I think its a less clear case of potential conflict of interest since Fink does represent the area around Fish Lake. 

If he was acting on behalf of requests from constituents then I don't think he did anything wrong. If he misrepresented their interests then they'll have the opportunity to let him know by voting. 

One other thing: The statement that slot limits discourage fishing is BS. Most slot limits for walleye and other species are driven by angler demand. Slot limits wouldn't exist if people who fish didn't want to catch bigger fish.

Has anyone from PDD contacted Mr. Fink about his issue? Being that this issue has been investigated and Mr. Fink was not reprimanded one would wonder if this is just an endorsement for Mr. Jewell.

I am neutral on the county commissioners. I can't help but wonder, since Senator Chaudhary was raked over the coals, why has there been no mention of Dennis Fink's involvement? If Dennis Fink is in the same situation as Senator Chaudhary, why is he not receiving the same treatment as Chaudhary? These are questions I have that are not answered.

August 10, Paul

Do the St. Louis County commissioners even have an ethics code they're supposed to follow? Based on some of the shenanigans I recall I have to think that they don't.

I'm not an expert but I don't think that there's any sort of ethics code because Fink was found to have sexually harassed his secretary but I think there was no consequence because the board didn't have the same ethics code (or any apparently?) as every other county employee. Can anyone else confirm?

Commissioner Kron put forth a strong effort to have a meaningful code of conduct, this was resisted by Fink/Nelson/Forsman/Raukar.   Consequences for unethical behavior were not something they felt should happen.   The "Code of Conduct" was discussed at length and was pretty much brought to it's knees by Keith Nelson who submitted a toothless version which the two offending commissioners and those who vote with them consistently latched on to.   It was passed and the issue silenced but the bottom line was that Dennis Fink said commissioners should only be responsible to the voters.  (shortly after that Mike Forsman reminded us that "The Voters Will Forget" and explained that voters generally only consider what happens in the weeks leading up to the election.   

Commissioner Kron narrowly lost the next election - in great part I believe because the folks didn't know who had done wrong on the board, there was talk of leering over glasses (by Dennis Fink) and Kron was the only one in the official photos with glasses!   Some people actually mentioned this as their rationale for voting for Dahlberg!   Dahlberg votes in tight accord with Nelson/Fink.   Nelson described himself at a recent board workshop as a "Range Democrat" and explained that "Range Democrats are more conservative than the most conservative Republicans"  which was kind of a surprise to me, as I'm from NE Minnesota and I'm DFL but I am not exactly a Sarah Palin fan!    

The bottom line is that the worst of the worst on the county board are up for re election this year and it's time for a cleaning of the house.    They've got lots of money,they are backed in great part by those they essentially use county money to lobby for.   

There are great candidates opposing the incumbents and any of them would be a change for the better!