by Dennis Dalman
Former Sartell City Administrator Patti Gartland will become an interim chairperson of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Airport Commission, starting on Nov. 21.
She will fill the seat vacated by Rick King, who decided to retire from the commission. The MAC oversees the operation of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport as well as six other aviation airports in the Twin Cities area.
Gartland served as Sartell’s city administrator for 12 years, from 2002 until mid-2013. During that time, Sartell’s population increased by 65 percent while economic development increased to almost a half billion dollars. Gartland facilitated many agreements between developers and public entities for many projects. Among them were a 100-acre commercial complex and the city’s medical-arts campus. After the Verso paper mill’s explosion and fire in May 2012, Gartland helped lead the response to the catastrophe and then began coordinative efforts to find repurposed uses for that paper-mill site.
After her tenure in Sartell, Gartland was selected to become president of the Greater St. Cloud Development Corp. and has also served as St. Cloud’s planning director.
A lifelong St. Cloud resident and graduate of St. Cloud State University, Gartland has dedicated her professional life to three decades of deeply committed public service.
In 2014, Gov. Mark Dayton appointed her to the Minnesota Airport Commission of which she will soon be its chairperson. Dayton re-appointed her in 2018 and in 2022 she was re-appointed by Gov. Tim Walz. She served as one of the four members representing outstate Minnesota on the MAC. More recently she served as the MAC’s co-chair.
Among her former public-service contributions are serving on the boards of the Minnesota Land Trust and the Coalition of Minnesota Cities, chair of the St. Cloud Wastewater Advisory Commission and board member and chair for United Way of Central Minnesota.
Patti Gartland
