Three members of the sitting Freeborn County Board were elected last year because, it would seem, voters were ready for a change.

Thursday, January 18, 2001

Three members of the sitting Freeborn County Board were elected last year because, it would seem, voters were ready for a change. Two incumbents were defeated, and the mandate for change seemed clear.

The board has a golden opportunity to effect such change by altering the way it conducts meetings. It had a chance to take one step in the right direction by changing its public comment policy this week, but did not.

A rule that limits people to speaking twice a year on any topic, unless they have something new to say, looked like the main point of contention Tuesday, when the public comment policy was officially enshrined in the rule book. But we’re more concerned about other rules that make getting involved in county government more difficult than it needs to be.

For one, all public comment is limited to the time before the meeting begins. That is better than after the meeting, when it’s too late for public comment to matter. But what about allowing for periods of comment during the meeting, say, after the board has heard presentations and discussed a matter that affects residents? Even commissioners sometimes get the facts on an issue while they’re at the meeting; how can the public be expected to make completely informed comments before testimony has even been given before the board? It’s undertstandable that the board does not want to hamstring itself by allowing too much argumentative dialogue, but it could still limit how much input is given during meetings.

Another idea that surfaced during the campaign was to change the time of county board meetings to accommodate more people who might want to attend, but who can’t leave their jobs for a morning meeting. The board should consider holding evening meetings to allow more people to watch. County employees would have to come in on an evening, but there would be no need for anyone to work any longer than they do now; they’d still be attending the same meeting, just at a different time. In Albert Lea, the city council and school board meet in the evening. Why not the county board?

At least, the board should seek public input on whether changes like these would be welcome, and if st rong support exists, it should consider making changes. Another lesson of the recent election was that county residents are keenly interested in what the county is doing, and they should have every opportunity to see their government work or give their two cents.