State of the City

A resident of Edina for over 30 years, Jim Hovland is a dedicated public servant, a passionate community volunteer, a successful attorney and a devoted husband, father and grandfather.  Currently in his third term as Mayor of Edina, Jim has focused on improving the quality of life for all residents of Edina, fostering a continuing partnership and strong relationship between the School District and the City of Edina and keeping Edina’s financial health as strong as possible.  Edinans have shown their confidence in his leadership by electing him by a significant margin in all three past elections.

Jim is also an active member of the Edina Morningside Rotary Club and has traveled to Chile and El Salvador, working with medical professionals on cleft palette operations, and Kenya, for humanitarian projects. As a member of Rotary he has received the Distinguished Service Award, the Service above Self Award, the Outstanding Service Award, and the Rookie of the Year award in addition to being a Paul Harris Fellow.

A practicing attorney with Hovland and Rasmus, PLLC, Jim is admitted to the Minnesota Supreme Court, the US District Court of Minnesota, the North Dakota Supreme court, the Federal District Court for the district of North Dakota, the US Court of Appeals, Fourth, Eighth and Ninth Circuit.  He earned his Bachelor’s degree from the University of North Dakota and his law degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder.