Metro briefs: Anoka voters get the final say about Human Rights Commission
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The fate of Anoka s Human Rights Commission will go to the voters after the City Council on June 7 voted 4-1 to uphold an ordinance that dissolved the group and removed it from the city charter.
Earlier this spring the council voted to end the commission and suggested it carry on as an independent nonprofit. Residents who objected to the move collected more than 380 signatures on a petition forcing the council to revisit the issue. Having a Human Rights Commission makes it so it can advise the council, said Council Member Erik Skogquist, who voted in favor of repealing the ordinance and keeping the commission. Without it, you have no ability to advise the council. The point of the commission is they provide a different set of ears. Maybe there is a compromise.
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St. Louis Park leaders may amend or repeal an ordinance banning targeted residential protests, after officials discovered the restriction has been on the books for nearly half a century.
City Manager Tom Harmening told the City Council at a study session this week that St. Louis Park has had a targeted protest ban since 1976 an ordinance he said he was unaware of until the city attorney recently discovered it. Harmening said the council can decide whether to keep the policy, update it or refresh it.
A decision to change the ordinance or remove it altogether would be in stark contrast to a growing number of cities that have recently passed resolutions banning residential protests.