Council committed to do people’s work

To the editor,
The International Falls City Council has repeatedly asked for regular meetings with the Koochiching County Board of Commissioners. The City agrees with The Daily Journal (6-26-08 editorial) that city and county officials should “…set aside their differences and talk about how to resolve this issue [Highway 332]…”
Long before The Daily Journal called for a meeting, the city requested that the Minnesota Department of Transportation mediate the Highway 332 road dispute. Instead, MnDOT issued an order taking away our clear legal right to approve the designation and engineering plans for this road. MnDOT’s order violated the law so we had no choice but to ask the Court of Appeals for help.
Because MnDOT could take this same action against any other city, the League of Minnesota Cites, on behalf of all 830 member cities, urged the MnDOT commissioner not to sign the order before he signed it. He signed the order anyway and once he did, we had to act quickly. We pulled together a legal team of the most talented lawyers working in the specialized area of municipal law. Thomas Grundhoefer, LMC chief legal counsel is on the team. He represents an organization that works for all Minnesota cities and does so in hundreds of cases every year. Tim Flaherty, chief legal counsel for the Coalition of Minnesota Cities, is part of the team. CGMC has often helped small cities like International Falls when a state agency overreaches its legal authority and steps on their rights. Because we are members of both organizations, this legal advice comes at no cost to us. Veteran City Attorney Joe Boyle led the legal team and signed and filed the papers.
The city went to the Court of Appeals to protect the rights of the citizens and business owners of International Falls and all other cities to approve roads built in their cities. One day after we filed papers in the Court of Appeals, MnDOT pulled its illegal order.
As an attorney with 20 years of practice, I am well aware of how easy it is to blame lawyers when disputes fester. The best lawyers know that most legal issues are resolved by attorneys keeping their clients within the bounds of the law and out of court. For this reason, the city repeatedly requested that MnDOT talk with its attorneys before issuing its illegal order. If MnDOT now promises that it will withdraw the illegal calling of the Dispute Resolution Board and will recognize the legal right of all cities to approve designation of county roads and approve road plans then the city can drop its appeal.
The International Falls City Council is committed to doing the people’s work. Nobody wants to get involved in court if it can be avoided, but when the rights of city residents and business owners are being usurped by an illegal order of state government, this council will not back down. In the meantime, let’s get together and talk about how we can build the right road for the future of our great town.
Rodney Otterness
City Administrator
International Falls, MN