By MaryHelen Swanson

At least one Chisago County resident would like Commissioner Bob Gustafson to step down from the chairmanship of the county board.

And last week, resident Tony Peterfeso asked for the action during the county board's public forum time. When the forum closed, taking lead from this request, Commissioner Ben Montzka moved to relieve Gustafson of the position until issues surrounding investigations are settled.

Commissioner Rick Olseen seconded the motion for discussion saying he didn't know where all of this was going.
Turning to Gustafson, Olseen said maybe it would be appropriate to step aside until the investigation is over.

Commissioner Lynn Schultz interjected at this point that some people are putting too much importance on the position of board chairman.

She said the chairman is simply needed to lead the meeting and Gustafson has the experience and leadership ability to do that.
Gustafson recently went before a panel of three Administrative Law judges for the state of Minnesota and was fined $2,000 for campaign advertising that was deemed misleading or false.

Other complaints filed by Gustafson's election opponent last fall, Curt Flug, were not upheld by the judges.
A couple of weeks ago, County Attorney Kathryn Johnson told the Post Review that if there were to be criminal charges against Gustafson, the Office of Administration would have referred the case to her for criminal prosecution. There has been no referral, she noted.

The motion to relieve Gustafson of his chairman position failed 3-2.

Correcting the minutes
Earlier in the meeting, during the approval of the consent agenda, Commissioner Montzka asked to pull the minutes of the previous meeting for additional language.

Montzka wanted it included that he had brought up Robert's Rules of Order and that a vote on an amendment to the East Central Solid Waste Commission would not be valid as it had already been voted down last fall.

Montzka wanted the minutes to note that when Chairman Gustafson ruled that the vote was to be allowed, that he, Montzka challenged the ruling.

Commissioner Olseen supported Montzka's attempt to add this language to the minutes but the motion failed and the minutes were approved as presented. Just before the vote, Montzka said he was disappointed and moved to table approval of the minutes until the commissioners could view a tape of that meeting. Since there was no second, his motion died.

Committee juggling
Three months into the new year, the commissioners are still trying to solidify a list of committee assignments.

Unable to determine a final list of duties, action was postponed for two more weeks.

In other business:
ï During the public forum, former commissioner Lora Walker had several questions about the board's action on the solid waste amendment. She asked why Robert's Rules of Order were not followed. She asked Commissioner Schultz why she did not know what the assets were at the waste commission before voting. She also said that last year, as a commissioner, she was not aware until fall of the Robinson signature on the solid waste amendment.

ï In an emotional discourse, Commissioner Mike Robinson spoke to the amendment and the signing issue saying there was nothing done secretly last January. He said he was disappointed that he was not asked for his side of the story in several news reports on the issue.

Top of Page

©ECM Post Review

6448 Main Street
North Branch, MN 55056
Telephone: 651-674-7025
Fax: 651-674-7026
E-mail: editor.postreview@ecm-inc.com