Supervisor says county taxpayers lack representation in Law Enforcement Center Authority mediation

A Woodbury County supervisor told the board the county may be underrepresented in upcoming mediation over the Law Enforcement Center and urged reconsideration of who will represent county taxpayers.

The supervisor, speaking during the board's reports and committee meetings section, said the Law Enforcement Center Authority is a three-member appointed body and that state open-meeting rules limit who the county can send to mediation from that authority. The supervisor said the county has provided most of the funding for the project and recommended elected supervisors should speak for county taxpayers in litigation and mediation. "I don't think anybody unelected to the county should be deciding what kind of money we'll take in the damages or speaking on our behalf. I think it needs to come from us five," the supervisor said.

The supervisor said an effort to appoint that supervisor as the county's representative on the authority failed at a recent authority meeting; he described the failure as a disappointing result and said it leaves the county's interests potentially in the hands of appointed members who have not been recently accountable to voters. The supervisor noted the current authority chairman, Chairman Wick, was appointed about six years earlier and that most supervisors who served on the board at that time are no longer in office.

Mediation is scheduled for the week of Thanksgiving, the supervisor said, and he said the county will pay attorney fees while an unelected authority representative participates in mediation discussions. The supervisor said he will consider options to "attack this from a different angle" to secure stronger elected representation but did not propose a formal motion at the meeting. No board vote or formal directive was recorded in the transcript.