by Katie Friedman
As a reprimand for conduct unbecoming of a city official, the Maple Lake City Council voted Thursday, February 9, to strip Mayor Mike O’Loughlin of most of his mayoral privileges and duties.
This action was taken in response to four complaints filed against O’Loughlin regarding inappropriate behavior and comments toward women attending the Firemen’s Banquet on Saturday, January 28.
According to complaints filed by Chris Northenscold and his wife, Emily, O’Loughlin had told them Chris had “definitely found someone way above his level” and invited Emily to sit on his lap.
Complaints lodged by Mandy Ojard and Sara Peterson described an encounter in which O’Loughlin had told Ojard she gave him “bad” or “dirty” thoughts and that he knew where she lived.
Council members Lynn Kissock, Shar Dircks and Deb Geyen met in closed session with O’Loughlin, City Attorney Rhonda Pagel and City Clerk Linda Hruby before opening the meeting to the public and voting to take disciplinary action against the mayor. Council member John Northenscold recused himself from the discussion on the grounds that a relative had lodged one of the complaints. O’Loughlin departed from the building before the meeting’s open portion commenced.
Acting as mayor pro tem in Northenscold’s absence, Kissock opened the discussion to the meeting’s audience, mainly consisting of several fire department members. Fire Chief Todd Borell addressed the council, saying, “I think what Mike did was very inappropriate. I think Mike should resign. He did send a letter of apology after the fact and in the letter, from what I understand, he admitted that what he did was wrong and he apologized. I’m not so sure he’s sorry for what he did. He’s sorry for getting caught.”
Bill Bruce, a non-resident working with the Sherburne-Wright Cable Commission, informed the council that he, too, had experienced “embarrassing” incidents with O’Loughlin in the past, and more recently during summer movie events in the park.
Kissock and Geyen informed the audience that although the council had requested O’Loughlin’s resignation during the closed session, he had declined to do so at that time.
“Because he’s an elected official, we can’t fire him,” Kissock said. “We can ask that he resign, because this is not appropriate for anyone representing our community to be behaving like this in a public setting.”
Borell asked if there might be a legal avenue for citizens to make a recall effort, such as by petition. Pagel responded it was her understanding that there is no mechanism in place to remove a city official, but that she would certainly double check that.
As the council members discussed which mayoral duties they could lawfully remove from O’Loughlin, Pagel noted that certain duties, namely conducting council meetings and signing checks and documents, must be performed by the mayor and cannot be delegated. She also recommended that the council delay amending committee structures until further review at a future meeting that also includes Northenscold.
The council voted to adopt a resolution to take disciplinary action against O’Loughlin that includes requesting his resignation, and, should he refuse, the following measures: restriction of his access to city property, including but not limited to City Hall, the fire department, maintenance department and liquor store, except as necessary to conduct city council meetings or as a member of the public; to review and reassign committee structure as appropriate; to require an apology at a public meeting, also to be printed in the local newspaper; that there be a public censure/reprimand, the specific content of which will be adopted at a future meeting; that O’Loughlin and all council and staff members attend sexual harassment awareness training; and that O’Loughlin’s duties as mayor, including representing the city at any and all public events, be delegated to the mayor pro tem, except for those which cannot be delegated, such as running council meetings and signing documents.
Addressing the in-house and cable television audiences, Kissock said, “For anybody out there who believes this is harsh action, I would beg to differ. There is absolutely no excuse for this behavior, either at the firemen’s dinner or at previous public functions or private functions. It violates city policy, and he’s a figurehead. None of us wants that representing our community.”
Dircks added, “I’m old enough, so I went through this. When I started working, the women had to fight for everything they got. And I read this and I thought, ‘We’re going back 50 years.’ It’s ridiculous.”
Fire Department Captain Scott Carriveau thanked the council for its actions, adding, “I think it’s too bad we all have to give up our evening away from our families and what we’re doing to be here for this.”
Dircks thanked the firefighters for attending, and Kissock extended her apologies on the council’s behalf.
“Thank you for your support,” Kissock said. “And I want you to know that the entire council will support the fire department in anything you need.”
“We’ve always worked well together,” said Borell, “and we need to continue to work well together. That’s what it’s all about.”
On Monday, O’Loughlin told the Messenger, “I did make a couple of stupid comments and a couple of bad jokes at the firemen’s meeting. A very, very tight-knit group banded together, and they want my resignation. They certainly have a right to do this through the process of complaints and so forth. The city council’s decided on some punishment for that infraction, and we’ll see what happens from that.”
At the council meeting on Tuesday, February 14, a news crew from Fox 9 News attended the meeting to follow the next step in the action against Mayor O’Loughlin. Both O’Loughlin and council member John Northenscold took seats in the audience with Kissock once again acting as mayor pro tem.
In inviting comments from the audience, Maple Lake Fire Chief Todd Borell came forward. “I think it would be in the best interests of the city if Mayor O’Loughlin would resign,” Borell said.
Kissock responded that the council had also made a request that the mayor resign and if he does not, the council will take steps to restrict his activities as mayor.
The remaining council members adopted the following resolution concerning the censure of the mayor:
“The City Council of the City of Maple Lake hereby censures Mayor Mike O’Loughlin for his conduct at the Fire Department Banquet on January 28, 2012.
“The Council finds that Mayor O’Loughlin’s behavior was inappropriate and that his behavior reflects poorly on the City and the Council.
“The Council takes this breach of conduct very seriously and has imposed disciplinary action against Mayor O’Loughlin based on the complaints received.”
Kissock said since this situation became public, other members of the public have come forward regarding the past behavior of the mayor, which she called “disappointing.” She also pointed out to the Twin Cities media in attendance that there are positive items of interest in the city, such as the independent library, the St. Pat’s celebration and the Laker’s baseball team, just to name a few.
As a reprimand for conduct unbecoming of a city official, the Maple Lake City Council voted Thursday, February 9, to strip Mayor Mike O’Loughlin of most of his mayoral privileges and duties.
This action was taken in response to four complaints filed against O’Loughlin regarding inappropriate behavior and comments toward women attending the Firemen’s Banquet on Saturday, January 28.
According to complaints filed by Chris Northenscold and his wife, Emily, O’Loughlin had told them Chris had “definitely found someone way above his level” and invited Emily to sit on his lap.
Complaints lodged by Mandy Ojard and Sara Peterson described an encounter in which O’Loughlin had told Ojard she gave him “bad” or “dirty” thoughts and that he knew where she lived.
Council members Lynn Kissock, Shar Dircks and Deb Geyen met in closed session with O’Loughlin, City Attorney Rhonda Pagel and City Clerk Linda Hruby before opening the meeting to the public and voting to take disciplinary action against the mayor. Council member John Northenscold recused himself from the discussion on the grounds that a relative had lodged one of the complaints. O’Loughlin departed from the building before the meeting’s open portion commenced.
Acting as mayor pro tem in Northenscold’s absence, Kissock opened the discussion to the meeting’s audience, mainly consisting of several fire department members. Fire Chief Todd Borell addressed the council, saying, “I think what Mike did was very inappropriate. I think Mike should resign. He did send a letter of apology after the fact and in the letter, from what I understand, he admitted that what he did was wrong and he apologized. I’m not so sure he’s sorry for what he did. He’s sorry for getting caught.”
Bill Bruce, a non-resident working with the Sherburne-Wright Cable Commission, informed the council that he, too, had experienced “embarrassing” incidents with O’Loughlin in the past, and more recently during summer movie events in the park.
Kissock and Geyen informed the audience that although the council had requested O’Loughlin’s resignation during the closed session, he had declined to do so at that time.
“Because he’s an elected official, we can’t fire him,” Kissock said. “We can ask that he resign, because this is not appropriate for anyone representing our community to be behaving like this in a public setting.”
Borell asked if there might be a legal avenue for citizens to make a recall effort, such as by petition. Pagel responded it was her understanding that there is no mechanism in place to remove a city official, but that she would certainly double check that.
As the council members discussed which mayoral duties they could lawfully remove from O’Loughlin, Pagel noted that certain duties, namely conducting council meetings and signing checks and documents, must be performed by the mayor and cannot be delegated. She also recommended that the council delay amending committee structures until further review at a future meeting that also includes Northenscold.
More information appears in this week’s Messenger.
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