A public meeting Tuesday announcing the findings of an investigation into allegations against Scott County Administrator Gary Shelton turned into a tongue-lashing of the Scott County Board after Shelton was cleared of all charges and it was speculated three commissioners helped orchestrate the matter. (Entire video is now posted, including  a portion cut off earlier.)

“I am deeply troubled to hear that the complaint began through a conversation with a commissioner,” said Kathy Nielsen of Cedar Lake Township, who is clerk of Spring Lake Township. “To sit here over these past several months and watch this line of personal attack on both sides, it’s despicable. We are adults. I call on all five of you to reach out to the better angels of your nature and stop looking at each other and start looking at the citizens of this community that deserve better than this infighting, political backstabbing and political covering my ass. Stop attacking one another and, for god’s sake, please stop attacking the good man who sits in the chair of county administrator.”

Nielsen and other community leaders packed the County Board Room Tuesday to hear contract investigator Michelle Soldo announce that a series of allegations made against Shelton by an unnamed department head were all “unsubstantiated.” Shelton asked that the meeting be open to the public.

The numerous charges included that Shelton orchestrated a debt-restructuring to bolster his wife’s job with the CAP Agency and he hadn’t disclosed his business interest in an outside company he owned.

In interviews with 13 people – including witnesses, Shelton, county commissioners and the complainant – Soldo found no evidence of wrongdoing.

Some allegations “were based on speculation, conjecture, gut feeling,” she said.

Soldo’s full report was only shared with the County Board since it contained employee names protected under data privacy laws.

The audience, which spilled into the hallway and an extra room set up next door, was furious about the wasted energy and a legal bill estimated to be in “excess of $10,000” for 100 hours spent thus far on the investigation.

Under questioning from Commissioner Jon Ulrich of Savage, Soldo confirmed that the complainant told her board Chair Tom Wolf met with the complainant Oct. 17 about the complaint and said the majority of the board wanted to remove Shelton.

“The complainant understood/believed/perceived that a majority of the board intended to remove [Shelton] and that they were being asked to gather information to provide support for that,” Soldo said.

Responding to a question from Wolf, Soldo acknowledged there was difference of opinion about what occurred during that Oct. 17 conversation.

Wolf defended himself, saying, “This was all brought on by the complainant.”

Wolf said he presented the list of allegations to County Attorney Pat Ciliberto, who advised him to talk to Shelton about them.

“At that time, I was satisfied with everything,” Wolf said. “I think the complainant saw nothing was going to happen and went ahead anyhow.”

The unnamed complainant, whose identity is known to the Valley News, could not be reached for comment.

County Commissioner Dave Menden of Shakopee, who voted to fire Shelton in January, said he didn’t learn of the October complaint until December, and that if he has a complaint, he talks to the person in question, not “through a third party.”

“The only people benefiting from this are the news people. They love it. It’s nothing but a circus,” Menden said. “There’s no doubt I don’t trust Gary, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to get my work done. For me, it’s a total distraction for us to sit here and be involved in this bickering.”

Wagner, who moved to terminate Shelton on Jan. 3 for largely unspecified reasons, was shocked during that meeting when Wolf didn’t go along.

On Tuesday, Wagner tried to counter the perception that he and others were behind this complaint.

“If you don’t trust or like the person, you replace the person – you don’t need someone to do an investigation,” he said.

But Wagner also questioned whether employees interviewed by the investigator felt free to speak their mind given that they knew the majority of the board would retain Shelton.

“They were as candid and cooperative as I could expect from any witness,” Soldo responded.

After the meeting was gaveled to a close and then reopened for more public comment, Scott County Labor Relations Manager Pam Johnson, who has worked for the county 30 years, rose to provide her opinion.

At the end of October, she said the complainant told her he had met with Wolf, who expressed concerns on behalf of the majority of the board regarding Shelton’s performance.

The complainant did not mention allegations of harassment or a hostile work environment at that time, she said, and indicated he was unable or unwilling to meet with Shelton.

She waited for phone calls from a few of the commissioners. “I gave good advice,” she said, encouraging them to be respectful and meet face-to-face with Shelton with their concerns and to “listen, listen and listen.”

“That is the way we run our organization,” she said.

Johnson noted that Shelton had worked his way up the ladder from a correctional employee to county administrator during his more than 30-year career with Scott County.

“No one is promoted through the ranks unless they have stellar performance,” she said.

Johnson saw no “absolutely no reason” for her department to conduct an employment investigation, but said it had no other option when a formal complaint was filed. This was the first time she was aware the complaint was coming from the complainant versus commissioner concerns.

“When you have someone doing an excellent job in his role, to try to create all these allegations to take him down is not only unprofessional, but devious,” said County Commissioner Barbara Marschall of Prior Lake, noting that the county is heading in the direction of some other counties she’s seen. “I was very glad we never had that. We have it now, and how unfortunate is that.”

Before attempting to adjourn the meeting, Wolf read off a prepared speech, which received some claps but rang hollow to others in the audience. “It is time to stop all the infighting and accusations. …We all can take some blame for the current unproductive and toxic environment we are living in. And we all should take some credit for getting us out – but only if we start to focus on what is really in the best interest of the county. … I expect this is the end of this issue. We are adjourned.”

“No, we are not done,” decried Shakopee insurance agent Jerry Kucera, who asked to speak.

“All are not to blame. Three sitting commissioners,” said Kucera, a 2010 commissioner candidate, referring to Wagner, Menden and Wolf. “You say all are to take credit. … You have tried to trump up charges and you and the other two should be ashamed of yourselves.”

Prior Lake resident Lloyd Erbaugh called on Menden, Wolf and Wagner to resign. “It is unfortunate that Gary Shelton had to go through this. The innuendo thrown his way is unconscionable.”

Shelton, who remained quiet throughout the meeting, spoke at the end in defense of his wife, Linda Shelton, who oversees the food shelf and other programs at the CAP Agency.

“I’m sorry that you went through with this,” he said to his wife, who was wiping away tears from her seat in the audience. “I chose to live in a fish bowl. I’m a big boy and can live with the outcome. I don’t believe it was fair to drag my wife into this.”

COMPLAINT

The following are some of the allegations and findings discussed Tuesday:

ALLEGATION: Harassing and retaliatory behavior.

FINDING: The alleged incidents, dating back to 2009 but not reported until December 2011, were the result of difficult work-related conversations and disagreement about policy, how a department should be run and philosophy, Soldo found.

“These interactions are not always pleasant, but they are the kind of interactions a department head can reasonably expect to have with their manager,” Soldo said.

ALLEGATION: Comment perceived as inappropriate and of a sexual nature.

FINDING: In July 2011, a remark was made during an after-work social golf outing, though not reported until December. A similar remark to that alleged was considered by witnesses as “consistent with banter you might have in an after-work outing” and wasn’t sexual in nature. “That it was reported six months after calls into question the offensive nature of the actual remark,” Soldo said.

ALLEGATION: Shelton initiated a “baseless criminal investigation” of County Commissioner Joe Wagner and did not shield county employees from potential liability.

FINDING: “The record clearly indicates this allegation is not substantiated,” Soldo said. Shelton had no substantive role in that investigation. The Scott County Attorney’s Office made an appropriate referral to Washington County when Wagner was accused of lying to a child protection worker. “The record clearly documents the legitimate basis for that referral,” Soldo said.

Soldo added that the complainant was not a person of interest in that investigation, contrary to the allegation.

ALLEGATION: Shelton initiated a “baseless investigation” of the CAP Agency.

FINDING: “There was a valid business-related reason for the investigation,” Soldo said, pointing out that two county commissioners sat on the CAP Agency board during the investigation or its report. [It was a civil investigation initiated by the agency director, according to Scott County Attorney Pat Ciliberto.]

Soldo said Shelton had no substantive role in that investigation. And the complainant was not a target of that investigation either, contrary to the complainant’s speculation.

ALLEGATION: Shelton was involved in a “political firestorm” that caused Commissioner Tom Wolf to vote against the removal of Shelton.

FINDING: Wolf told Soldo that his vote was not based on Shelton’s influence.

[Not mentioned during the meeting was that Commissioner Ulrich contacted area officials to warn them about the effort to remove Shelton]

ALLEGATION: Shelton facilitated the appointment of Commissioner Barbara Marschall to the CAP Agency board and his wife’s appointment to a position within the agency.

FINDING: The county board appoints commissioners to the agency board and Shelton had no role in CAP Agency employment decisions. “The record is very clear on that,” Soldo said.

ALLEGATION: Shelton’s recommendation for the forgiveness of CAP Agency debt strengthened the agency’s position and his wife’s job security. Shelton failed to disclose this as a conflict of interest.

FINDING: “The decision was not made by the respondent nor made in isolation,” Soldo said, but approved unanimously by the county board based on research and the recommendation of attorneys, the county’s Chief Financial Officer and county staff.

[According to the February 2010 board agenda, the restructuring was due to rental reductions the CAP Agency never received for a $300,000 cash contribution toward the construction of the shared Workforce Center.]

ALLEGATION: Shelton has an outside business that contracts with other counties and state agencies, but this wasn’t disclosed to the county board.

FINDING: The Scott County Attorney has already advised the county board that the business is not a conflict of interest. The business interest has been known to the county board since 2000. The company performs no business on behalf of Scott County. Shelton filed a disclosure form with the county auditor for this business.

ALLEGATION: Shelton failed to disclose a part-time employment agreement arising out of this business in June 2011.

FINDING: This employment agreement was the negotiated term of the sale of Shelton’s business and he disclosed the business relationship with a county filing in 2011. Shelton’s employment agreement identifies his county administrative job as his primary responsibility. [The venture was also publicized in a company press release.]

ALLEGATION: Shelton improperly involved himself in the 2008 and 2010 execution of technology-related contracts for a personal friend and failed to close that person was a friend.

FINDING: Shelton does not have “the close association with this vendor that’s alleged.” A number of people were involved in the recommendation to hire the vendor and the contracts were approved unanimously by the county board.

[The contracts involved the hiring of Vaughn Mulcrone’s Next Chapter Technology firm to implement a technology solution for Health and Human Services. Mulcrone is the brother of the county Deputy Chief Information Officer Perry Mulcrone and, according to his public resume, performed database, telecommunications and Web consulting for Shelton’s company, Midwest Monitoring, in 2007.

Shelton said he did not make Mulcrone aware of the county contract job, nor would he have even initially known if Mulcrone was qualified for that type of technology work since Mulcrone’s consultant work for Midwest Monitoring involved a different type of work.

Mulcrone’s initial contract was approved during County Administrator Dave Unmacht’s tenure. According to a county data request, he charged a lower hourly rate and earned $57,000 less at the conclusion of the extended contract than the second lowest contract proposal.]