St. Paul council president hands over leadership post to Amy Brendmoen

The St. Paul city council will have a new president next month.

Council member Amy Brendmoen will take over council leadership from Russ Stark who is stepping aside after nearly three years as council president.

"I am grateful to Council President Stark for his smart, patient leadership over the last three years," said Brendmoen. "Russ challenged us to reform our city's recycling and garbage programs; guided us with compassion through the tumultuous aftermath of the killing of Philando Castile in Falcon Heights; and ensured Saint Paul's budgets — our economic foundation — remained intact following major changes to our Right of Way assessment policy."

While he has enjoyed his time as city council president, Stark said he is ready for a change.

"It's a great deal of responsibility, I really enjoyed the work, and I also have seen some downsides to being in the role in terms of needing to spend more time being the coordinator, facilitator, referee and a little bit less time being able to focus on the work and projects that are important to me," said Stark.

Describing his replacement as innovative and committed, Stark said Brendmoen will be a good leader as the mayor and council address issues related a fast growing city.

"Managing that growth is a big part of what we're up to right now," said Stark. "Sometimes there's some pushback against some of that growth and I think our city is doing a lot of talking about how to grow, where to grow and what it means to St. Paul."

Stark said he looks forward to spending more time on projects important to him and his constituents.

He has not decided if he will seek re-election to the city council in two years.