The five members of the Faribault County Board of Commissioners elected Bruce Anderson, second from left, as the chairman of the board for 2026. However, selecting a vice chair proved to be more difficult. After a number of votes and much discussion, Bill Groskreutz, second from right, was elected to be the vice chairperson for this year.

Electing a new chairperson for the Faribault Board of Commissioners for 2026 was easy. Bruce Anderson was nominated and elected with a unanimous vote. However, electing a board member to serve as the vice chairperson did not go as smoothly.

Tom Loveall nominated Gertrude Paschke to serve as the vice chairman while Greg Young nominated Bill Groskreutz.

When the vote for Paschke was taken, Loveall and Paschke voted in favor, Young and Anderson voted against and Groskreutz abstained resulting in a 2-2 tie.

When the vote for Groskreutz was taken, Young and Anderson voted for Groskreutz while Loveall and Paschke voted against. Once again Groskreutz abstained and the result was another 2-2 tie.

“I honestly don’t know what to do in a situation like this,” county coordinator Brian Hov said. “Typically, all voting members will vote for a nomination.”

Hov then asked county attorney Cameron Davis for advice.

“I believe a board member is free to abstain,” Davis offered. “Just like he is free to not be here.”

At that point Loveall asked for discussion on the matter.

“My rationale for nominating commissioner Paschke is that she has served her one year,” Loveall commented. “There used to be a rotation here that we would go through. That might be the only thing where a commissioner might wait a year to get into the rotation.”

Loveall continued by saying he had taken himself out of the rotation many years ago.

“That has concentrated the perspective among three commissioners at this point,” Loveall said. “I think it is time for some new perspectives, some new blood. And I think it is only fair and it is only right that it happens. I don’t know what standard is not being met – we’ve never had a litmus test for whatever reason why you wouldn’t put commissioner Paschke in.”

Loveall concluded his thoughts by saying it doesn’t look good that they have four men and a woman who has been here and is being taken out of it (contention for the vice chair).

Young was the next to speak.

“Obviously we have some issues that have carried over from last year that haven’t been resolved yet,” Young stated. “We have a couple of difficult issues coming up this year. I believe it would be in the best interest of the people in Faribault County and in the best interest of the people of this board to get Mr. Groskreutz back in circulation.

“He is familiar with all of current and ongoing issues and I think it would be a benefit, and nothing against Ms. Paschke, to have him as the vice chairman.”

Chairman Anderson asked Groskreutz for his thoughts.

“I sat in on the audit presentation yesterday. Obviously, we had a lot of items that were in there and the majority of those were identified as things that happened in 2023 and 2024 which I was deeply involved with,” Groskreutz remarked. “I have knowledge of what happened at that time and what we did to try and correct it and would probably have knowledge that others may not have in regards to that. That is all I will say.”

Paschke did not wish to say anything on the matter and then Anderson offered his thoughts.

“My view is the same as commissioner Groskreutz. There are a lot of issues we are dealing with right now and some of it had to do with the audit,” Anderson said. “The way I was looking at it is that there has been a rotation since I have been on the board. And with that rotation, commissioner Groskreutz would be back in (as vice chairman) and the following year commissioner Paschke would come in as the vice chairperson. That’s the rotation I am used to. Plus, with the knowledge that commissioner Groskreutz has with the issues at hand has led me to where I am.”

Groskreutz then explained what happened when he came onto the board in 2004-2005.

“I was thrown into the vice chair position and knocked a person out of the rotation at that point,” Groskreutz commented. “That was not my choice to go into that position. I accepted it but I didn’t think it was appropriate for that to happen.”

The board then proceeded to vote on both nominations again with the results being the same.

They were unsure how to proceed with some quick research indicating that the chairperson could make the appointment. With the board wanting to get on with the meeting, that is what they decided and Anderson appointed Groskreutz as vice chair.

Later in the meeting, after Davis had done some research, he informed the board that he felt they did not have a properly elected vice chairperson.

“There is a statutory requirement that the board vote for a vice chair,” Davis told the commissioners. “The statutes are also very clear that the only way the board can act is by a majority of the board so that any action that is not by the majority of the board would not be a legitimate action. I don’t mean to be persnickety, but I do think this is important so that in the absence of the chair we want to be sure we have a binding signature from the vice chair. So we want to make sure we have a properly elected vice chair.”

There was more discussion about whether it was statutory that all five commissioners had to vote with the opinion being that no, a commissioner cannot be compelled to vote.

Young then called for another vote.

For the third time, the vote for Paschke ended in a 2-2 tie with Groskreutz abstaining.

The vote for Groskreutz proceeded with Loveall and Paschke voting no. However, the three remaining commissioners voted for Groskreutz and the board finally had a duly-elected vice chairman.