Civic Caucus Core Group
- Biographical Statements -

Lee Canning--  In 1957 Lee worked with the predecessor of the Sun Newspapers chain as a community editor and sports editor for five newspapers.  A year later he was hired as a copy editor on the Minneapolis Star.  Subsequently he was assistant city editor, city editor, managing editor, and executive editor of the  Star.    His last 10 years at the Star (1974 to 1984) were spent on the business side, finishing as Senior Vice President and Business Manager.

While on the business side he received an MBA from the University of Minnesota with points of emphasis in marketing and finance.   After leaving the Star/Tribune in 1984, he was publisher of the Sun newspaper chain for ten years.  He served on a number of committees of the Associated Press Managing Editors Association and was president of Suburban Newspapers of America.
 

Charles Clay--  Charles Clay is an original member of the Civic Caucus Core Group.  An attorney, Clay received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Minnesota and a law degree from the University of  Minnesota Law School.  After serving as a law clerk for Justice Knutson of the Minnesota Supreme Court, Clay began his legal career at the Soo Line Railroad, becoming Executive Vice President—Assistant to the President before leaving in 1984 to practice with the Minneapolis law firm of Head, Seifert & Vander Weide.

In 1987, Clay, with two partners, founded a short line railroad, the Red River Valley & Western, serving Minnesota and North Dakota.  This was followed by three more short lines and a railroad equipment company.  Clay continues to serve on the Boards of Directors of the companies he co-founded.

Clay served many years on the Board of Directors of the Citizens League, and was its President in 1965-66.  Clay chaired the League’s Metropolitan Affairs Committee, which lead to the establishment of the Metropolitan Council, and its Metropolitan Sewage Committee, which lead to the establishment of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Sewer District.  He also served on many other Citizens League committees.  Clay served on the Board of Directors of Deaconess Hospital, and on the Edina School Board, where his three children attended school.  He has been involved in many other local civic activities.  Clay lives in Edina with his wife, Audrey.


Bill Frenzel--  Bill Frenzel has been a Guest Scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, since 1991 when he retired from the US House of Representatives after serving his Minnesota constituency for 20 years.

Frenzel was the Ranking Minority Member on the House Budget Committee and was the principal Republican economic spokesman in the House.  In 1993, he was appointed Special Advisor to President Clinton for NAFTA. In 2001, President Bush appointed him to the Social Security Commission. In 2002, President Bush appointed him to the Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN), which he currently chairs. In 2005, Pres. Bush appointed him the President’s Advisory Panel on Tax Reform

Frenzel received his BA and MBA from Dartmouth College and served as a Naval Officer during the Korean War. He was President of the Minneapolis Terminal Warehouse Co., and other affiliated corporations, a member of the Executive Board of the American Warehousemen's Association, and served 8 years in the Minnesota Legislature.


Paul Gilje, coordinator--  As coordinator for the Civic Caucus, Paul arranges Civic Caucus meetings, prepares summaries of meetings, prepares  Civic Caucus reports, and maintains the Civic Caucus email list.  He served as executive director of the Presbyterian Homes Foundation from 2000 to 2005. From 1993 to 2000 he was a church fund-raiser.   From 1988 to 1993 he was director of stewardship and administrator for Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Burnsville, MN. 

He served as research director and later associate director of the Citizens League from 1964 to 1988.   He was a staff writer for the Minneapolis Star from 1960 to 1964.    He has bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.   
 

James L. Hetland, Jr--  Jim is a native of Minneapolis, a graduate of the University of Minnesota.  He has a  law degree from the University.  He as been in private practice of law, a professor of law at the University of Minnesota Law School, an adjunct professor at the William Mitchell School of Law, and on the faculty of the University’s Hum phrey Institute and Business School.    For many years he was senior vice president, general counsel, and counsel to the board of First Bank System, where he created the social audit to reflect the bank's annual responses to 10 most critical urban problems.  He also was senior vice president for urban development for First Bank System.

Jim was the first chair of the Metropolitan Council, from 1967 to 1971.  He served as president and board member of the Citizens League.   He served as chair of the Minnesota Zoological Garden, the Minneapolis Charter Commission, the Council on Crime and Justice, the Minneapolis Downtown Council, Interstudy, Telecommuters, Inc.,  National Municipal League, and Urban Tennis.   He also served as chair of the Minnesota Supreme Court Rules of Civil Procedure.   He has served on the board of directors of several other organizations. 
 

Verne C. Johnson, chair--  Verne has served as chair of the Civic Caucus since its beginning. Verne is president of the VCJ Foundation, whose primary focus is education for those being left behind. From 1983 until 1997 he was President and CEO of Altcare, a social responsibility venture established by General Mills and the Wilder Foundation. Verne served General Mills as Vice President of Corporate Planning for 14 years and as vice president of Public Responsibility Planning and Venture Development for a year before his early retirement in 1983.
 
Verne served from 1957 to 1967 as Executive Director of the Citizens League, and later as its Chair and as a member of its Board of Directors. He was for 30 years a member of the Fairview Board of Directors. He was a member of the Minnesota House of Representative in his 20s and served for three years as Administrative Assistant to Congressman Walter Judd of Minnesota. Verne graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1950.
 

John Mooty--  John Mooty has practiced law with Gray Plant Mooty since 1944. He has been a partner since 1954 and served as a managing officer of the firm for more than 20 years. He is best known for rebuilding franchise corporations such as International Dairy Queen and National Car Rental.   He serves on the boards of several corporations.  In addition, he is the general partner in the development of Rio Verde, Tonto Verde and Vista Verde, golfing retirement communities near Scottsdale, AZ.
  
  John has had substantial community involvement in political and community organizations, including serving as past president of the University of Minnesota Alumni Association, Minneapolis Rotary Club, Citizens League, and St. John’s Lutheran Church. He was Chairman of the Governor's Task Force on Education and a representative on the Uniform Laws Commission.
  
  He has been repeatedly named as a “Minnesota Super Lawyer” and is currently noted as the oldest “Super Lawyer.” In 2003, he was named to the Minnesota Business Hall of Fame.   John earned his law degree (LL.B.) from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1944 and his bachelor’s degree (BSL) from the University of Minnesota in 1943.
 

Jim Olson-- Jim was an original member of the Civic Caucus during the 1950s in Minneapolis while he served on the faculty of the University of Minnesota. He then moved to Illinois and served on the faculty of the University of Illinois (1958-1965) and of Millikin University in Decatur (1965-1987). He taught course in Economics and Statistics
   prior to his retirement as an Emeritus Professor of Economics and Business Administration in 1987. Jim also is a retired Major in the Air Force Reserve.
  
  Jim has retained an interest in election statistics and redistricting matters in Minnesota (and elsewhere) and is sometimes referred to as "the election expert", a title that is warranted because he is "over 50 miles from Minnesota" Jim receive his BBA, MA, and PhD degrees from the University of Minnesota.
 

Wayne Popham--  A lawyer in private practice, Wayne received  his BSL degree in 1951 from the University of Minnesota and  LLB degree in 1953 from the University of Minnesota Law School.   He was a a founding partner of Popham, Haik, Schnobrich & Kaufman, Ltd., an international law firm.   He has served as member and chair of commissions to nominate persons for appointment as United States District Judge for Minnesota. 

Wayne served 12 years in the Minnesota Senate.  He was selected as one of two outstanding Minnesota legislators by Eagleton Institute at Rutgers University.  He is a former chair of the Metropolitan Airports Commission, a former member of the State Advisory Council on Metropolitan Governance and the Commission on Minnesota's Future.

He is a former President and former member of the Board of Directors of the Citizens League.   He also has served as a board member of the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, the board of regents at Augsburg College, and a trustee of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
 

John Rollwagen-- Since 1993, John Rollwagen has been an investor and business advisor specializing in information technology.  John serves on several public and private company boards, including PartnerRe Ltd, a global, Bermuda based reinsurance company, where he serves as Chairman.  John recently became the Chairman of SiCortex, Inc., a new high performance computer company in Maynard, MA.

Among John's community activities is his long time service on the board of Minnesota Public Radio, where  he is currently an active member of the organization’s Planning Committee.   He is a former president of the Citizens League. 

Until January 1993, John was chairman and chief executive officer of Cray Research, Inc.  He served first as president beginning in 1977 and then as chairman starting in 1981.  John earned a master’s degree in business administration from the Harvard Business School and a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1992, he was the recipient of an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from Hamline University.