Other townships try to learn from surveys, not suppress them

The action at Tuesday night’s Greenwood Town Board meeting addressing my request to make available the written comments that were generated by Question 20 of the Greenwood Comprehensive Plan Survey mystifies and disappoints me. The board voted to allow only members of the planning steering committee to read the written comments IN the town hall AFTER next week’s steering committee meeting. No copying or sharing of comments allowed. What’s to hide??

In my request I noted that the written comments from the current Tower-Breitung Comprehensive Plan Survey are available to the public. That’s also how other cities and townships handle the written comments. It’s a normal process. I appreciate Supervisor John Bassing’s effort to make the comments public. Incredibly, the other members of the board insisted on not letting the public see the written comments, not even town board members themselves or planning commission members, who are in line to make possible changes and then vote for final approval of the draft Comprehensive Plan for Greenwood when it is presented to them by the steering committee. This part truly mystifies me. Nobody else governs like this. Check it out on other township and city web sites. It’s a shame. Other townships try to learn from their surveys, not suppress them.

Lee Peterson

Greenwood Twp., Minn.