Or it seems so from Strib reporting - everything but a food fight -
Divided Anoka County Board elects Mike Gamache as chair
Jeff Reinert was named vice chair in a contentious vote.In a vote carrying a contentious undercurrent, Anoka County commissioners elected Mike Gamache as the new Anoka County Board chair Tuesday.
Gamache, a board member who has represented parts of Andover, Coon Rapids and Fridley since 2014, won the role on a 5-1 vote after an earlier motion to elect commissioner Scott Schulte as chair failed on a 4-2 vote.
Commissioner Jeff Reinert was elected vice chair, but his appointment on a 4-2 vote revealed just how fractured the seven-member board is. Commissioner Julie Braastad attended the meeting remotely, but technical difficulties prevented her from casting any votes.
Schulte said he was "surprised" by some of the votes for Reinert, and said he voted no citing Reinert's disrespect shown to commissioners and county staff. He also accused Reinert of intentionally misrepresenting facts to commissioners and constituents, and for making racist comments in the past.
[...] Commissioner Mandy Meisner fired back. "This is the second board meeting in a row that you have talked about coming together, that we need to be professional, and you are bringing up topics that are opinion-based," she said. "You bring this up to be divisive."
Reinert also railed against Schulte, saying "this display of disingenuousness by Commissioner Schulte has just shown us is why he is not chair."
Commissioner Julie Jeppson, who voted for Reinert, took umbrage with Schulte's bringing politics into the vote.
[...] "I finally said what everybody says behind closed doors for the past 20 years," Schulte responded. "It's been said on Facebook and Twitter. I just said it publicly and it's now on the record. It's all true."
Gamache takes over for Matt Look, who served as chair in 2023. Look will likely resign from the board during the first quarter after he accepted a job as city administrator in East Bethel. If that happens, the county would need to hold a special election to fill his First District seat.
[...] The county is in search of a new administrator and continues to have discussions on how to replace its aging and cramped jail.
In that report there was mention of a new and bigger county jail. The smaller the jail the less the people will be put there. And when inmate death is a worry it's not a place you want more room to cram more people into a bigger place, unless supervision is up to the task. It is not an easy question with an easy answer and there are always other ways to spend money.
That said, it seems for now only Strib has an online report. Crabgrass web searching failed to find any others. Strib has a paywall, so the hope was other coverage.
The link given in the quote is to another Strib paywalled item. A quick short excerpt:
Anoka County officials have been talking about building a new jail since 2017, but don't seem to be getting any closer to agreeing on final designs — or on where a new facility should be built.
Last week the Anoka County Board rejected a resolution that would have approved designs from Wold Architects for a new jail on property adjacent to the Anoka County Government Center and the courthouse.
The measure would have directed the county to submit plans to the city of Anoka for approval, and allowed the city to present plans for a comprehensive justice center at the Rum River Campus — the old state hospital campus — by March 29.
The current jail was built in 1983 as part of the Sheriff's Office. The building is outdated, does not have enough room for inmates and is not safe for deputies nor inmates, officials have said.
Once things quell to a full seven-member lame-duck-free board, jail spending vs. other priorities can be resolved. It will be interesting to see which conservative Republican files for the special election to replace conservative Republican Matt Look, (the seats nominally being non-partisan). Crabgrass will not rumor monger, but has heard a rumor. Don't be surprised if a familiar name surfaces.
And Rhonda's replacement as top administrator is another thing to watch.