Data Practices Act Request on CATFs
You all know how disgusted I’ve been watching Citizen Advisory Task Forces devolve over the last decade, from a group that could meaningfully participate in a routing/siting proceeding to a neutered exercise in choreographed futility. In these proceedings, we’ve had to Petition to get a Task Force, and MOES has objected and is wanting to do ONE, for the Brookings line, and again ONE for the Hampton-Alma/LaX line. HOW ABSURD! Both to claim that one is sufficient, and to have to fight for it!
And then, after winning an increase from what MOES wanted, it’s still a fight, to get people appointed, to get a Marshall Task Force which was denied, and to have the Task Force do what the CHARGE states, not what MOES wants (it is not the same).
Who is eligible to be on a task force?
Who is appointed?
How many times to they meet (it’s been limited to 3 meetings for the last few!)
What is the charge?
Who runs the group?
Does the “facilitator” facilitate according to the charge?
Is there a report and if so, who writes it?
Does the way Task Forces are handled these days meet the statutory criteria and intent?
Here’s the statute:
216E.08 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.
Subdivision 1.Advisory task force.
In this round, for the Hampton-Alma/LaCrosse line, they’ve utterly ignored the statutory purpose of public participation, and are limiting it to elected officials in the area, who they term as “land-use professionals,” and there are no regular people! At least two local groups, the Cannon River Watershed Partnership and the Zumbro Watershed Partnership were not contacted and asked to participate! “Land Use Perspective†eh? Where did that come from?
So to gather background info, I fired off a Data Practices Act request to get info on the specifics over the last decade:
And a partial response came in Friday — this has links to make it easier, it’s the info that they were able to find on the web:
Background info for what??? We shall see… I’ll be posting info as it comes in.
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