No, not Northfield Public Library Board Chair Margit Johnson, though she, too, is getting up there. (I know, she hardly looks a day over 75.) It’s Northfield’s Carnegie Library that’ll…
Category: <span>City</span>
There’s been another local fracas recently referencing Minnesota’s Open Meeting Law. I thought I’d take a crack at offering some relevant links, all in one place, to help make sense of it all.
The text of the law itself is found in Minn. Stat. §13D.01. However, as often happens, what people think the law says may not be the way the OML has been interpreted by the Minnesota courts, and court interpretations form precedent that is used in applying the law to other cases. People should be cautioned against making declarative statements about whether the OML was violated in a particular situation based only on their own reading of the law.
The “Friday Memo,” written by Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski and various department heads and other City staff, summarizes the staff and department activities for the week. The Friday memos are published and archived in PDF form at the bottom of the City Administrator’s web page.
Friday’s memo can be found on the memo page for the week. (This week’s memo has already been mentioned in the LoGro discussion, “The fight with Waterford township“) Items of note include:
- At Joel Walinkski’s request, City Attorney Chris Hood wrote this memo on Open Meeting Law and the allegations reported in the Northfield News, concluding that the conduct of the City Administrator and the City Councillors in this particular situation did not violate the Open Meeting law.
Looking at the December 2009 Library Expansion FAQ (PDF) has started me wondering:
To what extent has the plan for the expansion taken into account the need for libraries of the future to function less like grocery stores and more like kitchens?
I sat in for the part of today’s meeting of the City of Northfield Economic Development Authority (EDA) and the first 30 minutes of the agenda were devoted to whether…
Five items to suggest that the City hasn’t yet learned the importance of communications and transparency:
Posted to the Nfld News at 7 pm yesterday: City may have violated Open Meetings Law. “Five City Council members have now confirmed that they met individually with the city administrator to discuss withholding tax reimbursements from Waterford Township, an apparent violation of state Open Meetings Law.” - Wed. Nfld News: Fighting words arise over 30-year-old annexation agreement: “The city’s decision to review the agreement at next Tuesday’s city council meeting is “unethical,” since it doesn’t provide enough time for Waterford to weigh its legal options, Dudley said after discussing the issue with city officials at the township’s regular meeting on Monday night.”
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):
Our guest this week was Northfield Second Ward City Councilor Betsey Buckheit. We discussed her reflections of her first year on the Council, which she wrote about on her blog last month in a post titled What I’ve learned so far.
Click play to listen. 30 minutes:
The “Friday Memo,” written by Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski and various department heads and other City staff, summarizes the staff activities for the week. The Friday memos are published and archived in PDF form at the bottom of the City Administrator’s web page. The first memo of each month usually includes an update on the actions and activities of the City’s Boards and Commissions.
Friday’s memo can be found on the memo page for the week. Items of note include: