St. Cloud Mayor to Hold his 600th Town Hall Meeting
ST. CLOUD - From one meeting that lasted 24 hours, to another that took place on a Metro Bus, St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis has been all over the city holding his weekly Town Halls.
This week he is holding his 600th Town Hall meeting since he was first elected in December of 2005. And, that doesn't even include his weekly radio Town Hall meeting he does every Friday here on WJON.
Kleis says he is committed to doing the once-weekly meetings because it is important to him that residents have access to their local government leaders.
Ninety-percent of the Town Hall meetings I've had over that period of time there's always somebody who has never been to any type of government meeting. That's the whole purpose, an opportunity for people's voices to be heard.
Kleis says some of the hot-button issues that have drawn larger crowds to his Town Hall meetings were when the city planned to cut the hours of the wading pools a few years ago, to problem properties involving contract for deed houses.
Kleis says attendance has ranged from just one person to as many as 500.
Kleis' 600th Town Hall meeting is Wednesday from 11:00 a.m. until noon at Waffle-It on Veterans Drive.