Investigator hired

The same attorney hired to investigate allegations against former Cloquet police chief Steve Stracek nearly two years ago has been hired by the city to conduct an inquiry into current complaints against city administrator Aaron Reeves and human resources director James Barclay. Neither Reeves nor Barclay is being suspended while the investigation is ongoing.

Reeves said Michelle Soldo, of Soldo Consulting Group, will conduct the investigations.

Cloquet mayor Roger Maki confirmed that it was his decision to hire Soldo. The council voted to give him the authority to hire an outside investigator at the Feb. 19 meeting, after they voted to look into

allegations against both Reeves and Barclay that were part of a series of complaints filed by former Cloquet police chief Wade Lamirande.

“I thought she did a good job [with the Stracek investigation], and she’s got some knowledge of Cloquet, which I think is good,” Maki told the Pine Knot News. “She’s very professional and very thorough and I’m confident she will do a good job.”

In the spring of 2017, Soldo compiled a comprehensive report regarding police union complaints about Stracek, after interviewing every single officer and staff member in the department, along with Stracek. In her report, Soldo concluded that the claims against Stracek were unfounded, although Stracek ultimately agreed to retire anyway.

Lamirande also emailed his list of complaints — which were largely aimed at Ward 5 Cloquet city councilor Steve Langley and current police chief Jeff Palmer — to city officials and the media in early February, a factor that Maki said made it even more critical to hire an outside investigator.

“It’s not fun for those people who are being investigated, but that’s how it is sometimes,” Maki said. “We need to find out more.”

For now, Reeves and Barclay are the only two city employees that Soldo was hired to investigate. Reeves clarified Tuesday that there is “no pending investigation against any law enforcement personnel.”

On Feb. 19, speaking on behalf of the council, Reeves stated publicly that there is a complaint against an unnamed Cloquet police officer and that the city will “follow appropriate policies and procedures,” possibly including investigation of the complaint.

In response to the Pine Knot News, Reeves confirmed Tuesday that the identity of the officer being investigated is not public data.

However, Lamirande’s emailed list of complaints focused almost solely on Palmer and his handling of complaints against the department, in particular one Lamirande filed in 2017.

Finally, although Langley requested that the council begin an investigation of the allegations made against him by Lamirande at the Feb. 19 meeting, Reeves said the city attorney requested the council wait until its March 19 meeting to discuss any possible investigation of Langley, because the attorney who will be reviewing the complaint would be present. He explained that the legal issues are different for a complaint about city staff versus a city councilor.