Hennepin County is now requiring top administrators and department leaders to live and work in the Twin Cities metro area, reversing a remote work policy set during the pandemic that drew widespread criticism for allowing two high-ranking county officials to live and work in California.
County Administrator David Hough, who approved what he called "an interim policy during a public health emergency," took the most heat for allowing newly hired Library Director Chad Helton to permanently move to Los Angeles and run the county's 41 library branches from there. Many front-line library staffers, who had to show up for work despite COVID fears, were furious.
Helton resigned and settled with the county for $60,000 as payment for "emotional damages."
The other long-distance county official, Human Resources Director Michael Rossman, helped develop the policy and then raised eyebrows when he moved in 2021 to Palm Springs, Calif., where he worked using video conferencing.
Now, with Rossman planning to retire in November, county officials are making it clear that his successor won't be allowed to run the department from half a continent away. The job posting states that the position "will be performed onsite in Hennepin County, Minnesota," and that the new director "must reside in the greater Twin Cities area."
In an interview Thursday, Hough said the policy, issued in May, requires top county administrators — including himself, along with other county leaders and executives — to live in the metro area and work in the county.
"June 1 of last year is when our [County] Board decided to start meeting in person," he said. "This year in May, consistent with what the White House did, we rescinded the public health emergency."
During the pandemic, according to Hough, 6,200 of Hennepin County's 9,000 employees worked remotely. The county's new operating policy for many employees, he said, is a hybrid model that allows them to work at home and in the office.