Newly appointed Governor Mark Dayton recently named Susan Haigh, president and CEO of Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, as the new chair of the Metropolitan Council.

Haigh will be the council's 13th chair, succeeding Peter Bell, who held the position since 2003. She will assist Dayton, who was sworn in on Monday, to select other members of the council.

Haigh was a Ramsey County commissioner for 10 years, chief deputy to the county attorney for 12 years, and has experience working on the staffs of both the Met Council and the Minnesota Senate.

“I am honored to be selected to chair the Metropolitan Council,” Haigh said in a statement. “I'm eager to work with Governor Dayton, council members, the Legislature, local governments, community organizations, and the business community to ensure that our regional public infrastructure investments are smart, strategic, and enhance the economic competitiveness of the Twin Cities region and create jobs.”

Haigh will continue her duties with Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit dedicated to building affordable housing for low-income people, and keep her position, which she has held since 2005. She also serves on the Minnesota Housing Partnership board, the Minnesota housing commissioner's resource advisory committee, Habitat for Humanity U.S. Council's finance committee, the Park Bank board, and the Macalester College board of trustees.

“Susan Haigh will be an outstanding chair of the Metropolitan Council,” Dayton said in a statement last week. “She will be closely involved with me in the selection of a council, which will represent the diversity of our region and honor its tradition of enlightened nonpartisan leadership.”

The Metropolitan Council is a state-funded regional planning agency that serves the Twin Cities' seven-county metropolitan area. The council's mission is to work with local communities to develop a comprehensive regional planning framework that focuses on transportation, wastewater, housing, parks, and aviation systems, and guides local growth.