The Minnesota State Auditor’s Office has ended its review of controversial Orono land deals that transferred property rights to city officials and became a point of debate in recent elections.
The City Council vacated public rights-of-way on property for Planning Commissioner Bob Erickson and Council Member Matt Johnson in recent years. Critics said the moves potentially made their land more valuable while reducing public access to the lakeshore.
A group of former Orono mayors asked the auditor’s office in 2022 to investigate, saying they believed the deals represented a conflict of interest and went against longstanding policies aimed at preserving public access to Lake Minnetonka. Officials who defended the deals, meanwhile, described them as an effort to clean up century-old land records that hindered development.
In a September memo, shared with the Minnesota Star Tribune this week, the State Auditor’s Office wrote that it was clear the land deals had been controversial.
“However, we do not see a basis for further ... inquiry into them, as such inquiry would have to be based in determinations that either are for courts to decide (e.g., were ... beyond the broad discretion afforded to the City Council for such matters) or left to the will of the voters, who ultimately judge the wisdom of the city’s elected council members in their exercise of the power given to them,” the memo said.
Neither Erickson nor Johnson could immediately be reached for comment.
In an interview Friday, State Auditor Julie Blaha said her review focused on two main points: whether Orono city leaders overstepped their authority and whether there was a conflict of interest.
Blaha said the transfers didn’t “hit that bar of being clearly outside the public interest in a way we could decide that,” though she left open the possibility “a court could decide that.”
