Nelson Should Be Concerned About Content of Meetings, not the fact they are recorded-DNT Article

Published February 08 2009 By: John Myers , Duluth News Tribune
St. Louis County commissioner annoyed by cameras at meetings
Keith Nelson is seeking a legal opinion on whether private citizens can record County Board meetings. Nelson says the recording devices are an annoyance and the material can be edited by anyone and taken out of context.

A St. Louis County commissioner has asked for a legal opinion on whether the board can ban citizens from recording some County Board meetings.
Keith Nelson of Eveleth raised the issue Tuesday at the boardʼs meeting in Duluth, saying he was concerned that he and other commissioners had been
recorded at their Jan. 20 board workshop in Pike Lake.
The group We Are Watching records many County Board meetings, including the workshops, and often posts that audio and sometimes video on the groupʼs Web site, www.northernmnnews.com.
Nelson claims that excerpts of the boardʼs discussion of the issue of tribal lands being removed from property tax rolls were forwarded to tribal officials.
The discussion included Nelson and other commissionersʼ views strongly opposing increased tribal trust land.
He also said the recorder was beeping and bothering him.
“Iʼve raised this question because of the disruption that these devices have made … and because these recording snips are being taken out of context
and used to make people look bad,ʼʼ Nelson told the News Tribune.
“Iʼm not talking about restricting the media … and the public still can get a copy of the [audio] tapes we make. So we wouldnʼt be limiting access.ʼʼ
But Kevin Skwira-Brown, a spokesman for We Are Watching, said Nelsonʼs request is aimed at stifling public access to workshops that are not shown on
public access television.
“Itʼs absolutely outrageous that county government would try to restrict citizen access to a county meeting,ʼʼ Skwira-Brown said. “Theyʼre saying if you
canʼt attend their entire six-hour meeting during a work day, then you canʼt have access to what they do. Thatʼs ridiculous.ʼʼ
Skwira-Brown said the entire discussion of the tribal lands issue has been posted on the groupʼs Web site and that no member of the group edited the
audio or sent it to tribal officials.
“We did not edit that recording. The entire,
45-minute conversation (on tribal lands) is on our Web site,ʼʼ he said, adding anyone could have obtained the recording from the county or the Internet
and edited it.
Based on Nelsonʼs complaint, County Board Chairman Dennis Fink requested County Attorney Melanie Ford to investigate whether the board could ban
private citizens from recording meetings.
Ford said Thursday she had not yet rendered an opinion.
While board workshops are informal discussions, they are clearly open meetings because there is a quorum of the board present, according to
Minnesotaʼs Open Meeting Law.
We Are Watching members say they record meetings so county residents can hear and see what their commissioners do and say.
“They [the County Board] have the ability to stream all of their meetings live onto the Web, they just arenʼt doing it,ʼʼ Skwira-Brown said.
Commissioner Steve OʼNeil expressed concern that the board might try to exclude any public scrutiny.
“We should make our meetings as open and transparent as possible,ʼʼ he said. “No one should intentionally portray what we do out of context, and I donʼt
know if thatʼs what happened or not… But it doesnʼt matter. We shouldnʼt try to stop anyone from recording our meetings.ʼʼ