Flickr.com PhotoIn an email follow-up to the "board battle" controversy, reported here exclusively, board member Daniel Rother elaborated on...
...some of the controversy in regard to purported "removal" of documents from the JACC office. (This should not be confused with the recent break-in and removal of documents and computers, this was an earlier controversy discussed at the emotional board meeting)
Daniel Rother states he NEVER removed documents, rather he made copies of originals and that was all he left with; copies. Furthermore, he cites Minnesota State Law 317A.461 BOOKS AND RECORDS; FINANCIAL STATEMENT.
In looking at that law, it clearly states "A member or director, or the agent or attorney of a member or director, may inspect all documents referred to in subdivision 1 or 3 for any proper purpose at any reasonable time. A proper purpose is one reasonably related to the person's interest as a member or director of the corporation."
Rother appears to assert copying was part of this "inspection." Laypeople may disagree, but in my observation (and I do have a passion for records law, the very reason I went to law school in the first place) any right to "inspection" has frequently included the right to copy.
And this is made quiet clear by Subd. 5, "Cost of copies" which states, "The corporation may charge the requesting party a reasonable fee to cover the expenses of providing copies of documents under this section."
In my observation, charges for small numbers of copies are simply waived, a lot of the time.
Rother was very restrained in his comments to me, not wanting to go into stuff like "how much money do you think is improperly missing?" or "who do you think was involved in taking the stuff from the office?"
He did state that, despite my editorializing about too much emphasis in Jordan in regard to "social justice" versus "livability" issues, he personally ran for his board position on nothing but livability issues, and was successfully elected. Furthermore, he had poured a great deal of time and effort into a "greenway" project in the neighborhood.
I am hoping to get more details about this greenway project in the near future.
Excerpts from Council Member Diane Hofstede’s Third Ward Newsletter
ReplyDeleteLong Awaited 26th Avenue Bike Study Now Underway!
The 26th Avenue Bikeway Trial is an east to west pathway that extends from Wirth Parkway and across I-94 to the Mississippi River. In the future this bike path will connect to the west river road and will then have the opportunity to extend across the river and connect with the 18th avenue bike path and bike paths in the entire city of Minneapolis.
One Million Dollars Granted!
The new 18th Avenue NE trial is a proposed east to west pathway through northeast Minneapolis that will extend from Marshall Street NE to Stinson Boulevard. The Bikeway study and funding will extend from Marshall Street NE to Monroe Street NE, is currently under study, and was awarded the one million dollar federally funded grant to assist funding.
To learn more about these plans come to the next public meetings:
18th Avenue Bikeway Meeting: Thursday February 26th 7:00pm at Eastside Neighborhood Services (1700 2nd St NE)
26th Ave Bikeway Meeting: Monday January 19th 6:30pm at PCYC (2210 Oliver St N)
The greenway is an important project for the neighborhood because it builds on one of the existing, unique assets that the Northside has--geography. There is a real need in the city to close the northern loop from the chain of lakes over to the river, and projects that are going to be successful in the long run fulfill an actual need.
ReplyDeleteEven though I'm a Willard-Homewood resident, and not privy to whatever the issues are at JACC, my hat is off to Dan and others who saw the potential for this project and fought for it.
The project rocks. Dan sent me more details and some photos. Hoping to get that stuff up, soon, but right now there is breaking news in the JACC soap opera...gotta post.
ReplyDelete