Kudos to all of the "watchers" who stuck with it and encouraged the SLC Board to adopt a Code of Conduct at their last meeting of 2007 in Ely on December 18th. After a 4-hour discussion and a number of amendments to actually give it some "teeth", the Code passed unamimously. It was clear that Commissioners Nelson and Fink did not support it, but they realized they no longer had the votes to defeat it.
Recognition should go to Comissioner Bill Kron who chaired the meeting with respect and grace, at one point preventing Commissioner Fink from cross-examining members of the public who came to speak in favor of the Code. Commissioners Sweeny and O'Neil had always supported the Code and, in the end, Commissioners Rauker and Forsman indicated their support as well.
This is an excellent first step in restoring some civility to this Board but it will clearly continue to be necessary to watch for some time into the future,
One issue scheduled to be on the Board meeting for their January 15th meeting is with respect to the re-naming of an island in Commissioner's Forsman's district. The Bois Fort Band of Ojibwe has indicated they would like for the island to be named "Gitchi Miniss", which translates to "Big Island". Apparently there has been some "agreement" made with a local family who "sold" the island to the State of Minnesota to have the island named for themselves. Stay tuned....
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