Steve Lindaas
Moorhead City Council member Steve Lindaas, who has served on the city’s governing board since 2019, has resigned his seat representing Ward 4/ His resignation will be effective Aug. 31
Lindaas, who was originally elected to fill the seat left vacant by Steve Gehrtz’s resignation, ran and was reelected in 2020. He again ran in 2022 when the boundaries of Ward 4 were adjusted as a result of the 2020 census.
Lindaas is a professor of physics and astronomy at Minnesota State University Moorhead. He and wife Alison Wallace, a professor of biosciences, have both received science and technology fellowships from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. They are taking leaves of absence from MSUM to spend the next year with separate federal agencies in Washington, D.C.
The council member will work for the U.S. Department of Energy in Washington, D.C., starting Sept. 1. He added, “This fellowship will allow me to apply my scientific expertise to policy and p roblems in the executive branch of the federal government.
“I welcome the opportunity to work, serve and learn about another area of our government. Expanding my knowledge and experiences will augment my ability to be effective working on new initiatives. Of course, I will carry with me the lessons learned from my service in Moorhead and apply those sensibilities to my service at the Department of Energy and interactions across the federal government.”
As a member of the council, Lindaas was been involved in developing the Onward Moorhead comprehensive plan and supporting the Green Step Cities program for environmental resiliency, in which Moorhead has reached the top level. He supported flood control measures, expanding food resilience by allowing urban agriculture measures such as backyard chickens, and increasing native plantings and pollinator habitats.
A founding member of the Minnesota Cities Climate Coalition, Lindaas has served on the steering committee of Resilient Moorhead and the committee developing a climate action plan template.
He represents the city council on the airport committee, Clay County Planning Commission, Metro Area Transit board, MetroCOG, city planning commission and legislative work group.
