The following article by Mike Mullen was posted on the CityPages website September 6, 2017:
When Dave Kleis ran for mayor of St. Cloud in 2005, he made just two promises to voters.
First, he would find a way to bring back paddle boats to Lake George, a popular recreation squeezed out in city budget cuts. Second, he would hold at least one town hall meeting, open to everyone, every week.
Kleis, then a Republican state senator, won the election that November, and soon lured a private business to get paddle boats back on the water.
That second promise, the one about town halls, he’s still working on: This week, nine months into his fourth term as mayor, Kleis held his 613th face-to-face meeting with the public.
Continue reading “St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis has held more than 600 town hall meetings. Here’s why”