PILLAGER — Standing outside Sylvan Town Hall in southern Cass County, one local woman had a question: What about the investigation?
The woman, who declined to share her name for fear of retaliation, said she and several others at the Cass County sheriff candidate forum submitted questions about an investigation into Sheriff Bryan Welk, who is running for reelection.
Those questions were never asked.
"I am waiting to see if the truth comes out," she said. "I don't know yet [how that will happen], but I am on pins and needles because everybody deserves to know the truth, and transparency needs to be No. 1."
At the forum hosted by the Brainerd Lakes Area League of Women Voters and its partners on Tuesday, Sept. 8, candidates answered routine questions about the budget and addressed hot-button issues, like Flock cameras. (Ammerman said he opposes the cameras because of how they have been misused; Welk said they are an important tool, and the misuse rates are "pretty good" but still too high.)
But the investigation — and rumors about it building throughout the county — were not directly addressed, leaving voters concerned with transparency unsatisfied.
Welk's opponent, Cass County Deputy Aaron Ammerman, made passive swipes at the sheriff, speaking of vindictiveness during the campaign, a disconnect with the community and a sheriff’s office “fractured from within.”
"We have a very big problem in this office, and if the people don't see it, it's going to hurt," Ammerman said.
"It's important that the sheriff is transparent and accountable to what's going on in the public, as much as they can be," Welk said. "Obviously, there's personnel issues that you can't talk about, or other things that may come up that you can't talk about."
Complaint against Welk
Ammerman filed a misconduct complaint against Welk in January. He said in May the complaint is the reason he is running for sheriff.
Cass County Administrator Josh Stevenson confirmed that a complaint against Welk was under investigation in May, but he said no further information could be provided at the time, citing state laws about personnel data "and/or" civil investigation data.
In May, Welk said that the complaint "is without merit and appears to be politically motivated."
Ammerman said in an interview Wednesday that he is still not allowed to talk about the complaint, but it is "very, very bad."
"If it is a political smear ... then let the people know what it is and let them make a decision," he said.
If Welk had been asked at Tuesday's forum, "Are any of the candidates under investigation?" He said his answer would have been, "No."
"Any investigations that were — may have been done, have been completed. And, to my knowledge, there's been no discipline," Welk said in an interview after the forum.
Ammerman said he believes the county is sitting on the investigation until after the election.
"They don't want it out now," he said. "Because if it comes out, I believe this election probably would have ended last night."
No public information, despite data requests
Becky LaPlante, president of the Brainerd Lakes Area League of Women Voters, said they don't include questions targeted to one candidate, nor anything "accusatory."
"I know one of the biggest things is there's some controversy here," she said. "But we couldn't find any proof of it or any documentation of it. So, even though people were asking about it, we didn't dare ask the candidates about it."
The League of Women Voters partnered with the Brainerd Dispatch and American Association of University Women of Minnesota on the forum. LaPlante said they checked with both the Dispatch and Pine Cone Press-Citizen, but neither could find anything public about the investigation.
KAXE filed a data request in May seeking information about the complaint against Welk and whether disciplinary action had been taken.
The next day, Cass County changed its personnel data policy, preventing the release of data related to the investigation. The move directly contradicts guidance from the Minnesota Data Practices Office, which has said under these circumstances the data is public.
If elected officials are not designated as employees by the county, data about them is presumed public.
The day after KAXE submitted its request, an item was added to the Cass County Board of Commissioners meeting agenda, requesting the Board designate elected officials as employees for the purpose of public data.
"Cass County received a recent request for personnel data under the MGDPA," the item stated. "The action taken by the County Board will determine what the County is required to provide related to public data."
Attached to the request was an advisory opinion from the Data Practices Office that states entities cannot make the designation "upon receiving a data request."
Minnesota statute also states the classification of data applies "at the time a request for access to the data is made."
Upon request for assistance, the Data Practices Office referred KAXE to its existing advisory opinion. KAXE informed Administrator Stevenson of this guidance and resubmitted its data request.
Stevenson acknowledged the receipt of the request on Sept. 4. There has been no further communication since.
Vindictiveness or policy?
"Don't be vindictive. It's very simple," Ammerman said during the forum, in response to a question about preventing the campaign from disrupting the sheriff's office.
At a May meeting, Cass County Attorney Ben Lindstrom recommended that the County Board require Ammerman to take a leave of absence, arguing that Ammerman violated policy by failing to notify the Board of his intention to run for sheriff. The Board thanked Lindstrom for bringing the matter to its attention but declined to act.
Lindstrom is running for reelection unopposed.
Ammerman said at the forum Tuesday that after he took "some time off," his squad and all of his equipment were removed from his house. He said that's never happened in his time with the sheriff's office.
"The uniform that I put on and wore for 23 years for all of the people of Cass County, for my family, that was taken away from me," he said.
Welk disagreed with Ammerman's characterization, saying that action had been taken with many people who had gone on leave, and Ammerman wasn't treated differently than anyone else.
"It's just following what we were advised to do and what is right to do in that situation," Welk said.
After the forum, Welk said he could not say why that action was taken in this instance. He also declined to share who advised him on the decision.
"I'd rather not say, 'cause I don't want to tread anywhere that I shouldn't," he said.
Chelsey Perkins contributed to this reporting.
