City drama

After two years of attempting to get results through official channels, former Cloquet police chief Wade Lamirande finally just decided to let the world know of his concerns.

Early last week, Lamirande dropped a series of complaints on city councilors, the mayor, city staff and media, detailing eight issues each with Cloquet City councilor Steve Langley and Cloquet police chief Jeff Palmer.

The Pine Knot News explored the allegations against Langley for this story, utilizing records of the investigations regarding Lamirande and Langley, and by verifying other information contained in Lamirande's complaints to the city. Lamirande retired in 2014 after 24 years with the Cloquet police department and Langley has been Ward 5 City Councilor since 2013.

According to the former police chief, Langley has harassed him, mischaracterized two different encounters with Lamirande by claiming they were criminal behavior, and behaved in an manner contrary to city code on more than one occasion. In his complaint, Lamirande also said Langley and other city officials have contacted his employer as well as the employers of several other people who were critical of the city or the police department.

Langley v. Lamirande

According to statements from both men to Grand Rapids police sergeant Robert Stein, the problems started on Dec. 31, 2017, when Lamirande got a text from Langley asking, "Will you be my secret friend. WTF?" Langley was apparently referring to a private conversation Lamirande had with Chief Palmer earlier in the year. Lamirande said he simply responded, "Happy New Year Steve."

The first time the two men saw each other after that was at the L&M store in Cloquet on July 17, 2018. Following that encounter, Langley filed his first complaint against Lamirande, alleging that he felt threatened by Lamirande's actions and thought Lamirande might hit him; Lamirande did not hit him.

The complaint was referred by the Cloquet police department - after Chief Palmer watched footage from an L&M camera, according to Langley - to Grand Rapids to avoid a conflict of interest.

In a later phone interview with Sgt. Stein, Langley gave his account of the incident with Lamirande. Lamirande was interviewed at a different time.

Both men agree that they were checking out at the same time that day when Lamirande waved at Langley. Lamirande then asked Langley if he had "met any new friends lately." Langley replied that he wasn't really looking for any.

They exited the store at the same time, according to camera footage; at this point, Lamirande said Langley denied texting Lamirande on New Year's Eve; Langley said to Stein that Lamirande said something about "the girls" harassing his daughter by phone. Lamirande told the Pine Knot News that he actually said the police officers were behaving like "little girls" by calling his daughter. Langley said he suggested Lamirande file a police report.

Langley said to Stein that as he and Lamirance began walking in different directions to their cars, Langley said, "You're pretty good at filing complaints, aren't you, you big cry baby?" to which Lamirande responded, "What did you call me?" When Langley responded, "You're a cry baby," Lamirande came back across the parking lot walking at a high rate of speed, according to the police report.

Interviews with both men reported the two then traded insults back and forth for 30-40 seconds, which included Lamirande calling police department investigations and the City Council a "kangaroo court" and Langley saying Lamirande was the problem with the police department during his 10 years as chief.

"I told him the only reason you never got fired is Brian Fritsinger - our city administrator at the time - is Brian's too big a p*ssy," Langley told Stein, adding that Lamirande walked away at that point.

When Stein asked about Lamirande's body language, and whether the video would show him that Lamirande was aggressive, Langley said yes, but admitted he didn't look at Lamirande when he was walking toward him. It was more the speed at which he walked over, Langley said, adding that Lamirande was talking loudly but not screaming.

"I was very surprised he didn't hit me," Langley said at one point in the interview. "He's a little half-nuts, I'm telling you." Later he noted that he asked Lamirande if he was going to beat him up.

Later in the interview Langley told Stein: "I wouldn't put it past him to shoot someone. He was mad."

In his interview, Lamirande denied threatening Langley in any way, causing any kind of fear or raising his hands in an aggressive manner.

"I did ask him to repeat himself and I did walk toward him," Lamirande said, noting that Langley either threw down his bag or put it in his car and walked back toward Lamirande. "At that time, it appeared he (Langley) wanted the conversation to get physical."

Following the investigation, the city attorney's office referred it to Dryer & Overom, a Duluth law firm, to review and determine whether or not criminal charges were warranted.

In a four-page letter to Cloquet City attorney Frank Yetka, attorney Shawn Reed recommended no charges be issued after reviewing the correspondence and reports by Cloquet police, camera footage from L&M, along with the two audio recordings of interviews from Stein with Langley and Lamirande.

Reed said the camera footage was inconclusive and didn't reveal elements of assault or disorderly conduct, and he outlined the camera evidence with time references. According to Reed's analysis, from the moment that the pair exchanged tense greetings to when Langley began to pull out of the parking lot, less than two minutes passed. Reed noted that neither man appeared to be in a hurry when they walked toward each other in the parking lot, and, while they engaged in a discussion - there is no audio with the footage - neither raised his arms "to suggest an aggressive or defensive posture." Langley moved to his car and the two appeared to engage in further discussion but the attorney said he still didn't see any outward signs of aggression or see anyone else in the parking lot react to the interaction.

"In summary, the video footage fails to demonstrate any assaultive type conduct," Reed wrote. "There is no claim of actual infliction of bodily harm. The video evidence does not support a claim that any conduct intended to cause fear or bodily harm."

He added later that the audio statements also did not support any criminal charges.

When asked if he had any further comments, Lamirande told Stein he was disappointed.

"I'm disappointed that the police department and Steve Langley wasted time. And I believe this is just another example of further harassment by Steve Langley."

Langley later filed another complaint against Lamirande, alleging that Lamirande yelled at him and he felt threatened when Lamirande walked over during the Labor Day parade with fliers for county attorney candidate Lauri Ketola. That complaint doesn't appear to have been investigated by the CPD. Lamirande said he was walking over to greet someone near Langley.

Phone calls, etc.

Lamirande said Langley also telephoned his employer - via the interim president of Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College - after the encounter at L&M to complain about Lamirande and suggest that he be disciplined or fired from his position as law enforcement program coordinator.

In his complaint, Lamirande also pointed to others whose employers have been contacted after they were critical of the police or city council, specifically naming Justin Krych, Brian Smith, Roger Maki and Steve Kolodge.

While Maki, now the mayor of Cloquet, declined comment on the allegation that Langley called his employer, the other three said their employers had been contacted, although not all by Langley.

Cloquet's Brian Smith said he got a call from his union's business agent, who got a call from another union member, who got a call from now former mayor Dave Hallback.

Smith said he got the call from Carpenters Local 361 Business Agent Jason Davis on Aug. 8, 2017 after he (Smith) had previously exchanged some emails with the city council as a whole and had a conversation with Hallback regarding the city's treatment of former police chief Steve Stracek following the Aug. 2, 2017, council meeting. Smith said Davis told him he'd gotten a text telling him to "clear up any issues" Smith might have with the Project Labor Agreement (PLA) that the city was considering. Smith said he got another call, this time from someone in the Millwright's Union, 26 minutes after his conversation with Davis, but he let it go to voicemail and never called back. About a month later, Smith wrote a letter to the editor in a local newspaper saying that the union which represented the rank and file of the Cloquet Police Department, not taxpayers, should be held responsible for the $100,000 in costs associated with Chief Stracek's leave of absence and the third-party investigation which found he had done no wrong. The day the letter ran, he got a call from the president of the carpenters union. When the two talked a few days later, Smith said it was mostly a conversation about the PLA, although Stracek's name did come up. In the end, Smith agreed that he would state that he had no beef with the PLA next time he spoke out.

As with Smith, Krych's employer was contacted after he wrote an opinion piece in the Pine Journal, then Cloquet's only paper. His was a guest column about the "stench" coming from City Hall in Cloquet.

Krych said Sarah Marczak-Palmer, police chief Palmer's wife, complained about him on the Superior Fuel Facebook page after his column ran. Krych was a commercial fuel salesman there at the time. Krych said he was called in to speak to a minority owner of the company, who asked him point-blank what he was doing "writing things in a newspaper about cops."

"That was the first real scolding I'd gotten there," Krych said.

Not long after that, Krych was told that his job had been eliminated and he was being laid off.

Cloquet Area Fire District battalion chief Steve Kolodge attended a council meeting when he was off duty with his son, an Eagle Scout who was required to attend a governmental meeting. Langley asked why he was there afterward, which Kolodge thought was odd, as he had attended many meetings over his previous 28 years with the fire department.

Langley also contacted CAFD chief Kevin Schroeder to ask about Kolodge's presence at the meeting. Schroeder said Langley didn't make any threats.

"I do recall getting a call from Mr. Langley regarding why we had employees, including Mr. Kolodge, at a Cloquet council meeting, but do not recall him threatening Steve's employment to me," Schroeder said. "He wanted to know why CAFD staff was attending council meetings. I advised him that many of our staff are citizens of Cloquet and are free to attend the meetings."

The final three complaints regarding Langley centered around allegations about his conduct. While at least two are inconclusive and difficult to verify, Carlton County sheriff Kelly Lake said Don Gentilini reported there had been an incident with Langley, but he had not requested an investigation, rather he just "wanted it on the record." Gentilini is the president of the Cloquet Amateur Hockey Association.

City code

In the conclusion to his complaints regarding Langley, Lamirande asked that the council look into each complaint "and censure Langley accordingly."

City Code Chapter 2 addresses general government of the city, including elected and non-elected officials, job duties and more. It addresses boards and commissions.

It only briefly addresses ethics, in section 2.4, noting that both public officials and employees must uphold the U.S. Constitution and the laws of nation, state and city, "recognizing that the public interest must be their prime concern. Their conduct in both their official and private affairs should be above reproach so as to foster respect for all government."

The City council's values statement is also available on the city website and states that every council member shall, among other things:

•Operate openly, honestly, ethically, and with integrity.

•Encourage engagement and increased participation of the City Council and the community.

•Treat all people fairly, equitably, and respectfully.

•Encourage open and free communication.

•Respect differences of opinion.

"Councilor Langley's pattern of behavior has caused mistrust with the public whom he took an oath to serve," Lamirande wrote. "His immediate resignation from the council is the only remedy."

Langley did not respond to calls or an email from the Pine Knot News before presstime.

The council did not discuss Lamirande's complaints at its Feb. 6 meeting, from which Langley was absent. City administrator Aaron Reeves said Wednesday he thought the council would be discussing Lamirande's complaints at the meeting this Tuesday, but he wasn't certain. The council usually meets for a work session at 5:30 p.m. with its regular meeting at 7 p.m. They are public meetings.