STPAUL: via Frederick Melo at the Pioneer Press, VERBATIM: State Rep. John Lesch, a longtime member of the Minnesota National Guard, is questioning the management ability of St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter’s new city attorney — Lyndsey Olson, the former general counsel of the National Guard and state Department of Military Affairs. She, in turn, is suing the St. Paul lawmaker for defamation… Lesch noted that when Carter and Deputy Mayor Jaime Tincher assembled community hiring panels to review applicants for cabinet-level positions, the committee in charge of recommending a city attorney chose Olson third…The panel preferred Deputy City Attorney Laura Pietan, a longtime city employee who directs the department’s criminal division. Jeff Martin, a former president of the St. Paul NAACP and deputy director of the city’s Department of Human Rights and Equal Economic Opportunity, came in second….Carter and Tincher opted for Olson to oversee the city’s legal department, which prosecutes crimes and handles the city’s civil affairs, including lawsuits and legal settlements….Before entering into private legal practice, Lesch spent nearly 15 years as an assistant city attorney in St. Paul. LESCH: “I spent the majority of my legal career there,” the DFL lawmaker said in an interview. “The fact that she landed this position with the city raises a lot of questions.” READ: http://bit.ly/2ohuX53
LETTER: via Facebook post, from Rep. John Lesch VERBATIM: “I will always, always, always fight for transparency in government. As a leader on open government and data practices at the Minnesota Legislature - that is my job. Often I will make efforts to do so that allow government decision makers to save face, because I believe this is the most efficient solution, and it makes for better government. This was the purpose of my January 3, 2018 letter to Mayor Carter.” READ: http://bit.ly/2Ey00QP
