Greenwood Township Board of Supervisors silent on recount as board reorganizes

THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 2018 — Tensions seemed high and the Greenwood Township Board of Supervisors was circumspect as Chairman Dr. John Bassing called the board reorganizational meeting to order. No mention was made of the on-again, off-again recount of the Tuesday, March 13 township election ballots and the town board did not seat Byron Beihoffer—who Clerk Drobac announced as the winner of the open supervisor’s seat in the township election during last week’s Annual Town Meeting. Supervisor Larry Tahija was the other winning supervisor and he remained in his seat, as Bassing remained in his, following election returns, until a recount of ballots is completed and are canvassed. Meanwhile, Greenwood voters wait to learn the results of a recount and Tahija, Bassing, Beihoffer and Stoehr wait to see who will leave the board, and who will be seated.

The town board has only added to the confusion and has fueled additional township gossip with its unwarranted silence. There is still no new ballot recount notice published on the Greenwood Township bulletin board outside the town hall or on its website. The town board did not provide any opportunity for public input at its reorganization meeting, denying the public an opportunity to ask questions.

Township Clerk Sue Drobac originally called for a recount of the ballots to be conducted at 2:00 o’clock in the afternoon on Tuesday, March 20, following a request from two of the three candidates who were unsuccessful in their election bids. Rick Stoehr, who lost by six votes, and John Bassing, who lost by five votes had requested the recount. However, when people arrived at the town hall expecting the recount, they were greeted with a sign, which explained that the township’s attorney recommended that the clerk cancel the recount because, “several of the candidates for the office were inadvertently not provided with this legally required notice.” Since Tuesday there has been no official statement from Greenwood explaining what plans are currently underway to recount, and canvass ballots and to seat the winning candidates on the town board.

Because election issues remain unresolved, the Greenwood Town Board was unable to complete much of its reorganization tasks. Following a unanimous vote to place Mike Ralston into the chairman’s seat several agenda items were tabled until a later date. Ralston received the gavel from Bassing and commenced chairing the meeting.

Selecting town board representatives to serve on the ambulance commission, lodging tax board, as liaison to the Tower and Breitung Fire Department and the Vermilion Trail committee was tabled and are expected to be determined at a later date. In addition, the town board also tabled making any decisions on its employee supervisor, grounds and maintenance supervisor, road supervisor, 911 coordinator and the noxious weed inspector.

The town board elected Supervisor Carmen DeLuca to serve as its deputy-Chairman. Bassing cast the only dissenting vote on this motion.

The only other dissent on any vote taken by the town board was made by Bassing when it came time to select the township’s official newspaper. Clerk Drobac reported that she had received quotes on pricing for publishing legal matter and advertising from each, The Tower News and the Timberjay, although the amount of the quotes was not shared with the audience attending the meeting. Supervisor DeLuca moved to appoint The Tower News as the official newspaper. Supervisor Larry Tahija provided support for the motion. Bassing voiced his objection, saying that The Tower News did not have, and that it did not publish legal notices on a website and that he appreciated that he could look back into the archives on the Timberjay’s website and read past public notices.

Bassing was wrong in his assertion that The Tower News does not publish legals on the internet. In fact, The Tower News was the first newspaper in the entire state of Minnesota to have a website and has in fact published local legal advertising on its site for over two decades. The News’ website does not have a paywall and reviewing the weekly legals is free for anyone with internet access.

The vote to appoint The Tower News as the official newspaper for Greenwood Township passed 4-1, with Bassing casting the only vote against the motion.

Couri & Ruppe, Attorneys at Law, St. Michael, Minn., was again unanimously retained by the town board to conduct legal business for the township.

Township Treasurer Pam Rodgers will continue to serve the township as the representative to the Tower-Soudan joint powers recreation board.

Monthly meetings of the Greenwood Board of Supervisors were set to be conducted at the town hall, at 6:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month, except for March 2019, when the Annual Town Meeting will be conducted at 8:15 p.m., following the annual town board election, and except on August 14, 2018, because of the Minnesota primary election held that day in the town hall. Instead, the August meeting will be held on Wednesday, August 15, at 6:30 p.m.

In other action, the Greenwood Board of Supervisors:

• Approved the February 13, 2018 minutes of the Board of Supervisors meeting minutes

• Approved keeping the official depository as Frandsen Bank & Trust, Tower

• Approved keeping the same holiday schedule for the next year

• Determined that the Town Board Chairman, deputy Chairman, Clerk, deputy Clerk, Treasurer and deputy Treasurer will serve as signatories to township banking accounts.

• Unanimously approved “payment for training of supervisors, clerk, treasurer, deputy clerk, deputy treasurer.”