What does the town board have to hide?

In Greenwood Township government, fairness is a rapidly disappearing concept. Take for example the clerk’s salary debacle. The board failed to follow their own meeting guidelines by not putting the topic on the agenda, by bringing it up under the discussion segment (not allowed in the guide policy the board adopted in March 2015), and by allowing no public input. In defense, the board chair declared that according to the township attorney, it was a board decision which could have been done at a closed meeting. How do you know if you are receiving the correct advice from an attorney? Is he just telling you what you want him to say?

The Comprehensive Plan Committee is also having problems with simple issues of public disclosure and fairness. It seems as though the township attorney is advising against making all of the 270 written public comments available for the public to see. What exactly is there to hide? Our attorney is also the attorney for Duluth Township that publishes a bi-annual public survey and places all comments online for everyone to see. Why does he advise Greenwood to not release the comments but evidently has not advised his own township to do so? We don’t need an attorney at every step to let us know if it passes the smell test. We need sound legal advice and not a stack of get out of jail free cards.

There is a decision to be made by the board; either a free for all with rubber rules and ever-escalating public discourse or to take responsibility to follow its own meeting guidelines. Fairness would begin to reduce public dissension and diminish the perceived lack of respect and trust that exists in our community today.

Jeff Maus

Greenwood Twp., Minn.