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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

City reaches settlement with fired employee

Keith Vandervort
Posted 12/1/16

ELY – A separation agreement was approved this week between the city of Ely and former zoning administrator Gregg Cramer. Following a four-hour mediation session last week at City Hall, the full …

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City reaches settlement with fired employee

Posted

ELY – A separation agreement was approved this week between the city of Ely and former zoning administrator Gregg Cramer. Following a four-hour mediation session last week at City Hall, the full city council met Tuesday night to review and approve resolution to the matter.

Mayor Chuck Novak called the separation agreement “reasonable” and recommended the council approve the document for his signature.

“The parties acknowledge that there was a misunderstanding between the city of Ely and Cramer,” stated the agreement. “The ratification of this settlement agreement does not indicate by either party an admission of guilt nor that the employee engaged in dishonest behavior during his employment.”

Cramer agreed to resign from his position as planning and zoning administrator for the city as of Sept. 27, 2016. Cramer will be paid for his accrued but unused vacation and sick leave time in the amount of $4,692. As separation compensation, Cramer will also be paid $5,983 after the agreement is signed.

In addition, the city dropped the employment-related allegations against Cramer and both sides agreed to a “disparagement” clause that prohibits either side from making statements, including but not limited to email and social media, that tend to belittle, criticize, demean, denigrate, denounce, deride, discredit, mock, reproach, ridicule, scorn or vilify the other party.

Cramer filed a grievance in September through the AFSCME bargaining unit that represents a majority of city employees to protest the council’s 6-0 vote to fire him from the 20-hour-per-week position. In rejecting the grievance, an independent arbitrator was called in to settle the dispute.

He was placed on paid administrative leave on Sept. 12.

That dispute centered around Cramer’s use of city-owned software to do work on maps for a local business, Ely Design Works, that was commissioned by Incredible Ely, a private organization that promotes economic development in the city.

The maps were to adorn information kiosks in Whiteside Park and other locations.

The relationship involving the city, the city employee, the private business, and the economic development organization is a tangled mess to say the least. The city touts their efforts to enhance economic development. Council member Kara Polyner owns Ely Design Works. She was a board member with Incredible Ely, along with fellow City Council member Heidi Omerza, City Attorney Kelly Klun, and Cramer.

At the employee discipline hearing, held in open session at Cramer’s request and to the obvious discomfort of many city council members, it was determined that the “city employee improperly used city resources.” Polyner abstained from the vote. Omerza voted in favor of the motion to fire Cramer. The hearing was conducted by Klun.

According to Cramer’s testimony, he used the city computer and map-making software in his office on his own time for the project that was commissioned by Incredible Ely through Ely Design Works with the expectation that he would be paid for his services.

City officials said they were unaware that Cramer was using city resources for a private job. Cramer claimed that Clerk-Treasurer Harold Langowski gave his approval for the use of city resources. Langowski said he was under the impression that the employee was doing an in-kind service for Incredible Ely rather than the private business that was going to pay Cramer as much as $450. Langowski also said that the partially completed map project was not retrievable from the city computer.

Polyner, who did not seek re-election to the City Council this year, has since resigned from the Incredible Ely Board. Cramer was removed from the Incredible Ely board last month.

And the information kiosk stands empty in Whiteside Park. The future of the project, and the much-desired economic development improvement efforts it could bring to residents and visitors, appears to be in limbo.