Ramsey County Board rebukes Sheriff Bob Fletcher for 'act of racism'

An increasingly heated exchange of letters between Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher and the Ramsey County Board culminated Friday with the board accusing the sheriff of a "pattern of disrespect" and an "act of racism."

At issue is a letter Fletcher sent to commissioners Tuesday after the board unanimously voted to put controls in place intended to stop what it called a pattern of "massive and intentional" overspending by the sheriff.

Fletcher responded to the board's action by firing off a four-page letter that said his overspending was driven by rising crime. "And for four years, the County Board has publicly ignored this issue and failed to act," he wrote.

But the sheriff sent the letter to only four members of the seven-member board — the four who identify as white. Commissioners Rena Moran, Rafael Ortega and Mai Chong Xiong were excluded. Moran is Black, Ortega is Latino and Xiong is Hmong.

"This is not a small omission on multiple levels. As a long-time elected official who frequently postures for, expects and receives respect due to your positional title, you should fully recognize the disrespect you displayed by excluding members of this county board," the full board said in a Friday letter to Fletcher.

"This act to exclude a subset of commissioners is a serious breach of protocol on its own terms. However, when one evaluates who you addressed and who you omitted ... [in] attempting to engage on countywide issues with white commissioners, while intentionally omitting commissioners of color from that discussion, is a racist act that deserves public attention and condemnation."

The Ramsey County sheriff is an elected position. Fletcher was re-elected to the office in 2022 after running unopposed.

A Sheriff's Office spokesman on Friday said Fletcher declined to be interviewed.

But as Board Chair Trista MatasCastillo, Ortega and County Manager Ryan O'Connor were holding anews briefing to discuss the board's response to Fletcher on Friday, the sheriff fired off another letter. In it, he accused commissioners of ignoring the substance of his earlier letter and instead fixating on "irrational and nonfactual inaccurate accusations about its purpose."

"Once again, you've actively turned your back on the people you purport to serve by utterly ignoring crime, an issue affecting their daily lives," he wrote.

Fletcher wrote that he excluded Moran and Xiong from his first letter because they took office in January and "can't be held responsible for [the board's] past failures." He excluded Ortega, he said, because Ortega "has always worked with the Sheriff's Office in a professional and good faith manner."

Told of Fletcher's explanation, MatasCastillo said: "I do believe it's an act of racism and I will call it out unabashedly. It clearly excluded three members of our board who identify as Black, Latino and Hmong. And as the chair of the board, I need to represent them completely."

She added that Fletcher also posted his earlier letter publicly, and said, "I heard a lot of comments from the community that said, 'Why did he only send it to the white commissioners?' So, the perception is there."

This isn't an isolated incident, O'Connor said: County department heads who are Black have complained that Fletcher has been dismissive of them. Taken altogether, O'Connor said, the issue needs to be addressed.

MatasCastillo called on Fletcher to apologize to the excluded commissioners. She and Ortega said their main goal moving forward is to get Fletcher to work with them.

During the briefing, which was held virtually, Ortega several times hesitated to call Fletcher's exclusion of himself and the two other commissioners racist. Ortega said he and Fletcher have been able to work together over the years.

"To me that's pretty strong," Ortega said when asked if he thought the omission was racist. "Bob is somebody who is politically astute. He isn't above manipulating race to get to his goals and objectives. Whether that was an act of racism or he's a racist, to me, quite frankly, I want him at the table."