Ely Timberjay Letters to the Editor

Monday, September 17, 2007 Volume 18, Issue 37

Forsman making a mockery of sexual harassment
By Letter to the editor from Carol Orban- Ely, Minn.

I'm surprised that no one else has written a letter pointing out Mike Forsman's dubious contribution to the ongoing conflicts among the St. Louis County Board of Commissioners.

Mr. Forsman voted against censuring either Commissioner Fink or Commissioner Raukar. Not only does Mr. Forsman not understand the seriousness of sexual harassment, he has made a mockery of it.

I met for an hour with Mike Forsman and have read both the redacted April and July reports on the Commissioner Raukar sexual harassment incident and the minutes of the meeting at which the censure of Raukar was voted down before the final report was even submitted.

First of all, he does not believe that the board should have any oversight role by which to police its members. In effect, he does not seem to think commissioners need to answer to anyone except their constituents next election time. He doesn't think a censure should happen, period, no matter what the circumstances. This gives commissioners� aides and assistants basically no recourse, as they would have if a county employee were the alleged perpetrator.

Second, did I say Mike doesn't get it? He does not understand that sexual harassment is a bona fide problem in the workplace. The gall to wear sunglasses to a public meeting as some kind of statement that he doesn't want to be accused of ogling. Even worse is for him to compare the group of concerned citizens who came to the Sept. 4 meeting to a lynch mob. Oh, c'mon. It's downright embarrassing. It's also troubling. That's a slap in the face of democratic principles.

It's true that sexual harassment is often difficult to prove because it is usually done in secret and doesn't leave the kind of evidence that remains after a crime. However, all workplaces are required to have policies and procedures by which allegations can be investigated and perpetrators can be dealt with. Both Raukar and Fink received due process. For a few county commissioners to kill any further action through a procedural technicality is unacceptable, and Mike Forsman was more than happy to go along with it.

I am glad that the commissioners have agreed to draft a code of ethics for elected county officials. I hope we all pay attention as this process moves forward.