Are they meeting your expectations?

Dawn
Slade

Just a thought
Posted 6/18/03

Every month I attend meetings - county board, school board and city council meetings - as part of my job.

Thereıs also plenty of meetings I cannot physically attend (township, planning commission, etc.) because of time constraints.

And even though I complain sometimes about having to attend them, Iım glad that I do. I have a pretty good idea of whatıs happening in our county, the town of Milaca and the school district.

How about you? Have you ever attended a county board meeting? How about a township meeting?

Itıs likely not high on your priority list, I understand.

But when you elect someone to office, how comfortable are you with that person making decisions on your behalf?

We see the decisions the President of the United States is making on a daily basis. What about the decisions a commissioner or a school board member is making?

Theyıre spending our hard-earned tax dollars on what they choose. Do you agree with the decisions?

I donıt envy board members, the long meetings and committees, and the sometimes difficult decisions they have to make especially in budget crunching times.

And Iım guessing itıs probably a pretty thankless job.

But, I also donıt believe we should elect them to office without monitoring whatıs happening.

Once in a while we see a letter to the editor questioning the decision of the school board or the county board. I think thatıs great. We should be questioning them.

We should sit in on some meetings and find out if that person weıve elected is making the decision we feel is best.

Yes, I attend the meetings on behalf of the readers, but what I see, hear and think to be important may not be near as important to you as some other item on the agenda.

And thatıs another thing. At nearly every meeting, additional items are added to the agenda at the beginning of the meeting. That means sometimes there are unexpected items being addressed without the pertinent people being involved.

Not to mention the comments made by board members or the tone of the meetings that arenıt easily relayed in board meeting notes.

Remember, I canıt put my opinion in an article, just the facts.

Every time I attend a Mille Lacs County board meeting thereıs myself, another reporter, the people on that particular dayıs agenda and maybe two or three residents.

Basically, the majority of us are required to be there and only a small handful of people are showing up to find out whatıs going on in their county.

The Milaca City Council meetings have even less attendance by residents.

A few teachers and some residents show up for the Milaca School Board meetings, especially if thereıs a hot topic like budget cuts.

But for the most part, month after month, thereıs very little interest by residents. I think thatıs a shame.

You canıt win if you donıt play, right?

Well, you may not know, if you donıt go.