St. Louis Co. Board Chair Talks NDAs, Public Comments, Commissioner’s Words on Minneapolis’ FOX 9
St. Louis County Commissioner Chair Annie Harala responded to concerns Thursday over elected officials signing non-disclosure agreements regarding a proposed data center project in Hermantown. She also addressed a video that shows a confrontation between Commissioner Keith Nelson and the Duluth Monitor’s Publisher, John Ramos, who pressed the commissioner on the topic during Tuesday’s board meeting. Click the video above to hear a portion of that conversation with FOX 9.
DULUTH, Minn. — The controversy around whether elected officials should sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with potential developers has gotten the attention of the media in the Twin Cities, including FOX 9 in Minneapolis.
On Thursday, FOX 9 All Day anchor Amy Hockert spoke with St. Louis County Board Chair Annie Harala to get her thoughts on fellow Commissioner Ashley Grimm’s belief that commissioners and other elected officials should not sign NDAs, like Harala and commissioners Keith Nelson and Mike Jugovich did this year with a developer researching to possibly build a data center in Hermantown.
As FOX 21 reported this week, Gimm’s agenda item Tuesday to ban NDAs by elected officials did not get a second vote for discussion, which meant there was no traditional public comment period for residents who filled up the board meeting in Duluth. People became angry in the audience after Vice Chair Mike Jugovich, who was filling in for Harala, had said people would be able to comment on the NDA topic later in the meeting. But that never happened.
So that’s when Duluth Monitor Publisher John Ramos confronted Jugovich and Nelson on camera, which took a turn when Nelson replied three times by saying, “I don’t give a s*** what you think.”
FOX 21 reached out to Nelson for comment Thursday but did not hear back by news time at 9 p.m.
A county spokesperson on Tuesday said commissioners followed Robert’s Rules of Order during Tuesday’s meeting.
In the interview on FOX 9 All Day, Harala said she will be inviting staff to come to the Nov. 4 board meeting in Duluth to explain how St. Louis County has historically used NDAs, and then she will open the floor for discussion from the public to hear their feedback on this issue.
You can watch FOX All Day weekdays from noon until 2 p.m. on the FOX LOCAL app or on FOX9.com. All Day covers stories across the region and often features news from the Duluth area.
