On the City Council Visitor Presentations issue

During the last several Maplewood Council meetings, there has been discussion regarding modification or elimination of Visitor Presentations during Maplewood City Council meetings. Speaking for myself, I wanted to provide a citizen's view on this question.

Options presented:
As I understand, one option presented was to remove Visitor Presentations totally.

Another option was to limit Visitor Presentations at Maplewood Council meetings to residents and business owners in Maplewood (I prefer this option).

Another consideration the Council could address is the possibility of liability for slander made by visitors during these presentations. In my mind the potential for law suits should seriously be considered based upon some recent comments.

Watching the Council Meetings on TV is great. However, many of the meetings have dragged on until all hours of the night. At a recent council meeting, Xcel Energy representatives waited until 11:00 P.M. to present their request for a special permit to stage brush & tree trimmings pending chipping and removal. As a resident, I would like to have seen this business addressed earlier in the evening.

Personally, I think a sign-up sheet with a topic of discussion should be made available before the meeting. Council members can opt to allow the presentation during "prime time" or give the requestor time at another meeting. I would like to see presentations limited to a single topic.

Just as important as an individual's right to free speech is residents' rights to watch the Council address issues affecting all of us.

So far I have expressed my own opinion. As Chairperson, I speak for the Maplewood Voters Coalition with this challenge: the Maplewood City Council should consider all options and come to some viable solution which protects everyone's rights.

Bob Schmidt

Status report

As the Assistant to the Board of the Maplewood Voters Coalition, my role is to carry out the goals set by the board. In 2007 our primary goals were to

• help restore balance between the majority of Maplewood's citizens and their representation on the city council.
• bring the Roseville School Board election to the attention of those residents served by ISD 623.

putting the pieces together...

It went pretty well! We

• Organized through state registration, electing a provisional board and drafting a provisional constitution.
• Interviewed Roseville School Board candidates, endorsing five.
• Interviewed Maplewood City Council candidates, endorsing four.
• Published an informational brochure about our organization.
  
• Published a primary election voters guide reaching over 8200 homes.
• Held a well attended city council candidate forum.
• Held candidate Cave and the MFA, Inc. accountable for misleading lawn signs.
• Launched our Honesty! sign campaign.
• Aired two 90 minute documentaries on local access cable tv.
• Published a general election voters guide again reaching over 8200 homes.
• Maintained and improved our general, campaign, and documentary websites.
• Worked out our campaign finance reporting and other internal procedures.
• Gained the financial support of institutional and individual donors.
  
• Developed relationships with many residents.
• Became close friends.

That's a good track record for a new organization.

This year our hardworking board and friends will do much the same, only better.

Stephan Flister
Assistant to the Board, Maplewood Voters Coalition

Building depth after a strong rookie year

Welcome to the Maplewood Voters Coalition.

(Feb 6, 2008) Bear with us - for a few days the website will be in transition from 2007 to 2008.