Bradbury Township

Mille Lacs County, Minnesota

Mille Lacs News

Since 4/18/07

News

Monday April 19, 2010

Abuse of Power comes as no surprise

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Onamia Takes Charges $eriously    

Mille Lacs News Staff Writer

Up until May of 2007, citizens could obtain city government documents, such as copies of the city council agenda and copies of meeting minutes, for free. But when the council's prized NEXUS Project came under scrutiny by outraged residents who oppose the government acting as agents for the multi-million dollar private corporation, forcing convicted male sex offenders into a residential neighborhood, the council retaliated against Nay-sayers by a unanimous vote to charge citizens 25 cents per page. 

"Attending city council meetings has gotten to be quite pricy," said one Bradbury citizen. "Nay-saying is expensive!"

25 cents per page adds up quickly. Some Nexus Opponents complain of having to spend $25 or more just to obtain one copy of the agenda for one meeting.

"Its no wonder people don't want to get involved in their local government. Who can afford it?" an Onamia citizen exclaimed. "I thought about getting one copy of the agenda, then running off a bunch copies to sell at the door for only 20 cents per page! Undercut them. Seriously, you know that they [the city council] did this just to punish us."

J.J. Swift, out-spoken Nexus opponent agrees. "Kathleen McCullum, the city clerk told me that we're the only ones who request copies of documents. Its bad enough that the government is invading our neighborhood with their sex offenders, we have to pay to read about how they intend to screw us next. Then we have to pay to read about the city council meetings we attended to see if they reported the minutes accurately. Its a shameful situation."

Onamia seems to be unique in charging citizens for agendas and meeting minutes. Nearby cities of Garrison, Wahkon, and Isle freely distribute their meeting agendas to the public, citing that they are glad to have citizen involvement. Charging citizens money for these documents serves to distance them and thwart their interest. Onamia is the only city in the area which sees fit to charge.

At the Mille Lacs County courthouse, there is a stack of agendas right inside of the county board meeting room door. Everyone who attends the meetings can have copies of the agenda for free. Meeting minutes are posted on the county's website, available for free.

Is the Onamia city government punishing citizens who oppose them? Are they really trying to thwart citizen involvement? Considering that nobody else was charged before the Not-Nexus-Never! Nay-sayers arrived at city hall, one has to wonder.

Note: We could not find any other city in Minnesota where people are charged for city council meeting agendas.

ELECTION 2008!

Wanted: New Candidates to change the future of Onamia!

Onamia needs a new mayor and a new city council to fix our broken government!

You can make a difference in our city!

So are you going to the meeting on Wednesday?

No. I can't afford to.

But its the important zoning meeting!!! The one where the Onamia City Council is going to vote to give sex offenders their own zoning classification! How can you miss it? This is huge!

I know. It's sure to be at least a twenty-pager.