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R.T. Rybak
46th Mayor of Minneapolis
In office 2002 – Present
Preceded by	Sharon Sayles Belton
Succeeded by	Incumbent
Born	November 12, 1955 (1955-11-12) (age 52)
Political party	Democratic-Farmer-Labor

Raymond Thomas Rybak, Jr. (born November 12, 1955), universally known as R.T. Rybak, is the current mayor of the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. In 2001, Rybak defeated Sharon Sayles Belton, the first African-American and first female mayor of the city. Rybak ran a populist campaign, listening to the concerns of residents while he brought his message door-to-door. In the 2001 election, he won 65% of the vote to Belton's 35%—the widest margin in city history for a challenge to an incumbent. He took office in January 2002, and was elected to a second term in November 2005.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Controversy 3 As mayor 4 References 5 External links

Rybak grew up in Minneapolis. He has said that he first became interested in becoming mayor at the age of 13. After graduating from Boston College in 1978, he worked as a journalist; he worked for the Minneapolis Tribune in the 1970s and '80s, then went on to run the Twin Cities Reader, which was sold off and shut down in 1997. He headed Internet Broadcasting Systems for a few years before striking out on his own. That company, which started as an online division of Minneapolis television station WCCO, runs websites for many stations across the United States. Following his job there, he went on to do consulting work as an Internet strategist, and also assisted on some projects with Minnesota Public Radio and Public Radio International.

During this time, Rybak also worked as an activist with a number of different groups. In 1994, he was campaign manager for Tony Bouza, the former Minneapolis chief of police who unsuccessfully sought the DFL nomination for Governor of Minnesota. He has been an active supporter of the GLBT community in the Twin Cities and also supported the presidential campaign of Ralph Nader in 2000. However, Rybak is best known for being an early member of the group ROAR ("Residents Opposed to Airport Racket"), which campaigned to fund noise mitigation projects in neighborhoods around the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. The group staged a memorable "pajama protest," where area residents wore their nighttime clothes at the airport to show that they were losing sleep because of airplane noise.

Rybak has been involved in a number of controversies as mayor. One of the earliest involved the shutdown of a group that oversaw complaints about the Minneapolis Police Department. Although it was considered a model for the nation, Rybak closed it down partly because of funding concerns (he had inherited a situation requiring $5 million to be shaved from the city's budget). After the September 11, 2001 attacks and the U.S. military actions that followed, Rybak opposed sending American forces into Iraq, but pledged to veto any city resolution stating the same since it would be nothing more than a symbolic gesture.

He has drawn attacks for sending his children to a private school, giving the impression to some that he doesn't fully support the Minneapolis Public Schools. Rybak went to the same school, Breck, when he was growing up because his mother had been given a job there during a difficult period, so he has said that sending his own children there is paying back a debt as much as anything else. Rybak, who graduated in 1974, was awarded the "Distinguished Alumnus" award from Breck in 2002.

Rybak's mayorship since taking office in 2001 has dealt mostly with funding services, affordable housing, and balancing the City's budget.^[1] He attends public events in the city on a regular basis. He also is one of probably a very small number of mayors to have ever crowd surfed—he dove from the stage during a "Rock for Democracy" event at the popular Minneapolis club First Avenue in July 2004.^[2][3]

In 2002, Rybak developed the City of Lakes Loppet, a 35 kilometer urban cross country ski race through Theodore Wirth Park and across Cedar Lake, Lake of the Isles and Lake Calhoun which ends on the streets in the Uptown area of Minneapolis. The event attracts nearly 2000 skiers. Rybak, a skier himself, has participated in races. (see Swedish loppet)

Rybak is known to be an outspoken advocate even when the mayor's office has no formal power in metropolitan issues. In April 2004 he led a rally of striking Metro Transit workers at the Hennepin County Government Center plaza. In these situations, he also tends to appeal to the business community to create solutions when local government cannot.^[4]

In his 2005 re-election campaign he consistently led challenger (and fellow DFLer) Peter McLaughlin. He won the election with close to 62% of the votes and performed another crowd surf.^[5][6]

R.T. Rybak was the first mayor in the nation to endorse the presidential campaign of Illinois Senator Barack Obama. Mayor Rybak consistently campaigns on Obama's behalf, being particularly active in the youth wing of the campaign.

In August 2007, after the collapse of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge, Rybak worked with Governor Tim Pawlenty and Minnesota state officials to implement its replacement. Rybak pushed that future needs and policy considerations shouldn't be ignored in the rush to build a replacement.^[7] His leadership resulted in a bridge plan which included improvements to carry a future light rail line. Rybak was quoted as saying "we (the City) have a vision that we believe will be for a bridge that will serve us for many years to come."^[8] His role also involved authorizing municipal consent of the final bridge replacement.^[9]

He is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition^[10], an organization formed in 2006 and co-chaired by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston mayor Thomas Menino.

Rybak lives in the city's East Harriet neighborhood with his wife, Megan, and their children, Charlie and Grace.^[11]

1. ^ Anderson Jr., G.R. (2002-04-10). Sign of Things to Come. City Pages. Retrieved on 2007-08-21.
2. ^ Scholtes, Peter (2004-12-15). Local Music Yearbook '04. City Pages. Retrieved on 2007-08-07.
3. ^ http://howwastheshow.blogspot.com/2004/07/mayor-rt-rybak-stage-dives-and-crowd.html
4. ^ Anderson Jr., G.R. (2004-04-07). Does This Bus Stop at the Capitol?. City Pages. Retrieved on 2007-08-07.
5. ^ Scheck, Tom (2005-09-14). Rybak, McLaughlin advance in Minneapolis mayor race. City Pages. Retrieved on 2007-08-22.
6. ^ http://s4xton.com/1057/hnrt-rybak-at-the-ukranian-event-center/
7. ^ Scheck, Tom (2007-08-05). I-35W bridge reconstruction could delay other projects. Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved on 2007-08-07.
8. ^ Foti, Jim (2007-08-21). State's plans for new I-35W bridge include light rail. Star Tribune. Retrieved on 2007-08-21.
9. ^ Thomas, Dylan (2007-08-22). Pawlenty plan for bridge includes LRT. Downtown Journal. Retrieved on 2007-08-22.
10. ^ Mayors Against Illegal Guns: Coalition Members. Retrieved on June 19, 2007
11. ^ http://www.citymayors.com/mayors/minneapolis-mayor.html

• Art Hughes (October 23, 2001). Campaign Profile: R.T. Rybak. Minnesota Public Radio. Accessed December 5, 2004.
• Art Hughes (January 2, 2001). R.T. Rybak becomes mayor. Minnesota Public Radio. Accessed December 5, 2004.

• Mayor R.T. Rybak
• R.T. Rybak's campaign website
• Mayor R.T. Rybak Stage Dives and Crowd Surfs at First Avenue during Rock for Democracy
• Mayors Against Illegal Guns homepage
• Rybak and Police Chief Bill McManus: Splitsville?
• Interview from Twin Cities Sports May '04

Preceded by Sharon Sayles Belton

Mayor of Minneapolis 2002 – present

Succeeded by —