Le Sueur County Historical Society needs to be more transparent

On Saturday, I attempted to cover the annual meeting of the Le Sueur County Historical Society as the newspaper has done in the past.

As expected, I was denied entry into the meeting hall at Cleveland City Hall. I was asked to leave, and at times, I felt threatened like I was going to be escorted out of a public building.

According to its bylaws, the Board of Directors reserves the right to excuse any "Director, Offi cer, member, guest, member of the media, or audience participant exhibiting conduct that is disrespectful or disruptive to meeting proceedings . . . and that the President/Chair has the authority to . . . exclude non-members."

What they did wasn't illegal.

It was wrong.

A county historical society that excludes people?

That's wrong.

This doesn't sound right and hasn't sounded right for years. In 2013 Jim Hansen, who was interested in preserving the county's history, was denied membership because of the lawsuit that claimed it was an imposter. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed in November 2012 and the current board was deemed to be the true board of the historical society.

I applied to be a member on April 28, 2014. I checked on the status on November 7, 17, 2014 and again on March 9, 2015 - all to no response. Considering I was shut -out from the annual meeting, it is safe to assume the board never accepted my application.

However, that is how the Society has crafted its bylaws that states membership will be open to anyone with interest in Le Sueur County history, who supports the mission and purpose of the organization and pays the annual dues. You have to fi ll out an application. However, then the Board of Directors review and approve/deny acceptance.

Former County Commissioner Bill Stangler called the move "capricious".

I accepted the denial to cover the meeting on Saturday, and instead waited outside to talk to people who left early. I fi gured former President Jenifer Morsching (she was not re-elected) or Coordinator Kathy Burns could keep me out of the meeting, but they couldn't stop me from talking to people after the meeting.

When the deputy sheriff told people to leave at 5 p.m. (the time until the Society had reserved the meeting room), I observed people leaving City Hall. Some who left early couldn't take the bickering and yelling. They called the behavior unprofessional, like a two-year-old's.

For those who stuck it out until the end, some were laughing at the absurdity of the last three hours, while others were angry. Many gathered in the street to decompress.

The street scene was not pretty either. Burns was taking photos of people talking. People were taking photos of her taking photos of them.

This is not the way a county historical society should operate, and unless changes happen, things will not change. It is an embarrassment to the county and those who care about history.

Hopefully changes will come at a special meeting that was called by a petition signed by the majority of the members on Saturday. The meeting, which Stangler assured me will be open, is scheduled for Wednesday, October 18, Cleveland City Hall, 7 p.m.