Margaret Anderson Kelliher left a prestige job as transportation commissioner in Gov. Tim Walz’s cabinet to be on the front lines of the restructuring of Minneapolis governance in 2022, when Mayor Jacob Frey asked her to become his director of public works. It’s the largest department in the city, with more than 1,000 staff members dealing with transportation, water, trash, and recycling. The job entails “solving infinite problems,” she says. She has found the rhetorically harsh City Hall environment "collaborative and collegial" relative to her days at the state Capitol. Her 2023 plans include managing large federal transportation grants that will send millions of dollars into the city. And yes, in case you were wondering, she does make the snow emergency calls.

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