Heading into a summer with a busy maintenance and construction season on its plate, the Cook County Highway Department finds itself without a county engineer following a convoluted decision on County Highway Engineer David Betts’ position.
The move came on Tuesday, May 5 in a special session called to address complaints leveled against another county staffer, Highway Maintenance Supervisor Russell Klegstad.
Betts reappointment approved
Concerns about Betts were considered by the county board at a closed meeting on Friday, May 1. Approximately 18 people were in attendance at the opening of that meeting, which Betts requested be open to a specific list of people. County Attorney Molly Hicken said although individuals can be called into a closed meeting to speak to an issue, the meeting itself must either be entirely open to the public or closed to all.
Betts chose to have the meeting closed and after over two hours, the meeting was reopened to the public.
Back in open session, Commissioner Frank Moe moved to adopt the evaluation conducted, noting that Betts had been found to have performed satisfactorily on six of 10 categories and in four of 10 categories, his performance was found not satisfactory.
That motion passed and Commissioner Garry Gamble expressed appreciation for the process that was followed. He moved to reappoint Betts as the highway engineer for four more years. Commissioner Ginny Storlie seconded and the motion passed with Commissioner Moe voting in opposition.
Gamble thanked Betts and his supporters for their time. Moe said, “Likewise.”
However, he added that he was voting in opposition because of what he believed was the lack of oversight on some “pretty significant projects” in his district.
Commissioner Jan Sivertson said, “I will say, my vote is to support you, but I was very much on the fence. I do expect to see some changes.”
Commissioner Storlie, the county board-highway department liaison, said she would be meeting with Betts to discuss the four unsatisfactory items. “I have a whole folder of things to discuss with you,” she said.
With that decision, Betts was in attendance as the county engineer for the meeting regarding Highway Maintenance Supervisor Klegstad. However, Betts once again became a topic of discussion.
At the start of the meeting in a packed courtroom, Commissioner Moe said the board was in error in its judgment to reappoint the county engineer for four years on May 1 and he called for a motion to rescind the motion to reappoint Betts.
Moe cited complaints leveled by the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa who, he said, have long requested that the highway department improve County Road 17. The road is crumbling, filled with potholes and has plants growing through. Those requests have been ignored, said Moe, despite the county receiving state aid funds to maintain it.
Moe also cited a lack of staff oversight by Betts and said Betts had exercised “poor judgment” in dealing with his staff.
While he didn’t find Klegstad innocent of the complaints, Moe said he had seen Klegstad’s work first hand and found him to be very capable. Moe said Klegstad recently helped when a Hovland resident’s house was flooding because a culvert had plugged.
The motion to rescind the county board’s May 1 motion passed 3-1 with Commissioners Moe, Doo-Kirk and Jan Sivertson voting yes and Storlie voting no. Commissioner Garry Gamble was not in attendance.
Betts appeared stunned and asked if he could speak. He cited Minnesota Statute 163.07, which states that an appointed highway engineer can only be removed following a hearing that proves negligence or misconduct.
County Attorney Hicken told Moe that before any further action could be taken against the county engineer that first the proceeding had to go forward regarding Klegstad.
Maintenance supervisor receives warning
Hicken asked Klegstad if he wanted the hearing to be open or closed and Klegstad’s attorney, Alf Sivertson, said that Klegstad wanted the hearing to be open.
There was discussion of complaints by staff against Klegstad that were brought to County Engineer Betts’ attention last year. Those allegations centered around Klegstad’s use of foul language in meetings, disparaging remarks against one former county commissioner and staff, a volatile temper, and the use of county equipment for snow removal and clearing brush at his son’s property.
Klegstad’s son is also a full-time county highway maintenance worker.
The complaints were brought to Commissioner Doo-Kirk by one employee who is now retired and an employee currently on the highway crew.
In the spring of 2014 Betts was asked to investigate the allegations and he cleared Klegstad of all charges, but he asked him to clean up his language and he changed the location of the morning meetings with the crew. That happened in June of 2014 and, according to Klegstad’s attorney, both changes achieved the desired goal.
However, according to Commissioner Doo-Kirk and County Attorney Hicken, following Betts’ investigation digital recordings from meetings and photographic evidence surfaced that allegedly incriminate Klegstad. Some of the tape recordings went back to 2013, said Attorney Sivertson, who noted that no new evidence came after the June 2014 changes were implemented.
The county board hired special investigator Michelle Soldo in March 2015 to “review and provide advice and recommendations on personnel-related concerns in two county departments, the assessor’s office and the highway department.”
Soldo found that some of the charges had merit. Her report said county equipment and staff time had been used for the benefit of Klegstad and his son, but Maintenance Supervisor Klegstad hadn’t authorized the work. As far as use of inappropriate language, none was found to have taken place after the summer of 2014.
“All of the witnesses she [investigator] interviewed said things had improved considerably,” said Hicken.
Klegstad’s attorney asked if any of the 22 witnesses on hand could testify on behalf of Klegstad. He was told no. Attorney Sivertson told Hicken that was a violation of the county employee’s handbook. Sivertson also said employee evaluation steps in the handbook were not being followed.
Hicken noted Sivertson’s objections, but told the board that in her opinion it was legal to continue with the proceedings. The board voted to give Klegstad a written warning.
Reached the next day Klegstad had no comment on the written warning that will be placed in his file. County Attorney Hicken hadn’t written it yet so neither he nor his attorney had read it.
Klegstad said he had 62 statements of support from people throughout the county and from Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Forest Service staff that he brought to the hearing. He said he was surprised that none of his supporters at the hearing were allowed to testify. But he said he would reserve comments until more is learned about the legality of the hearing in the first place.
Engineer’s reappointment reversed
After a decision on Klegstad, the board turned its attention back to Engineer Betts. Commissioner Moe made a motion to not reappoint Betts, and to immediately begin the search for a new county highway engineer. Betts responded, “This is an illegal motion,” but was ignored. Commissioner Sivertson seconded the motion. The motion passed with Moe, Sivertson and Doo-Kirk voting yes and Storlie opposing.
Commissioner Gamble wasn’t in attendance until after the meeting ended because he believed the hearing was to be conducted at 1 p.m. “Why wasn’t I called?” an incredulous Gamble asked after the meeting.
He said the proceedings were a “kangaroo court” and the board members hadn’t followed the employee manual, Robert’s Rules of Order, the rule of law as promised in the constitution, or their own moral conscience. “I have to say that I am embarrassed to be a commissioner on this day,” he said.
Reached by phone on May 6, Betts said he was undecided about his response to the reversal of his reappointment. He said that State Statute 163.07 was put in place in 1957 “to remove politics from the position and to keep politics out of the job.”
“Well, you saw a good example yesterday about why that statute exists,” said Betts.
Betts said he believes that for the board to remove him from his job they had to give him due notice and conduct a formal hearing with the burden of proof on the county to prove negligence or misconduct. “They didn’t do that, either,” he said.
“Technically I wasn’t even on the agenda on Tuesday. They [the county board] had me on there only if they didn’t take action on Friday [May 1] but they reappointed me on May 1.”
“No one from the board has talked to me about any of these issues,” said Betts. “When we go before the board we receive nothing but praise for our work.
“Regardless of what has happened, I know my job. I’m not perfect and certainly there have been things that I wished that I could have done differently or would have done better. Overall I’m really proud of the work I’ve done.
“We are more automated in the department, put out better reports than in the past, have better communications with staff. I guess the board was mad at me for not reprimanding Russ. I gave him a written warning, which isn’t anything differently than what they just did. Sam [Muntean] and I both signed off on it.
“Overall I have received a lot of support from the staff, the community, former county commissioners, other county engineers and from MnDOT.”
When asked what he would do if the most recent action were overturned, Betts responded, “I don’t know how I could come back with all of the hostility, especially by two of the county board members. All I know is that we left the hearing about 1:15 p.m. and my job was posted on the Association of Minnesota Counties’ website at 2:07 p.m. Nothing more needs to be said.”
No roadwork ahead?
As summer begins with four federal aid projects and a large crack sealing project on its agenda, the highway department is now without a county highway engineer. It is also short an engineering technician, a maintenance worker, a summer helper and the assistant county highway engineer as Sam Muntean recently left that job to take a position as county engineer in another county.
According to a county staffer, on Wednesday, May 6, two contractors had to be called and told they couldn’t start work for the county because there was no engineer to sign off on the projects.
Editor Rhonda Silence also contributed to this story.
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