Bring Your Own Copying Machine

As I entered the lobby of the Holiday Inn on February 18, 2010, en route to the monthly Spirit Mountain board meeting, I had a bit of trouble negotiating the doors, encumbered as I was with a Fujifilm FinePix S5100 digital camera, a Marantz PMD 201 portable cassette recorder with plug-in Radio Shack unidirectional dynamic microphone, a Panasonic AG-DVC7 750X Digital Zoom video camera with telescoping tripod and a brown canvas Duluth pack containing my notebook and pens. After the excitement of the previous Spirit Mountain board meeting, I didn’t see how plenty of recording equipment could hurt.

I hit Record on the Marantz recorder and took the elevator to the fifth floor. I walked to the Duluth Room, which turned out to be a typical corporate meeting room: conference table, TV, side counter bearing soft drinks, various odds and ends of hotel furniture scattered about. A number of board members and Spirit Mountain employees were already there. Nobody physically attacked me or called the police right away, so I put down my gear and began setting up the tripod and video camera.

Board Chair Nancy Nelson came over and told me they had instituted a new policy with regard to documents discussed at board meetings. They would provide one set of copies for members of the public to view, but they would not provide copies for anyone to take home. She pointed to a small stack of papers on a nearby table. A cover sheet on the stack read “FOR PUBLIC INSPECTION” in bold, underlined, 48-point capital letters.

“Might as well speak for the mike,” I said, holding up the unidirectional dynamic. “I’m speaking with Nancy Nelson, board chair.”

“We’re just discussing the open meeting laws and what they require,” said Nelson.

Ramos: So you’re saying you can provide one set of copies for me to look at, but not a set for me to take home? Is that correct?

Nelson: I’m saying that’s the minimum that’s required by the law. Yes. One set of copies for people to inspect while they’re here at the meeting. It does not require us to provide you with copies to take home with you.

[Ramos produces the state open meeting laws. A discussion ensues.]

Nelson: Right here it says: “The open meeting law requires that for open meetings, at least one copy of any printed material prepared by the public body and distributed or available to all members of the public body also be available for inspection by the public.” That’s all it says.

Ramos: Right, but the—but the—

Nelson: It doesn’t say that we have to send copies home with you.

Ramos: But without copies, I’m not able to be fully informed.

Nelson: You can take pictures of them.

Ramos: [laughs] You’re telling me I have to take pictures of copies?

Nelson: I’m just telling you what the law says. We’re going to follow the law.

Ramos: All right, I’ll sit here like the old CIA and snap pictures of documents.

Nelson: Bring your own copying machine. You can make copies.

Ramos: What did you say? Bring my own copying machine, I can make—?

Nelson: [giggles] If you wanted to, you could. All it says is we have to provide one set of copies for the public to inspect while they’re here at the meeting. We’re doing that.

I was surprised, to say the least—first because Nelson had approached me at all, and second because she was taking the line she was. Did she think this kind of treatment of a citizen by a public authority was acceptable behavior?

Nancy Nelson (for those who need the Cliff Notes) rose to public prominence in 2001, when she led the movement to stop a golf course from being built at Spirit Mountain. In some circles, she is known as the Tree Lady for her efforts on behalf of urban greenspace and old-growth forests.

Ultimately, Nelson and the preservationists prevailed. The golf course was stopped.

In 2004, Mayor Herb Bergson appointed Nelson to the Spirit Mountain board. In 2008, she was elected chair.

In the past, whenever we engaged in small talk before and after meetings, Nelson had been unfailingly polite. I had always thought of her as a nice person. That was why her jab about the copying machine surprised me. But that was only a minor detail in the bigger picture: Nancy Nelson and the Spirit Mountain board were willfully and intentionally making things as difficult as they could for me. Nelson had made this clear when she said they would be doing “the minimum that’s required by the law.”

Spirit Mountain knew perfectly well what I wanted—copies of all documents—and they had known it for the seventeen months that I had been attending board meetings. In the early days, when I sat quietly in the corner, they just gave me everything without question. It was only since I had begun writing about their master plan that their policies had changed. Now, a process that had once been smooth and painless had evolved into a ridiculous ordeal.

I turned on the Fujifilm Finepix and started snapping pictures of the documents, the first of which was the meeting agenda. Funny that they wouldn’t have more than one copy of that.

I felt ridiculous. I turned the camera off and stuffed all the papers into my Duluth pack. That was better. Simple solutions appealed to me.

Chair Nelson called the meeting to order. I hit Record on the video camera.

Spirit Mountain Finance Director Jen Carlson gave a short talk on the authority’s financials. Glancing at the profit and loss statement I had filched, I saw that twenty-five of Spirit Mountain’s twenty-nine income categories were down for the year. Season pass revenue was $107,000 below budget. Winter lift ticket revenue was $161,000 below. Café revenue was down $44,000. The list went on. Overall, Spirit Mountain’s net sales for the year were down $378,000 from the previous year and $459,000 below budget.

Carlson didn’t mention all of these numbers in her remarks, which was just another reason (I reflected) why it was nice to have copies.

“We have just been putting on the brakes,” said Carlson. “I don’t know what else to say about the profit and loss, other than we’re well aware of what we need to do and we’ve been trying to do it.”

“We’re pulling back on everything that’s not a necessity for ordering,” said Spirit Mountain Executive Director Renee Mattson. “So everyone is making do with what we’ve got to get through the end of the year, as well as addressing the labor issue. We’ve cut back in every department. We’ve had some good heart-to-heart discussions with the staff about where we’re at and what we need to do to get through this difficult season.” According to the P&L statement, total salaries and wages for the year were down $70,000 to budget.

“So you’re just running things more frugally and cutting back here and there, wherever you can?” asked Vice Chair Todd Torvinen.

“We’ve been having some really good staff meetings, with brainstorming solutions for us,” said Mattson. “I mean, you can cut and cut and cut. We’ve been talking more revenue projections, but it’s things like people being more mindful of turning off the lights. It’s light later in the day. We haven’t been turning on the chalet lights in the building. It’s a sunny day. It’s not a necessity.”

“Mm-hmm,” said Torvinen encouragingly.

“Turning off the water taps, that’s another thing about the restrooms,” continued Mattson. “I mean, it’s so easy…the taps go different directions, so there’s always extra usage there. But is everyone being mindful that even those little things really add up?”

I had a vision of Spirit Mountain employees madly turning off lights and water taps until their half-million-dollar deficit was erased. I immediately chastised myself for being cruel. That kind of attitude really added nothing to the conversation.

Speaking of conversation, had any of this appeared in the local media? Naturally not. The last article about Spirit Mountain in the Duluth News Tribune had appeared three days earlier, on February 15. It was headlined, “Plenty of piping thrills at Spirit Mountain” and talked about Spirit Mountain’s snowboarding terrain park. In the story, a five-year-old girl was asked what she thought about the jumps. “They’re high,” she replied. “They’re big. They’re cool. You can jump high.” No mention was made of deficits or shortfalls.

Following the depressing financial news, the board perked up a bit when Vice Chair Torvinen and Spirit Mountain Director of Skier Services Denny Monson discussed the repair and replacement budget. The city council had granted Spirit Mountain an additional $50,000 in tourism tax for the year, on top of the $225,000 they already received. An “additional funds allocation” list accounted for the new money.

“That sheet is available,” said Torvinen, glancing around the table. “Make sure everybody has a copy. John, do you have a copy of that as well?”

Was he talking to me? He was! I straightened up behind my camera.

“Oh, apparently I’m not supposed to get any copies,” I said with impressive dignity. “I can just look at them. But I’d like a copy, yeah.”

“We can probably get you a copy,” said Torvinen. “I’m sure we can email you a copy or something.”

Nancy Nelson looked uncomfortable. Had there been a little miscommunication on the board?

Anyway, I already had my copy. The top item on the additional funds allocation list was $13,500 to finish paying for the restraint bars on A-Lift. The next item was $8,000 for engineering work related to the proposed water supply pipeline from the St. Louis River to the hill. Other items on the list included an ATV ($6,000), seven new snow gun nozzles ($4,200) and new café blinds ($1,300). Before long, the extra $50,000 of tourism tax was accounted for.

Following this list was Spirit Mountain’s primary repair and replacement budget, which consisted of eight items totaling $257,750. The first item was $100,000 for bathroom renovations. The second was $40,000 for a used excavator. The third was $35,000 for a mowing tractor. And so on.

As it turned out, however, these latter items constituted more of a wish list than a capital improvement plan. Vice Chair Torvinen informed the board that because of the uncertain economic climate, they had decided to “defer” all scheduled repair and replacement “to a future year” and use the money to pay for the alpine coaster instead.

My mind reeled. Could that be true?

Torvinen: My understanding is that Renee met with the city administration, and although we have the scheduled repair and replacement budget down below here, $257,000 that is earmarked to be spent under our original $225,000-a-year agreement with the city, they’ve also made an interpretation that the amounts that we’ll be spending on the debt service for the alpine coaster will suffice under that agreement that they had with the city to have repair and replacement items spent in that amount of $225,000. So this list, although it’s designated, will be deferred to a future year, and we’re going to keep some of that money as a contingency in case the economy continues to show us some bad results.

To clarify: Per City Council Resolution 03-203 and a 2003 Use and Management Agreement between the city and Spirit Mountain, the city gives Spirit Mountain $225,000 in tourism tax and requires Spirit Mountain to maintain a $225,000 repair and replacement budget. Now, however, the city had “made an interpretation” that using the repair and replacement money to pay for the alpine coaster would satisfy the requirements of the agreement.

Was that sound business practice? Was it even legal? At the very least, such a questionable interpretation represented a radical departure from the norm.

Section 3.1 (d) of the Use and Management Agreement says this:

The Authority agrees to prepare and submit a budget for repairs and replacements of the facilities and equipment used in connection with the Recreation Area. Such budget shall be submitted to the City with the operating budget and at other times as directed by the City. Funds credited to the Repair and Replacement Account under the Resolution shall be available to pay such costs. The Authority agrees to construct, acquire and install each project listed on such budgets.

How did one interpret “Repair and Replacement” to mean “brand-new alpine coaster”? And how did one interpret “construct, acquire and install” to mean “defer”?

Section 3.1 (e) of the agreement says, “The annual…repair and replacement budget shall be subject to review and approval of the City Council.” Had the council reviewed and approved the mass deferrals? They had not. Nothing resembling them had ever appeared on the council’s agenda.

So who did know about this creative payment plan? I certainly couldn’t recall anything being said about it in the media or at board meetings. I did remember somebody saying the payments on the coaster would be “very doable.” In fact, I heard that just one month ago, right before the board voted to approve the lease-purchase agreement with Beacon Bank.

I also heard—again, one month ago, right before the board voted—that the project had “a sizable contingency.” Shouldn’t the contingency money be used before gutting the capital repair budget?

To sum up: Spirit Mountain was reacting to a terrible year of business by forgoing capital maintenance in favor of building a new attraction. I could only imagine how the local media would respond to that. Maybe they would publish a story entitled, “WHEEEEEE!” and interview children about the wind in their hair.

Curiously, the paper trail revealed none of this. Even copies wouldn’t help me in this case. The repair and replacement budget was listed, but there was no mention that it had been “deferred.” The only evidence of this was Torvinen’s words. Luckily, I had them recorded in two or three different formats.

Torvinen: And so, with that, I think that that’ll help us get through the year a little bit better, and should that change, we’ll have the opportunity to come back and revisit these. But, at this point, we’ll just defer that.

So, with that, I would make a motion to accept the $50,000 budget as discussed at the repair and replacement committee meeting.  Can I get a first on that?

I should note that the concerns raised here are my own, and not, apparently, the board’s. They listened to Torvinen without comment. It did not seem like anyone had the slightest concern. This, in itself, made me wonder if the board was entirely aware of what they were approving. One would think that such a fundamental shift of priorities would inspire some comment.

Torvinen’s request to “get a first on that” led to a bit of confusion, as no one seemed to have heard the phrase before. I certainly hadn’t.

Torvinen: Can I get a first on that?

Board Member Neale Roth: I’ll sec—

Renee Mattson: [laughs]

Roth: You’re gonna do it, Jane?

Board Member Jane Gilbert-Howard: Well, no. You need a motion, or did you put a motion in yourself?

Torvinen: I tried to do a motion. Is that—could I—?

Roth: I think you can present it as a motion.

Gilbert-Howard: Yeah, you can present it as a motion.

Torvinen: So I need a first, and…

Gilbert-Howard: Well, he was gonna second it, but I can second it.

Torvinen: Okay. Is there any discussion on this at all? I would note the board members that are here are the ones that were at the repair and replacement committee meeting as well, so, with that…

Wait. What? They had held a committee meeting about this? So they all did know what they were approving? And they didn’t care?

Torvinen: …so, with that, I’ll move to approve. All in favor?

All: Aye.

Torvinen: All right, I guess that passes.

That was strange. Why was Torvinen calling votes? According to Robert’s Rules of Order, votes are to be called by the chair—in this case, Nancy Nelson.

And why did Torvinen ask the board to approve only the $50,000 budget? The $50,000 budget is a small addendum to the overall repair and replacement budget. Torvinen mentions the “repair and replacement committee meeting” that everybody went to, but he neglects to mention the repair and replacement budget itself in calling the vote. Why?

Robert’s Rules states that motions put to a vote must be clearly stated. “In putting the question, the chair should make perfectly clear what the question is that the assembly is to decide.” Had that been done?

What, exactly, had the Spirit Mountain board approved?

Leaving these questions behind, the board moved on to the part of the meeting everyone had been waiting for: the Alpine Coaster Update.

“It’s coming,” said Renee Mattson, laughing. “If all goes according to plan, and it looks like it is from the production side of things, the first container will be shipped from the factory next week, so we’ll have our first container arriving on site the first week of April.”

Spirit Mountain maintenance workers had begun clearing brush for the ride, doing their best to avoid any “significant trees” as they carved out a twelve-foot-wide corridor through the forest. Permitting had begun for a new 63-car parking lot at the top of the hill that would serve the new ticket office and concession building (the ride would start at the top of the hill). Final drawings for the buildings would be arriving “next week,” said Mattson, and she hoped to put them out to bid at that time.

The grand opening for the alpine coaster was scheduled for the last week of June.

Torvinen wondered about the marketing of the attraction. “This is Duluth’s newest attraction that we’ve had in four or five years. Prior to that was the water park, prior to that was the aquarium, prior to that was the Omnimax Theater. […] We may wanna just have a lunch or something with some of the key hoteliers and just say, ‘You know, we need to adopt this as our own to make it successful in its first year, to get some visibility out there.’” Mattson agreed that this was a good idea.
 
Chair Nelson adjourned the meeting. As everyone got up to leave, roving journalist Richard Thomas, who had been slouched on a couch in the corner of the room, approached Nancy Nelson and asked her for a copy of the financial statement. As Nelson began her explanation about the Public Inspection pile, I interrupted her. “I took it,” I said.

“You took it?”

“You bet I did.”

“Well, could you share it with him?”

“Yeah, I’ll share it with him.” Unlike Spirit Mountain, I was happy to share information with people, out of the goodness of my heart.

I then demanded that I be given three days’ notice of all Spirit Mountain committee and subcommittee meetings. The repair and replacement committee meeting where so much had been decided had never been announced, though such announcement was required by law.

Nelson asked me to show her where the open meeting law said this. I did so. She agreed to notify me of committee meetings.

At last, everything was in order. Pleased with another successful day of breaking news stories, I packed up my gear and headed home.