Greenfield Council members pressed to quit

The relative calm in Greenfield that resulted from Mayor Jill Krout's recent resignation ended loudly and abruptly Tuesday night as political opponents tried to force two City Council members to resign by accusing them of violating state open meeting laws.

During a stormy and at times out-of-control City Council meeting, cell phone records were passed out that opponents claim show that Krout and Council Members Mark Lee and Howard Veldhuizen talked dozens of times among themselves in a sequential or serial manner in the past year.

"This is pretty damning," said former Greenfield Mayor Larry Plack, a political opponent who urged the remaining pair of council members to resign. "Any time you have three [elected officials talking] you have a quorum. We the public don't know if there was any business" discussed.

City Attorney Scott Riggs, who will investigate the matter, said the courts have interpreted such serial calls among elected officials as violations of open meeting laws.

Political opponents threatened to take the material on Lee and Veldhuizen to the attorney general and other state officials for investigation unless they resign this week.

"Your resignations are expected immediately," said Chuck Alcon, the resident who obtained and analyzed the phone records. "If not, I will go to the attorney general" and other state officials.

Lee and Veldhuizen denied wrongdoing, describing the calls as personal. They pointed out that at no time did the three hold a conference call.

Plack pointed out that resignation would be preferable to fighting the allegations because of the high attorney fees, possibly in the tens of thousands of dollars, that the pair could run up to defend themselves.

"This is at your expense," he told them as dozens of people cheered him on and urged Lee and Veldhuizen to resign.

The two are particularly vulnerable because the League of Minnesota Cities last month cut off most of Greenfield's insurance coverage, including coverage for open meeting law violations.

Each violation carries with it a potential penalty of $300. Opponents claim the phone records indicate 40 to 50 such violations since early last year.

The city's new insurance policy excludes paying for defending city officials against accusations of open meeting law violations, said acting City Administrator Jim Willis.

Krout on Wednesday called Alcon's allegations "unsubstantiated" and "groundless." She said Alcon, whom she described as a former political supporter, is upset because she did not support his development plans.

"This is all about development and money and a touch of sour grapes," Krout said.

A new mayor for the city

The acrimony over the allegations overshadowed the key item on the meeting agenda: The four remaining City Council members selected a new mayor to fill Krout's remaining one-year term.

But even that proved contentious as the divided council members argued among themselves and with the audience before selecting John Lund as the city's new mayor.

Open meeting law violations have long been rumored in Greenfield. Concerns about possible violations figured in the League of Minnesota Cities' cancellation of the city's insurance coverages last month.

The league distanced itself from Greenfield because of the political infighting in the city and because the league has paid out much more in insurance coverage (about $800,000) than it has taken in from the city in premiums (about $200,000) in recent years.

On Wednesday the league made it clear that Greenfield is on its own in defending these allegations, even if they happened while the league was providing coverage last year.