On Tuesday, July 12, 2016, Joshua “Josh” Beck was offered and accepted the job to become Cook County’s Public Health and Human Services director.
Beck, who comes from Maricopa, Arizona, will take over for current department head Sue Futterer whose last day on the job was July 8.
When reached by phone, Beck said, “I am very excited to make the move. I enjoy new opportunities and challenges.”
Beck, age 39, is married to Priscilla and together they have six children ranging in age from 2 to 16.
The Beck family is well acquainted with Cook County.
“My wife, Priscilla, is part of the Preus family. Her great grandfather was governor [J.A.O. Preus was Minnesota’s 20th governor] and he bought a ton of land on the American and Canadian side of Gunflint Lake and then built cabins for family to use. I have been coming to Gunflint Lake the last seven or eight years and my wife has come there her whole life.”
Beck said he couldn’t wait to move to Minnesota. It was 120 degrees F the day he talked to the Cook County News-Herald.
“My wife and I knew that at heart we are Midwesterners. I grew up in Indiana and that’s where I met my wife. People in Arizona are very transient. No one seems to stay long, so it’s hard for people to form relationships and feel like they are part of a community. That makes it tough for me to do my job. I can’t wait to come to a community where people know each other and care about each other.”
The moving truck will be at the Beck residence on July 24, said Beck, adding, “We expect to be on the road by the 27th or 28th.”
The couple and their children will live a stone’s throw from the courthouse. They are renting the former Gene Erickson residence. Priscilla is an art teacher, said Beck, and she hopes to find employment in the school system.
The county offered Beck a starting salary of $70,87 with an increase to $72,474 after six months if he successfully completes his probationary period. His salary, not including COLA or other annual increases that may be applied, will increase to $74,076 after one year.
The county’s benefit package includes a $10,000 life insurance policy, long term disability, PERA retirement contribution, a deferred compensation plan with up to a 3 percent county match, paid leave starting at 22 days per year, 10 paid holidays, dental, and VEBA Blue Cross health insurance. Employees pay $50 per month towards a single premium and $75 per month towards the cost of a family premium.
A picture worth a thousand words
County Maintenance Director Brian Silence came before the board with a request to solicit bids for repairs on the courthouse and jail. Silence said the windows at the courthouse and jail need replacing because the wood casings are “rotten and the wood is beyond repair.” He also said the old part of the courthouse roof is 30 years old and starting to fail.
Silence brought pictures of the damaged windows and roof to share with the commissioners. The windows in the new part of the courthouse and the jail are 18 years old and all needed to be replaced, he said. Attempts to repair them over the last few years have proven to be futile, he added, saying that six windows in the upstairs at the courthouse were ready to fall out. The warranty on the windows extended 10 years from the time of purchase, so that wouldn’t help with the cost to replace them, he said.
Commissioner Garry Gamble asked if Silence had looked for any grant funding that might help pay for the repairs and materials. Silence said he hadn’t looked for any yet, but noted that he had found a grant in years past that helped pay for the tuck pointing done on the courthouse, and he agreed to search for money that could help pay for these projects.
Cost to make repairs is unknown at this time, said Silence, but he added new windows could run $100,000 and a preliminary estimate to fix the courthouse roof was $120,000. He said Auditor/Treasurer Braidy Powers would have to tell him where the money would come from to pay for the work and materials. The commissioners voted unanimously to give Silence permission to solicit bids for replacement windows, labor, and roof repairs, and seek potential funding.
BWCAW land exchange
U.S. Forest Service Gunflint District Ranger Nancy Larson came before commissioners with some good news about the long awaited exchange between the county and USFS for lands the county owns in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) with parcels of property the federal government owns outside of the BWCAW.
“We are on the last legs of a long process,” said Larson.
The goal is to consolidate federal and county land. The exchange will give Cook County 1,261.89 acres that it can sell or use for county purposes. The Forest Service reserved all mineral rights, but gravel is considered a “surface resource” so the county can harvest gravel, said Larson.
Commissioner Ginny Storlie asked if the exchange included a 60-acre parcel of federal land that Tofte Township had long sought to add to its 29 acres of Birch Grove property. Larson pointed it out on the map that displayed the 18 parcels of land spread throughout the county offered in the exchange, and Storlie said she would share the good news with Tofte supervisors who have worked 10 years or more on this project.
The closing for the land exchange is anticipated to take place from three to six months, said Larson, and she hoped the county board would agree to do a celebration commemorating the event.
Staffing changes
Lindsay Mielke was hired as the new lead dispatch/public systems specialist at the Cook County Law Enforcement Center. Heather Wicklander was also approved to work 28 to 40 hours as a dispatcher/ jailer. The Sheriff ’s Office was authorized to advertise to fill the 28-hour dispatcher/jailer position that Wicklander had held.
Todd Smith and Lisa Kerr were both approved for temporary “out of class” appointments in the Assessor’s Office in the wake of Assessor Betty Schultz’s resignation. County Administrator Jeff Cadwell said both Smith and Kerr would be working at higher pay grade levels than normal until a new assessor is appointed.
Cadwell told commissioners that job applications for the assessor’s position would need to be in by August 15. He said he has looked at the way other counties perform interviews and their policies used to conduct a search and he promised to bring a similar policy back to the commissioners for their review, adding that this would help to keep a consistent practice in the way the county seeks new employees. In other business
. Commissioners approved a permit for a raffle and bingo at Gunflint Lake for the Cook County Snowmobile Club.
. The board authorized Administrator Cadwell to execute all agreements and documentation related to the closing of the purchase of the School House Road between the county and Steven Carlson. Cadwell said he would get that done later in the day. Taxes on the land for 2016-2017 amounted to $5.03. Carlson received $4,800 for the property.
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