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County auditor- treasurer to be appointed soon

Board decides to not have job be an elected position

By Chuck Hunt - Editor | Jul 2, 2023

The Faribault County Board of Commissioners held a special meeting on Tuesday, June 27. Chairman Bruce Anderson could only partake in the meeting by Zoom so vice chairman Bill Groskreutz called the meeting to order. Board member Tom Loveall attempted to participate by Zoom but technical difficulties prevented him from doing so.

The first item on the agenda was approving a letter from acting county auditor/treasurer Jessica Blair in which she stated her intent to not run for election to the office.

She then submitted her resignation, effective Aug. 10, from the same office which would allow her to return to her position as auditor chief deputy accountant. Blair, at a June 27 County Board meeting, had been granted an unpaid leave of absence as the auditor chief deputy accountant while she served as the county auditor/treasurer.

Once the commissioners accepted her resignation, they were able to go forward with making the auditor/treasurer position an appointed position instead of an elected one.

“Normally, I would say Jessica’s letter stating her intent to not run for the position should have been enough to allow the board to proceed with making the position an appointed one,” county attorney Cameron Davis explained. “However, because of some ambiguity with how the law is written, her resigning makes sure everything is in order.”

Bobbie Hillery, the county administrator for Fillmore County, addressed the commissioners by phone about going forward with making the auditor/treasurer job an appointed position.

“It is what we did in Fillmore County,” Hillery said. “It gives the board the ability to get someone in place who can do the job.”

During the discussion by the board, it was pointed out that should the county keep the auditor/treasurer job an elected position it would potentially allow anyone of voting age, no matter their qualifications or experience, to be elected as the auditor/treasurer.

“The Personnel Committee met on June 21,” Central Services director Pam Krill commented. “We are presenting you with the least expensive and most efficient process, as outlined in Minnesota State Statute 375A.1205, for converting the auditor/treasurer position to an appointed one.”

The board passed a resolution to publish notice of the proposed resolution in the July 3 and July 10 editions of the official county newspaper and to set a public hearing on the matter for July 18.

After hearing public comment at the July 18 meeting, the board can consider acting on the resolution with 80 percent of the board needing to vote for approval for the resolution to pass.

If the resolution is approved, the change would go into effect on Aug. 18, unless a valid petition calling for a referendum has been received by the county auditor.

“I am not sure what percentage of eligible voters in the county would need to sign the petition for it to be valid,” Davis said. “I will be researching that.”

If a valid petition is received by the county auditor prior to Aug. 18, the resolution is rescinded and in order to make the change a referendum vote would be needed.

The first time a referendum, if necessary, could be held is the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of this year.

If the November date does not work out, the next possible date would be the second Tuesday in February.