Cities league hopes to bring civility to rude councilsBy Bob Shaw
bshaw@pioneerpress.comUpdated: 05/10/2009 11:51:27 PM CDT
In White Bear Lake, the mayor calls the local VFW club "a bunch of old guys with guns."
In Lake St. Croix Beach, a councilman is arrested for shouting obscenities in a meeting.
In Lake Elmo, a councilman calls the mayor a "God-damned bastard."
In Greenfield, a councilman brings two handguns to a meeting, to his colleagues' dismay.Is an outbreak of rudeness sweeping the Twin Cities?
Maybe, said Jim Miller, director of the League of Minnesota Cities. That's why the group is considering launching a courtesy blitz for city officials.
It even might appoint an on-staff ethical adviser — a kind of municipal Miss Manners.
"There is an increased need for this," Miller said. "I have heard these stories from more than one community."
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