Photo by Jody Isaackson Drug investigator Chris Lewis appeared before the Murray County commissioners to request a second investigation into the allegations of harassment against Sheriff Steve Telkamp because only a small portion of the 21 people in that department had been interviewed.

SLAYTON — The consultant that the Murray County commissioners approved to oversee the sheriff’s department has a new title.

“The county has decided to change the title of the interim director of sheriff operations to governmental operations consultant,” Commissioner Lori Gunnink announced during Tuesday’s meeting.

A contract with Mark Nipp to oversee the sheriff’s department was approved in May after an independent investigation of Sheriff Steve Telkamp alleged workplace harassment and providing a hostile work environment. At the heart of the investigator’s report were videos showing Telkamp using vulgar and alleged threatening language while talking to department employees.

Commissioners requested Telkamp to resign and he refused.

“Since Sheriff (Steve) Telkamp is not an employee, we took as much action as we could, under due process of the law, to protect our employees from workplace harassment,” Gunnink said.

“With the help of Mark Nipp as an independent consultant, we hope to build relationships within the county and address concerns of hostile conduct and retaliation,” she said. “He will work with the staff and other intergovernmental agencies to improve professional expectations throughout the workplace environment.

Meanwhile, a drug enforcement investigator in the sheriff’s department delivered a plea to Murray County commissioners during the public forum to launch a second investigation of Telkamp.

Chris Lewis requested that the new investigation include interviewing all the members of the sheriff’s department.

“Only three or four members of the 21 in our department were interviewed. You need to interview all of them,” Lewis told the commissioners. “If I were investigating something, do you think I would only interview one or two of the commissioners? No, I’d interview everybody. I’d like to see another investigator come and talk to everybody.”

Lewis was followed by Carol Gregory, a concerned citizen who had viewed the videos. Gregory said she found the videos to be disturbing.

“I have some questions,” Gregory told the county board. “What is the underground group he referred to in the videos? I found it disturbing when he said that everyone on his staff was employed ‘at-will.’ Does that mean he can fire anyone at any time if he chooses to?”

Gregory also said she found it threatening to hear the sheriff say, “all they have is pens. We’ve got guns.”

“He was recorded three different times (talking this way),” she said. “The report included grievances from inside the department as well as from outside. Is there any way the videos can be aired on public access television so that everybody can see them?”

Gunnink vowed that the board will continue to work at protecting employees.

“We admit that this process has been a learning curve,” Gunnink said, “however, we will continue to do our due diligence to work with local and state agencies to uphold our legal obligations to protect our employees.”

In another item, a report was given on advertising for medical death investigator candidates. The candidates would require training from 9 a.m.-noon Tuesday with Dr. Michael McGee, Ramsey County medical examiner. The training would be provided by the county, and accepted applicants would be on-call only when they weren’t on the job elsewhere, the commissioners said.

First choice candidates would be law enforcement personnel along with medical personnel. Also discussed was eventually setting a lower rate for on-call duty than on-the-job in the field duty.

Questions came from Lewis regarding the vague pay scale the commissioners were considering: If considered full-time, the accepted candidates could be placed on Labor Grade 11, but nothing was set in stone at this meeting.

The biggest problem Lewis had was that he didn’t think that the commissioners had considered that the accepted candidates, who would likely be full-time law enforcement, would create an overtime situation, and being union, they would be paid at their higher county wages — that of deputy, not medical death investigator.

“It would be the same as if you hired me to mow grass on my off hours,” Lewis said. “You’d have to pay me overtime deputy wages for mowing grass.

“You need to have all those (wages) answers ready for applicants, too,” Lewis said. “Anyone applying will want to know about the pay.”

The only thing the commissioners approved at this meeting was the job description for the medical death investigator.

Later in the meeting, the sheriff’s administrative assistant, Allisen Cantin, presented the request for the board to approve the 2017 State of Minnesota Federal Boating Safety Supplemental Equipment Grant. The grant, if awarded to Murray County, could provide $23,710 that would be earmarked for buoys, lights, lifejackets and other water-related equipment, Cantin said.

Since there were no matching funds required by the county, the board seemed only too happy to approve the grant application.