Keeping an eye on local government: Harold Hamilton, Anoka County, Minnesota
Harold Hamilton of Anoka County, MN, initially formed his website out of frustration with the local government. Nearly two years later, his site, the Anoka County Watchdog, has already made a real impact in holding the local government accountable to the taxpayers.
Hamilton began the website in September 2005 after finding nothing but dead ends at meeting after meeting of the Anoka County commission. Nearly two years later, the site has logged over 23,000 hits, and has become an important tool for county citizens who have discovered that their government isn’t always the most accurate source of information about government projects.
One of the projects that Hamilton has highlighted on his website is the proposal to build a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings—at a cost of $1 billion, half of which would be paid by the taxpayers. “Naturally, the commissioners didn’t want to follow the law and hold a voter referendum,” says Hamilton. “The politicians tried to do an end-run and have the legislature vote on it instead of the people. Because of this, there was voter outrage, which gave me a great opportunity to provide an objective perspective on the website.”
To counter the misinformation coming from the county, Hamilton produced a video of a speech on the wasteful economics of sports stadiums by an economist from the Federal Reserve in Minneapolis. He then sent DVDs to legislators, cable channels, the mayors of relevant suburbs, as well as the city councils. “The DVDs basically defeated the stadium,” Hamilton says. “We got articles in local newspapers about it, and media coverage of our side continued to the day that the legislature voted, which resulted in the plan’s being rejected.”
Besides helping to save county residents $500 million, Hamilton’s other main focus has been to get the facts on the local government’s plan to build an expensive regional rail corridor: the North Star Light Rail system.
“For a period of three or four years,” Hamilton explains, “the county sent out propaganda about the proposed system, claiming that ‘study after study’ proved that it would improve regional transit and provide real value for the taxpayers. But when I made a motion to request an alternate study on it, the county’s public relations manager stood up and told the entire room that the commission had only commissioned one study, and that any further studies would be infeasible.” Hamilton has since started a campaign on his website for more information on the project.
Although there is still work to be done to convince voters and decision-makers that the North Star plan is flawed, Hamilton has been pleased with the success of the Anoka County Watchdog website thus far. “The website has been much more effective at distributing the message than I could ever have imagined,” says Hamilton. “Our keys to success are simple. If you’re going to have a website, keep it interesting, updated, and include a weekly e-mail update. E-mails are absolutely critical for us; we send updates that are a page and a half, timely, humorous and unafraid.” Almost 2000 subscribers get Hamilton’s weekly e-mail update, and the list is growing.
“If you think that a website is something that you could use to bring more accountability to your local government, just jump in and give it a try,” Hamilton says. “Do you research and don’t be scared to publish the truth. We haven’t had to back down on anything yet, and there’s still a lot more that our site is going to do.”
Whether by the name of watchdog or whistleblower, Harold Hamilton is a force to be reckoned with, and an inspiration to others who seek to hold their governments accountable at the local level.
