Dakota County Board of Commissioners elect Slavik Chair, approve legislative priorities

Posted 1/15/25

The Dakota County Board of Commissioners met for the first time of 2025 to swear in its returning members and to elect a new Board Chair and Vice Chair. Commissioner William Droske of District 4, …

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Dakota County Board of Commissioners elect Slavik Chair, approve legislative priorities

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The Dakota County Board of Commissioners met for the first time of 2025 to swear in its returning members and to elect a new Board Chair and Vice Chair. Commissioner William Droske of District 4, Commissioner Mary Hamann-Roland of District 7, and Liz Workman of District 5 were sworn in after winning elections in November.
Next the board elected Commissioner Mike Slavik of District 1 as the new Board Chair with Commissioner Laurie Halverson of District 3 elected Vice Chair. Slavik now holds the titles of President of the Association of Minnesota Counties as well as Chair of the Dakota County Board of Commissioners.
Before stepping down as Chair, Commissioner Atkins spoke to his term at the head of the board producing a tattered piece of paper that he carried to “every groundbreaking, every ribbon cutting, every major speech I’ve had.”
The paper was envisioned to contain ’24 words for 2024,’ that would guide his leadership, but according to Atkins, he only made it to “18 pretty good words.” They included ‘put others first,’ ‘staff, staff, and staff,’ and ‘save lives and improve lives.’ Atkins rounded out the final six words to his list with, “Thank you all very, very much,” before turning the chair over to Commissioner Slavik.
Now-Chair Slavik spoke to the wealth of civic experience of the board, calling it “one of the most experienced county boards in the entire state of Minnesota.” Slavik previously served as Chair in 2017 and 2020, two years he called “transformational,” with the hope that 2025 would follow suit: “who knows what’s next, but I hope that it’s transformative through thoughtful discussion and policy.”
Slavik said the county is working closely with state and federal lawmakers, local governments, businesses and others.
“It is through our partnerships that we will continue to do what we are known for — providing excellent services in a way that benefit both our residents and customers as well as our taxpayers,” Slavik said.
Among many examples Slavik cited of ongoing and new partnerships in 2025:
• Opening the Crisis and Recovery Center in West St. Paul to offer mental health crisis services.
• Continuing public safety collaborations across the county, including to combat the fentanyl crisis.
• Working with treatment providers and others to help youth with mental health issues and criminal behavior.
• Working with Scott County to build the Recycling Zone Plus, a new household hazardous waste and recycling facility in Lakeville.
• Teaming up with cities to design and expand Dakota County Parks’ greenways.
• Bringing Dakota County Library’s On the Go Van services to communities throughout the county.
• Partnering with local governments to offer election training and to replace voting equipment.
• Working with the City of Lakeville and the State of Minnesota to improve the Interstate 35 and County Road 50 interchange in Lakeville.
Slavik is also serving as president of the Association of Minnesota Counties this year. He is advocating for stronger partnerships between counties and local governments across the state.
“Our residents and taxpayers are better off when we’re working together,” Slavik said.

Legislative Platform Approval
The Commissioners then heard from Directors of Government Relations Paul D. Cassidy and Danial Dwight of Stinson LLP on the Legislative Update and Adoption of the 2025 Legislative Platform. Stinson LLP represents Dakota County’s interests in the state legislature.
The uncertainty in St. Paul was the topic of the hour: “The legislature is a mess,” said Cassidy.
Doubt has been cast on whether DFLers will appear on what is supposed to be the first day of the Legislative session Tuesday, January 14 due to Republican control of the House of Representatives after the ruling against would-be-Representative Curtis Johnson.
Johnson won the House race for District 40B in Roseville against Republican Paul Wikstrom by more than 30 points. Less than two weeks after the election, however, Wikstrom filed a challenge in Ramsey County District Court alleging that Johnson was not, in fact a resident of the district he had just won. The judge agreed.
In December, Ramsey County Judge Leonardo Casto ruled that Johnson did not reside in District 40B and thus was ineligible to take the oath of office. Johnson resigned from the office he had not yet taken on December 27, 2024.
With Johnson disqualified from taking office, Republicans control the House of Representatives 67-66 from what would have been an even split between parties. While Governor Tim Walz announced a special election on January 28 for the district which is heavily skewed towards a DFL victory, on the first day of the legislative session, Republicans control the House of Representatives.
With House control comes the election of a Speaker of the House as well as control over committees. In order to prevent Republicans’ control of the chamber, on Sunday, January 12, House Democrats were sworn into office in a private ceremony so that they would not appear at the opening session on January 14. By not appearing at the session, DFLers would deny Republicans the quorum necessary in order to proceed.
While this tactic has already been questioned in its efficacy by Republicans, one thing in this confusion has been made clear: “Nothing is moving fast in St. Paul,” said Commissioner Mary Liz Holberg.
For Dakota County’s lobbying efforts, a stalled legislature doesn’t necessarily pose a problem.
“Right now, I can’t tell you who is going to be chairing committees, can’t tell you what the courts are going to do with some of these races that are upside down, so we are going to have to wait for that, but in the meantime, we will have to get our work done,” said Cassidy.
Dwight discussed the work of Stinson in drafting bills for the county and meeting with legislators about the proposals many of which were carried over from last year.
The vote before the board was an approval of an update to the 2025 legislative platform. According to the presentation from Dakota County Director of Communications & Public Affairs Mary Beth Schubert, changes to the 2025 legislative platform include “Minor additions, corrections and deletions,” as well as the “addition of statements of support for national and statewide organizations (National Association of Counties, Association of Minnesota Counties and Minnesota Inter-County Association) and their affiliates.”
They were changes of which the board was largely wary.
While the board did approve the legislative priorities, they rejected the updates due to lack of discussion before the board and ability to review the changes of the update.
“I came in today thinking I had missed the discussion on it,” said Commissioner Holberg, commenting on how the updates had not come before the board before the vote on approval. Holberg took particular issue with the ties to other organizations positions: “when we have gotten into trouble in the past is when staff have used the latitude in the platform to support a particular position […] that we have never even discussed as a board.”
The board agreed to review the changes at the General Government Policy Committee of the Whole on Tuesday, January 14 but moved forward with the legislative platform in order to set up Stinson lobbyists for success: “Approving all but the addition will put our lobbying team in a better position,” said Holberg.
For more information about Dakota County’s Legislative Platform and to view the full meeting online, visit https://www.co.dakota.mn.us/Government/Board/