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Baldwin confronts commissioners

Reads letter with concerns over hiring vs. electing county auditor

By Kevin Mertens - Staff Writer | Sep 10, 2023

Brenda Baldwin read a prepared statement at the Faribault County Commissioners meeting last week.

The County Board’s decision to move the office of county auditor/treasurer from an elected position to an appointed position was once again on the agenda when the commissioners met for their regular meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 5.

A small group of concerned citizens attended the meeting with Brenda Baldwin of Blue Earth and Diana Skogen of Lura Township both addressing the board with their concerns.

Baldwin read her statement, which also appears as a letter to the editor in this week’s Faribault County Register.

In her opening paragraph, Baldwin called into question the number of signatures the county reported on in regards to a petition a group of people submitted to the county in an effort to bring the question of whether the county treasurer/auditor position should be elected or appointed to a referendum vote by the residents of the county.

She also mentioned that voters had already lost the right to vote for the treasurer when the auditor/treasurer positions were merged following the retirement of treasurer David Frank.

Baldwin also questioned the board’s concern that an unqualified person could be elected to the position, asking, “How many of you were qualified for the position that you currently were elected to?”

Baldwin also stated she would have liked to have seen more public meetings held to discuss the issue.

After Baldwin had finished, Skogen spoke and asked for more clarification on the legality of what the commissioners did. She also questioned if it was the “just” and “right” thing to do.

One other person, Bonnie Anderson, spoke and said she thinks the group gathering the signatures spoke to around 1,000 people.

“The one major concern I saw from your constituents is your availability,” Anderson commented. “Your visibility and your meeting times are inconvenient for people to attend if they have a job.”

Commissioner Greg Young was the first board member to speak.

“Apparently, there was some doubt expressed by Brenda about the petition that was handed in that there was some kind of fraudulent conspiracy on our side not counting the correct number of votes,” Young said. “I would like to ask Mr. Daly (county coordinator Mark Daly) – you received the petition, right?”

Daly stated the auditor/treasurer’s office received the petition at 3:30 p.m. the day it was due (Aug. 18).

“I came over in about 10 minutes and secured the envelope which was only sealed by the clasp and not by the glue, which was a little disappointing because I don’t like to receive envelopes in such ways,” Daly explained. “So, I secured it for the night myself. Cameron Davis (county attorney) and I met at eight o’clock the next morning and went through all of the numbers.”

Daly went on to explain that the preliminary count of signatures was 604.

“The county attorney had his assistant count the number twice and she came up with 601 which was short of the 846 signatures needed so we took no further action at that point,” Daly explained.

Young then addressed Baldwin again.

“So, let’s go over the question of whether there was the correct amount of votes since you seem to be insinuating there was something illegal or corrupt going on here,” Young said. “That’s what you insinuated with your little reading.”

“I am not accusing anybody of anything, no tampering, no nothing,” Baldwin replied. “There’s a discrepancy in the numbers. Is it really worth the time or energy to argue over it? I don’t think so ’cause it won’t matter. You guys are going to do what you want to do anyway.”

“No, that’s not correct,” Young countered. “If the amount is in doubt, that is a question that needs to be answered. If the amount is correct, then the issue was addressed appropriately as it should be. And, by the public’s response it (putting the question to a referendum) failed and the public is not in favor of taking this decision and handling it the way you would like it to be. Is that correct? Did you have 804 signatures?”

“No, we did not,” Baldwin answered.

“Ok, thank you,” Young concluded.

However, the discussion was not over.

“But, when Mr. Daly called me and told me we had failed, the number he quoted me was 641, the number that was printed in the paper was 601 and the number he just said was 604,” Baldwin responded. “So, if we have all of these different numbers going on, who’s to say how many there actually were?”

“Do you want to question our attorney to see if he’s doing something that is not legal?” Young asked.

“I don’t think it’s worth the argument,” Baldwin answered.

“Then why did you bring it up?” Young replied. “You brought it up to create a stumbling block to entice people to look unfavorably at the decision. That’s my opinion.”

“No, I brought it up in order to open a door so we could have a debate with the commissioners who refuse to have any kind of public debate with your constituents,” Baldwin responded.

“We have had this debate with you twice now,” Young stated. “Before, when you were here for public comment, the chair very graciously allowed you to expound on everything you wanted to and we listened to everybody in the room that had an opinion and we took that into consideration. So, now we’ve had the debate and now you want to open another door and go down a different well. That is what my opinion is.”

“You’re entitled to your opinion,” Baldwin said.

“I appreciate that,” Young replied. “So are you.”

Commissioner Tom Loveall, who was the only board member to vote against making the auditor/treasurer position an appointed one, reiterated his concerns with the board’s decision.

“I don’t think it’s ever really a good thing to disenfranchise people,” Loveall said. “I would like to put forth a motion that we rescind our previous motion and go back to the way it was.”

The motion died due to the lack of a second.

Loveall stated he felt the board should have done more outreach like when the Law Enforcement Center was being built.

He also pointed out one of the reasons board meetings are scheduled during business hours is so county staff is available to be present at the meetings.

Board chairman Bruce Anderson thanked everyone for coming.

“We want you to come. We want you to be here and give us your opinions,” Anderson said. “Let us know what we are doing good or doing bad. That’s what makes us better.”