From the start, this was not business as usual. Tuesday marked Commissioner Scott LeDoux's first Anoka County board meeting in two months, and even without special introduction, it was hard to ignore the tubes pumping oxygen into his nostrils, or the motorized wheelchair carrying a man who fought for boxing's heavyweight championship and is now battling ALS.
"We need someone to represent our district," said LeDoux shortly before the meeting, his words amplified by a speaker strapped around his waist. "That's why I'm here. That's why my wife is here."
As fellow Commissioner Rhonda Sivarajah guided LeDoux's wheelchair toward the flag during the Pledge of Allegiance, his wife, Carole, stood inconspicuously in the back row of the seventh-floor meeting room.
It was Carol LeDoux who ran her husband's campaign last year when he won reelection by an overwhelming margin. Now it is Scott LeDoux who is campaigning for his wife, saying he would like her to succeed him as commissioner, should his illness prevent him from finishing his four-year term. ALS -- amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease -- is a progressive, usually fatal neurodegenerative disease for which there is no known cure.
LeDoux's appearance Tuesday surprised some of the commissioners. He had missed the three most recent meetings, which are set two weeks apart. If LeDoux misses 90 days of work, his commissioner's job could be declared vacant by the board, according to state statute. The board could then make an appointment, if it chose.
That still could happen, said County Administrator Terry Johnson, whom LeDoux called Monday after deciding Sunday to return to work, at least for a day. LeDoux doesn't have to miss 90 consecutive days, Johnson said. Just 90 days, period.
"As far as I'm concerned, he doesn't have to show up for 90 days, and we should still pay him his salary for the rest of his term," said Commissioner Dick Lang. "It's his job. I don't see us replacing him."
Exhausting experience
