I would assume there will be a lawsuit regarding this. Loki Anderson Marshall Terrace
Chris Johnson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Posted at the request of Arlene Fried of Bryn Mawr: The Star Tribune had a brief article about the August 3 Park Board meeting in Thursday's paper, but the real story behind the DeLaSalle stadium project is how certain Park Board commissioners and administrative staff have been moving this project forward in violation of the Park Board's own laws. On a scale of one-to-ten for outrageous behavior of a public body, the August 3 Park Board meeting scored a ten. It was as outrageous as the night last year when Commissioner Walt Dziedzic nastily threatened Commissioner Vivian Mason and as outrageous as the infamous night in 2003 when the majority coalition arrogantly hired Jon Gurban as superintendent without interviewing him. To regular Park Board observers, it's become quite clear that certain members of our Park Board and administrative staff are leading our Park Board into what could become very dangerous and expensive territory. It's been apparent that they have been on board with and in support of the DeLaSalle stadium project very early on. It has all the hallmarks of a backroom deal. At no time since the DeLaSalle issue first surfaced publicly at an open time presentation on January 19 of this year has the Park Board been in compliance with its own protective public participation ordinances as they apply to the DeLaSalle stadium project. The Park Board has circumvented the entire democratic process which was designed to protect its constituency from corrupt influences and pressures. According to Ordinances 99-101 governing Public Participation Relating to Park Facility Construction and Redevelopment, the Park Board was MANDATED to follow a course of action which it has blatantly ignored. The following sequence of events should have occurred: 1. A Citizens Advisory Committee should have been created when the DeLaSalle stadium project was first proposed by DeLaSalle in January. 2. Then, the Citizens Advisory Committee--based on extensive public input--should have made its recommendations to the Planning Committee. 3. Then the Planning Committee should have held a Public Hearing on the project. 4. Then--and only then--should the Planning Committee have voted on the DeLaSalle stadium project, either killing it or passing it on to the full board for its approval. But last night, WITHOUT creating a Citizens Advisory Committee, WITHOUT a recommendation from the Citizens Advisory Committee, and WITHOUT a public hearing, the Planning Committee voted three to two to approve the DeLaSalle project. Commissioners John Erwin and Annie Young pointed out that the public participation process had been bungled and voted against the project. But Commissioners Walt Dziedzic, Bob Fine and Marie Hauser all chose to ignore the Board's failure to follow its own legally mandated public participation process and voted in favor of the DeLaSalle stadium project anyway. It is this kind of bureaucratic bungling that can lead to costly legal involvement. It is disheartening to witness such arrogant disregard of our democratic process by the very individuals who are charged with protecting that process. Arlene M. Fried Member and co-founder of Park Watch mplsparkwatch.org Chris Johnson Fulton -- http://www.MplsParkWatch.org/ REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls --------------------------------- Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
