County Attorney Tim Scannell will not step down without being paid with tax dollars. I can’t support this, considering there is an ongoing investigation by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
According to the harassment restraining order against Scannell, while he was undergoing five weeks of treatment for PTSD (which he blames for his behavior), he continued having contact with a 17-year-old girl until the restraining order was granted. Is this a man admitting a problem and asking for help?
While not being fast to judge, we also must look at the whole picture. Mr. Scannell was this girl’s mentor and coach. There are a whole separate set of laws for coaching. Even though the girl is of consenting age, should that be considered? What of state bar ethics?
Will the e-mails and texts that BCA is looking at turn up questionable behavior? While we cannot turn this into a witch hunt, we need to be complete.
Meanwhile, Sally Nankivell of the Cook County Visitors Bureau posted some terribly judgmental statements toward “locals” and what she described as their long-standing culture of predatory behavior. We are not a community of predators.
Her statements make me question her executive leadership ability. She is the executive director of the CCVB and her Internet post to the world said we are a community of sexual predators. This concerns me because 1) It’s not true and 2) This is not positive advertising.
Sadly, some people in power have chosen to be judgmental and discriminating against the quote “local.”
Representation by elected officials appears to be more dictatorial than democratic. People from the area feel they are out-voted and out-numbered by new faces who don’t care what they think or feel. This is a community of problems; Tim Scannell is just one of them. Attacking “locals” doesn’t help. Any leader who does that, needs to go too!
Tod Sylvester
Grand Marais
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