League of Women Voters

Jane B McWilliams, Observer

Councilman Noah Cashman was absent.

After calling the roll and calling for a vote to approve the agenda, Mayor Lansing asked who had called the meeting. Councilman Denison said he, Cashman and Davis had done so. He felt that the public deserved a council that took the resignation seriously and didn't have it as one item on a full agenda. Two resolutions were distributed at the meeting (and not prior to that time, as far as the League observer was able to determine), as well as an unsigned memo attached to the curriculum vitae of Richard F. Fursman. The observer commented during the public comments that it was unfortunate for both the public and the members of the council that the materials hadn’t been made available prior to the meeting. It made consideration of the very difficult issues more difficult.

The council passed unanimously the first resolution which accepted and acknowledged City Administrator Al Roder’s resignation, effective August 1, 2008, and thanked him for his service. During discussion, Roger Knutson, the special council attending the meeting, asked by a Councilman whether he had looked at Roder’s contract to see what obligations the council had, said he had not. Lansing noted that the personnel policy requires an exit interview.

The second resolution provided for the city to reimburse the city administrator attorney’s fees “without dollar limitation but subject to review . . . by the city attorney. . . “ In August of 2007, the council agreed to indemnify Roder for costs incurred in connection with the Goodhue County investigation of the administrator, initiated by the former chief of police. Tonight’s resolution concludes that the city has a continuing obligation to indemnify the administrator.

Before the council began their discussion, Roder spoke frankly about the conflicts he had had with Mayor Lansing, who, Roder said, asked him to resign in March 2007. On the basis of that request, Roder said he is due severance pay at his departure. He asserted he had been subject to abusive treatment by Lansing. He said his desire is to move on with his career. He said his ability to negotiate salary advancement in a new position has been eroded by allegations, and that he is making a lateral move at a financial cost to himself and his family.

Pokorney said that the severance issue is a serious matter and that tonight is not the time for the council to determine whether they should pay it.

Knutson said because there is no separation agreement for action tonight, it is premature for the council to take action. If Roder has been discharged, it could trigger 6 months’ salary in severance pay. Knutson offered to draft a separation agreement, along with a confidential letter explaining his rationale for the council to have by Wednesday of next week. He recommended that the matter be taken up in an open meeting, and if the council has questions about his letter, to contact him.

Following the exchange around Roder’s statement and the question of severance pay, the council returned to the question about paying the legal fees. While the council had designated $7,500 last August, it is possible the final cost will be over $15,000. There was concern that the amount depends on the pace of the Goodhue County investigation, as Roder’s attorney is monitoring the process, trying to find out what the issues are. They amended the motion to include the terms of the resolution in the separation agreement and passed the resolution unanimously. While it wasn’t stated explicitly, the implication was that the dollar amount for legal fees might be determined at that time.

Denison said that now that they had accepted Roder’s resignation it is prudent to act as quickly as possible on replacing him. He recommended that the council consult the League of Cities which has a list of people who serve as interim city administrator. On his own initiative, Denison had contacted Richard Fursman who had facilitated the council’s goal setting session earlier this year. While others agreed that an interim administrator would be a good idea, Pokorney said an internal candidate, Public Service Director Joel Walinski, would give the rest of the staff confidence that “we’d moved forward” and would provide continuity. Lansing recommended that there be a work session to discuss this and other issues.

Several members of the public spoke. Former Councilman Dixon Bond recommended that an interim expect to serve at least a year in order for the new council elected in November to be in place and to become “used to each other.” Don McGee urged that the council agree on a job description. Davis said six of the seven members of the council already understand the job description. “No matter how clear it is, it just takes one person to screw it up.”

Roder suggested that although the agenda for the July 14 work session has a full agenda, he would take a look to see whether time could be allotted to discussing the interim issue.

Pokorney said he would like to write a book about this whole experience. He said Roder had tried to do what was best for the city and if there were problems with his performance, nothing had been brought to the attention of the council. Lansing said he wished good things for Roder and his family.