Grand Portage will be benefitting from the addition of a full-time Sheriff ’s Department deputy, thanks to a generous offer from the Grand Portage band.
On October 11, 2011, Cook County Sheriff Mark Falk brought a memorandum of understanding between the band, the Cook County Sheriff ’s Office, and Cook County— signed by Reservation Tribal Council Chair Norman Deschampe and Sheriff Falk—in which the band agrees to pay salary, benefits, and start-up costs including a squad car for the deputy. Among other things, the band will provide office space and equipment, and the Sheriff ’s Department will cover any overtime and on-call costs.
Sheriff Falk said he is also pursuing a U.S. Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant that could help pay for the position. According to its website, COPS “is the office of the U.S. Department of Justice that advances the practice of community policing in America’s state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies.” It focuses on collaborative partnerships and organizational changes to increase effective problem solving.
The county board unanimously passed a motion approving the agreement.
Victim-witness/paralegal job description
Personnel Director Janet Simonen presented a job description proposed by the Cook County Personnel Committee for a victim-witness coordinator/paralegal in the county attorney’s office. It expands the 20-hour-a-week job held by retiring Victim-Witness Coordinator Susan Maijala.
The new 35-hour-a-week job will require a bachelor’s degree, and additional qualifications desired include paralegal certification and ability to work effectively “with emotional, fearful, demanding, angry, and/or aggressive individuals in a stressful environment” as well as a host of other skills in written and oral communication, fiscal management, computer technology, grant writing, public education, research, and project management.
Because the combined position will require more education than the previous victim-witness coordinator position did, the Personnel Committee recommended that it have a higher job classification that starts at $17.10 an hour rather than $13.56 an hour.
The county board approved the new job description. The victim-witness coordinator part of the job is covered by a grant. The paralegal portion of the job will be added to the county attorney’s office budget.
Broadband Commission appointments
The county board made four appointments to the Cook County Broadband Commission. Pat Campanaro, Paula Sundet Wolf, Jack McDonnell, and Jim Boyd will join Howard Hedstrom, Terry Meath, Paul Harvey, and County Commissioner Bruce Martinson (with alternate commissioner Sue Hakes) on the board. The commission is still short one member.
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