This Level of Transparency Isn’t Good Enough For Me

On May 6th, at 4:49 p.m. at a Special City Council Meeting, Minot City Council entered what is known as an executive session to consider two agenda items. The one germane to this commentary is included here:

Now, if you’re not familiar, executive session is a provision in North Dakota law that allows government entities to hold closed door meetings to discuss legal or negotiating strategies. Because, we all know that when you play poker, it’s better to keep your cards secret. It’s the same with legal and negotiating strategies – it’s better not to say them out loud in public. Our executive session allowance is a smart and reasonable exception to our open meeting laws.

But let’s get back to May 6th. At 5:03 p.m., City Council adjourned the executive session and returned to an open session. Whereupon the following four-part motion was made:

1. Approve the purchase of 11 3rd St. and 311 1st Ave NE in the amount of $310,000 plus closing costs;
2. Approve the earnest money in the amount of $1,000 being issued prior to second reading of the  budget amendment;
3. Approve the budget amendment to allocate funding for the purchase; and
4. Authorize the Mayor to sign any necessary documents to complete the acquisition. 

The motion was seconded, and after approximately three minutes of discussion which mostly included city staff explaining why this action “makes a lot of sense,” a vote was taken. It passed unanimously. By 5:06 p.m. the City was effectively under contract to purchase the building most recently home to the Nok Back Tavern.

At this point, you may be wondering why you’re reading this, and I don’t blame you. But there is a reason. And it is an important one.

That moment at 5:03 p.m. was the first chance anyone from the public had an opportunity to discover what the City of Minot – with any degree of specificity – was contemplating. Then, at 5:06 p.m., the City did it. 

In the spirit of idealized governance, what we’re talking about is transparency. Transparency is a key ingredient in the recipe that gives us a fighting chance of trusting our government. It’s been deemed so important that the North Dakota Legislature has attempted to enforce transparency through state law.

In fact, here’s one of the relevant portions of North Dakota Century Code:

 44-04-20.6: […] Topics that may be considered at an emergency or special meeting are limited to those included in the notice.

My questions to you are these: did the City’s level of transparency in this matter meet the standard you’d like from your government? Are the City’s actions those that build or degrade trust?

For me, the answer is we need to do better. I want a higher standard of transparency. But I’m just a guy with a computer writing an editorial. What I want has all the weight of a less-than-viral Facebook post.

But you know who does have an opinion that matters? The North Dakota Attorney General’s Office, and I’ve asked them to review the circumstances of the Nok Back Tavern land purchase. Because if the City got it right, then maybe it’s time to beef up our state laws. And if the City got it wrong, then we have ourselves a teachable moment.

Below you’ll find a copy of my request to the North Dakota Attorney General. Additional news and commentary on this topic will follow in the coming days.

Notice: This commentary has been edited from it’s original version. The first iteration contained a reference to a second agenda item that is not related to the issue at hand and, thus, created confusion. That reference has been removed so the focus of the commentary — the lack of the transparency of around the Nok Back Tavern land purchase remains the focus. If you’d like to view the agenda from the May 6th meeting, it can be viewed as the City published it here.