Two people resign from key county-affiliated positions

Cook County will once again be looking for another Veterans Services Officer. County Personnel Director Janet Simonen reported to the county board Tuesday, July 13, 2010 that Richard Mackenzie has submitted his resignation. He is recovering slowly from an extended illness and is not able to return to his position at this time.

Grand Portage Veterans Services Officer Clarence Everson has been filling in for MacKenzie during his absence. According to Simonen, he “has been doing a fabulous job in helping us out.”

Simonen is working with the Veterans Administration on the process of filling the position.

Soil & Water Conservation District Director Rebecca Wiinanen also resigned from her position. She has been employed by the district since 1998. In a letter to the county board, she wrote, “Last fall when I suggested hiring a part-time secretary position I said I would resign if district restructuring warranted. Now with [Conservation Technician] Tristan [Beaster] leaving, I believe restructuring of job responsibilities is warranted. …Adding my management duties to Tristan’s or Cindy’s position is a logical move for this phase of Cook County SWCD capacity building.”

Thedepartment now has Theresa Oberg in place part-time to do bookkeeping and office management. Wiinanen wrote, “The officeis finally at a staffinglevel where skills and duties are divided among the positions. This division among administration, bookkeeping, and specialists should allow for more productivity per dollar spent.

“Over the last 13 years the SWCD added hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Cook County economy. It not only contributed to water quality awareness, it provided work for dozens of contractors and workers, most spending their earnings in the county. …With conservation less than 1% of state and county budgets, the work was carefully selected using the County Water Plan and Local Watershed Plans.

“…With drinking, ground, and river water health, as with human health, most people are not concerned until there is a big problem. Thenit can be too late or too expensive to take care of it. I wish you well as you plan ahead to engage a broad citizenry in conservation.”