Chris LaTondresse, Hennepin County Commissioner, District 6
Introduction by Mary Tambornino. Chris LaTondresse is a Hopkins native, served on the Hopkins School Board, and was elected to Hennepin County Commission in November 2020. He serves the citizens of District 6 which encompasses Minnetonka, Edina, Hopkins, Eden Prairie, Wayzata, Excelsior, and many other communities bordering Lake Minnetonka. He is Chair of the Hennepin County Housing and Redevelopment Authority, Vice-Chair of Hennepin Regional Railroad Authority, and Vice-Chair of Public Safety Committee. His term expires in 2025.
Mr. LaTondresse reminded us that he served on the Hopkins School Board which met in the room next to our Rotary meeting room. Small world.
Hennepin County is the largest local government in the state. There are 7 commissioners. County government is local government. Generally speaking, we are governed by the county, by cities, and by the public-school boards. Henn. Co. has a $2.4 billion budget for 2022.
Overall, trust in government is declining. Per recent polls, only 38% of the population trusts the federal government to solve problems but 68% trust the local government to solve problems.
Due to the pandemic, schools had to make significant changes/decisions in real time to deal with in person v. online schooling and nutrition for kids who depend on the schools for 2 meals.
He cited 7 major domains for disparity reduction: Employment, Transportation, Housing, Education, Income, Health and Justice. Within those domains, he chose 3 areas of focus as a new county commissioner: Housing, Mental Health, and the Small Business Community.
HOUSING: The need for affordable housing continues to worsen. Over 73,000 housing units are needed and only 14,000 are available. He recommends a Marshall Plan for Affordable Housing. If the county can finance a baseball stadium for millions of dollars, we can put together a package to address affordable housing. One idea is SRO (single room occupancy). Can be done for $350 per person.
MENTAL HEALTH: Mental health issues affect 1 in 5 adults and 1 in 6 children. It intersects with all disparity domains. Henn. Co. now has social workers paired with law enforcement receiving 911 calls.
SMALL BUSINESS COMMUNITY: Many small business owners suffered due to the pandemic. Less income. Federal dollars have helped. There is a map on the Henn. Co. website which details which businesses got financial assistance. Henn. Co. has a program to offer technical assistance to small business owners – Elevate Business Hennepin County. We received federal funds via the American Rescue Plan Act to be spent by 2026.
Chris then fielded several questions from the audience.
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