Goodhue County « Locally Grown Northfield

Former City Attorney hired to fulfill Goodhue Cty data request on Lansing investigation

By Griff Wigley, on January 14, 2010, 6:30 am

dollars flowing out

More dollars are going to be flowing out the door at a time when the City of Northfield can least afford it.

Jane McWilliams, observer for the Northfield League of Women Voters, has blogged her report on Tuesday’s City Council Work Session. The last paragraph (links are mine):

Continue reading Former City Attorney hired to fulfill Goodhue Cty data request on Lansing investigation

Goodhue County says they don’t have “sufficient credible evidence” to prosecute former City Administrator Al Roder

By Griff Wigley, on August 10, 2009, 5:49 pm

Posted to the Nfld News at 4 PM: Prosecutors give Roder immunity for Lansing testimony.

Former City Administrator Al Roder will be granted immunity from prosecution for testifying against former Mayor Lee Lansing. That’s according to a letter from the Goodhue County Attorney’s Office obtained by the Northfield News on Monday, which says investigators do not have “sufficient credible evidence” to prosecute Roder.

Update 6:30 am Tuesday: the PDF of the letter from Goodhue County Attorney Stephen Betcher to Al Roder’s attorney David Lillehaug is on the Northfield News website.

Proposed: City of Northfield Statement for Our Safe and Welcoming Community (204)
- john george: Peter- I’ll be glad to do that, if I can figure out how. I’m technologically challenged, to say the least.
- Peter Seebach (Seebs): John, that sounds lovely. I will try to remember to call. If I don’t, ping me (email is usually good for reaching me) to remind me, because I have a really bad memory for things I was going to do.
- john george: Peter- I was just thinking that I would enjoy a cup of coffee with you sometime. You can ask Grifff- I don’t bite! My days off are Monday & Tuesday. I’ve bee a little tied up recently with new grandchildren being born...
- Peter Seebach (Seebs): I think we are probably pretty close to agreement on that one. One of my hobbies is nudging things along to get people out of some of the various poverty loops. It is amazing how little money it takes to move someone from...
- Peter Seebach (Seebs): A clarifying note: Consequences of Gay Marriage. No one is proposing making homosexuality a civil right. Marriage is already a civil right, and gays are already a protected class for discrimination purposes in most cases....
Why is the Northfield Rescue Squad Association retaining attorney David Hvistendahl? (6)
- Curt Benson: Hvistendahl’s strange request for omerta from the Rescue Squad’s auditors doesn’t seem so strange today, after Suzy Rook’s NFN article: http://www.southernminn.com/no rthfield_news/news/article_...
- Griff Wigley: Props to the newspaper and Suzy Rook for mentioning LoGro twice in the story: Fire Department officials, including Fire Chief Gerry Franek, did not respond to several requests from the News for association financial records or...
- Griff Wigley: Posted to Northfield News at 1pm: Ethical questions arise over Northfield Fire Relief Association expenses Donations made to Northfield Fire Relief Association aren’t public dollars, but that hasn’t extinguished city...
- Griff Wigley: Curt/Robert, There’s a summary of the Rescue Squad on Page 21 of the 2009 NFD report to the City. It doesn’t mention that there’s a Rescue Squad Association. The last paragraph states: The Northfield Rescue Squad is...
- Robert Palmquist: If Hvistendahl’s motivation was to keep the financials from getting known, his submitting a memo like that just really backfired. I agree, why would these financials be such a secret??? And why did the NRSA hire a lawyer to...
Props to the Northfield News for the Fire Relief Association ethics story (5)
- Griff Wigley: Today’s Nfld News: Rescue Squad’s agreement with speedway concerns Northfield leaders The consultant’s June 2011 report to the city found that the three city employees who also serve on the Rescue Squad were being...
- john george: Hear! Hear!
- kiffi summa: I’m known… or thought to be… pretty tough on ‘doing the right thing’, i.e. as much transparency as possible. But I don’t require, or even feel the need of any more info from the Fire Relief Assn; I...
- Griff Wigley: Nfld News editorial: Public, city of Northfield deserve transparency by Fire Relief Association It doesn’t appear that the Relief Association has done anything illegal, as the organization is not required to release documents to city...
- Griff Wigley: Suzy Rook has a sidebar to today’s Nfld News update on last night’s Council meeting. Excerpt: The city administrator and finance director say they have asked for the information on several occasions, including last month...
Sidewalk poetry: is it worth $12,000 of taxpayer money? (8)
- Barry Cipra: Hayes, I agree. I remember thinking Wallace’s work would fit wonderfully well in Northfield’s historic downtown.
- Hayes Scriven: Barry, that is great idea! It pulls together both history and art!
- Barry Cipra: A few years ago I saw a striking sample of sidewalk art in San Antonio, Texas (whose River Walk, I understand, was cited as a model for Northfield’s own stretch along the Cannon). An artist there named Anne Wallace took a...
- Curt Benson: If this is an ongoing project, I would suggest sandblasting the poetry into the existing concrete with the next round. This is not difficult. One could have the sandblasting stencil mask cut at a sign shop, like Graphic Mailbox. I bet...
- Hayes Scriven: Griff, the money the Arts and Culture Commission got from SEMAC is to go for projects like this! That is why the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment was passed! Now, yes there are some programing projects I have heard bout that I...
Who’s running for mayor and City Council? (2)
- Tom Kotula: Despite rumors you may have heard to the contrary, I have not thrown my hat into the ring.
- Sean Hayford Oleary: I was glad to hear Erica Zweifel is running again. She’s done an excellent job and has advocated well for her ward. I’m eager to see some filings for mayor.
Save the date: May 15 high school mountain bike racing team information mtg for student-athletes & parents (5)
- Griff Wigley: Good turnout last night for the Cannon Valley Mountain Bike Team meeting at the high school. I’ve blogged a summary with the ppt presentations.
- Griff Wigley: Jordan Osterman, the new Sports Editor for the Northfield News, scooped me on Saturday. I’m glad! Northfield high school mountain bike team forming As a club sport, mountain biking would have no official affiliation with either...
- Griff Wigley: Good suggestion, Curt. I’ll do that for next week’s blurb. I have been verbally emphasizing the importance of having girls on the team, especially since their points on race days count more than boys’ points. Other...
- Curt Benson: Hey Griff, I wonder if you shouldn’t put a bit more emphasis on the idea that you’re recruiting both boys and girls for this team. And that the scores for both the boys and girls make up a team score. I think that in the...
- Griff Wigley: It should be noted that this team does not yet exist! So this meeting is for those student-athletes (and their parents) who might be interested in joining this new team.
George Kinney wants you at Saturday’s solar energy workshop (1)
- Adam Elg: Keep up the good work George!
A backyard campfire: one of my favorite simple pleasures of spring (2)
- john george: Living where we do, it is only a few blocks walk to North Street and a grand view of the sunsets. Also, with our neighbors’ mature white pines & spruce, our covered deck affords outdoor enjoyment with a fair amount of...
- Peter Seebach (Seebs): Mmm, fire.
Two build-outs underway on downtown’s West side. Guess the businesses; guess the media coverage (6)
- Griff Wigley: Nfld Patch: Denmark-based Firm to Set Up U.S. Headquarters in Northfield
Never mind that NEG cover, Girls Nite Out is Friday (3)
- Jim Haas: Happens to me a lot. So much that my lovely wife had to coin a term for it: she says I have datelexia.
- norman butler: Since coming to my adopted country 16 years ago I have observed, amongst other things, that not putting the day with the date is both common and peculiar to Northfield (MN? USA?).
- John Thomas: Just a reminder, advance tickets for Girls Night Out 2012 can be purchased on The Grand’s website at http://www.thegrandnorthfield. com/public-events. Your tickets will then be available at a special “Will Call” at...
Howie and Jeni’s downtown gem: Eco Gardens (2)
- Liz Reppe: This is a great place to buy plants! Jeni is very knowledgeable and they are both really helpful. You get great service and plant expertise, but the prices are not higher than other places in town.
- Peter Seebach (Seebs): Awesome place. We get plants there.
R.I.P. Ray ‘Jake’ Jacobson. His legacy of public sculptures has helped to make Northfield a vibrant place (3)
- bill metz: While most of how Jake is being remembered revolves around, and rightly so, his great and wonderful talent as an artist and teacher and the works of sculpture he has left for our and the next generations enjoyment, I have had the...
- Ross Currier: It was an honor for me and the NDDC to work with Jake. His pieces of sculpture in our community send a powerful visual message that Northfield is an Art Town. I still marvel at his clever and creative approach to building social and...
- paul krause: The memorial service will be held at 11am. Doors to the Chapel will open at 10am for a chance to visit with family members and friends to share memories of our dear friend. Anyone who would like to view the documentary Harvest (which...
Now that we know Northfield’s firefighters aren’t really volunteers, more transparency is needed on their fundraising activities (22)
- kiffi summa: Come on, Griff… you say you’re “more than a little clueless about about investments” but you “just happened to notice”… and from what you said, were reading analytically, etc etc… Once...
- Griff Wigley: I’m more than a little clueless about investments but I noticed on page 14 in the April 24 Council packet that the Fire Relief Association has 85% of its pension portfolio in stocks. Isn’t that a bit risky/aggressive for...
- Griff Wigley: Has there been any media reporting on the intergovernmental meeting in Bridgewater Township that was held on April 25 re: the Rural Fire Protection District and the City of Northfield?
South Hwy 3 is much less ugly (2)
- Jim Mangan: I noticed this morning that a few of the newly planted trees along South Highway 3 have a pronounced lean. Could it be storm damage?
Construction underway at Rejoice!; citizen group trying to get sanctuary restored (33)
- Raymond Daniels: Just saw on NN that the City of Dundas and Rejoice! prevailed in the lawsuit.
Cliff and Sofie want you Out of the Silence & Onto the Streets for a LGBT rights march on Sat. May 5 (3)
- Vicki Serreno: I wish I’d known – this is my neighborhood since I left Northfield in 2010. I’d have shown up to support them.
- Kathie Galotti: My neighbor and sometimes babysitter Maggie Kennedy appears in this video as well! Go Maggie, and Cliff and Sophie and Parker and everyone else! Well done, guys!
Prairie’s Edge Humane Society is one of 15 sites for the Great Northfield Rummage Raid for Charity (1)
- Sandy Vesledahl: Thanks for blogging our garage sale Griff! We are at 2018 Jefferson Rd, Suite 1, thanks to the Jasnoch Family for allowing us to use the space. We will be there until 5:00 today and again from 8-2 on Saturday. We’ve had a...
Sheena Basness wants you to know about the cheap spay/neuter clinic coming to Northfield on April 30th (2)
- Bright Spencer: I have an 8 year old dog that has not been neutered, has not reproduced and never been out unleashed except in our yard. It costs nothing to care for your pet properly.
Peter and Jesse are putting up a geodesic greenhouse in their backyard (6)
- Bright Spencer: To see this makes me so happy! Best of luck to you!
Sidewalk dining in Northfield: Why is The HideAway still the only one? (4)
- Arlen Malecha: I wish more establishments had outdoor seating & dining. Now that our offices (Coldwell Banker South Metro www.CBSouthMetro.com are downtown, I love to see people sitting and dining outside. It is fun to walk up and down...

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Former City Attorney hired to fulfill Goodhue Cty data request on Lansing investigation

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