10-10-2016 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, September 26, 2016 7:00 o'clock p.m. PUBLIC COMMENTS (continued) Lili McMillan, 1275 Lyman Avenue, indicated she has also filed a complaint regarding the recent Orono Watch for You with the MN Secretary of State. McMillan stated she is going to talk about Volume 6, which came out in July. McMillan stated that flier has a graphic on the front that people should see. McMillan stated in her 24 years of involvement with local government, she has never seen such a smear campaign as portrayed by the Orono Watch for You fliers which started last year. McMillan indicated many of her fellow mayors have said the same thing to her as the Orono Watch flier goes out to a broad area beyond Orono. McMillan stated in particular the photo in the July flier stands out for its graphic portrayal of some of the City Council members. McMillan stated her reaction when she sees an image like that is that it is demeaning and diminishes her work and the good work of her fellow council members. McMillan stated her other thought was that this could be an attempt to intimidate the three of them from filing for re- election a few weeks later. McMillan stated regardless of the intent, it should be called what it is, which is a blatant form of adult bullying. McMillan noted the public has heard from a few people tonight on how it reflects on the Orono community. McMillan commented the schools spend an enormous amount of time and energy focusing on character building and developing attitudes to prevent bullying in children and young adults. McMillan questioned what is conveyed to a child who comes home from school to see this graphic on their kitchen table. McMillan questioned how the schools can teach children not to bully when they see adults trying to bully other adults. McMillan questioned whether this undoes all the good work the schools try to do as well as potentially scare a child from ever wanting to serve his or her community when council members are portrayed in this manner. McMillan stated this is shameless behavior that should never happen in Orono. McMillan noted that every one of these seven fliers are slanted to support Council Members Printup and Walsh. McMillan requested that Council Members Printup and Walsh demand that the person or people behind this post a disclaimer. McMillan stated the fliers are expensive and that someone has spent tens of thousands of dollars to distribute them. McMillan stated the fliers are being forced upon the citizens and that she received a letter today from a citizen who was fed up with this coming in the mailbox. McMillan stated in her view the citizens of Orono deserve to know what is going on and who has something to gain by doing this. McMillan stated in addition to the misinformation, harassment, intimidation and bullying, this piece is the most nontransparent event to happen in Orono in the last six years. McMillan stated she hopes it stops. Ralph Kempf, 3675 Togo Road, stated he does not like politics and that he usually winds up with a knot in his stomach when he sees what is going on, particularly in national politics. Kempf stated he wanted to do something for the community and so for a number of years served on the Planning Commission as well as the chair. Kempf stated he recognizes that the Mayor and Council Member Levang were the ones that did make the meetings much more transparent by making them available to live streaming rather than someone having to wait for a particular time on a particular channel. Page 12 of 26