City investigations ridiculous

Now, the City of Cloquet is investigating a sitting city councilor. It’s investigating the city administrator and the human resources director. It’s investigating a police officer, and maybe more.

All this is related to complaints filed by a former police chief, who has alleged unfair, unethical, and maybe illegal conduct by city officials, including the police.

The former police chief waited to file his complaints until now, because he did not believe the former city council would treat the issues fairly. In the past election, four new city councilors and a new mayor were voted in, effectively creating whole new council.

And now, rather than work on new city initiatives, new city business, and new city plans, the new city is spending all its time rehashing old disputes, opening new wounds, and dragging out old grievances.

It’s ridiculous.

But it’s necessary. Many of the new councilors would prefer to get started on their agendas. But they also seem to recognize that the one big issue that got them elected in the first place — transparency in city government — means they have to thoroughly respond to these allegations and resolve them before we can move forward as a community.

We believe the process will make us a better city, and will restore trust and confidence in our city government. We applaud the courage and recognize the tediousness of the new council’s chore, and hope the council’s work is brief, effective and, above all else, transparent.

We welcome your input to the Pine Knot News community newspaper. Send your thoughts, letters, or news to [email protected].