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P&Z – erosion of process, disclosure and community
On Wednesday, November 19, 2025 the Ely Planning & Zoning Commission will hold 3 meetings, 2 of which reflect the continuing erosion of democratic citizen-based process, full and fair disclosure and full inclusion of the whole community. This post addresses Planning & Zoning Commission meeting that will start at 6 pm.
Planning & Zoning keeps creating new “procedures,” empowering itself to serve its own interests (that reflect City Hall interests and not necessarily those of the people).
Applications for this open seat are due by December 11, 2025. A December 11th deadline means Council would vote on appointments at their next Council meeting, Tuesday, Dec. 16th.
Why is Planning & Zoning revealing the applications of 2 individuals before December 11th? This has never been done before. You don’t reveal applications before the posted deadline. Is this new City policy? Appointment policy changes haven’t appeared on Council’s official agendas https://www.ely.mn.us/2025councilmeetings
Nothing in the Ely Echo posting indicates the City will review applications and appoint or recommend to appoint before December 11th.
How was the P&Z open seat announced to the public?
When you don’t reach out to the whole community, especially the under-served and under-represented, it takes them longer to hear about open seats. Was that the plan?
Not everyone reads the Ely Echo. A large percentage of residents unfortunately refuse to read the Echo because they don’t like the political spin. The Echo is the City’s official newspaper. The City usually refuses to publish open seats in The Timberjay, intentionally rejecting equal outreach to the other half of the Ely community.
For some reason, the City did not want to post the open P&Z seat on its webpages. If you don’t read the Echo and you’re not a political insider, you won’t know about the open seat. This exclusionary practice is not a welcoming practice.
This is the top section of the commissions, committees, and boards webpage https://www.ely.mn.us/boards The P&Z open seat is not listed here. Most people don’t know they should look here for open seats. Anyone looking to see if there’s an open seat on P&Z won’t find one here.
City Council appoints commissioners – Commissions don’t appoint
Why is Planning & Zoning looking over applications? City Council members are to review the applications and appoint. City Council Members were elected by Ely citizens to serve and represent citizens. Planning & Zoning Commissioners are appointed by Council. They are not elected by citizens. With the blessing of City Hall, Planning & Zoning is continuing to empower itself. It continues to take on new ways to control its own seats and expand its standing.
Where are steps for public disclosure before action?
P&Z agenda for November 19th. — Item #2 under New Business is Board Member Appointments. This is where the 2 applications are to be discussed. Both applications wrote they were applying for Planning & Zoning. What “Board” is being discussed by P&Z? Did City Council create a new Board?
Has a new Board been created unbeknownst to the public? Why is P&Z right now revealing, discussing, reviewing, recommending, or ??? these 2 applicants for a new Board? Shouldn’t appointments to a new Board be posted in the Ely Echo and on appropriate City websites?
Note: The 2 applications in the P&Z packet are not being posted here, because they are not the problem. What P&Z is doing (apparently with approval of City Hall?), their public posting and planned discussion about the applications is not normal. It’s not established procedure or fair. Has City Hall and the P&Z Chair, City Council Member Emily Rose, decided upon these 2 candidates to recommend to Council before others apply? Announcing the names of these 2 individuals sends intended or unintended messages out to the community and to others considering applying.
Is P&Z reviewing to recommending these applicants for the 3 open seats on a steering committee that was hastily created by P&Z with City Hall blessing? Where was the public disclosure in The Ely Echo or City webpages? The creation of a 6-person steering committee to write OUR Vision and Comprehensive Plan and subsequent quick approval by Council was an prime and shameful example of “flying by the seat of your pants.” There was no emergency to act quickly without thinking. Is P&Z checking in its brains and commitment to the community when they walk into City Hall? This isn’t Washington, D.C. Or is it?
Don’t exclude the community, dis-invite them from equal representation and fair consideration for open seats.
Power-focused, not community-focused “evolution”
“Evolution” is probably not the correct word. The Planning & Zoning Commission has always been controlled by City Hall and City Hall’s goals. There is a different kind of power-control mutation going on since November 2024. Maybe it’s just our disappointment in many self-proclaimed community-focused individuals on Council and on Commissions losing their community compass, quickly acquiescing to and promoting whatever is placed on the agenda. They choose tangential issues and safe questions. Voices of under-served and under-represented are forgotten. Moderation, alignment of actions with vision/comprehensive plan, and balance come with (facilitated) open deliberation.
“Let’s fly by the seat of our pants” without deliberation has become the modus operandi for the P&Z Commission? “Flying by the seat of your pants” is sloppy. It leads to non-essential and/or extravagant projects that often glorify someone or some group instead of meeting the moderate needs and vision of the community. Examples: (a) Luxury ballroom in Washington, D.C. (b) Luxury (not moderately priced or designed) vacant trailhead building in Ely.
The power-and-control-hungry City government members started their successful self-serving domination strategies back in mid-November 2024 after the elections. See https://elyminnesota.com/blog/city-council-nov-12-not-welcome/ There’s no Green in the GreenTeam AND the GreenTeam was intentionally neutered by (a) being a subcommittee, (b) recommendations could be filtered by those who did not understand sustainability and systemic thinking, and (c) committee seats were stacked with Good Old Boys and Allies. P&Z with City Hall input recommended this.
P&Z – erosion of process, disclosure and community
On Wednesday, November 19, 2025 the Ely Planning & Zoning Commission will hold 3 meetings, 2 of which reflect the continuing erosion of democratic citizen-based process, full and fair disclosure and full inclusion of the whole community. This post addresses Planning & Zoning Commission meeting that will start at 6 pm.
There is another post about the Board of Adjustment (BOA) hearing on rezoning 900 E Miners Drive from Public (P1) to Commercial (C1). https://elyminnesota.com/blog/miners-drive-pz-erosion-of-process-disclosure-community/ That meeting starts at 5:30 pm.
What’s the problem?
Planning & Zoning keeps creating new “procedures,” empowering itself to serve its own interests (that reflect City Hall interests and not necessarily those of the people).
There is an open seat on Planning & Zoning
Applications for this open seat are due by December 11, 2025. A December 11th deadline means Council would vote on appointments at their next Council meeting, Tuesday, Dec. 16th.
Why is Planning & Zoning revealing the applications of 2 individuals before December 11th? This has never been done before. You don’t reveal applications before the posted deadline. Is this new City policy? Appointment policy changes haven’t appeared on Council’s official agendas https://www.ely.mn.us/2025councilmeetings
Nothing in the Ely Echo posting indicates the City will review applications and appoint or recommend to appoint before December 11th.
If you want to see the applications, go to the November 19th P & Z meeting packet posted at https://www.ely.mn.us/pzmeetings
How was the P&Z open seat announced to the public?
When you don’t reach out to the whole community, especially the under-served and under-represented, it takes them longer to hear about open seats. Was that the plan?
Not everyone reads the Ely Echo. A large percentage of residents unfortunately refuse to read the Echo because they don’t like the political spin. The Echo is the City’s official newspaper. The City usually refuses to publish open seats in The Timberjay, intentionally rejecting equal outreach to the other half of the Ely community.
For some reason, the City did not want to post the open P&Z seat on its webpages. If you don’t read the Echo and you’re not a political insider, you won’t know about the open seat. This exclusionary practice is not a welcoming practice.
The P&Z open seat is not listed here. Most people don’t know they should look here for open seats. Anyone looking to see if there’s an open seat on P&Z won’t find one here.
City Council appoints commissioners – Commissions don’t appoint
Why is Planning & Zoning looking over applications? City Council members are to review the applications and appoint. City Council Members were elected by Ely citizens to serve and represent citizens. Planning & Zoning Commissioners are appointed by Council. They are not elected by citizens. With the blessing of City Hall, Planning & Zoning is continuing to empower itself. It continues to take on new ways to control its own seats and expand its standing.
Where are steps for public disclosure before action?
P&Z agenda for November 19th. — Item #2 under New Business is Board Member Appointments. This is where the 2 applications are to be discussed. Both applications wrote they were applying for Planning & Zoning. What “Board” is being discussed by P&Z? Did City Council create a new Board?
Has a new Board been created unbeknownst to the public? Why is P&Z right now revealing, discussing, reviewing, recommending, or ??? these 2 applicants for a new Board? Shouldn’t appointments to a new Board be posted in the Ely Echo and on appropriate City websites?
Note: The 2 applications in the P&Z packet are not being posted here, because they are not the problem. What P&Z is doing (apparently with approval of City Hall?), their public posting and planned discussion about the applications is not normal. It’s not established procedure or fair. Has City Hall and the P&Z Chair, City Council Member Emily Rose, decided upon these 2 candidates to recommend to Council before others apply? Announcing the names of these 2 individuals sends intended or unintended messages out to the community and to others considering applying.
Is P&Z reviewing to recommending these applicants for the 3 open seats on a steering committee that was hastily created by P&Z with City Hall blessing? Where was the public disclosure in The Ely Echo or City webpages? The creation of a 6-person steering committee to write OUR Vision and Comprehensive Plan and subsequent quick approval by Council was an prime and shameful example of “flying by the seat of your pants.” There was no emergency to act quickly without thinking. Is P&Z checking in its brains and commitment to the community when they walk into City Hall? This isn’t Washington, D.C. Or is it?
Don’t exclude the community, dis-invite them from equal representation and fair consideration for open seats.
Power-focused, not community-focused “evolution”
“Evolution” is probably not the correct word. The Planning & Zoning Commission has always been controlled by City Hall and City Hall’s goals. There is a different kind of power-control mutation going on since November 2024. Maybe it’s just our disappointment in many self-proclaimed community-focused individuals on Council and on Commissions losing their community compass, quickly acquiescing to and promoting whatever is placed on the agenda. They choose tangential issues and safe questions. Voices of under-served and under-represented are forgotten. Moderation, alignment of actions with vision/comprehensive plan, and balance come with (facilitated) open deliberation.
“Let’s fly by the seat of our pants” without deliberation has become the modus operandi for the P&Z Commission? “Flying by the seat of your pants” is sloppy. It leads to non-essential and/or extravagant projects that often glorify someone or some group instead of meeting the moderate needs and vision of the community. Examples: (a) Luxury ballroom in Washington, D.C. (b) Luxury (not moderately priced or designed) vacant trailhead building in Ely.
The power-and-control-hungry City government members started their successful self-serving domination strategies back in mid-November 2024 after the elections. See https://elyminnesota.com/blog/city-council-nov-12-not-welcome/ There’s no Green in the GreenTeam AND the GreenTeam was intentionally neutered by (a) being a subcommittee, (b) recommendations could be filtered by those who did not understand sustainability and systemic thinking, and (c) committee seats were stacked with Good Old Boys and Allies. P&Z with City Hall input recommended this.