Ramsey County workers fight to save detox services: ‘It’s life or death’

October 23, 2025 by

Community members rally outside the Ramsey County Detox Center.

Workers and community members staged a demonstration outside the Ramsey County Detoxification Center in St. Paul on Tuesday, protesting the county’s plan to wind down operations by the end of this year.

Members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) criticized county leaders for scrapping the Detoxification and Withdrawal Management program during a substance-abuse crisis in the community.

“It’s life or death,” said Randy, a peer support specialist at the facility who asked that his last name not be published. “I know for a fact that there are people, if we do close, that have less of chance of just surviving. That’s not to be dramatic, but there are people who are really going to be in dire straits without our program.”

[Sign AFSCME’s petition to save Detox Services here.]

Shutting down the detox program will trim about $2 million from the annual budget, according to the county, which plans to partner with community providers to deliver detox services moving forward.

Counties are required to ensure detox services are available, but not to run their own facilities.

But workers at the rally voiced concerns about what those partnerships look like in practice – and whether community agencies are ready to absorb the clients Ramsey County begins turning away Jan. 1.

“They continue to push the narrative that there will be plenty of community providers out there, but all of the community providers are still asking us, what are they going to do when this is done?” nurse supervisor Channa Peters said.

There are no other detox facilities in the east-metro area, Peters added, and surrounding counties already steer their residents in need of services to the St. Paul site, located near Regions Hospital. After it closes, the nearest detox center will be at 1800 Chicago Ave. S. in Minneapolis.

Randy, a steward with AFSCME Local 151, said he worries that potential privatization of the services Ramsey County currently provides could jeopardize access for unhoused, uninsured and underinsured people in the community.

“If you get somebody that’s for-profit to come in and do these services, where’s their motivation to serve those most vulnerable people?” he asked.

The closure will eliminate about 43 positions at year’s end. The layoffs are poised to hit about a year after the detox program ramped up hiring to confront the opioid epidemic.

Already this year, the program has made contact with 1,700 clients, and it is on pace to serve about 1,900. That’s up from 1,567 last year and 1,269 in 2023.

Still, the county says its in-house program “has underperformed expected financial targets year-over-year and has had significant deficits for several years.”

But staff members say those targets were never laid out clearly by management, while the county’s inability to hire nurses has forced it to pay contractors at a much higher rate, inflating the program’s expenses.

“We know that we’re not going to be a moneymaking program, but we’ve saved people’s lives,” Peters said. “We had people stand up at the last board meeting and talk about how  having a detox here has opened the door to becoming a homeowner in this county.”

Randy said he understands the financial challenges Ramsey County faces, “particularly with the cuts that we know are coming down from the federal level.” But he disputed the county’s characterization of detox services as ineffective or inefficient.

His message to county commissioners: “We probably are your best effective bet to do this if you can figure out a way to fund us. Have you done everything you can to figure that out?”

– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

Filed Under: Community, Union Events Tagged With: , , , , ,

AFSCME members to Ramsey County: ‘Residents First = Workers First’

December 12, 2024 by

AFSCME members who work at Ramsey County held a contract rally outside the Ramsey County Courthouse in St. Paul Oct. 29.

Four local unions representing over 2,000 Ramsey County employees are holding firm to their key demands – dignified wages, safe and adequate staffing, and respect on the job – as bargaining with the county inches closer to their contracts’ Dec. 31 expiration date.

Members of AFSCME Locals 8, 151, 707 and 1935 – librarians, social workers, child protection workers, parks employees and workers in scores of other job classifications – were also holding firm to their solidarity, union members said during a rally outside the Ramsey County Courthouse as talks entered a third month.

“The employer is still using the same old playbook of stalling, sewing division amongst the locals and attempting to erode our union legacy rights like seniority, the freedom to determine when we take vacation or receiving extra payments for working undesirable shifts,” Local 8 President Mario Lee, an animal control officer, said Oct. 29.

Rather than asking their employees for takebacks at the bargaining table, county administrators should be engaging their unions in meaningful discussions about how to address serious staffing shortfalls plaguing several county agencies, Lee and other union leaders said.

Several media reports in the last year have exposed the impact short staffing has had on county services. An October 2024 report by KSTP-TV found that the county’s Medical Assistance program had a backlog applications for benefit renewal, with more than 500 applicants waiting over 60 days.

Peggy Bloomstrand, a social worker and president of Local 151, said the county’s service delays are not isolated to Medical Assistance.

“Children at risk of abuse and neglect are not getting the services they need because our child protection workers are overwhelmed with high caseload sizes,” Bloomstrand said. “Support staff are working overtime to process cases…

“And it’s not because of the workforce,” she said. “It’s because Ramsey County has decided to eliminate positions and add top management that don’t work with clients or residents.”

“You have been asked countless times, consistently, every day to do more with less,” AFSCME Council 5 Executive Director Bart Andersen told county workers. “I’m sorry, but more with less is simply unsustainable.

“Your employers should be coming to the table proposing respectful wages, affordable health care, workplace safety and protections.”

Members of the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners, in voting to raise their own salaries by 3 to 5% earlier in 2024, cited the need to attract quality candidates – a fact not lost on union members, who say their pay has fallen by 13.5% over the last four years when adjusted for inflation.

According to an AFSCME payroll analysis, Ramsey County frontline workers’ wages are the 65th percentile in comparisons with their peers. Union members say the county needs to offer better compensation to recruit and retain staff in many positions, especially given the cost of living in the area and the scope of their work.

“We want a contract that aligns with the work we do and enables us to support our families,” Bloomstrand said. “We want more staff so our workforce has the ability to serve residents of Ramsey County.”

Those residents are making their voices heard in the bargaining process, too.

After their Oct. 29 rally, union members delivered a petition with over 1,000 signatures to the County Board. County workers gathered many of the signatures outside county libraries and other facilities, engaging residents in conversations about their campaign for adequate staffing and respect on the job.

“Our members go above and beyond the work they do, and we’re asking Ramsey County to compensate our members fairly for the work they do,” Bloomstrand said. “Hire additional staff so our residents get the service they need, and provide safe staffing levels.”

Ramsey County residents can sign onto AFSCME members’ petition in support of their contract campaign here.

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Ramsey County workers seek residents’ support for contract campaign

July 19, 2024 by

Four AFSCME unions representing Ramsey County employees kicked off their contract campaign July 13 at the library in Roseville, where they gathered signatures on a petition to county commissioners.

Before opening contract negotiations with Ramsey County this week, union members appealed to county residents for support of their top demands, including safe staffing and fair wages.

County workers rolled out their contract campaign on a busy Saturday at the Roseville library, presenting patrons on their way into the building with a petition to county commissioners.

Four local unions affiliated with Council 5 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) opened bargaining with Ramsey County on July 17. Together, AFSCME Locals 8, 151, 707 and 1935 represent over 2,000 county employees.

“We are here at the Roseville Library – one of the busiest public libraries in the state – to encourage residents to support workers across the county, who provide critical services to the community and are a valuable resource to all,” Local 8 President Mario Lee said during a brief rally July 13.

The county’s AFSCME unions are looking to build public support early in the bargaining process this year, after county administrators took a hardline approach to the last round of negotiations three years ago.

During those talks, management only moved off its demand for a wage freeze after workers called out county leaders with informational picketing outside the courthouse.

The county has become notorious in recent years, Local 8 Vice President Anna Christie said, for “balancing its budget on the backs of its employees.” She pointed to a 9.5% pay raise for the county manager from 2019 to 2022, while AFSCME members have lost 13.5% of their wages to inflation over the last four years.

For residents, the lack of competitive pay shows up in services they receive at county libraries, public health offices, parks and other agencies, where high employee turnover and short staffing have become the norm, according to union members.

Lee said staffing shortfalls in some departments put workers’ health and safety at risk.

“Our workers have continued to be spat upon, yelled at, physically assaulted and stalked, but aren’t treated with dignity and respect from our employer,” he said. “Besides asking the county to offer fair and equitable wages to frontline staff, we urge them to address severe staffing shortages that are negatively impacting service to patrons and residents while placing our employees at risk of harm.”

Frontline workers, Christie said, feel like Ramsey County “keeps asking us to do more with less.”

“We keep showing up for Ramsey County,” she added. “It’s time for Ramsey County to show up for us by paying us fair and equitable wages and ensuring safe staffing levels so we can provide the highest quality service to our residents and the public we serve.”

– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

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Labor nonprofit helps OPEIU, HealthPartners bring learn-and-earn training to life

July 21, 2023 by

Supporters of the clinic assistant training program joined a celebration and press conference June 29. Pictured (L to R) are Jeff Ambroz, Kelsie Anderson, Mayor Melvin Carter and HealthPartners’ Lynzee Herfindahl and James McClean. (OPEIU photo)

Office and Professional Employees Local 12 and the Minnesota Training Partnership have tapped federal pandemic-relief funds to launch an earn-while-you-learn training program that will prepare young workers for in-demand jobs as clinic assistants with HealthPartners and other providers.

The program is open to Ramsey County residents ages 18 to 30. Coursework will take place both online and in person over the course of eight to 12 weeks, beginning in September. And best of all, participants will get a weekly stipend – the equivalent of $15 per hour over a 32-hour workweek – as they complete the training and search for jobs.

The clinic assistant program is among the training opportunities sponsored by Ramsey County’s new Learn and Earn Initiative, a joint venture with the City of Saint Paul that will invest $14.65 million in American Rescue Plan funds toward workforce development.

Officials announced the new training opportunities at a press conference in downtown St. Paul June 29.

Ramsey County Commissioner Rena Moran, who took a lead role in the city-county collaboration, said Learn and Earn partner agencies will provide 700 young workers with training in entrepreneurship, information technology, tree care, diesel technology and other fields over the next two years.

“That’s a true impact,” Moran said. “We are so excited to see the amazing impact that these investments will have on our young residents – and what that will bring to all of us in Ramsey County.”

“The work that we’re doing together with our federal partners, with our county partners, with the nonprofit folks … this work is critical,” St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said, adding that the program represents “democratized, equitable opportunity” for communities that have long faced institutional barriers to prosperity.

Offering a stipend to trainees removes a significant barrier for many jobseekers, Minnesota Training Partnership (MTP) Director of Develop-ment and Communications Jeff Ambroz said. MTP is the county’s nonprofit partner for the clinic assistant program.

“It’s going to open doors for a lot more people to participate,” he said. “For many young adults looking to enter a training program like this without a stipend, they would have to find a way to pay the rent, make the car payment or maybe cover child care. Most lower- to middle-income people can’t do that.

“This paid training program will give people a chance to get on the path to a great career, and we definitely wanted to be part of that.”

OPEIU Local 12 members who work at HealthPartners – which supported development of the clinic assistant training program – earn over $20 per hour to start, with industry-leading health benefits.

But like so many employers in recent years, HealthPartners has struggled with staffing shortfalls, Local 12 Business Representative Kelsie Anderson said. Finding qualified clinic assistants, who check in patients at the front desk, answer phones and handle other clerical work, has been particularly challenging since the COVID outbreak.

It’s become a point of frustration for other clinic workers, too.

“HealthPartners kept telling us there’s not any qualified candidates that are applying for this position,” said Anderson, who was a longtime HealthPartners employee before taking a position with her union. “And because we’re so short staffed, I’m not sure if HealthPartners is giving the best training opportunities to the people they do hire, because they don’t have the bodies to do it.”

Last year, when Ambroz checked in with Local 12 leaders about potential training ideas, the lightbulb went on. HealthPartners offered insight into the job description, and MTP enlisted St. Paul College to help build the right curriculum.

Ambroz said the clinic assistant training program is exactly the type of venture that leaders of the Minnesota AFL-CIO had in mind when they founded the Minnesota Training Partnership as a nonprofit organization in 2019.

“Union leaders have so many great ideas about ways to help their members build up their skills,” Ambroz said. “We try to find ways to find funding and help facilitate that, by letting them take the lead in a union-driven training.”

“Our union leadership has really emphasized training and education,” Anderson added. “But if it wasn’t for the Minnesota Training Partnership, we would never have been able to do this.”

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County attorneys take aim at criminal wage theft

April 27, 2022 by

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi’s office recently hired Jacob Shawback (L) to investigate prevailing-wage and wage-theft allegations. Shawback previously worked at the Fair Contracting Foundation of Minnesota, which monitors labor standards on publicly funded construction projects.

Local prosecutors intend to shine a search light on the shadowy corners of the economy where wage theft and labor trafficking have found a home, especially the non-union construction industry.

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi recently hired a full-time investigator to begin delivering wage-theft cases for potential prosecution under the state’s theft-by-swindle statute. Choi, who co-chaired a Labor Advisory Council with Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, said the hiring is a step toward moving more wage-theft cases into the criminal justice system.

The most common types of wage theft occur when employers misclassify workers as independent contractors, fail to pay minimum wage or don’t follow overtime laws. The state’s labor and commerce departments investigate those violations, but the investigations often result in civil penalties – a warning, a fine or being temporarily barred from bidding on public projects.

“In a way, it can all be just looked at as a cost of doing business,” Choi said.

“Both Mike Freeman and I have this really strong belief that some of this conduct should be looked at from a criminal prosecution perspective,” Choi added. “Oftentimes, it’s not until people are subject to potential jail or prison time – or that negative publicity of being prosecuted – that you get people’s attention.”

‘Rampant’ wage theft

The advisory council led by Choi and Freeman pulled together prosecutors, regulators and labor advocates to work collaboratively on best practices for holding wage thieves accountable in the criminal justice system.

Earlier this year, the council approved a report that found “rampant wage theft” in the non-union construction industry in Hennepin and Ramsey counties, noting that it comes at a significant cost to local communities.

The report estimated that 4,872 construction workers in the two counties are victims of payroll fraud, that employers steal over $3 million in wages each year and that wage theft diverts over $11 million from Social Security and Medicare funds.

For unions and labor advocacy groups like CTUL, the report’s findings validated the complaints they have heard from people working in the non-union construction industry, where layers of subcontractors and labor brokers too often conceal illegal dealings.

“Wage theft cannot be tolerated in an industry that is so essential to our city’s infrastructure,” CTUL Co-Director Merle Payne said. “Not only does wage theft hurt workers and their families, it also puts a strain on taxpayers when developers off-load the cost of labor and insurance onto the public.”

Raising the profile

The Labor Advisory Council also worked to create a “handoff process,” so that civil investigators could deliver relevant information to agencies pursuing criminal prosecution without hindering either process. The council also reached out to both county sheriffs to get buy-in from law enforcement.

“We know there’s a lot more we can do in the criminal justice system if we get the right kind of investigation done,” Freeman said.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office demonstrated as much with its high-profile prosecution of Ricardo Batres. The notorious wage broker pleaded guilty in November 2019 to felony charges of labor trafficking and insurance fraud, and received a nine-month jail sentence.

But even as they celebrated the Batres case, labor advocates warned that his crimes were just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to wage theft in the Twin Cities. Choi said the Batres case was a turning point in his office’s decision to get proactive about criminal prosecution.

“I just realized, we’re sitting here waiting because we’re usually the recipient of cases,” Choi said. “But sometimes to get something done, you just have to go and do it yourself. So let’s go out and hire somebody to be our investigator.”

Choi’s office gained funding from the county board to replace a retiring, part-time employee who investigated prevailing-wage violations with a new, full-time investigator to help deliver cases related to prevailing wage and wage theft.

The new investigator, Jacob Shawback, previously worked for the Fair Contracting Foundation of Minnesota, which monitors labor standards on public construction projects across the state. “You’ve got to love working on behalf of working people, and Jacob has the background of working with labor unions around this issue,” Choi said.

The county attorney said he hopes the increased public attention on wage theft as a crime will have a deterrent effect and raise awareness among other prosecutors in the state. Choi compared it to his office’s focus on sex trafficking a decade ago, which drew nationwide attention.

“I remember when I first started talking about it, people would ask if it’s really happening here,” Choi said. “A lot of people weren’t aware of it. But we gained a greater awareness, and that greater awareness came, in part, because we started having cases.

“Our labor partners are telling us they know for a fact these violations are happening. It’s not a clerical mistake; people are actually stealing. And I think this is one of those areas that needs improvement to make sure these cases get the attention of the justice system.”

Learn more

Choi and others involved in the Labor Advisory Council’s work will offer a presentation at the May 11 St. Paul Regional Labor Federation (RLF) delegate meeting, beginning at 6 p.m.

“Despite the strongest wage theft protection law in the country, we know workers in Minnesota continue to experience wage theft,” RLF President Kera Peterson said. “I’m glad for the opportunity to serve on the Labor Advisory Council, and I’m thankful that County Attorney Choi and the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office are working to enforce our existing wage theft law.”

Filed Under: Labor Voices, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , ,

After hitting the streets, Ramsey County workers win raises

January 26, 2022 by

Ramsey County AFSCME members hold informational picketing in downtown St. Paul.

By showing up in force outside the Ramsey County Courthouse, members of five AFSCME locals persuaded county negotiators to put their proposed wage freeze on ice.

In bargaining that began Dec. 29 – one day after workers rallied – and stretched into the early-morning hours, the local unions reached tentative agreements on new contracts with the county that, if ratified, will increase wages by 6% over three years, in addition to one-time bonuses for staff who worked on the front lines of the pandemic.

“With over 200 members and allies, we showed the county employer and the residents of Ramsey the solidarity that we have as workers,” public health nurse Douangta Vang-Sitcler said. “This is the largest level of local union mobilization we have seen in many years.”

Vang-Sitcler’s union, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 8, bargained with the county alongside locals 151, 707, 1076 and 1935. AFSCME members ratified the contracts, which cover thousands of workers, in voting that concluded last week.

The new agreements expand eligibility for paid parental leave and make Juneteenth a holiday, among other gains. The union bargaining team also succeeded in beating back steep increases to workers’ medical and dental insurance costs, in addition to the proposed wage freeze.

But the county didn’t get serious about workers’ demands until union members got loud outside the courthouse. Ramsey County locals planned the Dec. 28 rally with support from AFSCME Council 5, and tapped into solidarity from across the labor community.

 

“Many of our members are Ramsey County residents or grew up in this county like I did, so our hearts belong to this community, our community,” Vang-Sitcler said. “We’re dedicated to serving the residents, especially right now with the world events that we are experiencing and the impacts of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

“I hope the county board heard what we had to say about who we are and why we are here working for them. I hope that made a difference and continues to make a difference moving forward.”

Julie Bleyhl, executive director of AFSCME Council 5, credited members for sticking together to demand a better offer from the county.

“Unions are the most powerful, people-centered movements that lift up the standards of living for all working people,” she said. “To our members: The historic level of activism you have shown in the form of calling and emailing County Commissioners, signing petitions, attending an informational picket during a snowstorm, talking to your co-workers, and voting on your next contract are all emblematic of the times we are all living in – that workers call for dignity and respect for the work they do and won’t accept anything less.”

But Vang-Sitcler, who served on the bargaining team, said AFSCME members can’t afford to let their guard down, even though bargaining may be over.

“We represent workers from multiple job classes and salary ranges across the county, and we recognize that today’s inflationary market may impact each family’s economics and budgets differently,” she said. “Ultimately, our TA was recommended … with the realization we will continue our collective efforts to push back on any future harmful proposals.”

Filed Under: Organizing, Union Events Tagged With: , , ,

Four takeaways from the new report on raising St. Paul’s minimum wage

February 22, 2018 by

Jess Manthe, a longtime retail worker in St. Paul, speaks at a rally outside council chambers, calling poverty wages a barrier to the middle class for too many people in the city.

Low-wage workers listened as the author of a report on raising St. Paul’s minimum wage summarized her findings at yesterday’s City Council meeting. Then they put council members on notice.

“Now is the time for the city to take a stand and get us the wages we need,” personal care attendant Daniel Maddox, a member of the low-wage worker center CTUL, said during a brief rally outside council chambers.

Council members at the meeting indicated they plan to move at a more deliberate pace. Council President Amy Brendmoen said the plan is to “have an ordinance in front of us by fall.”

What that ordinance should look like is already the subject of a heated debate, as the report presented yesterday confirmed.

The nonpartisan Citizens League prepared the report to give council members an overview of available data and research on the topic, and to identify which constituencies are likely to be impacted by a higher minimum wage. It’s available on the Citizen League’s website.

Here are four takeaways from the report and Citizen League Executive Director Pahoua Yang Hoffman’s presentation to the Council yesterday.

1. Despite an unemployment rate of 3.1 percent, too many working people and families in St. Paul live in poverty.

The Met Council’s most recent analysis of census data shows 40.8 percent of St. Paul residents live in poverty, a higher rate than any other metro-area community. And areas of concentrated poverty are spreading within the city, a trend Ward 7’s Jane Prince called “disturbing.”

Jess Manthe, a longtime retail worker in St. Paul, called poverty wages a barrier to the middle class.

“I have huge amounts of (student) debt that I’ll carry with me for the next 25 years,” she said. “Our unlivable wages mean my husband and I aren’t going to be able to buy a house, and having kids is completely off the table. I think it’s time for St. Paul to invest in its workers.”

2. People working for poverty wages know their paychecks don’t get bigger by accident or their bosses’ goodwill.

In preparing the Citizens League’s report, Hoffman met with more than 100 “stakeholders.” In her presentation to the Council, she singled out the story of a retail janitor who, after 14 years on the job, has seen her wages increase from $7.25 to $10.75 per hour.

The state minimum wage has increased from $6.15 to $9.65 over the same time frame. “She wanted me to let you know that if not for a mandate, she may never get to $15,” Hoffman said.

3. The janitor working for $10.75 after 14 years on the job is not a statistical outlier. In St. Paul poverty wages affect workers of all ages.

Stereotypes that cast minimum-wage earners as students working around classes or retirees keeping themselves busy are bogus. The Citizens League report cites a 2016 study by the Roy Wilkins Center for Human Relations and Social Justice, which considered the impacts of a minimum-wage increase in Minneapolis and in Hennepin and Ramsey counties.

“There is no distinction between ages where there might be in other cities, where low-wage workers might be younger or older,” Hoffman said.

Tipped workers packed council chambers to hear the report on raising St. Paul’s minimum wage.

4. Whether it’s a tip penalty or a training wage, interest groups will attempt to poke holes in St. Paul’s minimum wage.

The Citizens League report reflects a split within the restaurant industry over the tip penalty, which allows employers to pay a sub-minimum wage as long as workers make up the difference in tips. Working people on both sides of the issue showed up in council chambers yesterday.

Servers who support a tip penalty say a lower minimum wage is vital to their employers’ profitability, as well as preservation of a tipping culture. Opponents argue the tip penalty opens the door to wage theft, as some employers fail to make up the difference between workers’ tips and the minimum wage.

Research also shows tip penalties contribute to a culture of sexual harassment in the restaurant industry. A study released earlier this month found female tipped workers in states like Minnesota experience report sexual harassment at half the rate of their counterparts in states with a lower minimum wage for tipped workers.

Catherine Olsen, a tipped worker at a small business in St. Paul, called on city officials to pass an ordinance lifting all workers to $15 per hour, with no tip penalty and no youth wage. “St. Paul has an opportunity to act now and act fast – and to not leave anybody behind,” she said.

Filed Under: Organizing, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

AFSCME members lend Ramsey County golf courses a steady hand amid changes

June 2, 2014 by
web.golf-goodrich

Local 1935 members Dakota Gardner (L) and Scott Weik inspect the sixth green at Goodrich, which they rebuilt last summer.

It’s Mark Newton and Eric Swanson’s job to maintain the grounds at historic Keller Golf Course in Maplewood, but the members of AFSCME Local 1935 haven’t moved a pin or filled a divot in over a year.

Newton and Swanson will shake off the rust July 19, when Keller reopens for public golf after closing for major renovations to both the course and the clubhouse Oct. 1, 2012.

Keller, located at 2168 Maplewood Drive, is the crown jewel of the Ramsey County Parks Department’s five courses. A mainstay among industry lists of Minnesota’s top public courses, Keller’s rich history includes playing host to PGA Tour events that drew Sam Snead and Arnold Palmer.

Anticipation is high for Keller’s reopening, but the temporary closing meant an uptick in play at nearby Goodrich Golf Course, another Maplewood track, located at 1820 N. Van Dyke Street. Scott Weik, a lead maintenance worker at Goodrich, said the increased traffic has been good for Goodrich’s exposure, and the course withstood the additional rounds beautifully.

Ramsey County golf courses support full-time, year-round maintenance positions. Many employees pull double duty in the county’s ice arenas during the winter. “We wear many hats,” Weik said. “And we do as much in-house work as we can to save the department money.”

Last summer, Weik and Dakota Garnder, a parks aide who, like Weik, has experience working with turf, reconstructed the green on hole No. 6 at Goodrich. They dug out and refilled the area, laid drainage tile and seeded the new green on their own, so that the county did not have to bid out the job. This year, the pair will attempt to rebuild a practice bunker and level the tee boxes on Goodrich’s par threes.

At Keller the temporary closing freed AFSCME members to tackle a backlog of jobs – stump removal, for example – that they struggle to fit into the busy golf season. And, of course, some jobs remained – namely cutting the grass.

“I cut fairways,” Newton said. “I cut greens. I’m now in the process of cutting approaches. I cut tee boxes. I cut rough.”

Keeping both courses up to the standards their regular players have come to expect is a point of pride for maintenance workers at both courses.

“When people are out there golfing, you don’t want them to see dandelions,” Weik said. “You take pride in what you do out there.”

One moment that stands out for Gardner is when a men’s league player from Keller – forced to switch play to Goodrich last year – commented on the quality of Gardner’s course. “Our men’s league players – or any customer, really – when they’re appreciative of what we do, they tell us so, and that means a lot,” Gardner said.

Newton is looking forward to hearing familiar compliments in Keller’s 85th-anniversary golf season.

“We had people three years ago, gentlemen from Phoenix who had heard about Keller, they told me they loved this golf course,” Newtown said. “A couple guys from Chicago told me the same thing.”

Golf Union!

• AFSCME Council 5 represents workers at Keller and Goodrich, and at Como, Highland and Phalen golf courses in St. Paul.

• Hillcrest Golf Club, 2200 Larpenteur Ave. East, is owned by Pipefitters Local 455. Members of UNITE HERE Local 17 staff its banquet facilities, available for rent to non-members.

Keller maintence workers Mark Newton (L) and Eric Swanson.

Keller maintence workers Mark Newton (L) and Eric Swanson.

Filed Under: Community Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Letters to the Editor: Sequestration cuts, Ramsey County Sheriff’s budget

September 12, 2012 by

Sandy Pappas

Letter: There is room for cuts in Pentagon budget

As some of us see Labor Day as a vacation and celebration of Minnesota’s workforce, others are struggling to recover from the Great Recession. We’ve seen efforts to reduce health care and retirement benefits for workers on the grounds that there’s no money, yet there’s always money for the Pentagon and its contractor cronies. Pentagon spending actually creates fewer jobs than spending on education, health care or clean energy.

If the automatic “sequestration” cuts occur, thousands more middle class jobs could be lost. Exempting the Pentagon from these automatic reductions will mean more draconian domestic program cuts.

As a legislator, I believe we need a balanced approach to the budget. There is room to cut waste from Pentagon spending. Our national security is strengthened by investing in our best asset – people. This Labor Day, let’s ask our members of Congress to invest in America’s workforce and economy – to secure our future.

– Senator Sandy Pappas, State Senate District 65

Letter: Your vote has consequences

Two years ago we were in the midst of an election campaign for the Ramsey County sheriff. During that time Matt Bostrom asked for the support of many unions. In turn, the vast majority endorsed his campaign for sheriff.

Prior to the election either Matt or I visited almost 20 of your union meetings, requesting your vote for him. A question frequently asked during those meetings was: “What does the sheriff’s race have to do with me or this union?”

Our response was that the Sheriff’s Office had consistently gone over budget during the previous 16 years, costing you more tax dollars – this at a time when many union members were sitting on the bench and struggling financially. Matt Bostrom found this unacceptable and made a public pledge to you and other taxpayers to balance the budget if elected.

Promises are easy to make, and you often never hear from them again or until the next election season. This is why I am writing now. Union members deserve a report for the faith they showed in Matt.

In March 2011 the Sheriff’s Office was reorganized to focus on core functions prescribed by state statute, providing efficient and effective services to the community and public safety partners. Through appropriate staffing, the community was kept safe as more deputies were assigned to the streets, courts, waterways and jail.

For the first time in 10 years, the Sheriff’s Office closed the year with budget savings. These budget savings would help offset an anticipated revenue shortfall. Working with the County Manager and the County Board in setting the 2013-2014 budgets, taxpayers were protected from an increase.

To continue these budget savings and create better efficiencies, employees are receiving training and performance evaluations, and innovative technology is being utilized.

Public service carries many expectations, including trust and accountability. As we look ahead, Matt Bostrom remains dedicated to guiding the transformation of the Sheriff’s Office and exceeding your expectations.

– Mark P. Wiegel, Bostrom for Sheriff Campaign

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