Edina residents clearly like Mayor Jim Hovland’s leadership. He was reelected to his fourth term as Edina mayor in November 2016 with 97 percent of the vote. He had no opponent. There has been a fair amount of new development in Edina during Hovland’s tenure, and there’s more to come: a hotel is under construction and a major makeover of the 50th and France retail area is in the works. Hovland has been a key player encouraging new investment in the first-ring suburb and advocates for its NIMBY-inclined officials to aspire to a higher vision. He’s also working on larger, regional issues; in 2015 the Met Council tapped Hovland to chair its Transportation Advisory Board.