By Rich Larson, News Director
The Northfield City Council will meet tomorrow night beginning at 6pm. Among the items on the agenda are consideration of support for Clean Cars
Minnesota, a presentation of the city’s strategic plan report, a presentation on the Northfield Hospital & Clinic’s strategic plan and a presentation from the Defeat of Jesse James Days Committee.
Also on the agenda is a public hearing regarding the purchase and use of body worn cameras by the Northfield Police Department. A body camera program is something that the council has discussed for five years, and there is $100,000 in the city’s 2021 budget that has been earmarked for purchase of the equipment and execution of the program. Currently, Northfield is the largest police department in the state that does not employ the use of body cameras. The 13 member Police Policy Review Task Force that recently concluded its work unanimously endorsed the program, and Chief Mark Elliott has said that it is a program the department supports and desires.
Critics of the program have said that the allocation of $100,000 for body worn cameras is not warranted in Northfield.
This public hearing is required by state statute, and any member of the community is welcome to voice their opinions on the matter. Mayor Rhonda Pownell in fact said last week, that even though the council continues to meet in a virtual environment, they would like to hear from the public on all matters and are able to accept public comment via the Go-To Meeting software used to broadcast council meetings on the internet.
“We have made it possible for people to be able to speak in the moment, to the council, on each regular agenda item, and we would really value people taking the time to do that. Share their comments with us via, eComment, email, phone call, there are multiple ways. We really want to hear from people in the moment.”
To make a comment on the eComment page on the city’s website, click here.
To make a written comment on the body worn cameras program click here.
Hybrid learning model to conclude for middle and high school students
Northfield Public Schools has announced that they are planning to bring all students out of any sort of distance learning by the end of March.
In a statement posted to the district website on Friday, Superintendent Dr. Matt Hillmann said that the conditions are right to bring Middle School and High School students back to the classroom full time. He said there have been key adjustments made to the Governor’s safe learning plan, Covid-19 cases in Rice County continue to decrease, all district staff and faculty members who wish to be vaccinated will have received their second dose by March 31, and there have only been limited cases of Covid-19 among middle and high school students since they resumed the hybrid learning model at the beginning of February.
Dr. Hillmann said the students will return to class after the completion of Spring Break. There will be no classes for middle and high school students on Friday, March 19 and on Tuesday March 30 for teacher planning days, and full classes will commence in both schools on Wednesday, March 31.
Hillmann said that, while the district is thrilled to have everyone back in class certain protocols will still be in place. Masks will be required for all students, staff and faculty. And while students will only be required to keep three feet of distance in the classroom, the contact tracing distance will not change, and therefore anyone who is within 6 feet of anyone testing positive for Covid-19 for at least 15 minutes will be required to quarantine for a minimum of 10 days.
Dr. Hillmann also said that, due to the unpredictable nature of the Coronavirus, this plan is subject to change at any time.
Lippert says time is now to make investments in the state
Minnesota Management and Budget released the latest budget forecast on Friday, revealing some unexpected good news.
Experts had predicted a $1.3 billion dollar deficit for the coming 2022-23 biennium, and some had said the number could have been as high as $2.5 billion. Instead, the new forecast is predicting at a $1.6 billion dollar surplus.
MMB said the surplus is due to a higher revenue forecast, lower state spending, and an increased surplus for the current fiscal year. With the economy bolstered by a series of federal stimulus packages, including an anticipated $1.9 trillion package before congress right now, state generated revenues are much higher than had been expected last fall.
In his budget proposal, Governor Tim Walz said no matter what the numbers look like, he believes that taxes should be raised on incomes of more than $1 million per year. State Representative Todd Lippert said that the budget forecast is really the “starting gun” for the work that must be done to put the budget together, and he supports the governor’s plan to raise taxes on the highest earners.
“We have serious needs we need to address as a state. I hear this from school districts, from people who need access to high-speed broadband, a lot of people don’t have access to health care. We have investments we need to make. And regardless of what the numbers are, I think we’ll definitely be looking at a need for raising revenue among those who are doing very, very well through this pandemic, because we have some things that we need to fund together as a state.”
The report also said that the economic outlook is not good for everyone. MMB said that unemployment continues to disproportionately impact lower-wage workers.
Jeff Johnson’s Full Conversation with Representative Lippert can be heard here
