Jacobs, Lawrence R2021-01-092021-01-092012-04-12https://hdl.handle.net/11299/217699The Center for the Study of Politics and Governance is hosting a series of public talks by prominent government leaders as part of our ongoing commitment to fostering informed and substantive discussion on important matters of public policy. The series kicks off on January 17 and will continue throughout the Spring semester. Connecting with Government will allow Minnesota's elected officials the opportunity to rise above the talking points and fractious back-and-forth of the legislative process to make substantive statements about issues of importance for Minnesotans. It also creates a forum for students and citizens to listen and raise questions with their elected officials. R.T. Rybak was first elected Mayor of Minneapolis in 2001 in his first run for public office and was overwhelmingly re-elected in 2005 to serve another term for the people of Minneapolis. Mayor Rybak took office facing a post-9/11 budget crisis and deep state and federal budget cuts. He responded by implementing innovative fiscal reforms that saved taxpayers millions by reducing $80 million of inherited debt, reigning in government spending and producing six balanced budgets in four years. Rybak's other accomplishments include recruiting Allina and the Global Market to the Midtown Exchange, closing the City's employment gap, creating 2,500 new housing units in three years with the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, growing the police department by 100 officers in the last two years and launching the innovative Minneapolis 311 phone system. Mayor Rybak is now leading efforts to revitalize north Minneapolis, attack juvenile crime, make Minneapolis a wireless city, end homelessness in ten years, and significantly reduce the City's energy consumption to combat global climate change. Mayor Rybak is a lifelong Minneapolis resident and the son of a pharmacist in the Phillips neighborhood. Rybak currently lives in the East Harriet neighborhood of Minneapolis with his wife, Megan, and their two children Grace and Charlie.enPresentation