Rib Lake Village Board to extend police chief contract for six months - Finding middle ground

Rib Lake Village Board to extend police chief contract for six months

BY BRIAN WILSON

NEWS EDITOR

Rib Lake police chief Derrick Beckstrand will stay on the job, at least for now.

At a special village board meeting on December 20, board members voted to approve a six-month contract extension for the police chief. Board member Megan Beckstrand, the police chief’s wife, abstained from the vote. Board member Russ Bullis was absent from the meeting.

The vote came after an, at times, expletive-laden and contentious public comment period which saw a number of people speak on behalf of the current chief and oppose any sort of idea of having the county sheriff’s department provide village law enforcement coverage. The public comment period came prior to the board going into closed session and leaving the board room for the See RIB LAKE on page 5 clerk’s office. Chief Beckstrand along with village attorney Ruthann Koch were in the closed session.

At the start of the meeting village president Bill Schreiner read a statement to attempt to clarify the village’s position and to address what he said was misinformation that has been going around in the community, particularly on social media. He said the village has not approached the county about contracting with the sheriff’s office for law enforcement coverage. He also addressed rumors about the village defunding the police department, noting that if there was a vacancy in the chief’s position the village would work to fill it in order to maintain a police department in the community.

Schreiner then gave the floor to Sheriff Larry Woebbeking who addressed the audience explaining that while the sheriff’s department would assist the village in providing coverage if needed, they “in no shape or form” have been trying to take over the law enforcement coverage in the village.

Woebbeking also clarified that he is not Beckstrand’s boss and has no control over how the chief acts, what training he has or what he does. He said that there is a false narrative out there that the sheriff’s department is after the chief’s job.

“That narrative is false, I don’t know who stated it,” Woebbeking said. “People like to push false narratives because it is exciting,” he said.

Woebbeking called on the audience members to have a productive dialog with the board and to not make the meeting into a circus. “This is a man’s career we are talking about tonight,” Woebbeking said. “We are trying to fix the problem and not trying to create more.”

Woebbeking then asked audience members if they had questions directed to him. Multiple questions dealt with the potential response times of the sheriff’s deputies being called to Rib Lake versus the much shorter response time from having an officer in the village.

Brian Wiitala asked about the liability this could result in if the response times were not adequate. Others questioned how long they would have to wait if there was a shooting incident at the school.

Woebbeking said there are many factors that could impact the response time, such as the number of deputies on at the time and where those deputies might be located. Response time could also be impacted by the severity of a call, with more severe situations requiring red lights and sirens, while other such as a barking dog complaint having a lower priority.

Woebbeking called on the residents at the meeting and the board to work toward a compromise to figure out how to make things work. “Let’s just fix it and be a positive community,” he said.

Public comment

Bullis’ absence was noted by several of the 35 residents who attended the meeting with speakers during the public comment period questioning why he was not there.

Village president Bill Schreiner said Bullis had a medical excuse to miss the meeting.

“Don’t bullshit me, Russ Bullis resigned,” said Ronald Vanden Elzen, calling out what he said was shenanigans going on in the village. He also questioned why board member Megan Beckstrand wasn’t allowed at some meetings.

Bullis has been a focal point for supporters of chief Beckstrand and Schreiner said the stress has caused Bullis to consider resigning. Schreiner said he spoke with Bullis for quite some time and asked him to consider taking a break before deciding whether or not to resign from the board.

Schreiner also noted that there was only one meeting where Megan Beckstrand was not in, and that was due to a potential for a conflict of interest.

Public comment at the meeting was limited to those who were either residents or property taxpayers in the village with each speaker limited to just three minutes. An attempt to have multiple speakers yield their time to give one additional time to talk was shut down with attorney Koch noting the rules were set at the beginning that each person would have their three minutes to talk.

“Why is this happening here in our little village,” asked resident Cheryl Rosenfeldt. She said that longstanding village residents see what is going on. “We have eyes. We have ears and we are watching constantly about what is going on in the village,” she said, noting they see who comes and goes at village hall.

“We see everything. I don’t understand why you are denying what has been happening here to these people,” she said.

Schreiner said the issue with police chief came to a head the week prior at the village board meeting on December 13. He said there were people stirring up rumors in the community.

Resident and former village board member Jim Rosenfeldt said that Schreiner was lying to all of the people there. “This is the bullshit you people pull more and more,” he said.

He also called out board members for having what he said are illegal meetings of three board members having coffee in the local restaurant and issued a warning for the board members to watch what they are doing.

Wiitala spoke questioning the hiring of a board member’s nephew on the village crew and at a higher rate than other employees. He quoted from the state ethic’s commission that advises against boards hiring immediate relatives including nieces and nephews. He suggested that the reason the village wanted to get rid of the police chief was to free up money in the budget to cover the additional pay to the nephew of a board member.

Another speaker, Brad Rodman, said he was there to support Chief Beckstrand saying he was great to deal with. He also addressed Wiitala and the others in the room talking about creating drama. He said in a small village they needed to hire someone and that it didn’t matter who they were related to if they were doing the job.

Speaker Candise Abear gave her experience in the support that Chief Beckstrand had in helping her over the past year. She said in her situation she ended up in the emergency room and couldn’t get a restraining order or order of protection and that Beckstrand was there to help her. “I am here to support him,” she said.

Jack Hempe, manager of the Bird’s Nest also spoke in support of Beckstrand, noting he was a hometown boy who had opportunities to go elsewhere but chose to come back to Rib Lake. He said whenever they have had an issue at the tavern, Beckstrand has been there, sometimes coming in on his own time. He said it is good to know that if something happens he is just down the block.

Following the public comment, board members voted to go into closed session. They were in closed session for about a half hour. Coming out of closed session Schreiner announced that an agreement had been reached between Chief Beckstrand and the village board to extend his contract for six months.

“He agreed and we agreed,” Schreiner said, noting that Beckstrand was happy with the outcome.

A resident asked what would happen after the six months. At that point the village would consider extending the contract again as they have done with past contracts.

Ronald Vanden Elzen of Rib Lake called on the village board members to stop the “shenanigans” regarding the police chief. He was one of the 35 people who attended the December 20 village board meeting. Many of those at the meeting spoke in support of the police chief. Brian Wilson/The Star News

Sheriff Larry Woebbeking told the audience at the December 20 village board meeting that while his department would be there to support the village with law enforcement, if needed, they were not working to replace the Rib Lake police department.