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Staff writer

After ignoring the mayor’s order and being disrespectful of the city council, St. Francis City Councilmember LeRoy Schaffer was ejected from the Dec. 7 meeting.

During the pubic hearing on the city’s 2010 levy and budget, Schaffer attempted to give his input on the budget planning process.

It was the wrong time, said Mayor Jerry Tviet.

Schaffer’s comments should have come during the council’s discussion on the budget, not the public hearing, he said.

When Tviet gaveled Schaffer in attempt to bring him to order, Schaffer continued to speak.

Before being gaveled, Schaffer said there are two ways to handle the budget shortfall. “One is cutting services or.. you can raise taxes,” he said.

In March, he handed out 10 budget cutting suggestions. “I think most of you may have found them on your doorstep or storm door,” he said.

But the council did not discuss them, Schaffer said.

“I am the only one that came up with suggestions. Nobody on the council came up with suggestions on how to cut cost; I am the only one,” he said.

After repeatedly ignoring the mayor and mocking him, Schaffer was asked to leave the meeting by Tviet.

Schaffer ignored the request until Police Chief Jeff Harapat was asked to escort him out.

According to Tviet, he eject Schaffer for two reasons.

“He was being disrespectful to the rest of the council and he was lying,” he said.

It was not something he is going to allow in the chambers, Tviet said.

“I did not expect to eject him. I needed to because he would not shut up,” he said.

Tviet said he has no intention of governing Schaffer’s speech, but it does need to be at the right time and place when the council is in chambers.

“The council needs to be orderly and respectful because it is the best way for it to accomplish the people’s business,” Tviet said.

“You don’t have to be on the same page but (the council) needs to consent to the best idea and support it.”

Schaffer said he has done nothing wrong and that the mayor was trying to curtail his free speech.

“(Tviet) means well and is a young man with idealism and believes in openness.

“But every time they get into a dirt fight,” Tviet votes with the rest of the council, according to Schaffer.

“He needs to vote his own mind,” Schaffer said.

Following the meeting, Tviet said he talked with Schaffer and explained his reasons for evicting Schaffer from the meeting.

According to Schaffer, he has not talked to the mayor since being ejected.



Ten suggestions

The 10 suggestions Schaffer delivered to the council were discussed at the council’s March budget workshop and other members of the council did come up with ideas on how to cut the budget. It was not just Schaffer, Tviet said.

Among ideas the mayor and the council suggested that are still being discussed is privatizing the city newsletter and cutting back on the mowing.

The council needs to work as a group, brainstorm together and get the ideas out there, Tviet said.

Schaffer missed the most critical budget meeting on Nov. 4 when all the final cuts were made. The entire council needed to be at the meeting to discuss cuts and make a final decision, Tviet said.

During a telephone interview, Schaffer claims his ideas were never discussed.

The council rejected them because the ideas come from him, according to Schaffer.

While he admits that most of his ideas need more exploration, they should have been discussed for the 2010 budget, Schaffer said.

Schaffer’s cost cutting ideas were to have a multi-city police and fire departments, contract out mowing and snow plowing, buy more items using joint purchases and have the Metropolitan Council take over the wastewater treatment plant.

He also suggested eliminating the finance director and police investigator positions, finding less expensive city attorney, city engineer, ordinance enforcement and prosecutor services.

“I would rather cut behind the scenes than cut police and fire,” Schaffer said.

The investigator duties can go back to the way they were done before, he said.

Schaffer admitted he was unsure of how the investigations were done before the investigator was hired.

The police department has seven patrol officers, of whom 1.5 officers work as school liaisons during the school year which leaves five and a half patrol officers, said Tviet.

The sergeant is also on patrol.

It’s more efficient to have one person doing the investigating than have every officer investigating, Tviet said.

Having an investigator gives the residents better service and cases get solve quicker, he said.

While the city could save money, it needs to provide 24-hours law enforcement service and it also needs to have the manpower to cover vacations and sick time, Tviet said. There are not a lot of St. Francis police officers just sitting around, he said.

According to state and Metropolitan Council guidelines, the city’s police department is understaffed by three to three and a half officers, Tviet said.

If the city eliminates the finance director, the city administrator can take over the finance duties, according to Schaffer.

For the $100,000 the city pays him, City Administrator Matt Hylen should be able to do both jobs, Schaffer said.

As an administrator, Hylen said he works 45-60 hours per week and there is no way he could handle both roles.

It would double the amount of time he would work and he would be less efficient working both jobs, he said.

“I don’t think Schaffer understands all the responsibilities of the (finance) position,” Tviet said.

Even though Tviet has a four-year accounting degree, “I would not feel comfortable doing (the) job,” he said.

It’s a big job. There are several things the finance director does, among them doing the books for each department. If the city gets a bad audit, it will lower the bond rating, Tviet said.

Having the city administrator do the job would be like having a carpet installer hanging drywall. It’s not his area of expertise, he said.

In regards to Schaffer’s idea for the city attorney, engineer and code enforcement, those contracts are approved annually in January, Tviet said.

When it comes to the multi-city police department, there needs to be a feasibility study before the city decides, he said.

Schaffer is pushing for a decision and “it’s putting the cart before the horse. We have to do a feasibility study to see if it’s cost effective,” Tviet said.

A decision is more than two years down the road, he said.

Schaffer’s idea to have the Metropolitan Council take over the city’s wastewater treatment plant is being researched.

It needs to be investigated more. It’s not a decision the council would make without the research, Tviet said.

Tammy Sakry is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it