Dead silence, that’s what you will hear at the meeting held Wednesday at 8 AM because there is NO public input;
Brockhouse Collec-on at the Delbridge – October 4, 2023
8:00 a.m., City Hall Media Room
Work Group meeting #1
Work Group Invites:
Don Kearney
Becky Dewitz
Councilor Alex Jensen
Councilor Rich Merkouris
Mick Conlin
Jeanelle Lust
Ally Brandner
Jeff Scherschligt
Staff Invites:
Denise DePaolo
Jenna Harris
Vanessa Gomez
Karen Leonard
Audrey OWo-Pepper
Dave Pfeifle
Catherine Schlimgen
Erica Beck
- Developing a plan for surplus, Erica Beck
a. Mayor TenHaken’s request
b. Work group & resource team
c. Meeting hygiene
d. Targeted milestones
e. Today’s meeting focus - Introduc-ons, Erica Beck
- Brief overview and history of the collec-on, Don Kearney and Becky Dewitz
a. City / Delbridge agreement - Collection condition, Becky Dewitz
a. Master inventory list
b. Annual maintenance
c. Condi-on assessment
d. Testing – previous and ongoing - Es-mated costs of refurbishing, encasing, and building a new space for the collec-on, Becky
Dewitz and Don Kearney - Op-ons for surplus, City aWorney’s office, Becky Dewitz and Don Kearney
a. Legal considera-ons
b. Liability
c. Specific to the master inventory list - Next meeting: October 19, 8:00 a.m., City Hall Media Room
As you can see, the administration changed their mind and decided to have a public meeting. The problem is the public isn’t allowed to speak. This could be a violation of state open meeting laws dealing with public input;
The public body shall reserve at every official meeting a period for public comment, limited at the public body’s discretion as to the time allowed for each topic and the total time allowed for public comment, but not so limited as to provide for no public comment.
Public comment is not required at official meetings held solely for the purpose of meeting in executive session, an inauguration, swearing in of newly elected officials, or presentation of an annual report to the governing body, regardless of whether the activity takes place at the time and place usually reserved for an official meeting.
So is this an official meeting? Technically YES! It was publicly posted on the city website 24 hours in advance, so that would make it an official meeting. But the violation may have already occurred. Since it is under the 24 hour window to re-post a corrected agenda that includes public input, they may have already had a boo-boo. They could however correct it at the beginning of the meeting by making a motion to include public input on the agenda.
But that won’t likely happen.
You know, the hits keep a coming!
You make some very valid points, and the confusing part here is, if this is considered an “Administrative Meeting” and they are defining it as such, are they planning on only “Informing” the City Council, allowing people to be present, but offer no public comment outside the “Chosen” selected members. This seemingly blocks the Council itself from participating in the discussion other than the “Chosen” members of the body itself. The three persons representing the governing board are – Erica Beck (Mayors Office), while Alex Jensen and Richard Merkouris representing the City Council Office Seemingly, this gives the governing board a voice however, it restricts the ‘topics’ to be what the “Administration” wants them to be, so in theory, the topics are already slanted to one side.
Scott makes a very key point here this is nothing more than an Executive Session, that has been opened up to the public for observation, but limits the public to nothing more than that…
“WE” still would need an “Outside Group of People” to come forward to meet outside the “governmental process” holding effectively an Independent Town Hall Forum…let alone the City Council itself, could eventually create their own Special Public Hearing side by side as well, but do they have the nerve to do so? It seems to be split 50-50 at best…
City government has been a side hustle skim since 1996. Mayors make $100k but (suspiciously) become millionaires. The most famous deception was the Denty. Do you want an events center downtown or on Russell? Voters thought they were voting for an eventual potential location. No, the mayor took it to mean approval for construction and major bond debt.
Today, the US House removed the speaker. Dumb 216 congressmen. Not good timing. No budget. Ukraine loses to Russia. No money for border security. Worst of all, stock market doesn’t like sudden surprise and shows it with recession. Congressmen satisfied their narcissist egos but it’s gonna cost us and threaten national security.
@Spin unlike the last guy PTH sold his stake in his company before entering office so he doesn’t have the “pressure” to make side deals & such. Also he was in favor of the downtown site vs. MMM who made sure the data was cooked by his consultant to favor the Arena site…still a 50 year mistake.
Lots of local business folks are selling their companies these days as the private equity guys are looking for better ROIs in this environment. With the right person in charge of raising the funds you could get a new facility designed and built for the Brockhouse collection (or whatever is salvageable) and IMHO would make a ton of sense to build something for them out at the Outdoor Campus.
“@Spin unlike the last guy PTH sold his stake in his company before entering office so he doesn’t have the “pressure” to make side deals & such.”
Well Sy, I have to give you credit for believing this on face value. This summer a seasoned realtor who watches the commercial market closely told me that when Paul sold the old Click Rain building he got like 50-100% over appraised value. And guess who decided to overpay that amount for the property? Let’s just say it rhymes with BOYD. I have also asked the media to look into a rumor that has been circulating for several years that the mayor is investing in property along Veteran’s Parkway. I haven’t been able to find anything so I am not sure if it is true or not, and these days it is easy for politicians to hide investments thru their spouse (Cindy Huether for ex.) and mysterious LLCs.