Monday, November 12, 2007
Nelson
The video quality is poor but you can hear every word. Keith Nelson begins with a whining plea that "these are gooood people" he's referring to himself and Dennis Fink. He then comments, as a member of the public leaves the room, that the person, who is a union leader, doesn't have to 'tell you how to vote on this one so he can leave the room' implying that another commissioner is in the pocket of that union leader. It is a calculated political assault. Another commissioner raises a protest as does the chair of the board but Nelson talks right over them. He ignores their point of order. He uses bad grammar. It's that comment shouldn't have come out, not came out. But he was right.... it shouldn't have.
He goes on to dispute the right and propriety of other members of the board to debate over his proposed resolution.
Chairman Kron is forced to explain the basic function of debate in democracy.
Representative Rukavena must be very embarrassed to have such a strange champion.
He says NOT THE EIGHTH COMMISSIONER.... what on earth does that mean?
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11 comments:
he acts like a 3 year old
Oh my, he is so full of himself. I am ashamed he represents me in N. St. Louis Cty. It is too bad most people aren't aware of his antics given the fact that our local "newspaper" only reports on the so-called positives that he takes credit for all of the time.
I apologize but it is hard not to be negative.
From the Ely Timberjay - the editor of that newspaper knows right from wrong!
Code of conduct-Voters have a role to play in stemming board immaturity
“Professional behavior demonstrates to the public and all public servants that it matters how we do business each day. It is a public commitment to doing our work in a professional, respectful and lawful way.”
Those are the two opening sentences of a proposed new code of conduct for St. Louis County. Unfortunately, it appears those words may be setting the bar too high for some on the county board.
It was just a few weeks ago that it seemed the St. Louis County Board was poised to adopt such a code of ethics in the wake of sexual harassment complaints against two sitting commissioners.
But if the comments of some board members at their Oct. 16 meeting to discuss a draft of the conduct code are any indication, don’t hold your breath. Professional and respectful behavior isn’t likely to return to St. Louis County Board meetings any time soon.
Far from serious discussion, some board members made it clear they’re in no hurry to reform themselves. One commissioner suggested they should refer the matter to another meeting— preferably sometime next year. Commissioner Dennis Fink, who recently caused a stir by throwing a book at Commissioner Peg Sweeney during a board meeting, nitpicked over individual words, headings and definitions.
Perhaps definitions wouldn’t be such a bad thing for some on the board. The code after all, uses words like respect, trustworthiness and fairness—and some on the county board act as if they were out sick back in first grade when such concepts were taught to the rest of us.
The code might also encourage maturity, since there’s a disappointing lack of it as well among some on the board. Some commissioners are still in a snit over having to take legal advice from a woman, of all things. It’s time to get over it.
Sadly, it’s not clear how much difference a code of conduct will actually make. While the many conscientious county employees and officials will easily comply with the document, such individuals don’t need a piece of paper to tell them how to show respect for others. But from the bullying and immaturity exhibited regularly by some commissioners at board meetings, it’s going to take more than mere words to get them to change their ways.
It’s going to take voters to finally ask themselves if this is the kind of representation they really want on the county board.
The article can be found at the following website http://timberjay.com/current.php?article=3818
I was referring to the MDN on the second post. I was happy to see the timberjay article.
What is the MDN?
I'm glad to see coverage where it was in Ely too, but very interested in who's not covering it.
Good article by Lee Bloomquist today regarding the inspections. Glad to see he's got a top of the fold front page. People may begin noticing that they have county commissioners!
Hey is this it?
http://www.virginiamn.com/mdn/Obits.php
Mesabi Daily News....
Yes, MDN is the Mesabi Daily News. The paper out of Virginia. I typically go to the Duluth paper to get information. I live near Virginia and I feel that they limit a lot of information in their articles about the county meetings.
Maybe we should meet with the editor or publisher.
http://www.dailypilot.com/articles/2007/11/08/opinion/dpt-lastword04.txt
a little idea of what goes on when officials have no one watching.
I don't know if meeting with the eidtor would do much good. The editor seems to be quite supportive of the local boys on the board.
The 8th Commissioner is Rep. Rukavina
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