Mayor calls emails unethical, corrupt, demeaning and sexist

International Falls officials Monday alleged that Koochiching County and Minnesota Department of Transportation officials conspired via emails about the outcome of a hearing and other issues involving a proposal to realign Minnesota Highway 332.
Earlier in the meeting, International Falls City Council approved a resolution asking Koochiching County to join it in seeking a hold on dealings with the Minnesota Department of Transportation commissioner regarding Highway 332 while the city and county seek funding for a road to a foreign trade zone.
City Attorney Joe Boyle Monday outlined allegations the city will make in a brief it will submit Wednesday to MnDOT Commissioner Tom Sorel. The brief alleges that MnDOT and county officials conspired in emails about the outcome of a Dispute Resolution Board hearing conducted on the Highway 332 matter.
The council voted to invite county commissioners to a meeting to discuss the information contained in the brief, as well as other issues.
County Board Chairman Wade Pavleck and County Engineer Doug Grindall did not return phone calls made to them following Monday night’s council meeting.
The brief is expected to be available on the city’s Web site after Wednesday.
Boyle said MnDOT under law was to act as a neutral party in the process and clearly did not, according to the email conversations.
The emails also disclose, according to Boyle, that MnDOT and Grindall knew of a previous legislative intent in developing Minnesota Highway 332 set forth by the bill’s author, the late long-time Rep. Irv Anderson. The intent was that the route was selected to avoid impacting residents and retail areas of International Falls, said Boyle.
Prior to the discussion, the council recognized the death of Anderson and authorized flags to be flown at half mast until Monday.
Meanwhile, the brief will also note that email conversations between county and MnDOT officials had sexist connotations and were demeaning about city officials and their actions, Boyle said.
The emails also show that some county officials knew that the county had violated administrative procedures, said Boyle.
The resolution approved Monday requests the county join the city and jointly request that Sorel delay issuance of his order in the matter for six months while the county and city jointly pursue funding for a road to the foreign trade zone.
Boyle said the city’s resolution could settle the issue by: allowing the portion of Highway 332 known as the Burner Road to be vacated to Boise Inc.; constructing a road to the FTZ; and following the legislative intent not to impact retailers and residents with the trunk highway.
The brief is being sent to Sorel to convince him to overturn a previous decision upholding the Dispute Resolution Board’s decision allowing the county to proceed with realigning Highway 332 without approval from the city on some aspects of its development.
However, Boyle said he was confident an appeals court would rule in the city’s favor.
Earlier, the Court of Appeals ruled that Sorel could withdraw his order approving realignment of Minnesota Highway 332 as proposed by Koochiching County. Further, the court ruled that the city could again ask the court for relief if the commissioner did not change his earlier order and rule in the city’s favor.
Mayor Shawn Mason said to say she was sickened by the emails would be an understatement. The communications were “unethical, corrupt, demeaning and sexist,” she said.
However, Mason said she did not believe that all commissioners, Sorel or Boise Inc. manager Terry Ward were privy to the depth of the emails.
To move the community forward, she urged the council and county board to meet to discuss the issues.
In other business, the council approved the transfer of a franchise with Charter Communications to Midcontinent Communications after a lengthy discussion.
Several audience members, and some councilors, voiced concern about Charter’s services and said they wanted a local number to call to discuss issues with the community’s cable provider.
Tom Simmons of Midcontinent, and Tucker Carlson of Charter explained that the local office and workers would be maintained, but said it makes sense for calls to go to a call-in center to provide the best customer service.
In addition, the representatives assured the council and audience that Midcontinent’s smaller operation would provide better service to the community and discussed a number of other issues.
In other business Monday, the council approved a 3-percent increase in salary for 2009 for non contract employees. It also adopted an employee recognition policy that allots $100 for retirement recognition events or gifts.