A conversation with Hennepin County Commissioner Marion Greene on housing, climate, and public safety — and why the county holds more of the answers than you might think
Hennepin County has shown itself to be untrustworthy and ideologically driven. Greene (D3), Conley (D4) and Fernando (D2) reinforce all of the worst tendencies and culture of the County, which is the least scrutinized government entity, despite its massive size.
-Greene voted to give herself a 49% raise to $180,000, more than what the governor makes. After public blowback, the commissioners retracted the proposal, but Greene was absent for that retraction vote, and only showed up afterward.
-Greene's recent antics and bizarre comments about the Sheriff were an embarrassment. I don't think her words were taken out of context at all.
-HCMC is a debacle long in the making. Rather than address obvious issues earlier, even as Greene herself sat on the HCMC board (prior to dissolving that board in 2025), the commissioners cried racism against a well-respected board leader who raised alarm bells, and forced her to resign. The County shows a consistent pattern of using far-left racial frameworks to "inform" decisions and grant funding while its operations collapse, as seen by HCMC.
-The County breathlessly claims to have "ended veteran homelessness" but then also does not actually track how many homeless people it turns away from shelter beds. This, despite the fact that the County is supposedly leading on homeless initiatives and "wraparound services" and other buzzwords and millions of dollars that seemingly have not led to substantive change:
-Hennepin County chose the alignments for the SW Light Rail line and disallowed debate, according to at least two other elected officials. Multiple people speak to the County and MnDOT's lack of transparency and heavy-handedness in urban planning decisions. Greene continues to defend both projects, even as the SW Light Rail has shown itself to be the largest, and most poorly managed public works project in state history: https://www.startribune.com/counterpoint-wrong-route-was-the-root-of-rail-line-woes/600275100
-The County and Greene continue to promote the blue line light rail expansion, which many Northside residents oppose (especially those whose homes will be demolished, along with businesses on the Broadway corridor that will be demolished). That route alignment was due to poor planning by the County and a repeated mistake of trying to negotiate with BNSF Railroad (it should have learned after it failed to negotiate with BNSF over the SW Light Rail)
Hi Mara. You make many valid points. There is a gap in media coverage about Hennepin County. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if most people do not know who their commissioner is. In D4 no one is running against Conley. A competitive race and more coverage might change the accountability expectations of the office. Hennepin County government is sprawling with little public awareness.
Your intro to this interview regarding the need for introverts/listeners over extroverted social media performance types struck a nerve, and thank you for supporting proportional representation in order to break out of the limiting two-party construct (in Mpls., essentially just one party, the DFL). In 2013 introverted me ran against extroverted DFLers Jacob Frey and Diane Hofstede. My long time Green Party colleague Cam Gordon convinced me to run against my better judgement, as an introvert but one with a wealth of community and small business experience.
The extrovert with (much) less background in my city and ward 3 at that time won handily, and alas the rest is His Story. I knew Frey was destined to move from the council, to Mayor, to even higher office. It's an uphill battle for third parties and independents to win elections, and more so if you are introverted, as you point out.
As for the HC Commissioners, I've been very disappointed. The crisis of HCMC where I birthed my daughter, in their amazing midwife unit is devastating. 25 billion for an illegal war on Iran (that's just a start) but no money for health care and now the warmongers are holding back our Medicaid funds. A sad state of affairs. I wrote to my commissioner #2 to ask about my 13% property tax increase this year (I am on a fixed income/SS). I copied her assistant, no one bothered to respond. Again, thank you for your commentary and great interviews.
Thanks for the wide ranging discussion and opportunity to learn more about the commissioner. I agree that our elected leaders, at whatever level we discuss, ought to be able to listen as well as speak, follow as well as lead, and be open minded.
What I don’t hear often enough is how the city, county, or state is going to deal with the ever increasing debt and deficits. I am old enough to remember Bill Clinton state that “the era of big government is over”. Both sides can make similar statements one election after another, and nothing changes. What I see happening is more and more people over time have become dependent on government. And that has to change.
Thank you, Steven. I agree that the government tendency is to kick the debt can down the road. More thought must go into how to reverse the growth of government programs instead of how to pay for their expansion.
Too bad there was no mention of improving the business environment to improve the economy and tax resources to fund all the projects Marion Greene and Hennepin County want to pursue. Payroll processor ADP recently released a report on the metros that are doing the best job of hiring new college grads. Based on hiring, wages, and affordability and with 100 a top score the Twin Cities got a score of just 17. If we aren’t working for recent college grads we are failing ourselves today and into the future. https://www.adpresearch.com/2026-youve-graduated-now-what/
Thank you for this research. You're right, I didn't ask Marion about the business environment. When I think of the county I think of the services they provide, but the taxes they charge and the way they spend will certainly impact jobs. For example, they support a lot of job training programs.
That was really interesting. I've corresponded with Commissioner Greene (if that's the appropriate way to put it) lightly in the past. It was good to hear more about how the county thinks about the light rail expansion and Lyndale reconstruction in particular.
Hennepin County has shown itself to be untrustworthy and ideologically driven. Greene (D3), Conley (D4) and Fernando (D2) reinforce all of the worst tendencies and culture of the County, which is the least scrutinized government entity, despite its massive size.
-Greene voted to give herself a 49% raise to $180,000, more than what the governor makes. After public blowback, the commissioners retracted the proposal, but Greene was absent for that retraction vote, and only showed up afterward.
-Greene's recent antics and bizarre comments about the Sheriff were an embarrassment. I don't think her words were taken out of context at all.
-HCMC is a debacle long in the making. Rather than address obvious issues earlier, even as Greene herself sat on the HCMC board (prior to dissolving that board in 2025), the commissioners cried racism against a well-respected board leader who raised alarm bells, and forced her to resign. The County shows a consistent pattern of using far-left racial frameworks to "inform" decisions and grant funding while its operations collapse, as seen by HCMC.
-The County breathlessly claims to have "ended veteran homelessness" but then also does not actually track how many homeless people it turns away from shelter beds. This, despite the fact that the County is supposedly leading on homeless initiatives and "wraparound services" and other buzzwords and millions of dollars that seemingly have not led to substantive change:
https://mn.gov/mdva/blog/#/detail/appId/1/id/649638
https://www.startribune.com/hennepin-homeless-shelter-bed-capacity-data/601204123
-Hennepin County chose the alignments for the SW Light Rail line and disallowed debate, according to at least two other elected officials. Multiple people speak to the County and MnDOT's lack of transparency and heavy-handedness in urban planning decisions. Greene continues to defend both projects, even as the SW Light Rail has shown itself to be the largest, and most poorly managed public works project in state history: https://www.startribune.com/counterpoint-wrong-route-was-the-root-of-rail-line-woes/600275100
-The County and Greene continue to promote the blue line light rail expansion, which many Northside residents oppose (especially those whose homes will be demolished, along with businesses on the Broadway corridor that will be demolished). That route alignment was due to poor planning by the County and a repeated mistake of trying to negotiate with BNSF Railroad (it should have learned after it failed to negotiate with BNSF over the SW Light Rail)
Hi Mara. You make many valid points. There is a gap in media coverage about Hennepin County. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if most people do not know who their commissioner is. In D4 no one is running against Conley. A competitive race and more coverage might change the accountability expectations of the office. Hennepin County government is sprawling with little public awareness.
Your intro to this interview regarding the need for introverts/listeners over extroverted social media performance types struck a nerve, and thank you for supporting proportional representation in order to break out of the limiting two-party construct (in Mpls., essentially just one party, the DFL). In 2013 introverted me ran against extroverted DFLers Jacob Frey and Diane Hofstede. My long time Green Party colleague Cam Gordon convinced me to run against my better judgement, as an introvert but one with a wealth of community and small business experience.
The extrovert with (much) less background in my city and ward 3 at that time won handily, and alas the rest is His Story. I knew Frey was destined to move from the council, to Mayor, to even higher office. It's an uphill battle for third parties and independents to win elections, and more so if you are introverted, as you point out.
As for the HC Commissioners, I've been very disappointed. The crisis of HCMC where I birthed my daughter, in their amazing midwife unit is devastating. 25 billion for an illegal war on Iran (that's just a start) but no money for health care and now the warmongers are holding back our Medicaid funds. A sad state of affairs. I wrote to my commissioner #2 to ask about my 13% property tax increase this year (I am on a fixed income/SS). I copied her assistant, no one bothered to respond. Again, thank you for your commentary and great interviews.
Introverts of the world unite!!
Thanks for the wide ranging discussion and opportunity to learn more about the commissioner. I agree that our elected leaders, at whatever level we discuss, ought to be able to listen as well as speak, follow as well as lead, and be open minded.
What I don’t hear often enough is how the city, county, or state is going to deal with the ever increasing debt and deficits. I am old enough to remember Bill Clinton state that “the era of big government is over”. Both sides can make similar statements one election after another, and nothing changes. What I see happening is more and more people over time have become dependent on government. And that has to change.
Thank you, Steven. I agree that the government tendency is to kick the debt can down the road. More thought must go into how to reverse the growth of government programs instead of how to pay for their expansion.
Too bad there was no mention of improving the business environment to improve the economy and tax resources to fund all the projects Marion Greene and Hennepin County want to pursue. Payroll processor ADP recently released a report on the metros that are doing the best job of hiring new college grads. Based on hiring, wages, and affordability and with 100 a top score the Twin Cities got a score of just 17. If we aren’t working for recent college grads we are failing ourselves today and into the future. https://www.adpresearch.com/2026-youve-graduated-now-what/
Thank you for this research. You're right, I didn't ask Marion about the business environment. When I think of the county I think of the services they provide, but the taxes they charge and the way they spend will certainly impact jobs. For example, they support a lot of job training programs.
I've only listened to the first half hour so far. I will circle back later and finish it up.
Thanks, I know it is a long one.
That was really interesting. I've corresponded with Commissioner Greene (if that's the appropriate way to put it) lightly in the past. It was good to hear more about how the county thinks about the light rail expansion and Lyndale reconstruction in particular.
Oh also HCMC. Neglected to mention that because there has been some more coverage on it from other sources recently.
https://minneapolistimes.com/whos-running-for-hennepin-county-commissioner-in-2026/
For District 3,
I am really hoping that Bassais gets in and Greene gets retired.
https://minneapolistimes.com/josh-bassais-launches-campaign-for-hennepin-county-commissioner-district-3/
For District 4,
Very much hoping we get a solid candidate to step up so we can send Conley packing.