23-05-2025
Former Rochester City Council president tackles new role with DMC
May 22—ROCHESTER — A familiar face was introduced Thursday to the state Destination Medical Center Corp. board, but in a new role.
"Some of you know her, because you sat alongside her when she was (Rochester) City Council president," DMC Economic Development Agency Patrick Seeb said as he introduced Brooke Carlson as the agency's newest team member.
Carlson served on the council from 2021 to 2024. She opted not to seek a second term. As council president, she had a seat on the DMCC board for four years. Carlson started her new position as director of public experience for strategic infrastructure this week.
Seeb said Carlson is assigned to the DMC effort through an arrangement with Mayo Clinic. The goal is to coordinate efforts related to infrastructure investments as the DMC initiative reaches its halfway point and Mayo Clinic's $5 billion "Bold. Forward. Unbound. In Rochester." expansion project continues.
He said her initial focus will be working with neighbors, businesses and service organizations near the Mayo Clinic expansion project to optimize public investments by enable the communities to thrive amid the changes.
"We expect to bring back before you a strategy that tells the story of the role DMC might consider playing in supporting unbound and the adjacent neighborhoods to maximize the extraordinary investment," he told the DMCC board.
DMCC board member Doug Baker, who serves as Mayo Clinic's representative on the state board, said the work will be critical in the next five to 10 years.
"We are in a different stage, obviously," he said. "The first 10 years have been a big success, and 'Forward. Unbound.' is one of the crowning achievements. The thing we have to ensure is we do a great job in enabling 'Forward. Unbound.' to live up to its potential, both for Rochester and Mayo."
James Campbell, who is the longest-serving DMCC board member, agreed, but said the key component to any success will be listening to the people affected by the developments.
"What you are going to be working on is absolute bedrock," he told Carlson. "It is critical for the next 10 years."
Carlson said she's looking forward to the work ahead, which she expects will move from the downtown core to other areas of the city.
"If you think about the impact of Bold Forward and downtown, you can think about concentric circles moving outward," she said. "As I step into this role, I will be thinking about those intercircles. They are more pressing; the construction and demolition is already well underway. People are being impacted in their day-to-day lives."
She said she wants to coordinate efforts to set community priorities to help address the local impacts and maintain needed connections.
Deputy City Administrator Cindy Steinhauser, who has been assigned to help coordinate city efforts with the Mayo Clinic expansion, said she's looking forward.
