Letters to the Editor in DNT

There have been a number of recent letters to the Editor in the Duluth News Tribune related to the conduct of members of the County Board. Here are some:

County Board members must be held accountable

As a woman, a former employee of St. Louis County and a resident of St. Louis County, I am almost at a loss for words regarding two recent actions — or, more accurately, inactions — of the County Board pertaining to sexual harassment complaints by two female county employees (“Ford investigates complaints against two commissioners,” May 23).

First, there was the investigation of Commissioner Steve Raukar for allegedly having made sexually explicit phone calls to a county employee. The investigative report recommended he be censured, but Commissioners Keith Nelson, Dennis Fink and Mike Forsman voted down the idea (“Reprimand of Raukar fails on tie board vote,” Aug. 8).
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Then there was a report by the county that found “some factual support” for allegations by another county employee against Commissioner Dennis Fink, accusing him of engaging in “harassing behavior” (“Fink faces accusations of improper comments and stares,” Aug. 16). Raukar joined Forsman and Nelson in voting against the resolution to censure Fink.

What kind of message does this send to the voters and citizens of St. Louis County, never mind employees who are subjected to this kind of conduct?

I’m fortunate to be represented by Commissioner Steve O’Neil, but this does not give me much comfort, given the present makeup of the County Board and its obvious disregard for women (and men) of conscience in this county.

At the County Board’s meeting on Sept. 4, county residents who have been watching these events and saying to themselves, “I should do something,” did. We launched a watchdog campaign in the hopes of prompting more accountability and civility from the seven-member County Board (“Board gets a watchdog,” Sept. 4).

In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” County residents cannot be silent on this issue.

Kathy Heltzer

Duluth

The writer is an organizer of the We Are Watching group.

AND ANOTHER (FROM NORTHERN SLC)

Time to rein in county’s ‘good ol’ boys’ club’

I want to commend the News Tribune on its excellent coverage of the sexual harassment complaints against two St. Louis County commissioners (“County will craft code,” Sept. 5). At the same time, the situation is very sad and troublesome.

Commissioners Steve O’Neil, Bill Kron and Peg Sweeney voted correctly that action of some sort be taken. The remaining commissioners were very wrong in their votes to do nothing. As residents, it’s important we support the Program for Aid to Victims of Sexual Assault in its appearance before the St. Louis County Board on Sept. 4 to rectify the lack of a harassment policy that includes elected officials.

Residents should call their county commissioner and demand dignity and justice. The “good ol’ boys’ club” must end.

Dennis Frazier

Zim

AND ANOTHER:

Forsman’s sophomoric outlook was insulting

After St. Louis County Commissioner Mike Forsman appeared at a County Board meeting wearing sunglasses and declaring he is “not smart enough to know when a glance turns into a look and a look turns into an ogle,” I found myself wondering if he, indeed, is smart enough to oversee the county’s business (“Board gets a watchdog,” Sept. 4).

I am insulted as a resident and as a woman by Forsman’s childish response to the very serious issue of sexual harassment, which recently has come to light (“Ford investigates complaints against two commissioners,” May 23).

Forsman’s smart-aleck attitude was something I’d expect from a high school sophomore, not a county commissioner. He should be ashamed of himself, and he should try wearing a dunce cap, instead of the sunglasses, to the next County Board meeting.

Judith Cherveny

Duluth

AND ANOTHER:

Forsman made untenable connection to lynching
The Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial Inc. board is appalled by County Commissioner Mike Forsman’s comments that the investigation of alleged sexual harassment charges against fellow commissioners reminded him of “the mob mentality that lynched three black men in Duluth” (“County will craft code,” Sept. 5).

There is no comparison between the lawful collection of evidence to define specific incidents such as sexual harassment and the extrajudicial actions of a lynch mob that murdered three innocent young men. We who have studied the 1920 lynching consider attempts to draw any parallel as a serious misinterpretation of the heinous crimes against Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie and of the historical impact of lynching on black people.

We call on our elected officials to demonstrate accountability, integrity and character when questioned on existing organizational policy regarding workplace harassment, rather than plead persecution. We urge all citizens to educate themselves about an atrocity that wounded our community in ways that have yet to be healed. The Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial board members, and the organization’s Web site and discussion guide, all are available as resources, as is Michael Fedo’s book, “The Lynchings in Duluth,” and the memorial plaza at First Street and Second Avenue East.

Treasure Jenkins