Nora Bayly Slawik (born November 23, 1962) is a

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

politician, previously serving as Chairwoman of the

Metropolitan Council The Metropolitan Council, commonly abbreviated Met Council or Metro Council, is the regional governmental agency and metropolitan planning organization in Minnesota serving the Twin Cities seven-county metropolitan area, accounting for over 55 pe ...

, Maplewood Mayor and Minnesota State Representative. From 1997 to 1998 and 2001–2012, she represented District 57A, and from 2003 to 2012, she represented District 55B, which includes portions of

Ramsey Ramsey may refer to: Geography British Isles * Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, a small market town in England * Ramsey, Essex, a village near Harwich, England ** Ramsey and Parkeston, a civil parish formerly called just "Ramsey" * Ramsey, Isle of Man, t ...

and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

counties and the cities of Maplewood and Oakdale in the eastern part of the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in statu ...

metropolitan area. As Mayor of Maplewood, first elected in 2013 and re-elected in 2018, she oversaw economic redevelopment, increased public safety, and expansion of Maplewood's public outdoor spaces. In 2018, she was appointed by Governor

Tim Walz Timothy James Walz ( ; born April 6, 1964) is an American politician and retired educator. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), he has served as the 41st governor of Minnesota since 2019. Born in West Point, Nebraska, Walz ...

to serve as head of the

, where she worked until stepping down in November 2019. She also has a history of community service before her time in office, including her development o
Juniper
as their Project Manager for the Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging from 2016 to 2017.

Legislative service

Slawik was first elected in 1996 and served one term. She ran again in 2000, was elected for six more consecutive terms as a Democrat. Prior to the 2002 legislative

redistricting Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral dist ...

, she represented the old District 57A. She served on a variety of committees including as Chair of the Early Learning Finance Division for two terms, Health Care and Human Services Finance Division. State Government Finance Division and Ways and Means. She served as an assistant minority leader during the 2003-2004 biennium. In 2012, she announced that she was stepping down.

Maplewood Mayor

In 2013, Slawik announced that she would seek election as Mayor of Maplewood and won the DFL endorsement. In the primary, she received 60% of the vote, and faced former Mayor Diana Longrie in the November election. Slawik won the Mayor election in November with 67 percent of the vote. She serves as the Chair of the Rush Line Policy Advisory Committee; alternate on the Gateway Corridor Commission, and as Fourth Vice President of the Minnesota Mayors Association. In 2018, Slawik was successfully re-elected to a second term for Mayor of Maplewood. She faced opponent Margaret Behrens and won with 63% of the vote. Following her appointment to chair the Metropolitan Council, City Councilwoman Marylee Abrams was appointed to fill the soon-to-be-vacant Mayor seat.

Metropolitan Council

In December 2018, Governor

announced that he would appoint Nora Slawik as Chairwoman of the

to join his incoming cabinet. Nora was officially sworn in as chair on January 9, 2019. As chair of the council and Cabinet member she oversaw policymaking, planning, and services in the areas of water, transportation, parks, and housing for the Twin Cities metropolitan region. The council's work is performed by three primary organizational divisions: community development, environmental services, and the transportation division that includes Metro Transit and the Metropolitan Transportation Services. On October 31, 2019 she submitted her letter of resignation to Governor Walz citing health issues, stepping down on November 15.

Education

Slawik graduated from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, earning her M.P.A. from the Humphrey School, where she has since served as adjunct professor and mentor. and attended

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

, where she received her

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in Recreation Administration. Slawik currently works at the Century College Foundation as Executive Director in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. She oversees development, alumni, private foundation grants and raising scholarship funds for the state funded college in partnership with college leadership and the board of directors. Slawik continues to be active in the community as a member of the White Bear Lake Rotary, a member of the Stillwater Area Community Foundation and in various nonprofit organizations.

References

External links

Project Votesmart - Rep. Nora Slawik Profile

Nora Slawik Campaign Web Site

City of Maplewood website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slawik, Nora 1962 births Living people Arizona State University alumni Humphrey School of Public Affairs alumni People from Maplewood, Minnesota Politicians from Tucson, Arizona Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Women mayors of places in Minnesota Women state legislators in Minnesota 21st-century American legislators 21st-century American women politicians