Former St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter lands new role as Fuse CEO
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Former St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter has a new title: CEO.
State of play: Carter, who lost his re-election bid to Kaohly Her last November, starts today as the top boss at Fuse, a national nonprofit that "helps local governments accelerate solutions to complex challenges."
How it works: Fuse runs an executive fellowship program that places policy experts in local governments across the country to help local officials address issues ranging from affordability to climate to public safety.
What he's saying: "My fundamental belief has always been that the way we move America forward isn't some push from D.C., but it's local communities across the country working together to pull the country forward," Carter told Axios in an interview ahead of this morning's announcement.
- Fuse, he said, can play a big role in that innovation by asking local governments "what's the biggest thing that you don't have the capacity to do," then providing the support for them to make real progress.
Case in point: Carter knows the organization's impact firsthand. During his tenure, the city brought on a Fuse fellow.
- The fellow's work was central to St. Paul's sustainable transportation efforts, including the addition of more charging stations and a partnership with an electric carshare nonprofit, he said.
Between the lines: Carter's focus on ambitious policy pilots as mayor both raised his profile and emerged as a liability during his re-election campaign.
- He said he remains steadfast in his belief "that the job of local governments is to innovate," arguing that Fuse can help officials push for change even when they "don't have a budget line" for such experiments.
What we're watching: Carter, who just wrapped an interim leadership role with the Minnesota-based GroundBreak Coalition, hasn't ruled out another eventual run for office, but said he expects to remain at Fuse "for the foreseeable future."
- "I've learned to never say never on anything, but Fuse really feels like my next chapter," he said.