Divided Anoka County Board elects Mike Gamache as chair

In a vote carrying a contentious undercurrent, Anoka County commissioners elected Mike Gamache as the new Anoka County Board chair Tuesday.

Gamache, a board member who has represented parts of Andover, Coon Rapids and Fridley since 2014, won the role on a 5-1 vote after an earlier motion to elect commissioner Scott Schulte as chair failed on a 4-2 vote.

Commissioner Jeff Reinert was elected vice chair, but his appointment on a 4-2 vote revealed just how fractured the seven-member board is. Commissioner Julie Braastad attended the meeting remotely, but technical difficulties prevented her from casting any votes.

Schulte said he was "surprised" by some of the votes for Reinert, and said he voted no citing Reinert's disrespect shown to commissioners and county staff. He also accused Reinert of intentionally misrepresenting facts to commissioners and constituents, and for making racist comments in the past.

"To have a commissioner in leadership who has shown explosive disrespect to you not only as commissioners but to our staff, and clear and open racism to compare Juneteenth to National Hot Dog Day … yet this body of seven has now chosen him in a leadership position," he said right after the vote. "For 11 years we have chosen to do the right thing, to bring conservative values to Anoka County. The four Democrats have chosen now to bring us back to a place where the three conservatives will be pushed to the background. You have picked your poison."

Commissioner Mandy Meisner fired back. "This is the second board meeting in a row that you have talked about coming together, that we need to be professional, and you are bringing up topics that are opinion-based," she said. "You bring this up to be divisive."

Reinert also railed against Schulte, saying "this display of disingenuousness by Commissioner Schulte has just shown us is why he is not chair."

Commissioner Julie Jeppson, who voted for Reinert, took umbrage with Schulte's bringing politics into the vote.

"If that is your priority in all the work we are doing, that is really disappointing," Jeppson said. "I am very glad I voted the way I did."

"I finally said what everybody says behind closed doors for the past 20 years," Schulte responded. "It's been said on Facebook and Twitter. I just said it publicly and it's now on the record. It's all true."

Gamache takes over for Matt Look, who served as chair in 2023. Look will likely resign from the board during the first quarter after he accepted a job as city administrator in East Bethel. If that happens, the county would need to hold a special election to fill his First District seat.

Gamache thanked those, including Schulte, who voted for him, and pledged the board would move on in a nonpartisan way.

"We don't vote on what political parties do or believe in," Gamache said. "We have always had the belief that we can work together and do the work of the county for the people of the county."

The county is in search of a new administrator and continues to have discussions on how to replace its aging and cramped jail.

"We have a lot of things in front of us," Gamache said. "It will be an interesting year. Let's hope we get through 2024 in good fashion and things get done."