Unfinished Business Equals Monkey Business
ANOTHER PARK BOARD VIOLATION
After I returned home from the December 17, 2008, Park Board meeting, I realized that the Park Board's administrative staff had committed another procedural violation. Here's the story:
The Park Board's Work Agreement with Flatiron-Manson (agenda item 8.5) that was put on the December 17, 2008, Park Board agenda at the last minute was put under "unfinished business." But putting it under unfinished business was very odd because Flatiron-Manson, builder of the I-35W Bridge, has never been on the Park Board's agenda even though it should have been when the staff negotiated and signed two unauthorized Flatiron leases totaling $300,000. Nor have the rumored SkipperLiner losses come before the Board.
In fact, the Park Board staff's unauthorized and secret lease negotiations with Flatiron Manson are what I have been critical of. These secret negotiations were the subject of an Open Time speech which I made on October 23, 2008, and which is posted on Park Watch.
The Work Agreement with Flatiron-Manson (agenda item 8.5) outlines the post I-35W reconstruction work that the Park Board staff wanted Flatiron-Manson to do on Park Board property. The agreement is the result of a negotiated dispute between the Park Board and Flatiron Manson. On October 10 of 2008 Park Board staff told Flatiron-Manson that Flatiron-Manson owed the Park Board $615,000 for Parkway repairs. When Flatiron-Manson objected to the $615,000 figure, MnDOT intervened to help mediate a compromise.
Because no business regarding Flatiron Manson has been before the Park Board, this agenda item should have gone to committee as new business and THEN to the full Board. Calling it "unfinished business" when the Flatiron-Manson leases were never on any previous agenda (as they should have been) is both a violation of Park Board procedures and an outrageous deception.
Arlene Fried Co-founder of Park Watch