EDITOR'S NOTE: In June 2004 I began a new venture as managing editor of both Northfield News and Faribault Daily News. This column originally appeared in the Northfield News on Nov. 1, 2005.
As you can imagine, as a newspaper editor I pay close attention to news involving political figures that want to bend the rules and skirt laws that are intended to keep the public informed about their actions. Besides the natural inclination of a reporter to love skulduggery, it concerns me greatly when elected officials consider themselves above the law. That, as we've all witnessed, can only lead to trouble. Much of what we do as reporters depends upon the cooperation of elected government officials because readers entrust us with the important responsibility of covering the meetings they're to busy to get to. So you can about imagine how I reacted when I received a fax this past week from local attorney David Hvistendahl, who recently represented two Cannon Falls Township residents in a matter regarding open meeting law violations. The township is located not to far east of Northfield in Goodhue County. In addition to the relative geographic interest to Northfield, what really caught my eye was that the plaintiffs, thanks to a solid case and good evidence, won and the Red Wing County District Court judge ordered three violating townboard members off the board for the remainder of their terms and assessed them civil fines. "Wow!" I thought as I reviewed the case. As a newspaper reporter, the ruling of course excited me, but it also made me consider just how important the open meeting law is and how we so often take it for granted. Just recently the News and the Northfield League of Women Voters hosted a public forum regarding the open meeting law. It was inspiring to see 30 people turn out for it. That was encouraging to someone who has spent a lot of time in a lot of newsrooms wondering if anyone still cared about what happened with their locally elected public bodies. But to read an account in which two citizens took their township board to task for violating the open meeting law and purposely trying to deceive the public, was nearly unheard of. Certainly open meeting lawsuits do exist and every now and again you hear about a news agency winning one, but often the point of winning becomes worthless. So often these cases take years to play out and by the time they come before a judge, the reason for taking the public officials to court long ago became a moot point. Don't misunderstand me: After covering hundreds of school board, county board, city council, and an assortment of other elected or appointed government bodies, I have never had the misfortune of being deceived by a public official. ... Of course, that I know of. And I don't think the majority of locally elected politicians are a group of people bent on using their position of authority to somehow benefit them or that they become so smug that they thumb their nose at the public. Quite the contrary: I think most locally elected officials are dedicated public servants who have the best interests of their constituents in mind. And my move to Northfield in recent years certainly has confirmed that belief. But at times it happens. Elected officials, for unbelievable reasons, think that the public's business is best done in the dark and they practice to deceive the very people who put them into office. In fact, open meeting laws across the nation didn't exist until the time of the Watergate scandal and then states across the nation rushed to pass so-called "sunshine laws" to keep elected officials honest. Prior to that people just assumed that there was open access to government, and then they were a bit stunned to find out they had to fight for it. It was extraordinary that the judge hearing the Cannon Falls Township case kicked off the three townboard members found in violation of Minnesota's open meeting law. But it was music to my ears. Score one for democracy. -- Devlyn Brooks is managing editor of the Northfield News.
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