A week after being reappointed to the Minnesota Racing Commission, former chair Jesse Overton has abruptly resigned.
A spokesman for Gov. Mark Dayton said Tuesday that Overton had resigned but provided no other information. Dayton reappointed Overton to the regulatory body on July 1 but, noticeably, did not reappoint him as chair. The governor instead named Ralph Strangis, a prominent Minneapolis business attorney and former commission chair, to again lead the nine-member board that regulates the state's horse racing industry.
Two days after Overton's reappointment, state officials released an investigation of Overton that cleared him of mistreating an unnamed commission employee because of her gender. A heavily redacted investigative report added that while Overton had "a different management style" that had "exacerbated his personality conflict" he had not interfered with the employee's ability to do her job.
Overton had chaired the commission last fall when state investigations also focused on two top employees. Both were later exonerated.
Overton could not be reached Tuesday for comment.
Mike Kaszuba
