Abby Nadeau
Staff Writer

The Forest Lake City Council is trying to find a sacrificial lamb to feed to the wolves, according to Clyde McCaskey.

McCaskey, a member of the Forest Lake Planning Commission, is currently under the city council microscope for statements he made in August of 2005 regarding the Forest Ridge affordable housing unit proposed on the old hospital campus.

McCaskey created a flier that was distributed throughout the community that described how the cityís crime and drug rate would be affected by the development.

He later voted against the planning commissionís decision to recommend the development to the city.

On Monday, March 6 City Administrator Chip Robinson drafted a letter addressed to McCaskey that the city council ìwill hold a hearing to discuss your membership on the Forest Lake Planning Commission on March 13, 2006 at 7:30 p.m.î

As McCaskey and Richard Pecar sat front row at Monday nightís city council meeting, Mayor Terry Smith immediately stated that the ìhearingî that was scheduled for the evening would only consist of setting a later hearing date.

ìThat is all that will occur at that point in time,î Smith said. He went on to say that the city will be supplying him with written charges, so they want to give him time to prepare for those charges.

For McCaskey and Pecar, it was a surprise to hear the word charges. Both are members of the Forest Lake Community Association that has fought the cityís approval of the housing plan on the hospital campus.

ìI had prepared a statement to read to them, I thought we were going to have a discussion,î McCaskey said.

ìWe thought they might say that it was inappropriate to distribute the flier,î Pecar said. ìWe thought that if there was a disciplinary problem that it would be discussed administratively and not in a public hearing.î

Robinson stated that the reason McCaskeyís hearing will be public, and not private, is because a formal action cannot be taken in private.

Dave Hebert, the city attorney, is expected to create a ìlistî of the charges that will be given to McCaskey ìsometime next week.î

ìThis is more serious than people know,î McCaskey said. ìThe city is sending the message that anyone who disagrees with staff recommendations can be removed. This leaves every citizen vulnerable.î

McCaskeyís public hearing is set for 6:30 p.m. on April 10.

ìAfter going against their own ordinances on eight different occasions it doesnít surprise me that they would step on the first amendment either,î Pecar said.

ìIt is just a sign of how inept they [the city council] are and the message they are sending is that if you are going to be involved with the city you better not think on your own.î

Other Business

Last week Police Chief Clark Quiring held a workshop for the city of Forest Lake to adopt an Automated Pawn System ordinance.

The system will require a $1 transaction fee to each individual who brings items into the pawn shop.

The information would then go into a system that all participating police departments could check for stolen items.

The council voted to approve the $1 fee and its language 4-0.

Justin Richert, Michael Freer and George Bonfe were all appointed to the Forest Lake Human Rights Commission.

The commissionís ordinance, by-laws and incident response plans will be brought back for the April 10 council meeting to be voted on.

The city council also approved a purchase agreement between Washington County, the city of Forest Lake and Fenway Investments, Inc. for the Headwaters Project adjacent to the community center site.

The agreement allows Fenway Investments to attain 17.52 more acres from

The council went on to discuss how the interview process for a new council member will proceed.

Several ideas were brought to the table including a question and answer portion, a point system and ranking each candidate.

Smith stated that currently there are four applicants, but there could be as many as six or seven.

Tuesday, March 21 is the last day applications will be accepted by the city. Interviews are tentatively scheduled April 17.

Someone will be appointed at the completion of the interview process. The new council member will serve the balance of the year with the position going on the ballot in November for the final two years that remain in former Council member Dick Tschidaís term.

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Forest Lake Times
P.O. Box 218
880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
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