[Winona Online Democracy]
Howdy, y'all
I have a request as we continue with discussions of such important yet controversial topics as annexation. Please make an effort to understand the laws and regulations that govern these issues. I can't count the number of times when I was on the school board that we received e-mails, letters, and phone calls recommending (and occasionally demanding) that we do things which would have been illegal even though they sounded like good ideas on the surface. I have no doubt that myriad laws govern the annexation process and all of the issues of land ownership and transfer, environmental effects, etc. which surround it. A relatively large number of these may appear to be pretty stupid laws, but they are indeed the law and our public employees (both elected and hired) are obligated to follow them.
A good place to start in searching for Minnesota laws and statutes is available online at http://www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/statutes.asp. Actions at the county, city, school board, and township levels are usually not available online, so you will have to seek these out in paper form. It has been my experience that a majority of public employees will be very cooperative in helping you understand these issues and laws as long as you are cooperative with them and respect their time. They want to help get problems solved. If you request reasonable amounts of information that they can provide, and give them reasonable amounts of time to help you, they will do so. On the other hand, if you start making accusations or if you storm into someone's office with a list of demands, they have (in my humble opinion) every right to tell you exactly where your demands should be shoved.
Ed Thompson
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