Editorial: Tinglestad retirement is a loss for Minnesota

Last update: March 25, 2008 - 7:25 PM

When Republican state Rep. Kathy Tingelstad of Andover voted on Feb. 25 to override the governor's veto and increase transportation funding, she knew that she was putting her political career at risk. No one who knows her at the Capitol was surprised that she did it anyway. Tingelstad is known and admired as someone who regularly puts principle over politics.

That's rare at the Legislature -- and that's why Tingelstad's decision to retire at the end of this term is lamentable. She likely would have had to wage a primary election fight, or run as an independent, to hang onto the seat she'd held for 12 years. Ending her public service seemed a more appealing option, she said.

The loss for her constituents -- and for the state -- is considerable. Tingelstad has often parlayed bipartisan respect into effective lawmaking. The Northstar commuter-rail line might not have won state funding without her dogged efforts on its behalf. Those in her party who sought her ouster have done the state a disservice.

Fitting tribute

For several decades, one name -- Charles Krusell -- was associated again and again with the most ambitious and successful efforts to improve Minneapolis housing and the urban environment.

That good name is now associated with a new fellowship for graduate students studying urban and regional planning and public policy at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute. It's a fitting tribute to the founder of the Greater Metropolitan Housing Corporation and the executive director of the Minneapolis Housing and Redevelopment Authority and the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce.

Krusell died in 2006; his family and friends collaborated with the Humphrey Institute and the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs to endow the fellowship that bears his name.

State's grade slips

On a report card that this state's stewards ought to take seriously, Minnesota's grade has slipped. The Pew Center on the States and Governing Magazine collaborate periodically to do an extensive assessment of state government performance, based on 20 criteria in four categories -- management of money, people, infrastructure and information systems.

The 2008 grade: B-minus, down from B-plus in 2005.

Three years ago, Minnesota scored higher than any other state in the region, save for Michigan, with which it tied. This year's B-minus is topped by Iowa, Nebraska and Indiana, as well as Michigan.

The Legislature has already acted this session to address the glaring weakness the Pew report identified in Minnesota -- infrastructure maintenance. But it also gave the state mediocre marks in managing its workforce and collecting and using the information needed for smart governing. (Hint to legislators: Getting rid of the State Planning Agency in 2003 may have been a mistake.) For more details, see www.startribune.com/a4186.

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