May 2008 Citizens Forum notes

Ms. Flister's notes from the May 2008 Citizens Forum are now available.

A substantial portion of this public meeting was dedicated to residents concerns with why Ms. Flister might want to make a recording, the accuracy and status of her notes and the recording, and so on. As she reports, this led to an unprecedented motion, second and nearly unanimous vote of those still present in support of the need to televise the Citizens Forum, just like all the other city meetings. Maplewood Voices strongly supports this initiative by the participants.

One attendee suggested including an explanatory heading on her notes. In keeping with our goal of reader responsiveness we have added this heading to the Citizens Forum notes format:

Citizens Forum Notes

The City of Maplewood publicizes and provides facilities for the monthly Mayor's (now Citizens) Forum. The meeting is usually staffed by the City Manager. Public policy is discussed by citizens and the Mayor. Work direction is often given to the City Manager. The City, however, makes no record of the proceedings.
In the absence of a city record, I make an audio recording of the meeting which I transfer to a computer-readable CD and submit to the City Clerk. Citizens may make a Data Practices request to the Responsible Authority for a copy of this CD. As allowed by the Data Practices act, the City may charge for the copy
In addition to the CD, I post these personal notes covering the public policy discussions and other city business.
If you the reader find these arrangements inadequate, I urge you to contact the City Manager with a request that a record be created by city staff.
Mary Flister 5/7/2008

Stephan