Membership Sideblog
- The Marcus Welby of law, by Lance Heisler | Lampe Law Group
July 31, 2010 | 7:45 pmGrowing up in North Dakota during the 50s and 60s, I was privileged to experience something that's all too rare now - the old-fashioned family doctor. "Doc" delivered babies, set broken bones, treated pneumonia, and helped Grandpa with his newfangled hearing aid. Doc knew the community, the families, and the individuals whose basic medical needs he treated from birth through the end of life. Some of you who grew up in that time, and perhaps in smaller communities, may remember a Doc of your own. . . . → Read More: The Marcus Welby of law, by Lance Heisler | Lampe Law Group
- Kitty Mania at the Prairie’s Edge Humane Society, by Sandy Vesledahl
July 28, 2010 | 10:51 pm
Let’s talk about cats, cats and more cats! Why?? Because Prairie’s Edge Humane Society is full of cats and we have many more arriving daily. As of today, there are 44 cats on the adoption floor with more awaiting their surgeries so they are ready for adoption. There are cats in every corner of the shelter who need homes! We are in desperate need of homes for these cats. We cannot emphasize this enough. So we are having a cat sale and we are calling it Kitty Mania ! Kitty Mania is this weekend, beginning Thursday, July . . . → Read More: Kitty Mania at the Prairie’s Edge Humane Society, by Sandy Vesledahl
- On Watermelons and Widgets, by Tom Swift
July 12, 2010 | 11:50 am
The free market does many things well, but we know it does not do everything. Even market fundamentalists concede that the public must build roads, put out fires, police streets, and provide national defense. Most people, at least those to the left of the Tea Party edge of political spectrum, accept that the government must also be involved in education, disaster relief, and health care. That is, certain services must be rendered — necessary services, universal services — whether or not those services are financially profitable. If your house is on fire, you do not have time to . . . → Read More: On Watermelons and Widgets, by Tom Swift
- Vintage Band Festival Contra Dance, by Dan Bergeson
July 12, 2010 | 10:56 am
Okay, so most of the news about the Vintage Band Festival so far has been about the bands. But there’s a number of other events during the weekend. Like the VBF Contra Dance, for instance. The Vintage Band Festival Contra Dance will feature music by The Dodworth Saxhorn Band of Ann Arbor, Michigan and will be led by dance instructor/caller Robin Nelson. Dancing will begin at 8:30 p.m. with a “Grand March” led by 60 costumed members of the 1st Wisconsin Infantry Brigade, followed by a variety of period dances including polkas, contra dances, schottisches, reels and waltzes. . . . → Read More: Vintage Band Festival Contra Dance, by Dan Bergeson
- The Animal-Cruelty Syndrome, by Tom Swift
June 27, 2010 | 8:00 am
Even before I read the first word of this article I had a visceral reaction to it. The accompanying photographs — my eyes tend to skip over photographs in magazines — affected me in a manner that is difficult to articulate. I knew, immediately I knew, I was not going to like what I was about to read. In fact, for that reason I put the piece aside. Not now, I thought. Maybe tomorrow, I said to myself. But, then, I couldn’t not read it, either. If you have not done so already, I hope you will read . . . → Read More: The Animal-Cruelty Syndrome, by Tom Swift
- Puppies! Puppies! Puppies! by Kathy Jasnoch
June 27, 2010 | 7:54 am
June may be Adopt A Cat month here at Prairie’s Edge Humane Society and we have lots of wonderful cats, but we also have PUPPIES! We have a male Newfoundland mix named Chong who is 6 months old, he was a stray so we don’t know a lot about him. He loves to play! We also have three Australian Cattle Dog mixes who are two months old. Marcia, Bobby and Cindy were born at the shelter and spent some time in one of our fabulous foster homes. They are now back at the shelter and ready to find . . . → Read More: Puppies! Puppies! Puppies! by Kathy Jasnoch
- Relay for Life of Rice County, August 6th, Rice County Fairgrounds. By Sandy Vesledahl
June 23, 2010 | 9:35 pm
The American Cancer Society Relay for Life is a life-changing event that gives everyone in communities across the globe a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease. At Relay for Life, teams of people camp out at local parks or fairgrounds and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Because cancer never sleeps, Relays are overnight events. Relay for Life of Rice . . . → Read More: Relay for Life of Rice County, August 6th, Rice County Fairgrounds. By Sandy Vesledahl
- Critter Cam live from Prairie’s Edge Humane Society, by Sandy Vesledahl
June 16, 2010 | 9:04 amNow Showing! Live Kittens playing! You can now watch our adoptable animals at Prairie’s Edge Humane Society (PEHS) live 24/7 on the new Critter Cam installed in conjunction with KYMN Radio. Thanks to the fine folks at KYMN radio we now have a live feed of our adoptable animals showing on our website and KYMN’s website, Tim and Jeff are AWESOME! Currently the Critter Cam is featuring kittens available for adoption. Watch them play, sleep, eat, and everything else they do 24 hours a day 7 days a week! It’s better than anything you can see on TV! . . . → Read More: Critter Cam live from Prairie’s Edge Humane Society, by Sandy Vesledahl
- Save the Northfield Depot: fundraising help needed. By Lynn Vincent
June 11, 2010 | 11:34 am
A BIG Thanks to all of you who came to last Monday’s Volunteer Organization Meeting, and to those who contacted us saying you wanted to help but could not make the meeting. We have pretty full support for Communications and Design and Build sub-committees, and we got a web graphic designer to help with the site. Alice Thomas is facilitating the Communications group, and Steve Edwins is facilitating the Design and Build group. What we are missing and really need are Fund Raising people. We have two grant writiers, but we need folks who are committed to the . . . → Read More: Save the Northfield Depot: fundraising help needed. By Lynn Vincent
- Photo albums: 2010 Prairie’s Edge Humane Society Walk for the Animals, by Bridgette Hallcock Photography
June 11, 2010 | 8:09 am
Thank you to all of those who came to Alexander Park on a beautiful Saturday morning in May to help support Prairie’s Edge Humane Society! I have placed all of the fun photographs on my Bridgette Hallcock Photography Facebook page so that everyone can see how much fun we had! See the two 2010 Walk for the Animals albums here and here. If you would like a print, please contact me, as the proceeds will benefit the animals at PEHS.
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Police Chief hiring process: consultant vs. citizens’ panel
By Griff Wigley, on February 10, 2008, 9:14 am
 Despite the fact that the City of Northfield’s $85,000 web site has a Chief’s Message indicating that Gary Smith is still our Chief of Police, he’s not anymore. The hiring process for a new chief began with the posting of the job opening on Feb. 7. (There’s another poster/flyer PDF here but there’s no information about a job opening or links to the info on the police department employment page.) The job closes on Feb. 20.
Local attorney (and former counsel for Smith) Dave Hvistendahl has a letter to the editor in yesterday’s paper titled: Use committee to hire.
Rather than hiring an out-of-town consultant who knows little about our city, the council should appoint a citizens’ panel of knowledgeable people to review and narrow the field of applicants and make a rank-order recommendation to the council.
The people who should be asked to serve on the panel might include former chief of police Ron Pieri; retired police captain Tim Halvorson; retired police sergeants Mark Barlau, Jim Schuenke and Mick Scholl; Northfield city prosecutor Tim Morisette; Rice County Chief Deputy Bob Sletten; and a Northfield criminal defense attorney, such as Adam Dowd, Britt Ackerman or Dave Ludescher.
Evidently the usual process is to hire a consultant to winnow down the applicants to a select few for City Administrator Al Roder to interview. I’ve not seen anything about the hiring process in any of Al’s weekly memos, but I like Hvistendahl’s suggestion. I’d add one additional component: have some members of the police department (officers, staff) involved in the interviews.
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but I’d have a hard time during the sabbatical not paying attention to see if that was actually the case. I think the more places in Northfield...
I would think three panels: 1) one as Hvistendahl has suggested 2) one of just plain citizen folks 3) one of convicted criminals (seriously – they may provide great insight).
All three could report to the council.
Youth, OK some youth, are heavily impacted by the police and a “buy in” by youth through participating in selecting the Police Chief might improve the selection process and improve the new chief’s standing among Northfield youth. I would also think the process should involve women and Hispanic representation.
Good grief, David! Sounds like you are proposing a hiring committee. Remeber the duckbill platypus? It is the animal purported to have been designed by a committee. I don’t think there is probably any person alive who could satisfy all these different people. Seems the city should have a list of professional requirements for the position (I’m sure they do), and the candidate should be aligned with these criterion rather than the opinions of a group of diverse citizens. But, now, in my opinion….
In many communities, there is a small hiring committee, but there are meetings with the public where the candidates are introduced and where people can ask questions. It’s not as formal and cumbersome as several broad committees, but it should satisfy the important need to have everyone who it interested participate in the process.
As Hvistendahl said in his letter to the News, Faribault didn’t use an outside consultant to hire a new chief. However, they did hire an outside consultant to review the performance of the department as a whole.
I wonder if Northfield should do the same. Is anyone satisfied with the performance of the NFPD? Have their actions in regards to the heroin/oxycontin epidemic (as described by the former chief) or the quadrupling of the the burglary rates been effective?
All I’ve seen is empty posturing—warning drug dealers to stay away from Northfielders on televised press conferences; random traffic stops, hoping to to stumble across some drug violations, and searching an unoccupied school after hours with dogs which revealed (surprise!)– drugs are not kept in the school overnight.
Should we expect more from the NFPD?
I don’t know Dave Hvistendahl personally but he is a good and humorous writer on this blog. My main point being his suggestion is an “up stream” (read professional) committee when my estimate would be “down stream” input would likely lead to a better candidate (I have heard positive input from young people about one of the internal candidates). Anne’s idea of public interviews seems like a solution.
Let’s not presume to know that the duckbill platypus was not designed in a backroom over bourbon and cigars.
Curt, I think there was a consultant hired last spring to assess the police department, though it may have focused on morale problems, not overall performance. I don’t know if the results of that study were ever made public but I don’t think so. And it probably fell off everyone’s radar once the heroin story hit.
But I think it would be interesting for those conducting interviews for the Chief’s position to have access to what the consultant found. And it might even be more interesting for those who are seeking the job.
Anyone want to dig for the info?
David- Perhaps too many bourbons?
Anne- I like your idea of public oportunity to meet the finalists in the hiring process. If nothing else, it would start some comunity communication, and that is definitely a positive step.
In the Sat. Nfld News: 29 apply for police chief position; Four panels will interview up to 8 semi-finalists.
There’s one thing that concerns me about the hiring ad…… It states an education requirement, years in the field, and then has a very vague/expansive statement about any “equivalent”. That’s sometimes a good thing, but it can also be used to hire just about anybody you might want, or at least to find anyone you prefer, to be an acceptable candidate.
When i first moved here there were a couple of citizen commissions that had to do with police work; I think one was the Civil Service Commission, and I’m not sure what the other was called. I was wondering what anyone who had served on those groups knew about their work, what the qualifications for the Police Chief job have been, have those changed, etc. Just some general background info.
Is there a place to look for the qualification standards for any city of Northfield department head? If these standards change, who does that? The city Administrator? The City Council?
Dear Locally Grown folks,
Your blog was forwarded to me and I read it with great interest. I have been working with the City of Northfield to help select the best-qualified chief of police. My organization, Personnel Decisions International (PDI), is a twin-cities based consulting firm that assesses and develops leadership talent for private and public organizations aound the world. We have 13 US offices and operations in 22 countries and have measured the capabilities of more that 2.5 million individuals in leadership roles.
I have been helping cities, counties, state and federal agencies in this regard for 30+ years. For those of you with long memories, my first project at PDI was hiring Tony Bouza as Mpls. Chief.
The Northfield process is combining community input with professional evaluation of candidate’s capabilities.
This is a powerful, well-balanced approach to ensure that Northfield’s next law enforcement chief executive will be an effective leader and service provider.
I also have been teaching industrial/organizational psychology at St. Olaf for the last fifteen years. Two of my children live in Northfield.
Mr. Brull, was your firm involved with hiring the former chief?
Also, do you do more than check resumes with their cherry picked references?
Do you check with the candidates subordinates to see if they have real world ability to motivate people?