| Edina Mayor Jim Hovland has been named to the Growth & Justice Board of Advisers. Hovland brings vast experience in both local government and regional transportation issues to the organization.
First appointed to serve on the Edina City Council in 1997, Hovland was elected to the Council in 1998, as mayor in 2004 and re-elected this November to another four-year term.
In addition to serving his city, Hovland is very involved in regional and state matters. Holvand: co-chairs the Regional Council of Mayors; has served on the I-494 Corridor Commission since 1998 (including four years as chair); is a member of the Transportation Advisory Board (TAB) to the Met Council and has served as co-chair of the programming committee since 2002; is part of the Center for Transportation Studies at the University of Minnesota and is on the executive committee; is a member of the GEARS Board of Counties Transit Improvement Board; and serves on the Highway 169 Coalition Steering Committee.
Since 1996, Hovland has been involved with the Edina Community Foundation, and serves as its chair, and is a board member of the Family Housing Fund. An active member of the Edina Morningside Rotary Club, Hovland has twice participated in medical mission trips to Central and South America.
Hovland has received awards for his work, including the Minnesota Transportation Alliance Public Advocate of the Year Award for 2007 for his efforts to improve the transportation infrastructure system of the State of Minnesota and the Edina Chamber of Commerce’s Business Person of the Year in 2004.
Hovland resides in Edina with is wife, LaRae, a secondary school educator. Hovland has two daughters, Angela Freeman of Edina, Minnesota and Erika Batcheller of Sioux Falls, South Dakota and 5 grandchildren.
Hovland’s experience will be very valuable to Growth & Justice as it moves forward with Smart InvestmentsSM in Transportation for Minnesota. The second of Growth & Justice’s Smart Investments series, this project will identify smart, public-sector investments that advance growth and prosperity. The project will assess the potential of different public policy paths for addressing a range of important transportation challenges, including the transport of goods and workers, transportation delays and congestion, the need for transportation choices and transit options, the conditions of the existing transportation infrastructure, a growing demand for travel, access for low-income people and others with limited means of transportation, and land use patterns that affect transportation, greenhouse gases and the environment.
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