Metropolitan Council & Light Rail Update
Nov 13, 2018
Steve Elkins
Metropolitan Council & Light Rail Update

Steve Elkins, Metropolitan Council Member, District 5

Steve Elkins was appointed to the Metropolitan Council in March 2011 by Gov. Mark Dayton and reappointed in 2015.  He lives in Bloomington, and represents District 5, which includes the Hennepin County cities of Bloomington, Edina, Hopkins, and Richfield, and the unorganized territory of Fort Snelling.

Prior to his appointment to the Metropolitan Council, Elkins served on the Bloomington City Council for nine years, and the Bloomington Housing & Redevelopment Authority for five years. He has been active on committees with Metro Cities, the League of Minnesota Cities and the National League of Cities (NLC). He was chair of the NLC Transportation Committee in 2010. Elkins has served as a member of the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s Complete Streets Advisory Committee and the Mileage-based User Fee Task Force. He has served on both the I-35W Solutions Alliance and the I-494 Corridor Commission, including a year as chair of the I-494 group (2010).

Elkins has also served on three Metropolitan Council advisory and policy groups. He was a member of the Land Use Advisory Committee (2003-2011); the large cities representative on the MetroGIS Policy Board (2008-2011) and the Transportation Advisory Board (1996-2001).

On the Metropolitan Council, Elkins serves on the Transportation, Community Development, and Litigation Review Committees.

“I look forward to fostering an effective collaboration between the Council and local governments to pursue strategies that improve the region’s economic competitiveness and quality of life,” Elkins said.

“One of mytop priorities is working with local governments to effectively coordinate regional transportation plans with local land-use plans to maximize the access of regional employers to the widest array of workers.”

Elkins is a Senior Enterprise Data Architect with Optum Health. He is a member of the Bloomington Chamber of Commerce and represented the City of Bloomington on the board of directors from 2004-2011.

Elkins has a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California, Berkeley. He lives in Bloomington with his wife, Judy. He has two grown daughters: Michelle, an art historian, and Danielle, a transportation engineer.