This week Timberjay editor Marshall Helmberger broke the story that questions the IRRR's hiring of Joe Radinovich for a non-political position.
Marshall Helmberger REGIONAL— For more than 20 years, Sandy Layman, of Grand Rapids, has worked to convince lawmakers in St. Paul that the Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation is more than a revolving door of political patronage for Iron Range DFLers. Layman, now a Republican House member, first served on the IRRR board in the 1990s and later became commissioner of the agency under Gov. Tim Pawlenty. “One of my goals has always been to depoliticize the agency,” said Layman during a recent interview with the Timberjay. “It has a highly partisan reputation in St. Paul.” Which is why Layman says she is so frustrated with the agency’s recent hiring of Joe Radinovich, the unsuccessful 2018 DFL candidate for the U.S. House in Minnesota’s Eighth District. Radinovich was hired in early March to a highly-paid, permanent position that IRRR officials appear to have created specifically for him.
You can read Representative Sandy Layman's official statement here.
Read Aaron Brown's Minnesota Brown post here.
Business North's coverage is here.
The AP/The Charlotte Observor also covered the story.
