Repressed anger in East Grand Forks
Hot dang, there's some crazy anger beneath the seemingly placid appearance of the East Grand Forks City Council!
The City Beat had a story today about the Monday council work session where council members agreed to hire a new city administrator to replace outgoing administrator Craig Mattson and make finance director Wayne Oberg the interim administrator.
What I didn't have in the story was all the grumbling from Council President Dick Grassel. He asked in an accusatory tone how Oberg got the finance director title without the council's knowledge when he had been merely assistant clerk.
Mattson explained that the civil service commission had decided to do so and there was no extra pay involved. (I imagine they did it because there is no longer any "clerk" to be an assistant to.)
My notes show several exchanges that followed.
Council member Henry Tweten, guessing that Grassel and Oberg didn't get along said, "We shouldn't get into personalities."
Grassel: "We're not talking about personalities! I asked a question."
Council member Greg Leigh said the council should move the discussion along seeing how Mattson had answered the question. "We're going backwards."
Grassel: "I don't think we're going backwards. I asked a question. I want to ask questions!"
Council member Glen Trembath said the council should ask city attorney Ron Galstad.
Galstad looked up at the council and said sublimely: "I don't even know what you're talking about."
More confused discussions followed before it was decided that, yes, the Civil Service Commission is legally allowed to change job titles but it would be nice for the council to know about it.
I don't know if this goobledygook makes any sense to anybody out there. It does to me because I've seen Grassel scold Oberg before, mostly because Oberg has a smart-alecky way of correcting people's misconceptions about city finances and Grassel seems the type of guy who demands respect. Even Tweten has scolded Oberg.
What I'm getting at is that the next couple of months might be interesting with Oberg in charge, particularly with the city administrator traditionally sitting to the left of the council president. Maybe East Grand Forks should have a cop present at council meetings like the Grand Forks council does.
By the way, it is about personalities. I had a chat with a former council member who knows all these characters. He's not too fond of Mattson or Oberg and laid the blame on their personalities. He might be playing politics, but no matter who you blame, it's pretty obvious some people just aren't getting along.
Update 4:33 p.m., 5/11/06: I talked to someone today about this post and the impression was that the city attorney seemed not to be paying attention when he said he didn't know what everyone was talking about. That wasn't my impression. The poor fella just wanted to know what the question was, probably because he assumed Mattson had answered it. Apologies for the misunderstanding. I should bring a casette recorder to these meetings.
The City Beat had a story today about the Monday council work session where council members agreed to hire a new city administrator to replace outgoing administrator Craig Mattson and make finance director Wayne Oberg the interim administrator.
What I didn't have in the story was all the grumbling from Council President Dick Grassel. He asked in an accusatory tone how Oberg got the finance director title without the council's knowledge when he had been merely assistant clerk.
Mattson explained that the civil service commission had decided to do so and there was no extra pay involved. (I imagine they did it because there is no longer any "clerk" to be an assistant to.)
My notes show several exchanges that followed.
Council member Henry Tweten, guessing that Grassel and Oberg didn't get along said, "We shouldn't get into personalities."
Grassel: "We're not talking about personalities! I asked a question."
Council member Greg Leigh said the council should move the discussion along seeing how Mattson had answered the question. "We're going backwards."
Grassel: "I don't think we're going backwards. I asked a question. I want to ask questions!"
Council member Glen Trembath said the council should ask city attorney Ron Galstad.
Galstad looked up at the council and said sublimely: "I don't even know what you're talking about."
More confused discussions followed before it was decided that, yes, the Civil Service Commission is legally allowed to change job titles but it would be nice for the council to know about it.
I don't know if this goobledygook makes any sense to anybody out there. It does to me because I've seen Grassel scold Oberg before, mostly because Oberg has a smart-alecky way of correcting people's misconceptions about city finances and Grassel seems the type of guy who demands respect. Even Tweten has scolded Oberg.
What I'm getting at is that the next couple of months might be interesting with Oberg in charge, particularly with the city administrator traditionally sitting to the left of the council president. Maybe East Grand Forks should have a cop present at council meetings like the Grand Forks council does.
By the way, it is about personalities. I had a chat with a former council member who knows all these characters. He's not too fond of Mattson or Oberg and laid the blame on their personalities. He might be playing politics, but no matter who you blame, it's pretty obvious some people just aren't getting along.
Update 4:33 p.m., 5/11/06: I talked to someone today about this post and the impression was that the city attorney seemed not to be paying attention when he said he didn't know what everyone was talking about. That wasn't my impression. The poor fella just wanted to know what the question was, probably because he assumed Mattson had answered it. Apologies for the misunderstanding. I should bring a casette recorder to these meetings.
posted by Tu-Uyen at 2:33 PM
9 Comments:
Your perception is correct but the fault lies not with the Adminstrative staff, rather it is a combination of ignorant Department Heads who are used to having their way like a two year old; and an old school ignorant council president who like the former councilmeber you interviewed probably hasn't seen the sun for years because of the location of their heads.
Maybe some one should consider the financial health of the City (what it was 5 years ago and what it is today) and the fact that it now has goals and a personnel policy that were lacking 5 years ago. It is easy to be critical of anyone makling a change in the way the "good ole boys" operate, even if it is for the better; That is what ignorance does to the human mind. It only will prove to become more entertaining...but not because of the personalities, ha ha!
Whoever you are, careful where you send these things from. If it's from inside City Hall, I don't suppose it'll be too hard for them to track ya down.
"ignorant Department Heads", "ignorant council president" and "good ole boys"?
Maybe WayneO should run for council. John Hoff won once.
Alright, let's cool it. We're getting into rumor-mongering now. Not so nice opinions are OK, but accusing someone of wrongdoing, possibly illegal activities, is what courts are for.
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