In Oak Grove, budget disputes and firings split the City Council

Oak Grove's city planner and a longtime council member have resigned, the building inspector was fired and another council member wants to terminate the finance director and fire chief in an effort to trim a budget that others say is sound.

"I do not agree ... that the city of Oak Grove is in financial crisis. We most certainly are not," nine-year councilwoman Kristin Anderson said this week in a resignation speech peppered with frustration and disappointment.

"Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that I would sit with a group of people who, without a blink of an eye, would end the employment of a sole provider of six, two weeks before Christmas," Anderson said, referring to the dismissal of the building inspector, a move other officials attributed to belt-tightening. "This is a city, not a corporation."

Controversy isn't a stranger to the city. Last year, after being fired, Oak Grove's longtime accountant Julie Lohse said that City Hall could not be more dysfunctional. A few months later, the fire chief resigned after accusations by his staff that delay and indecision by superiors at a house fire may have cost the life of an 86-year-old man. Now, the city that not long ago hired three administrators in less than three years may be battling a reputation steeped in turmoil as much as it struggles to solve its economic woes.

Wants to reduce costs

At a Nov. 30 council meeting, Mark Korin, the newest council member, elected 13 months ago, requested cutting several more positions, citing a need to rein-in costs. That rankled Anderson, who considers herself a fiscal conservative.

In an interview with the Star Tribune this week, Korin said the council's "discussions revolved around ways to reduce costs, targeting areas where we could reduce staff without cutting essential services."

As for being singled out by Anderson in her resignation speech, Korin noted that for the five-member council to terminate any of the positions, "it takes three of us to agree."

On Monday, after a 2-2 vote with one abstention, the council decided to table action on the finance director's position until the next meeting on Jan. 11. But Clara Thorne, the finance director, said she "has to make the assumption my position will be terminated."

She said she will continue her daily schedule, "trying to do everything I can" to put Oak Grove in the best financial position.

City Administrator Chantell Knauss, who has no vote in these matters, agrees with Anderson regarding Oak Grove's fiscal state, saying, "I don't think the city's in a financial crisis." She praised the recently departed workers, saying it pained her personally and professionally to lose them. She wondered aloud how their vacated positions will affect services to residents.

Anderson's resignation could also create a ripple effect in the way the board does business. Hers was the only female voice on the council -- and she wasn't afraid to raise it. Whether the discussion centered on economics or the red-hot fire department crisis of 2008, she tried to be a voice of reason. What she had to say often was ignored by fellow board members, but it resonated among residents who attended meetings.

Anderson, who did not return phone calls from the Star Tribune, continued to raise eyebrows until the end. In her resignation speech, she asked that council members' pay be eliminated, saying, "I would rather have seen that money going towards a valuable employee."

"Unemployment in this country is a crisis," she said at Monday's meeting. "And we have just added to it."

The city will take applications for the vacant council seat until Dec. 31; it is expected that an appointment to complete the final 12 months of Anderson's term will be made at the Jan. 11 council meeting. Information is available at www.ci.oak-grove.mn.us

Paul Levy • 612-673-4419