R.T. Rybak has served as Mayor of Minneapolis since 2001. Over the past 12 years, he has implemented innovative fiscal reforms that saved taxpayers millions by reducing $80 million of inherited debt, reined in government spending, and produced six balanced budgets in four years. Mayor Rybak has also closed the City’s employment gap, creating 2,500 new housing units in three years with the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, grew the police department by 100 officers in the last two years, and launched the innovative Minneapolis 311 phone system.