I have received numerous questions about tonight's disciplinary action. I thought it best to answer the questions here by simply stating the facts of the meeting. Only a few members of the audience were left but word does seem to spread fast in Isanti.
Tonight’s meeting dealt with one of the toughest issues a Council faces, disciplining one of its own members. I thought it best to relay the events and the process that brought us to tonight’s closed session then open session and the actions that were taken.
As Mayor, one of my duties is to sign off on all checks issued by the city. I take these responsibilities very seriously and have asked to receive more detailed information on each expense request than has historical been done.
On February 1st I was going through this process and came upon a mileage reimbursement request from Council Member Larson. The mileage was for League of Minnesota training at Sugar Lake Lodge just south of Grand Rapids. I knew she did not actually drive and therefore did not incur this mileage cost. I asked staff to pull the written request to verify there was no mistake. The mileage for a round trip to Sugar Lake Lodge and back was indeed requested. Council Member Larson actually only drove to Cambridge and rode with a Cambridge Council Member to Sugar Lake and back again.
I denied the requested reimbursement and contacted the City Attorney and referred the matter to the Personnel Committee. The Personnel Committee recommended that the full City Council take this matter up and by state law this has to start in a closed session. We discussed the matter at length in close session and then opened back up into open session. Council Member Larson requested the full amount as if she drove. There was no cost savings to the city by her sharing a ride. She also asked for the reimbursement to be paid to her...no one else. I stated the finding of fact that an erroneous reimbursement request was requested by Council Member Larson for mileage she did not drive and disciplinary action was needed. This finding of fact was the basis for the next two actions.
Council Member Larson was admonished for this behavior and she was removed from her position on the City’s Finance Committee and she was removed from her position as Mayor Pro-tem. The Mayor Pro-tem fulfills all the duties of the Mayor including signing of documents if for some reason I was not available, this could include signing checks. The belief was to remove Council Member Larson from these direct financial responsibilities. Taking Council assignments away is the most severe action the Council can take. A Council can not remove one of its members except for very specific offenses or felony convictions.
The disciplinary actions taken tonight were unanimous. Public trust is paramount at any level of government. We must guarantee this never happens again and that the public trust is vigorously protected. I hope that the actions taken tonight will ensure the highest standard of conduct.
Any questions please let me know..... george@georgewimmer.com or 444-7158
About Me
- George
- I have served the City of Isanti as Mayor since 2007. We have accomplished great things together and I look forward to building on our success. United, we move forward to a better future. You may contact me at 763-442-8749 or e-mail me at george@georgewimmer.com.
36 comments:
Kudo's George! This is one of the biggest reasons we voted for you. So you could hold the'good old boys' feet to the fire . I can only imagine how much of this THEFT we have paid for the past few years?? It is obvious that she was way to comfortable doing this and forgot that Apitz wasn't Mayor anymore to just sign off on it.
Keep up the good work George!
Thank you George for protecting our money. I would imagine it was not much more than a hundred or two hundred bucks but who knows how much of this happened before you were Mayor.
Watch them all like a hawk.
i sleep better at night knowing you are in charge. it has to be hard but thank you. i pray for you.
I appreciate your eagle eyes in catching this matter. Also that you had the support of the rest of the council and were able to work together on this situation. One does have to ask the question what else has gone on with this individual that has gone undetected. Is there a need for a larger investigation of historical expenditures?
The city should prosecute her. She tried to steal money. Larson should resign and someone should start a petition to get her to step down. I think you did not go far enough. Big deal she loses a few positions. If I did this at work I would be fired on the spot. Get rid of her.
how scary is it that if you did not personally know she did not drive that she would have been paid the fictional mileage. She can not be trusted. She has to resign.
Give me a petition and I will sign it. I think most people here would want her out. We need to get tv here to cover this disgrace and force her out.
Out of curiosity, will there be an audit into reimbursements that she has requested?
Since she can not be fired, she should resign if she wishes to take any integrity away with her.
Perhaps an audit into all the financial actives of the past few years is in order.
Thank you George, keep knocking down the walls and fix our city's financial issues.
Way to go George! Doesn't this now give you a valid reason to go back and check to see if she has a history of this? Obviously it would be in the best interest of the city and it would certainly be warranted!
I think a resignation is needed by her if she wants any respect and out of respect for the people that voted her back into office, who put their trust in her. This kind of thing makes me angry and does not help the image of this great city at all.
Where are our community leaders demanding Larson step down. We need to make her leave the council.
Resign Sue and save us the months of misery you are going to cause.
I am sad this happened here. I am proud of your hard work george trying to clean up what appears to be criminal activity. I am just not sure the action taken was strong enough. I sure hope Sue will do the right thing and resign.
I heard she did not even apologize. Can anyone who was there answer if she did or not. She has created chaos for the rest of the council to fix. She must go.
a day of this only and I am already tired of it. good grief charlie brown.
I have worked with this woman on many different committee's and always felt that there was a hidden agenda. Maybe it has now come to light what that hidden agenda was....money.
Sue Larson, step down. Then we appoint the next one in-line, Jim Kennedy, to fill the seat untill the election in 2008. Do the honerable thing and leave the council. Time for a new Poll on the blog George.
Dan, again you are talking without knowing what you are talking about. If Sue resigns, her term does not expire for 4 years. State law requires a special election if there is more than 2 years left in the term. Dan, you need to learn what you are talking about before you talk.
Dan's comment on the time remaining for an election is right. If there was an appoinment to fill the seat that appointment would end in 2008 as he said. The election at that time would fill the seat for the remaining 2 years of the term. If Sue keeps her seat she will have it till 2010.
I did my research and I'm not afraid to put my name on it. I have nothing to hide. Never will you hear me bash or poke fun of or disrespect anyone on this blog, even you Mr. Anonymous. Thanks George.
who can sue she needs to resign for the good of the city?
I am disappointed the council did not ask for her resignation. You did not go far enough. It appears as a slap on the hand for being caught in the cookie jar. Stop biting around edge and ask her to leave.
the county news hid the part of the council article dealing with sue's attempted stealing on page 15.
i guess i know whos side they are on.
Step down Sue Larson. Save the city from anymore negative attention. Please.
As anonymous pointed out a few posts up, the paper had the normal council notes on the front page and then buried the disciplinary events on page 15. This should be front page news!
She needs to resign, there is no way for the city to trust the abilities of its council. This is not a shot at any of the other council members, but how can you effectively run the city without having to second guess whatever it is she is doing at the time. There is no trust left.
I guess our community leaders either do not exist or will do nothing. I have not heard of anyone else making a complaint against Ms. Larson. We leave George out there on a limb. He does the right thing to stop her and no one steps up to help him. How can we always expect George to stand up for us if we will not at least back him up.
I am proud to say I voted for him twice and hope he will not get frustrated and leave.
In response to Jack's post. The Isanti Area Chamber of Commerce is officially requesting the minutes and audio recordings from the closed City Council session regarding this issues. These items have not been made public as of yet and it would not be appropriate for the board to respond without all of the facts.
In fairness to Council Member Larson and in order to provide our membership with all of the pertinent facts and then to allow them to voice their opinion on how we as an organization proceed is simply the process that must occur.
This is a bad situation from anyone's propective.
Council Member Larson has a long history of community involvement and has positively affected many of the organizations that she has been involved with.
Those good deeds do not however overshadow or condone the monetary indescretions that have taken place.
Please allow the process to take place.
Sincerely,
Isanti Area Chamber of Commerce
Board of Directors
The Isanti County News must have hired a back hoe to bury that story as far back in the paper as they did. They need to hear from you in the form of letters to the editor and such.
However, I know a few people that have tried that in the past only to have them edit the letters to the point that they were not even worth publishing.
Maybe, you could write letters to the editor of the Star newspaper about this issue. At least you know that your letter would be published as written.
I would also hope that Isanti County News advertisers would take issue with the burying of this important story as well and let the News know how they feel with their advertising dollars.
I have heard rumors about the Isanti County News editor Mr. Tattings political persuasion but it appears to me that they are no longer rumors. He is definitely protecting one of his own through his actions.
You sir should be ashamed of yourself. This issue was definitely the "News" of the council session and should have been treated as such.
Burying the article under another headline on page 15 was simply disgraceful!
Both Larson and Tatting should step down!
Ms. Puffer, any chance that you would be willing to come out of retirement? Please?
The only way to get rid of her is for the pressure to mount to the point that she has to quit.
All outraged citizens need to show up at City Hall on Tuesday Feb. 26th at 7:00 to let their voices be heard on this matter.
I'll bring the feathers if someone else is willing to bring the boiling tar!
Has anyone heard about any petitions going around?
Ms. Larson, save yourself from further shame and step down!!
Correction, the next city council meeting is at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, March 6. Pack the house and let your feeling be known!
Thank you Chamber Board
at least the star put the start of the story on their front page. thank you star.
I am curious to know does the city have a Council Member/mayor handbook? What are the guidelines for re-imbursements anyways? Is it "spelled" out any where? I am sure she contributed for gas with whom ever she rode with. What about drive time? I am a business owner and we have employee handbooks that "spell" out rules to answer those questions. I think the guidelines should be made public as well, just as this incident has been. Fair is fair......
She rode with a Cambridge person. It said she asked for mileage money. What does a book have to say about what she did. She asked for money to cover a cost she never had. How is that not stealing. Thou Shalt not Steal is all you need to know.
Are you kidding me. What is the point of asking about a handbook. Sounds like it is Sue or one of her remaing close friends. The last person had it right. I did not know the council had to spell out it is wrong to steal. If she was asking for money for someone else or whatever fantasy is being created to get her off then she should have said that. If George had not caught her none of us would have known about it and doudt she would have given money to anyone but herself. How stupid does she think we are.
Watching all this begs the question of why would the good ones run for office. The good ones work hard for almost no pay. You are sure to make someone if not everyone mad at you at some point as you serve. In this case you have to judge and punish another council member. I want to thank you for your hard work George. I do not know enough about the two new ones and the two old ones I know enough about not to thank.
Post a Comment