John P. James, Chair

Mr. James, of Little Canada, is a tax specialist, lawyer and CPA with Lommen, Nelson, Cole & Stageberg, P.A. He is a former Minnesota State Commissioner of Revenue and has extensive experience in Minnesota tax structure with an emphasis on land use impacts. He is a respected authority on property tax reform and is often called upon for advice in this on-going effort. He is a cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School and received a BBA with the highest distinction from the University of Iowa.

Paul Baltzersen, Secretary

Mr. Baltzersen, of Minneapolis, formerly a policy planner for the Metropolitan Council brings more than 20 years of experience in comprehensive land-use and transportation planning to the board. He also has considerable experience in the design of neighborhoods and communities and serves as treasurer on the board of the Minnesota Design Team.

Tom Casey

Mr. Casey, of Mound, is a land use attorney in private practice, representing individuals and citizen groups in their efforts to effectuate good land use decisions in their communities. He has more than 33 years of experience and serves on numerous regional and local land-use commissions. His work with communities grappling with growth-related decisions keeps the board in touch with current activities throughout the region.

John Crosby

Mr. Crosby is retired from Blake School where he served as a teacher, administrator, and Director of the $50 million Centennial Campaign. During his career he has taught courses in English, history, and urban studies in three high schools, worked on inner-city revitalization projects in several U.S. cities including Boston, Los Angeles, Oakland, and Houston, and served as Vice-President of Institutional Advancement at St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota for 13 years. He also serves on the boards for The Minnesota Trust for Public Land and The Fund for Teachers.

Bill Halverstadt

Mr. Halverstadt, of Corcoran, has 30 years of experience in investment related activities including national responsibilities for a portion of the operations of the Prudential Insurance Company of America and Investors Diversified Services. As a compliment to his corporate experience, he also operates several small business ventures including moderate-sized income properties. He has served on several boards including chairman of the board of a large mental health clinic. Music has always been his avocation. He and his wife Donna operate a farm in Corcoran and are philanthropic supporters of many organizations around the world.
 

Amy Ihlan

Ms. Ihlan is an attorney with Briol and Associates. She has been a member of the Roseville City Council since 2004. She is a graduate of Macalester College and Harvard Law School, and has a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Minnesota. She recently taught environmental ethics as a visiting professor in the Philosophy Department at Macalester College. Ms. Ihlan began her legal career at Dorsey & Whitney.

George Orning

Mr. Orning, of Brainerd, is a well known and respected land use planner with Widseth, Smith and Nolting. He also has a faculty appointment at the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs at the University of Minnesota where he is forming a sustainable development lake planning process for the state.

Gretchen Piper

Ms. Piper, of Wayzata, worked as a strategic planning manager for Medtronic, Incorporated before taking time off to raise her children. She previously worked with The Nature Conservancy in North Idaho where she helped to establish their office there. She has a degree in Political Science and German from Williams College in Massachusetts and an MBA in Finance and Marketing from the Carlson School of Management.