Position will change June 1
Koochiching County Chief Deputy Brian Jespersen will serve as sheriff effective June 1.
The county board Tuesday appointed Jespersen to fill out a term, effective June 1, that will be left vacant with the retirement of Sheriff Brian Youso.
The board accepted a recommendation from its Personnel Committee to pay Jespersen at the position’s full salary. Jespersen will be placed on unpaid leave of absence June 1 until Dec. 31, 2014 at which time his county service years and earned vacation and sick leave will be frozen. The action provides no guarantee of placement into an open county position should he not be elected as sheriff in November 2014, or is not selected by the newly elected sheriff as chief deputy.
After the meeting, Jespersen told The Journal he was looking forward to taking the position of sheriff.
“It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I started in law enforcement,” he said. “In 1987, when (former Sheriff) Bill Elliott hired me, I’ll never forget it when we were in his office, I told him someday I would have his job. And it worked out that way.”
Jespersen said the position will be “interesting. There are a lot of challenges ahead and we’ll deal with them and take one at time.”
In addition, the board agreed to authorize Jespersen to fill the vacant chief deputy position effective after June 1.
Jespersen told the board that he would appoint Sgt. Bruce Grotberg to the chief deputy position.
In other business Tuesday, the board heard final numbers from Land Commissioner Dennis Hummitzsch on the amounts from the 2011 sales of timber and land to be apportioned to various funds.
Hummitzsch told the board that the total tax forfeited trust fund profit for 2011 is set at $2.01 million, with the county revenue fund and unorganized township fund to receive. $1.1 million.
“Thank you,” said Administrative Director Teresa. “A big thank you. It helped the 2012 budget tremendously.”
Hummitzsch noted that school districts where timber was sold during the year will receive a total of $739,952 and cities in the county $40,000. The timber sales will also provide to five cities and the Koochiching Development Authority $66,555 to be used to promote the area.
The board also Tuesday heard a request from Terry Randolph, commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2948, that the position of county veterans service officer, held by Kathy Sikkila, be increased from part time to full time.
Randolph said the hours of the position, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays, does not allow enough time for Sikkila to handle all the needs of the office.
The caseload of the VSO, he said, appears to have doubled, or even tripled, since about 10 years ago when he became commander.
Commissioners said they have placed the issue on the agenda for the next Personnel Committee based on earlier conversations with Randolph.
Randolph provided letters of support to increase the position to full time from himself and signed by 30 veterans in the community, as well as another from veteran.
Randolph discussed the idea of using a levy to support the VSO position and said that increasing the position to full time would provide additional care and better treatment to the estimated 1,183 veterans living in the county.
Area resident Debbie Bowman suggested Sikkila consider using veterans as volunteers to help her carry out some of the duties of the position.
“Vets feel good about helping fellow veterans,” she said, noting that she worked with veterans in a previous career.
The board agreed to seek bids April 23, with bid results to be brought to the board the following day, for blasting and crushing of rock on county land near Indus, and for crushing to 1-inch a stockpile of blasted rock from the Harbor Land project, with the cost not to exceed $100,000
In addition, the board accepted an employment separation of Terry Shoquist, assistant custodian, effective May 1.
