Chief - Part II

I had originally planned this entry to be a recap of the 2/26 City Council Meeting. However, given the events the next evening that seems pretty irrelevant right now. Again, I struggled with what I wanted to say…so here it goes.

The meeting started as a public meeting. However, Mayor Przybilla quickly informed the audience (probably 40 or so people) that there would not be any time allowed for public input or comments. The Council, City Attorney, Interim Administrator, City Clerk and the Chief all moved into another room to conduct the “performance review” in a closed session of the Council. Unfortunately, I cannot discuss the particulars. This closed session lasted almost and hour and then the Council returned to the main room of the Community Center. A motion was made to accept the resignation of Chief Keith Oldfather with 3 months severance. To no one’s surprise, the vote was 3-2 – with Jason Grimm and myself dissenting. The audience was shocked and saddened. I cannot imagine this is the way Keith wanted his career to end. I know I wouldn’t.

Keith had a plenty of supporters in the audience, a testament to his character and performance on the job. I heard first-hand a number of people say, “You don’t know me, but you did a great job and will be missed.” I think that sums it any better than I could…

During my 5+ years on the Council, there were no complaints due to poor response time to calls. There were no complaints of excessive force by the officers. There were no concerns over public safety. That’s what I expect from a police department.

Now what???? I don’t know. As of today, there are no plans to name an interim chief. I have not been part of any conversation to determine a future chief. I spoke with Keith Thursday morning while we has cleaning out his office at around 10:30am. At that point, no one from the City had the courtesy to let the staff know how to proceed. Someone (I don’t know who) was supposed to be there at 8:00am to address the staff. I’ll keep you posted as I find out more.

Police Chief

I have spent the past few days thinking about subject and how I wanted to write this, so here it goes…

On Monday, 2/18, I received a phone call from the Chief of Police, Keith Oldfather, stating that Mayor Przybilla asked him earlier that day to resign based on a performance review held by Interim Administrator Jim Willis the prior week (Keith Oldfather has provided his consent to allow me to publish this information). It is my belief (based on comments made in numerous public meetings) Scott Adams supports the decision and I can only guess that Steve Rauenhorst does as well. A special meeting has been called for Wednesday, 2/27 to discuss the Chief's performance review - again conducted by Willis. I guess we'll find out Wednesday.

I have first-hand witnessed numerous instances where other members of the City Council have belittled or dressed-down Keith in public meetings. It's my opinion that these actions were unwarranted. It seems to me that they were attempts to discredit Keith and lead to his eventual termination/resignation. If you want the details, I talked about this during my recent interview on http://www.rogerscast.com/.

Then there is the investigation (that cost around $30,000) into wrong-doings of the police department. Unfortunately, since the matter was discussed in a closed meeting of the City Council, I cannot go into the specifics of why there was an investigation. I can say that nothing illegal or unethical was found.

During my time on the City Council, I have had the opportunity to interact with Keith on many occasions. Not for one minute have I ever questioned his professionalism on the job. I have great respect for police officers and the job they do and would never, ever be one second-guess their decisions. These men and women do not have the luxury, like many of us do at our jobs, to over-analyze decisions. Their personal safety, as well as the safety of others, would be in jeopardy if they had to think about potential ramifications after the fact. That said, I do not support the decision to ask Keith to resign.

In the past week I have heard from many residents, as well as business owners, while at various events around the City. Not one person has stated they support the decision to fire Keith. He is well-respected in Rogers.

This situation sounds eerily similar to the termination/forced resignation (call it what you will) of former administrator Gary Eitel.

County Convention

Yesterday, 2/23, I was a delegate at the endorsing convention for Hennepin County Commissioner - District 7. This is the seat being vacated by Penny Steele. Two very qualified candidates were seeking the Republican Party's endorsement - Jeff Johnson (former State Representative) and Warren Limmer (current State Senator). I have met Warren a number of times and just recently had an opportunity to meet Jeff last week. I cannot explain it, but once I met Jeff and talked politics with him, it became pretty clear he was the candidate I would support - nothing against Warren. I believe Jeff will give the suburbs a voice against the interests of Minneapolis. The majority of taxes come from the suburbs and we need to ensure our hard earned dollars are spent wisely. The first vote was around 55-45 in favor of Johnson. 60% was required to win the endorsement. The second vote was 59-41. I have to give Warren credit; he did not concede and was still fighting for support despite the odds being stacked against him. The third, and ultimately final, vote was 61-39. The convention ended around 3pm after starting at 9am. It was a very interesting experience and I urge everyone to become involved and experience this first hand.

At the convention, Jason Grimm and I also had the opportunity to talk with Erik Paulsen. He is the Republican candidate seeking Jim Ramstad’s seat, after Ramstad decided to retire. Ramstad has always been a supporter of our pursuit of Federal dollars to fix the intersection at 94 & 101. We wanted to speak with Erik and make him aware of the problems with the interchange. Additionally, we wanted to let him know that we have been to DC in prior years lobbying for Federal assistance. First he has to get elected…

Improving Communication - 02/20/2008

When I campaigned for re-election in November 2006, one of my goals was to improve communication with the residents. In the past year, I feel improvements have been made. The City's website contains a lot of new information that it never previously did (i.e. entire Council Packets prior to the meeting, agendas and minutes from prior years, etc). I feel this blog is a continuation of improving communication.

On Sunday, 2/17, I participated in an interview with Mike Mauren on www.rogerscast.com. The interview is available for download - Click on "My Podcast". A wide range of topics were discussed during the 40-minute interview. Take a listen and let me know what you think. Again, just another vehicle to let the public know what is going on in the City of Rogers

Entry #1

Welcome...I will be using this blog to discuss politics in Rogers. Your comments, praise, criticism and feedback are always welcome.

The opinions on this site are my own.

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