Cloquet administrator is leaving

After just under two years on the job in Cloquet, city administrator Aaron Reeves is resigning to take the same job in Hudson, Wisconsin.

His last day with the City of Cloquet will be Sept. 5.

Reeves said he and his wife made the move north from the Rochester area two years ago with plans to stay in the area, but her job changed about nine months ago and Reeves started searching for a job closer to the metro area, as she flies a lot for work now.

"I waited as long as I could before getting too serious about searching," Reeves told the Pine Knot News on Tuesday. Reeves was a finalist for a city manager job in Prior Lake in December 2018 and had been scheduled for a finalist interview for a job in Hastings, Minnesota.

Reeves started with the city in October 2017, replacing longtime city administrator and Cloquet resident Brian Fritsinger, who had resigned after nearly 18 years with the city to take a position as deputy city administrator with St. Louis County that March.

Reeves arrived at a tumultuous time in local government, six months after the previous mayor and city council had suspended, investigated, cleared and then accepted the resignation of former Cloquet police chief Steve Stracek in a series of actions that divided the community.

Reeves said the next city administrator will have to continue to work with the police department closely.

"The department and officers are doing a great job, but they need stabilized leadership," he told the Pine Knot. "They also need to see support from the council and citizens, and move past isolated incidents. They were big incidents, for sure, but they need to focus on the positive work the department is doing," he added, referring to two different officers who are no longer with the department as a result of past discipline issues and the ongoing absence of the current police chief.

Shortly after Reeves started on the job, Mayor Dave Hallback and three councilors voted to appoint Jeff Palmer, a police sergeant who had been acting as interim chief since Stracek was appointed, full-time police chief - without advertising or commencing any kind of search for a new police chief. At the time, Reeves said he would supervise the inexperienced Palmer closely.

Palmer has been on paid, voluntary leave from his job since April.

Reeves told the Pine Knot News he expects to have news about the police chief after the next city council meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 7 in the new City Hall. No agenda has been posted yet, but it is customary to close council meetings for personnel discussions, then reopen the meeting to either vote publicly on the issue or close the meeting for good.

Reeves made a number of bold moves in his short time here.

When asked what he considers his biggest achievement over the past 22 months, Reeves gestured at the new combined city hall and police station - occupied but not quite finished, as the police garage is still under construction - which opened in June in the former Members Cooperative Credit Union at 101 14th St. in Cloquet. Originally, the city planned to spend close to $6.4 million to tear down the fire department side of the Public Safety Building at 508 Cloquet Ave. and rebuild/remodel the police department. The purchase of the MCCU building meant the city spent an estimated $3.9 million - and sold the existing city hall building to the county for $750,000 instead of possibly paying $775,000 to remodel it - plus got a newer building with space to spare.

"I think it worked out well for the city, the county, the credit union and the fire district," Reeves said, noting that the combined project is on track and on budget so far.

"So far it's been a good move for us. We saved a lot of money versus trying to figure out the police department's old facility and city hall, plus we don't have to include office space at Public Works," he added, referring to capital plans to spend as much as $10 million on a new public works building(s)."

Reeves also cited better working relationships and collaborative efforts with the county and the Fond du Lac Band - citing the animal control issue as one example - as well as efforts to become more energy-efficient as things he is proud of. He pointed out the lower property tax levy for 2018 and what he thinks could be another low- or zero-percent increase tax levy for next year.

"It's nice being able to lower the tax levy to help control the burden on the taxpayers," he said.

Prior to moving to Duluth, Reeves and his family lived in the Rochester area for nearly 18 years, he said. Prior to taking the Cloquet job, he worked for the city of Rochester for nearly four years as assistant city administrator and city clerk/development coordinator before that. He has also served as city administrator for the cities of Cannon Falls and Kenyon for six years each, commuting to the job from his home in Rochester. He said he and his wife are hoping this is the last move for a long time.

Mayor Roger Maki said he appreciated Reeves staying past his 30 days required notice as the council will adopt its preliminary budget in September.

The timing was good, Maki added, noting that the agency the city used for the city administrator search will perform a new search for expenses only, as Reeves is leaving before the end of the agency's two-year replacement guarantee period.