saint Paul, MN 55101
651-602-1395
district6@metc.state.mn.us

Robert Lilligren

Metropolitan Council Member, District 7

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Lilligren is an executive at the Native American Community Development Institute, and previously served as CEO of the Little Earth United Tribes. He served on the Minneapolis City Council from 2001 to 2014, including as Council Vice President for 12 of those years, and as a leader on several city commissions and collaborative groups. He also served on the Metropolitan Council’s Transportation Advisory Board for 12 years while a local elected official.

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Contact

390 Robert St. N.
Saint Paul, MN 55101
651-602-1395
robert.lilligren@metc.state.mn.us

Abdirahman Muse

Metropolitan Council Member, District 8

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Muse is executive director of Awood Center in Minneapolis, a community organization focused on advocating for and educating Minnesota’s growing East African communities about their labor rights. He previously served Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges as a senior policy aide on housing, neighborhoods, and as a liaison to the Somali community. He has been an organizer for Service Employees International Union, focused on improving employment conditions for workers in the home care and health care facility field.

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Contact

390 Robert St. N.
Saint Paul, MN 55101
612-590-8579
abdirahman.muse@metc.state.mn.us

Raymond Zeran

Metropolitan Council Member, District 9

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Zeran is political director of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 292, in Minneapolis. He chairs the Committee on Political Education of the Minneapolis Building and Construction Trades Council and is a member of the Anoka County Workforce Development Board.

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Contact

390 Robert St. N.
Saint Paul, MN 55101
651-602-1727
raymond.zeran@metc.state.mn.us

Peter Lindstrom

Metropolitan Council Member, District 10

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Lindstrom served as mayor in Falcon Heights for 11 years and was a city council member for 8 years before that. He is a manager with Clean Energy Resource Teams at the University of Minnesota and works with cities to join and deepen their involvement in Minnesota GreenStep Cities. Lindstrom has served on the boards of the Roseville Area Schools Foundation, Family Housing Fund, Falcon Heights-Lauderdale Lions Club, and Northeast Youth and Family Services.

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Contact

390 Robert St. N.
Saint Paul, MN 55101
651-602-1727
peter.lindstrom@metc.state.mn.us

Susan Vento

Metropolitan Council Member, District 11

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Vento is a former school teacher who served as a field representative and program organizer with the Minnesota Education Association and Education Minnesota for nearly 30 years. She was a board member of Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, the National Park Trust, the Friends of the Saint Paul Library, the Ramsey County Historical Society, and Neighborhood House. She serves on the board of directors for Friends of the Mississippi River.

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Contact

390 Robert St. N.
Saint Paul, MN 55101
612-360-3602
susan.vento@metc.state.mn.us

Francisco J. Gonzalez

Metropolitan Council Member, District 12

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Gonzalez has nearly three decades of experience working for nonprofits, government, and education. He is the Director of the Office of Equality and Civil Rights for the Minneapolis Public Schools and previously the Executive Director of the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity for Wichita State University, and a Dispute Resolution Specialist with the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Former Gov. Mark Dayton appointed Gonzalez to the board of the Minnesota Council on Latino Affairs in May 2011. He has also served on the City of Cottage Grove Human Rights Commission, the board of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Minnesota, the Region 9 Development Commission, and many other boards.

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Contact

390 Robert St. N.
Saint Paul, MN 55101
651-602-1727
francisco.gonzalez@metc.state.mn.us

Chai Lee

Metropolitan Council Member, District 13

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Lee is a Program Coordinator for Nexus Community Partners. He helps recruit, interview and select people for the Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI). Previously, he was a constituent service representative in the office of Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman. Lee serves on the District 1 Community Council in Saint Paul and the Gold Line BRT Community and Business Advisory Committee. He has also served on Saint Paul’s Long-Range Capital Investment Budget Committee (the CIB).

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Contact

390 Robert St. N.
Saint Paul, MN 55101
612-271-2719
chai.lee@metc.state.mn.us

Kris Fredson

Metropolitan Council Member, District 14

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Fredson is the Campaigns and Member Communications Director for the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA), Minnesota and North Dakota. Previously he served as Political Director and Campaigns Manager for the Minnesota AFL-CIO and as Deputy Chief of Staff for Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman for four years. Fredson served on the City of Saint Paul’s planning commission and its zoning and comprehensive planning committees. He also serves on the board of directors of the North Star Policy Institute.

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Contact

390 Robert St. N.
Saint Paul, MN 55101
651-235-4459
kris.fredson@metc.state.mn.us

Phillip Sterner

Metropolitan Council Member, District 15

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Sterner has been the owner and president of Sterner Insurance in Apple Valley since 1983. He served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2009 to 2011, where he was vice chair of the Local Government division. He served on the Rosemount City Council from 2005 through 2008, and before that, on the Rosemount Park and Recreation Commission for six years.

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Contact

390 Robert St. N.
Saint Paul, MN 55101
612-930-6768
phillip.sterner@metc.state.mn.us

Wendy Wulff

Metropolitan Council Member, District 16

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Wendy Wulff has served on the Metropolitan Council since 2009. Her passion for public service dates back to her enlistment with the U.S. Army Reserve, serving later on the Lakeville City Council, Lakeville Planning Commission and on the board of the League of Minnesota Cities.

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Contact

390 Robert St. N.
Saint Paul, MN 55101
952-484-3353
wendy.wulff@metc.state.mn.us