2018 Commencement held at Fulda High School
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Category: Community
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By: Sheila Crowley Staff Writer Several concerned community members attended last Tuesday’s commissioner meeting to voice their opinion in regards to the Board’s request for Sheriff Telkamp’s resignation. Members waited until open forum and then proceeded to the front – each sharing their concerns with the recent action. Those coming forward had two minutes to pose their question and/or concern. Chris Lewis, sheriff department, approached first stating: “The sheriff’s office is its own entity. We can run the sheriff’s office just like we have been for the last week without any problems. I think we’ve been doing a good job of that. Communication and I don’t see why we need someone from the outside to run our sheriff’s office and possibly provide the same service. We will have to ask one person for overtime – there’s not time to ask for that. That’s my two cents. The majority of us have 10-15 years of experience. I’ve worked with several different sheriffs besides Sheriff Telkamp” Carla Ray was the next to approach: “After last week’s meeting there was a press release from the Murray County Commissioners. In the press release it was stated: 1. Murray County had retained an investigator to conduct an independent investigation. 2. Signed a contract Municipal Solutions to find a candidate who would take over the operational duties at the sheriff’s office. 3. Approved for arrangement to be made for 24/7 security coverage as long as necessary. My question is… who is paying for this? Is it the County? So the taxpayer’s money is going towards this even though there’s stuff that needs to be taken care of like the roads, ditches, and that kind of stuff instead of stuff that has been running fine without any kind of issue? I think the taxpayers need to be aware that you guys are wanting to take the money that could be used somewhere else for this when you heard from the sheriff’s department that it is its own entity. I just want that to be out there for the people of the County. Dee Bohnke was up next: “I just have a statement..The recent action and acquisitions against Sheriff Telkamp and the previous situation that we are all aware of related to the hospital… It is time that the citizens of Murray County demand action. We need and deserve the truth and an unbiased investigation. Citizens should contact the Mankato FBI office, frequently and regularly, to demand and investigation into public corruption and malfeasances of this County Board. We deserve the truth. Dan Ahlers was next to approach: “Kind of on the same thought as Dee… we have a reoccurring problem here. There was hospital problem with this same Board. Heard of some other stuff hasn’t been brought up yet. We have a good sheriff’s department and we have a good local police department. Why are we interrupting that? What are we looking into? To me it becomes a problem with the same group of people. First it was the hospital…now it’s the sheriff’s department. But the center of the problem is here. I don’t know what we are trying to do exactly? I have a lot of friends that work with the County. They are telling me that you (meaning them) can’t have an opinion or bring up anything. Is that what that guy was talking about on the speaker? You are basically telling people what they can and can’t do? Is that hostile in a workplace? Why are they not allowed to speak up because they work for the County. I’m confused. Can you enlighten me on that? Todd Heronimus appeared next: “My question is.. in the situation, who is now covering as coroner? Is Steve still covering or do we have someone else that is taking that position on? Now we are not only dealing with the sheriff’s department, but are also now infringe on that situation. So who’s covering for that. Commissioner Gunnink spoke stating. “We had made arrangements for Brian Christensen (who has been also certified as coroner). Chris Lewis is aware of the arrangement. This is until there are trainings at the end of the month. Heronimus continued: So Brian is the main coroner now? Commissioners Jens spoke: “He’s the temporary one until we can some more… We are going to be doing a class.” Heronimus: “Who are those people that are going to covering from this class is my question?” Thiner: “Your job is to contact Chris Lewis” Heronimus: “I understand. My question is who’s going to be taking these classes? And who’s going to be covering from these classes? Thiner: “Contact Chris” Heronimus: “Chris who’s going to be taking these classes? This is a situation that when we need the coroner, we need the coroner. So if Brian leaves, who’s covering?” Gunnink: May 29th we have a class coming up. We have some names that we have provided to Chris. I wasn’t suppose to say anything but I wanted people to know that we have taken over the coroner issue. Heronimus: “I’m curious as to who these others that are taking the class? Are they law enforcement? Are they just anybody off the street? Are they medical personnel? Who are these people that are in line? I don’t want unqualified people to fill in… the long and short of it is, that if something goes wrong, I don’t want it to fall on me to correct the problem. When it’s someone who can’t talk to the family and explain exactly what’s going on. That’s why I’m concerned with this. I would just hope that you would keep the funeral home in mind when you are doing these talks so that we are all on the same page. Again I don’t want to be re-acting to something when you can be pro-active.” Duane Carlson came forward: “I’ve known Telkamp for quite a few years. I think he’s been our sheriff for 16 years. He used to play kickball with my son, Nathan. I have everything good to say about him. He’s an elected official and it takes the People to put him out. That’s the only that you can get him out. Unless he does something real drastic like shoot somebody. Otherwise you can not get him out.. you guys either. The only way is that people sign a petition. It’s pretty hard to get a county commissioner out. I know that. I tried it. I got 500 plus signatures and it didn’t happen. This is the only way that you can get Telkamp out…is the people can vote him out. So is he coming up for re-election?” Behnke: “He filed this morning.” Carlson: “He filed this morning? I’m going to vote for him. You can’t micro-manage. I was a county commissioner. You can’t micro-manage everything. It’s impossible to do a good job if you micro-manage everything.” Commissioner Jens closed open forum, as no one else came forward, and thanked everyone. The Board moved on to hear the proposed interim operational candidate from Municipal Solutions – the company hired to provide this service. The name of the Interim Operational Director, hired via that contract is Mark Nipp, who is 32 year veteran of military and law enforcement leadership. The contract expected commencement dates for engagement is six months beginning on May 24, 2018 to November 30, 2018. Expected work performance: At a County Board meeting on May 15, 2018, the County Board called for the publicly elected Sheriff to resign following findings of workplace harassment. The Board is retaining the services of an Interim Director of Sheriff Operations. Generally, the person retained for this position will be called upon to do the following: • Manage and follow through on various operational aspects of the Sheriff’s Department, including processing of employee time sheets, employee scheduling (court scheduling, employee days’ off, sick leave and vacation), and transports. • Be available to employees in the Sheriff’s Department (jailers and dispatchers and deputies) to discuss and address any concerns of harassment, discrimination, or retaliation as they may arise, and take prompt action to address and remedy the same. • Assess and implement measures in the Department to protect employees against discrimination and harassment in the workplace, including access to the jail and dispatch area. • Respond to employee concerns in the workplace as they arise and address them as necessary; manage and address. • Provide reports to the Board and Personnel Committee as needed. • Meet with the Personnel Committee, and other County personnel, as needed, to discuss needs of the Department. • Candidate must be familiar with the LELS and AFSCME collective bargaining agreements. • Candidate must have a flexible work schedule and adjust time as needed to interact with various employees, including those who work night and weekend shifts. 40 hours per week anticipated, however schedule may be altered to accommodate both county and personal needs. Rate of pay: The County shall pay Municipal Solutions the following fee for each month during which the Consultant or other Municipal Solutions representatives provide Services to the County: $6,000 per month ($72,000/12 months) for Consultant or other Municipal Solutions resource. Lodging: The County will waive any fees for RV parking and hookup at any County park in Murray County, Minnesota. Mileage reimbursement: If county vehicle is not provided, County shall reimburse the Firm the consultant’s mileage between a business and other work assignments and activities, but not to and from consultant residence to place of business. Reimbursement shall occur at a rate of $.55 per mile. Air Travel: County shall reimburse the Firm for the consultant’s air travel expenses including but not limited to a total of $2,000 for the duration of the contract. Business-related expenses: County shall reimburse Firm for any authorized business-related expenses incurred by the Contractor in performing his duties under this Agreement. Automobile: A County vehicle will be assigned during the term of employment. No out of state travel is authorized using a county vehicle without the county board’s prior written authorization. No other automobile allowance will be paid during the term of this agreement. Performance evaluation: The County Commission shall endeavor to conduct a performance evaluation within 90-days from the Commencement Date of Contractor’s duties. The performance evaluation will be conducted using performance criteria typically used to evaluate city managers. Service Fee: The County shall pay Firm the following Service Fee equal to 13.8% of Interim Rate of Pay ($72,000/yr prorated to $1,000 per month). Chris Lewis posed the question whether there was a job description included and was it put out to the public and the other employees to be able to apply for this?” Behnke asked, “Was the position posted for others to apply?” Commissioner Kluis replied: “This was not put in the papers. This was put out through our employment lawyer.” Lewis replied: “I understand that, but we have policies and procedures within the county on how we hire people correct? Because we just went over that the last meeting. Were they followed?” County Attorney, Travis Smith stepped in: “As I understand this, it is a contract for service. The County is contracting with a company who is providing a candidate to serve as the interim as an independent contractor. That’s different than the employment process. That contract was approved at the last Board meeting.” Kim Holm posted the question as to how the contract is being paid for? “Is it being taken from another budget?” Commissioner Kluis explained the contract dollars are being taken from County’s reserve funds. Deb Penoyer questioned how this all came about so fast? “Did this just happen last week? With the stuff that’s going down with Mr. Telkamp and now all of sudden you have this contract? How did this happen so fast?” Commissioner Gunnink spoke: “It happened through our attorney. It was an issue that was brought forward and as the Department of Human Rights pointed out this morning, we are responsible for making sure that our work environments are safe from harassment and retaliation. The independent investigator was also contacted by the County’s labor attorney. I have not met any of these people. I spoke with the gentleman on the phone the other day.” Behnke: “The independent investigator didn’t do a complete investigation. She interviewed one or two of the staff. She did not investigate staff from the other departments. She did not speak with everyone from the Sheriff’s department… only a select few.” Gunnink: “You know this how? Because I don’t even know who they spoke to.” Behnke: “It said that there was a number of employees in the report. It did not say all employees. I think to have a complete investigation, it would be fair to interview all employees. We live a small community. We have friends. We talk to people. Many of the people who work in the County are our friends and neighbors. We hear from them, that they don’t feel there’s a problem. So we can put two and two together and understand that they obviously have not interviewed everybody.” Kluis: “That may be, but maybe not everyone wanted to be interviewed.” Behnke: “Because they are afraid of retaliation and harassment in the workplace from the County Board. Kluis: “The report said they also interviewed outside people.” Ahlers asked when the original investigation began. According to the report, the investigation began in November of 2017. Lewis said: “I wish someone would have contacted someone in law enforcement so if it was a true issue it could have been addressed in November, not in May.” Kluis: “When we get a claim, we cannot act on it.” Lewis: “I understand. If I get a call that there’s a burglary going on, I don’t wait six months to act on it. I do it immediately or contact the person where the burglary is at and say, I’ll come out there and take your statement. But I don’t wait six months to go out and talk to a person.” Thiner: “It was because he’s an elected official that we have to go through the proper procedures.” Ahlers after the Board wasn’t in open forum anymore: “We are going to hide behind everything again. Come on. We have questions and you don’t want to answer them. So now you’re going to say that? It seems pretty one-sided here. Every time we have something like this, you shut us down just like that. But you don’t say nothing. You just sit there and follow Aurora and she’s the head person here. You guys play along – that’s the way it is.” Amy Hoffmann asked the Commissioners if they would have a night meeting so those who are working could come and ask questions. Commissioner Jens said that isn’t happening at this moment. “The investigation is out there and the tape is there.” Hoffmann continued, “So if the people vote for Sheriff Telkamp, you just gonna drop this? Or is this gonna proceed for four more years.” Behnke: “It would be nice if there was some mediation so that everyone could work together. I think that’s the missing point. It happened… it did not happen. There was a lack of trying to work together. And if, or when, Steve would be re-elected. I would recommend that you guys really try and work together for the best of our County for the next four years. I think that’s what the citizens of Murray County want.” At this point Commissioner Jens asked to continue on with the agenda. The Board went on to approve the contract with Municipal Solutions. Heard commented to the group stating, “To go to the point regarding November of 2017. The County Board did reach out to the Sheriff to try and get him to come to the table to discuss this and they were ignored.” The Board continued with business which included a webinar pertaining to drainage DB software by Brian Fischer. He explained all the ins and outs of the program. He said there are currently 22 counties using the software. The County felt the software could be very beneficial, but decided to wait until next fall. The cost of the software is $15,000 for the first year and set up and then $4,000 per year after that. Jeff Erickson, KJOE Radio, presented the Board with the annual radio contract. It was approved. The Board also approved the hiring of two seasonal employees with Bryanne Bose as seasonal museum assistant and Wesley Biren as seasonal surveying tech. The Board held a performance review with License Center Supervisor Annette Sievert. The Board felt she was doing a good job and realizes the MNLARS hasn’t been easy to learn. The Board also approved the purchase of a new bucket for the highway department. The used one previously approved at the last meeting was sold before Randy Groves could buy it. The cost of the new one is $4800. In other business the Board approved the auditor warrants along with approving a seasonal liquor license for Painted Prairie Vineyard. This is a seasonal “On Sale” and seasonal Sunday. Howard Konkol shared his report which included numerous ditch projects. Ditch Attorney, Kurt Deter, was put on conference phone so he could weigh in on the situation with Summit Lake. Also present were Dale Pavlis and Rick Like, Hadley, along with DNR officials Brian Nyborg and Jim Seal. The problem remains the build up of cattails and garbage around the intake structure. In all, the question still remains as to who the responsible party is… the City of Hadley, DNR, or the ditch authority. After much discussion it was decided to figure out what the cost would be to dig out the built-up sediment and remove the cattails. In order to accomplish this, two permits will be needed. Nyborg said he could help aid with this process. Deter suggested working with the City of Hadley to see if a resolution could be obtained.
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