Press "Enter" to skip to content

State Law Lets Locals Keep Economic Development Plans Secret

Madison City Commission candidate Ashley Allen bristles at backrooms deals in local government. In a Facebook post this week, Allen cites a blog post by Madison Daily Leader correspondent Chuck Clement (wait: did I just use blog post and Chuck Clement in the same sentence?) pointing out the oddity of state open meeting laws that allows local governments to shut out the public when they discuss economic development.

Clement knows his open meeting law; he knows that SDCL 1-25 doesn't mention economic development as a topic our local leaders can keep secret. But he discovers cities and counties are granted secret-keeping authority over economic development schemes by SDCL 9-34-19, an open meeting exemption tucked away under municiapl trade regulations:

Right among the state laws -- for pool rooms and bowling alleys, junk stores, scalpers, employment agencies, public dances, skating rinks, and tattooing and body piercing -- were the rules for closing public meetings to discuss economic development.

Either our lawmakers have a really bizarre sense of humor or they really must not want South Dakotans or anyone else to know much about government involvement in economic development. I will continue to wonder why anyone wanted to hide 9-34-19 among the rules for "Municipal regulation of food sales."

Oh, but there is one set of rules in the same chapter that fits with hiding the regulations for executive sessions - it's 9-34-16, the state's rules for "Mindreaders and fortunetellers" [Chuck Clement, "Tattooing, Junk Stores... and Economic Development?" Madison Daily Leader, 2014.03.20].

Dang: unleash Clement from the formal reporter's beat, and he brandishes a singular statutory wit.

Allen says he would like to repeal SDCL 9-34-19. Repealing state law is a bit tough from City Hall, but opening economic development discussions could happen without a legislative change. Notice that SDCL 9-34-19 says, "Any discussion or consideration of such trade secrets or commercial or financial information by a municipal corporation or county may be done in executive session closed to the public." May. We find the same non-mandatory permission in SDCL 1-25-2: "Executive or closed meetings may be held...."

State law does not order city commissions to go into executive sessions. It gives them the option, upon a majority vote. If you want an open discussion of economic development issues on a five member board, you need to get two other people to agree with you, and that discussion remains open.

So does anyone among Allen's candidates and among the commissioners they will join in City Hall share Allen's zeal for openness on economic development?

9 Comments

  1. David Newquist 2014.03.27

    South Dakota law is so laden with such loopholes that almost everything can be done it secret.

  2. Jennifer Wolff 2014.03.27

    Yes to openness! I tweeted about the blog post as well (sorry the mobile device I am on isn't being very cooperative to link to it - check it out @wewantwolff).

    In my candidate profile for the Daily Leader, I suggest making economic development an official city function so we can have things like public discussion and published minutes:

    Q. In terms of economic development, what goal should city officials have as a priority?

    The 2008 Madison Comprehensive Plan is supposed to be the city’s guide for the physical, social, and economic growth and redevelopment of the city. While the implementation plan offers goals for transportation, land use, utilities, and parks, recreation, and public facilities, specific economic development objectives are mentioned only in the context of the LAIC and Forward Madison program.

    Like our neighboring towns of Brookings and Sioux Falls and similar cities such as Sioux Center, IA, Marshall, MN, and Wayne, NE, Madison should adopt economic development as an official city function. Establishing a Community Development committee to develop a strategic plan with actionable goals and measurable outcomes would add a layer of transparency, citizen engagement, and accountability not currently offered by Madison’s economic development organizations.

    http://www.wewantwolff.com/2014/03/madison-daily-leader-city-commission.html?m=1

    (Hope that all came out relatively legibly. I'm typing in a tiny box on a little screen that doesn't seem to want to let me go back to proofread and I'm being taunted by a preview button that apparently doesn't exist on my platform.)

  3. caheidelberger Post author | 2014.03.28

    Jennifer, I appreciate your effort to cite similar communities as examples of good policy action for Madison. You make clear that we aren't talking about some blog fantasy or big-city pipe dream, but a public policy position that works in towns much like Madison. Even if we can't make every negotiation or document public, we could still hold economic development activities by making the LAIC an official branch of city government, subject in every way to the oversight of officials we elect.

  4. Jennifer Wolff 2014.03.28

    Thanks, Cory. I am all for learning from others' examples -- both successes and not-so-successes. I am also wary of falling into the trap of "that's the way we've always done things", without first understanding the reasoning behind those processes.

  5. I have said it once, I will say it again. Mrs. Wolff is by far the smartest candidate on the ticket. My hope is that Madison will elect us both and we can "tag team" on these issues. Even if I end up splitting votes with Hexom, Johnson, and Corbin, I hope Wolff is a big winner on election day. If we want to change things, we will need two game changing candidates to get the right mix of votes on the commission.

    Jenny and I have talked about taking the City Commission on a discovery tour to other cities to find what is working and what isn't for similar sized cities. Then, bring those lessons home and get to work! Like Jenny, I have proposed to the commission multiple times that we bring economic development in house like a number of other cities have done.

    And thanks Cory... You are right, the keyword is "May".... I wonder what Mr. Jenks thinks and if a judge would hold up a law passed on the word "may". Permissive yes... And maybe passive aggressive hahahah.

    At any rate, I would be willing to test the legitimacy of these poorly crafted laws.

    -Ashley Kenneth Allen
    http://www.AllenForMadison.com

  6. Cranky Old Dude 2014.03.28

    Should be obvious that "economic development" is where the real money is these days. You might understand some businesses not wanting to publicly discuss their plans at first but when it involves tax breaks and public money that is coming out of our pockets, I think we need to know about the details.

  7. Anne Beal 2014.03.28

    Open meetings always sound so good as an abstraction. The problem is, there are too many people who will show up and get hysterical and then nobody can get anything done. Videos of them being forcibly removed from the room are posted on YouTube and Facebook with descriptions about how somebody was arrested just for asking a question.

  8. larry kurtz 2014.03.28

    9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

    http://www.rense.com/general37/char.htm

  9. Jennifer Wolff 2014.03.28

    Aw, shucks. While I do like the sound of "by far the smartest candidate," Ashley is probably giving me a bit too much credit. We are all qualified in one way or another. The candidates offer a diverse array of expertise; I know my strengths and try to identify and improve on my weaknesses.

    Ashley has a lot of enthusiasm and passion for his community. If we are both fortunate enough to be elected serve on the commission, I look forward to seeing how we can work together to make the most of our ideas and interests for Madison.

    Anne, the Electric Advisory Committee, Sidewalk Committee, Library Board, etc. seem to accomplish the items on their agendas just fine, despite their open meetings. And you know what we get from those meetings? Minutes! Ones that are published online and available for review so the public can find out what was discussed. http://bit.ly/1pjBaqz

Comments are closed.