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EDA, if the Commissioner discloses the nature of the <br /> loans or trust services of which the Commissioner has <br /> personal knowledge, which disclosure shall be entered <br /> • into the minutes of the EDA. <br /> 7 . A public officer may rent space in a public facility at <br /> a rate commensurate with that paid by other members of <br /> the public . <br /> 8 . Local officials may apply for a County HRA loan or <br /> grant. <br /> Minnesota Statutes Section 471 . 881 provides that the exceptions <br /> set forth above apply notwithstanding the provisions of any other <br /> statute, and Section 471 . 89 sets forth the procedures to follow <br /> when a contract is void. <br /> Gifts <br /> Minnesota Statutes Section 471 . 895 addresses gifts to public <br /> officials . This is the statute adopted by the 1994 legislature <br /> which has triggered so much discussion. <br /> The prohibition in this statute reads as follows : <br /> An interested person may not give a gift or request another <br /> to give a gift to a local official . A local official may <br /> not accept a gift from an interested person. <br /> • "Gift" is defined to mean money, real or personal property, a <br /> service, a loan, a forbearance or forgiveness of indebtedness, or <br /> a promise of future employment, that is given and received <br /> without the giver receiving consideration of equal or greater <br /> value in return. <br /> "Interested person" is defined to mean a person or a <br /> representative of a person or association that has a direct <br /> financial interest in a decision that a local official is <br /> authorized to make. <br /> "Local official" is defined to mean an elected or appointed <br /> official of a county or city or of an agency, authority or <br /> instrumentality of a county or city. <br /> Following are some thoughts on some of the key terms in this <br /> statute: <br /> Who is an "interested person"? <br /> An interested person is one that has "a direct financial <br /> interest" in a decision that a local official is authorized <br /> to make. Commentators have suggested that a direct <br /> financial interest is not the general interest that every <br /> taxpayer has in the decisions of a local official , but is <br /> • <br /> 3 . <br />