Oak Grove's longtime city planner has resigned unexpectedly, becoming the latest casualty in a city that earlier this year fired its accountant and accepted the retirement of its controversial fire chief.
Sam Lucast, Oak Grove's city planner for 16 years, said he was leaving his job "for personal reasons" even though he said he has no job prospects and says he needs to work.
"Sam is incredibly talented, admired and loved by almost everybody," City Council Member Kristen Anderson said Tuesday. "He was fantastic, highly regarded and he loved his job. It's so sad to see him go."
But in a northern Anoka County community that has replaced its mayor, city administrator (twice) and half the City Council, city clerk Sheryl Fiskewold and public works director Tim Smith are the only key city officials who have survived since Mayor Jim Iund was elected two years ago.
City Administrator Chantell Knauss acknowledged, "There certainly have been changes" within city offices.
Knauss offered little else concerning this month's resignations of Lucast, two longtime custodians and a firefighter. Iund did not immediately return calls from the Star Tribune.
Lucast's resignation came on the heels of a July 21 work session, which Lucast and Fiskewold reportedly did not attend. According to postings on the city's web pages, there was a disparity between what had been listed as the meeting's agenda and what was actually discussed at the meeting. Curiously, the meeting was not recorded.
After the Aug. 11 City Council meeting in which Lucast's resignation was accepted, a former employee was heard in a heated discussion with City Council Member Brad LeTourneau, who was in the parking lot, too late to attend the council meeting.
