Matt Look, City Administrator, East Bethel. Glad I don't live there.
And sitting on the County Commissioner job into next year, so his confederates on the board can then appoint a stealth choice.
I wish East Bethel citizens well, in this move. Too bad the procedure arguably was impaired.
What stealth? Strib notes:
Mayor Kevin Lewis in October had identified a candidate to replace outgoing administrator Jack Davis, whose contract is not being renewed, without posting the job. But Lewis kept the name a secret, revealing to council members that Look was the lone candidate being considered just hours before Monday's vote.
Look's name did not appear on Monday's agenda item stating Lewis would introduce the candidate to the council to interview, and that the council "may make a decision to hire or proceed in another direction."
That had some residents claiming East Bethel violated state law, which states names of current and former applicants named as finalists for government jobs must be made public.
Nonetheless, the council approved a deal that will pay Look $146,621 annually.
"Congratulations Mr. Look. You will be the new city administrator of East Bethel, Minnesota," Mayor Kevin Lewis said after council members interviewed Look during Monday's meeting and voted 5-0 to offer him the job.
Look will work 60%-time over the next few months as he transitions into the job. It appeared Look will remain on the Anoka County Board through February to fulfill obligations to committees he serves on and continue to draw his $87,984 salary from the county.
You vote in a mayor who operates like that, you deserve Matt Look.
Why stealth?
Go figure.
_____________UPDATE_____________
East Bethel - Mike Jungbauer land -- Mike's Christian Nationalist conservative bent, Mike's climate science denial, *and* Mike's LinkedIn:
So - Mike, Matt, Landform and the steathy operating mayor;
East Bethel = Minnesota Town of the Year?
So - who gets into the County Board District 1 seat mid-term, after Look vacates? Somebody getting a boost in salary, a shot at a double dip pension bonanza, if from some governmental spot apart from Anoka County? This may be interesting.
Will there need to be a special election, or an interim appointment with the Dist 1 seat to be on the November general election ballot instead? It seems there may be or should be legislation about when a special election is needed if not close enough in time to a soon-to-happen genera election.
Or a County ordinalce, some rule to apply?
And Matt, pension double dipping? Cute if so? If County Commissioners get County Pensions? Many unknowns for general citizens, many guesses possible.
The only thing left to say is that with the boost in salary Brenda is likely to get child support terms and conditions amended.
God works in mysterious ways? Local Republicans too?
___________FURTHER UPDATE___________
Let the circle be unbroken.
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| Landform's LinkedIn (part) click image to enlarge and read |
So, Darren and Mike, together at Landform. A "marriage" made in Heaven.
(Professional "marriage," Not personal. Mike would not have that.)
Ramsey remembers - Daren and Heidi, and Mayor Bob? Their rebranding Ramsey Town Center - pushing on a rope while the market was against the project, Lanform generating fees, now there is Town Center growth, because the market improved, and now a Landform flex sign, sort of there, sagging and all, but something going on. North of Bunker Blvd.
______________FURTHER UPDATE______________
Is there still a pay differential where a Minnesota State Senator's pay is less than an Anoka County Commissioner's? At one point in the past that was true. Is it still the case? The answer there might be material information, relevant to who planned what, when
______________FURTHER UPDATE_______________
HometownSource has more local coverage of stealth poltics at play:
Look’s hiring comes on the heels of the East Bethel City Council discussing it would not be renewing current City Administrator Jack Davis’s contract during an Oct. 9 meeting. At the same meeting, Mayor Kevin Lewis stated that he had a candidate in mind to replace him, but did not reveal it during the meeting. ABC Newspapers learned about Look’s candidacy on the afternoon of Nov. 13 from city staff, who along with the council received Look’s resume, among other pertinent documents
“It’s because there was enough B.S. out there that I didn’t want to provide anyone else with more nonsense to make things up,” Lewis said during the Nov. 13 meeting. “The simple fact is it doesn't take a village to hire a city administrator, it takes a City Council. They’re informed, elected, accountable to the people, and (if it doesn’t turn out), you can put it all on me. I took the lead, I was very impressed when I met the person.”
The City Council placed the interview for its City Administrator position on its Nov. 13 meeting agenda, but the agenda release on Thursday, Nov. 9 did not list Look as the candidate.
ABC Newspapers reached out to East Bethel City Offices last week, as a public records request under Minnesota Statutes Chapter 13 was filed with the city for a name for the City Administrator finalist on Nov. 1. East Bethel city staff informed ABC Newspapers on Thursday, Nov. 9 that they were not informed of the candidate’s name. At that time, staff said that Lewis planned to share the name with the council during the Monday, Nov. 13 meeting.
As per Section 13.43 of the Data Practices Act, under certain circumstances, the names of finalists must be available as public information: “Names of applicants shall be private data except when certified as eligible for appointment to a vacancy or when applicants are considered by the appointing authority to be finalists for a position in public employment. For purposes of this subdivision, ‘finalist’ means an individual who is selected to be interviewed by the appointing authority prior to selection.”
Stiffing the local media in apparent controvention of law; Mayor knows best?
Coverage continues:
ABC Newspapers’ reporter Ian Wreisner called Lewis for comment on Thursday, Nov. 9, but Lewis said he was “still not talking to you.” When asked if he would provide comment on the upcoming City Council meeting or the Nexus Family Healing grand opening in East Bethel, which the mayor attended, he paused, then replied, “Nope,” and hung up.
Lewis was referring to a Oct. 20 phone call where ABC Newspapers reached out to the mayor after the council announced they would not be renewing the current administrator's contract. In that phone call, Wreisner asked: “This is the fourth time now that you’ve had a candidate in mind that you’d like to pick without an application process. Are you concerned with how this looks to the citizens of East Bethel?”
He replied that he “could see where this is coming from, and it’s the usual place ...” and hung up.
Rude fucker.
Lewis reviewed Look’s employment package on Nov. 13, including Look’s salary that will start at $146,621 per year, but Lewis explained Look will make 60% of that salary so long as he is still employed by the county. Lewis said that Look decided to stay on the board until around Feb. 22 so he can attend a national conference that will mark the end of his duties. Lewis said his resignation from the county was a requirement for his candidacy
“Originally, he was thinking he could do both, I told him that’s not going to be of interest to the people of East Bethel, in my opinion,” Lewis said during the Monday evening meeting.. “[...] practically speaking (it) could be a hard sell. I told him unequivocally we would not be interested in that.
An opinion issued from Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office to Anoka County Attorney Brad Johnson from Oct. 17, 2023 states that, “it does not appear that the city administrator position as defined in the city code is a ‘public office’ subject to incompatibility with another public office.
After the unanimous vote, the next course of action was described as Look and Davis meeting separately to discuss times to meet, start the transition process and eventually hand the job over to Look.
More details can be found in this Friday’s Nov. 17 edition of the UnionHerald.
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| Mayor Kevin Lewis - image source |
This comes across as, gently speaking, suspect procedure. As in Done Deal between Matt and Kevin, before any council meeting, with four stooges to rubber stamp at a meeting, to sanitize. That's a guess, since it was handled so secretly Mossad would be envious.
Apologies to HomeTownSource, for so extensively quoting their exceptionally fine coverage. But it was tightly written coverage, with information that was very pertinent. In the full context of this post, Crabgrass contends the excerpting was fair use, and something blog readers in Anoka County would treasure as key information.
BOTTOM LINE: The fix was in? Yes, no, maybe; we only see reported circumstances, and then guess at our most reasonable inferences from the totality of circumstances of which we are aware. It is guesswork, opinion, and clearly Crabgrass was not in any smoke filled room, nor cropfield, nor wherever it was Kevin and Matt mapped out a pre-meeting approach. Whenever in time that meeting first landed, and whoever else had advanced notice. The County Attorney's seeking an AG opinion prior to any public notice suggests far reaching pre-meeting circumstances. Advanced planning beginning, when? Among, whom, in full?
Citizens taken for a buggy ride? You decide.
____________FURTHER UPDATE____________
The quoted item's author closed his report:
More details can be found in this Friday’s Nov. 17 edition of the UnionHerald.
___________FURTHER UPDATE_________
The last update was added so readers could locate upcoming information.
Since 2019 the Anoka Hennepin School District's Board has changed membership, including via the most recent election earlier this month.
Jim
Abeler has first been a Minnesota House member, then a Senator, for his
ongoing and lengthy public service career. Perhaps he may look toward
differing experiences.
Tom Heidemann had been a longtime school board member, and chair, over the years, and has served there through the anti-bullying settlement until the 2019 election. He might, after a period of more time with family, seek other public office.
For readers interested in pursuing how moves may affect pension situations, they are urged to do web research. To possibly help, searchs - state, anoka county, anoka hennepin school district, and East Bethel were entered, but Crabgrass did not follow any returned links. This thought is that aside from salary differences, politicians moving from one venue to another may secure benefits enhncement.
Most recently, today - Nov. 16, hometownsource.com reported:
A national search will be conducted for a new Anoka County administrator to replace Rhonda Sivarajah, who has announced that she is retiring Dec. 27 after 33 years with the county, the last 4 ½ years as administrator.
Meeting in a work session Nov. 13, the board directed staff to draft a professional services agreement with the Minneapolis-based consulting firm, David Drown Associates to lead the hiring process, reaching consensus following discussion of a presentation on options from Chief Human Resources Officer Steph Beito-Ziemer, who said she researched several potential consultants.
[...]
This
means it less likely that an existing staff or board person will be
kicked upstairs. and "presentation on optics" language suggests a board
and staff will to proceed cautiously, so that Look had every "bird in
the hand" reason to move to East Bethel to satisfy a desire to move from
elected policy work to new appointed administrative duties and
experiences, as well as having his salary boost.
With the County Administrator job being in limbo and searched nationally, East Bethel was an immediate opportunity, handled as it was.