LWV ABC Action and Advocacy

LWV ABC Action and Advocacy

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Advocacy for Transparency | Advocacy for Fair Maps | Local Government |  Observer Corps Tools  

LWV ABC began an Observer Corps in 2015 to understand how the Anoka County Board of Commissioners works, inform the community, and make knowledgeable requests for changes. The Observer Corps is comprised of League and community volunteers who observe specific meetings. During the meetings, observers complete evaluation forms detailing specific criteria. The forms are used to create a report of county actions and procedures and recommend meeting protocol changes. 

 

 

 LWV ABC Advocacy for Transparency in Anoka County Government

 

Transparency isn't about the decision that's made but how it's made. It's the process that we're interested in.


Jeorgette Knoll, LWV ABC President, Star-Tribune, 2016

 

CMAL Study of County Governance - 2022

 

Update on Anoka County Portion of CMAL Study of County Government

Presented by Julie Trude, LWV ABC Vice President
November 8, 2021



Process for Appointment of County Adinistrator

      • 2019 LWV ABC Letter to County Commissioners regarding Appointment Process  - March 22, 2019
          • Long-time Anoka County Administrator Jerry Soma retired effective May 1, 2019. The County Board considered two competing resolutions at their March 26, 2019 meeting. The first resolution would initiate a low-key internal search for candidates, the second resolution would appoint current County Board Chair Rhonda Sivarajah to the post. 

 

Transparency in County Governance

 For more information on Anoka County Board meetings and actions, see the  Eye on Anoka County Facebook Group, managed by a LWV ABC member.

 

 

LWV ABC Advocacy for Fair Redistricting 

 

Based on the 2020 Census, Anoka County had a deadline of April 26, 2022 to draw new district boundaries for Anoka County.  Anoka County did not announce any opportunity for public input into the process of redistricting.  On April 9, 2022, LWV ABC submitted a letter with two redistricting proposals.  Both options centered on creating districts based on "community of interest", without consideration to where current commissioners reside, in contrast to the long-standing practice of simply tweaking existing districts which overly divided cities and eroded communities of interest. Following the April 13, 2022 county work group meeting, the county published all county proposed map scenarios and asked the public to submit their questions until April 19, 2022.

 

A new plan is superior to modifying the current plan at its edges. Decades of slightly modifying districts have overly divided cities and eroded communities of interest.

Gretchen Sabel, LWV ABC President, Letter to Anoka County Commissioners, April 9, 2022 

 

LWV ABC Redistricting Proposal

 

Redistricting Maps Proposed by Anoka County 

Maps proposed by Anoka County staff

Public Comments on Redistricting 

 

 

Other Local Government Meetings

While LWV ABC continues to observe Anoka County Board meetings, we are asking members who are interested in observing local meetings such as city councils, local boards, school district meetings, etc. to join the LWV ABC Observer Corps and to report back to LWV ABC on your observations.
 

Send an email to lwvabc [at] gmail.com and we will provide the training to be an impartial observer.

 

 

Observer Corps Tools 

 

 

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