Check out local Documenters’ published notes from public meetings in Mandan, Lincoln, Bismarck and Fort Yates.

Bismarck Documenters take notes at local government meetings, and their published notes from Mandan, Bismarck, Lincoln and Fort Yates are available to the public. We invite you to review the Bismarck Documenters news and reporting tab and read the notes yourself. A few highlights from recent meetings are listed below.

Mandan

At the Oct. 10 Morton County Commission meeting, we learned the following: 

• Morton County has recently created a CO2 subcommittee and had its first meeting. 
• Twelve properties in Morton County and Mandan have been foreclosed on due to failure to pay taxes. 
• A railway government partner program called Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority is being developed to bring Amtrak through Mandan, Bismarck, and other cities along the 1-94 corridor. This train could possibly use a zero-emission energy fuel to power it. Read more about it here. 

At the October 8 Bismarck City Commission meeting, a documenter was on hand to take notes on Bismarck residents’ thoughts on a public hearing on Ordinance 6587, a prohibitive camping ordinance. Despite an overwhelming majority of public comments encouraging the city commission to wait to make a decision, the commission ultimately approved the ordinance, as is, with possible further discussion at a future meeting. Our notetaker did a great job capturing the thoughts and feelings of those in the Tom Baker Room at City Hall. Listen to the audio, look at photos and read the notes here.

Lincoln

And here are some highlights from the recent Lincoln City Council meeting:

• Residents there submitted a letter with 92 signatures requesting the resignation of Mayor Kelli Berglund and Councilwoman Anne Artavia. Previous notes of the Lincoln City Council meetings will be helpful when reading this. 
• Mayor Kelli Berglund says she has been in the very early stages of discussing another school in Lincoln with Bismarck Public Schools. 
• After several resignations of police officers and an investigation into the Lincoln Police Department, city administration and council members, the city agreed to hire additional officers. Listen to the audio or read more about it here. 

Standing Rock

The Standing Rock tribal community has documented their first meeting notes of the SRST Tribal Council meeting. Here are some highlights of the six-hour discussion:

• Bison will be transferred from the National Park Service (Theodore Roosevelt National Park) to the Porcupine District. 
• A $30 thousand anonymous donation was given to SRST to host meetings on Black Hills Legislation. 
• An underground greenhouse for the Kenel District was approved. 
• A clause is added to the Eminent Scholar program that can revoke the status of an eminent scholar. 
• A motion was passed to renew the SRST agreement to loan the Chicago Field Museum for an ongoing exhibit. 
• Why was $100K allocated to FY 2025 Game and Fish Budget for 2-way radios but nothing in the budget for dog catchers? 

Read more on the October 2 Tribal Council meeting here.  

Thank you Valerie, Marcy, Elena, and Avis; our talented crew of Bismarck Documenters. We couldn’t do this without you. 

We will continue to build our network and relationships within this community by reaching out to local colleges and universities, civic groups, and individuals. We will continue to recruit those interested in learning more about local government meetings or how to take better notes. We will continue to reach out to those who want to make democracy work by taking notes at these meetings and getting paid $20/hour for it.

Documenters can access various trainings and workshops in note-taking, social media, sourcing, fact-checking and legal issues related to public governance meetings. All Bismarck Documenters are trained to follow North Dakota’s Open Meetings Act. While our training and assignments are rooted in journalism, Documenters are not assigned to produce traditional news articles, and rather, they are tasked to create a new public record using a template for note taking. 

We invite anyone interested in becoming a Documenter to create an account online and attend a Bismarck Documenters Orientation. The next orientation will be held virtually on Nov. 13 at 6:30 p.m. CST. Simply sign up and register now for this workshop.  
If you have questions about the sign-up process or want to learn more, contact Alicia Hegland Thorpe, Documenters Program Manager, at alicia@imfreedomalliance.org.