Time for sunshine in Greenwood Township

In many states it is referred to as the Sunshine Law, but in Minnesota it is known as the Open Meeting Law.  In Greenwood Township it seems as though our supervisors either have an arrogance or possibly an ignorance of the law.  Recently a supervisor, acting solely with the site plan committee and without full board approval, decided to acquire an easement and construct a new driveway into the town hall property.  Not only did they construct the driveway, they did so without the proper site inspection from the county highway department as you or I would be required to do, and as townships are required to do.

In this case, a supervisor may have thought he was acting in the best interest of the township by getting this unapproved project done in a timely manner.  Fortunately, the Open Meeting Law is not in place to make government more efficient.  The legislature has determined that a transparent process is more important than efficiency.  A supervisor must wait until a properly noticed meeting before conducting township business.  Whether this supervisor was ignorant of the Open Meeting Law or arrogant of the need for the other supervisors as well as the public’s input remains a question.

A concerned citizen said it best at the November 2013 board meeting when she commented, “The board is not open to the public and they do not let us know what is going on.”  Obviously we need to let more sunshine in.

John Bassing

Greenwood Township