Stillwater CO finds off duty conduct can affect employment

Reminder, off duty conduct can affect your employment.

The Star Tribune is reporting "Minnesota Correctional Officer on leave after confronting Black Live Matter Protesters with profanity; wife hurled racial slur."

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Reading the article it documents that BLM protesters have been repeatedly protesting outside the home of  the Washington County prosecutor in charge of the Potter case, attempting to intimidate him into changing his decision.

It appears the CO in question must be a neighbor who is irritated by their behavior.  If it's anything like the protests in Hugo, MN with John Thompson and BLM last year, I see why neighbors are mad. Words were exchanged on a couple of occasions and allegedly his wife, not him, used a racial slur. He's now on leave from Stillwater MCF and his wife lost her job at a hair salon after they were doxed. 

His employment record, yes it's public, is in the article, good and bad, and his picture, provided by the DOC. The article also points out he and a protester, a former inmate, recognized each other and hugged.

The long and short is this. If you are a public employee, you will be held to a higher standard, even if BLM is attempting to intimidate others who live in your neighborhood.

PERA Board Meeting and Bill SF2198 update

 I attended the April 8th PERA Board meeting via zoom. 

The subject of the Legislature adding 911 Dispatchers to our Correctional Pension was addressed, Senate Bill SF2198.

Here's the position adopted by the PERA Board.

Essentially, if the Legislators decide to add a group to our pension PERA is recommending they do one of two things.

One, an added group would start out as new to our pension and at contributions sufficient to fully fund the higher benefit.

Or

Two, the City or County of that group would have to pay an amount into our pension sufficient to fully fund that individual and not harm our actuarial value. So if a 55 year old dispatcher who worked for a county for 30 years was put into our pension, that county would have to add 30 years of contributions into our Correctional Plan. This would be extremely expensive for cities and counties budgets.

I had a very productive phone conversation with PERA Executive Director Doug Anderson today. We both want to keep our pension healthy as it is the best funded of all the PERA pensions. 

PERA has no say as to who is in the Pension, the Legislature does, so keep on your State Senators and Representatives, but PERA very much has a say in the how much this change would cost our plan.

So far no companion House File has been added to this Bill. It can't happen without that. I hope it stays that way.

Our Pension was founded on inmate contact and the high risk associated with that. We need to guard this!